posted on December 5, 2000 06:06:40 PM
A couple of things:
First, the Gametek that went bankrupt did so in 1997, and whoever it was was correct in stating they are NOT the same company or affiliated.
Second, I'm not sure if the Tu Tam on this board is the same Tu Tam at Gametek. I'd be very surprised. Why? Because 'a' Tu Tam signed my registered letter containing the money order I sent for my system.
We went by the Post Office today and got lots of nothing for answers. We were handed a form to fill out and were told that it would be roughly 60 days before we would know anything. No one at our East Meadow, NY Post Office knows anything about the investigation the Postal Inspection Service is doing of Gametek. I hope to find out how long the Postal Service has known about this. After all, it was their money order we purchased and THEY delivered the letter and received a signature from Tu Tam. This was November 18th. I think they should be held culpable to some degree if they knew about this AND it turns out that Gametek is/was a scam.
More later, I'm sure. Be calm, be cool, be vigilant.
One other note...someone suggested we do our own footwork and find out whatever information we can and share it. Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner. I agree 100%. And this post is my contribution thus far.
posted on December 5, 2000 06:31:00 PM
Thanks for the vote of confidence netfootin. If we all stay focused we will all get our money back. Here is a little example of what we are up against. Here is an excerpt from the first email I got from Paypal on their fraud protection plan:
Claims must be filed no sooner than 30 days and no later than 60
days from the date of your PayPal payment.
Additionally, Buyers must make several documented attempts to
contact the Seller and to resolve the issue between the two
parties. Please wait until 30 days have passed since the time of
your payment.
Then I got another:
To file a claim, you must have filed a Fraud Report no later than
30 days after the purchase transaction and be a Verified User. To
become Verified, a member must confirm a bank account with
PayPal. Buyers must also make several documented attempts to
contact the Seller and to resolve the issue between the two
parties. Claims must be filed not earlier than 30 days after the
date of payment, and not later than 60 days from the date of
payment. Please wait until 30 days have passed since the time of
your payment.
If I am not mistaken they are saying we can't file before 30 days and not after 60. I have read else where in this thread that people are concerned about not filing before 30 days. You have 60 since they knew of the fraud. Please file your claims and let's keep up the good work.
posted on December 5, 2000 07:01:49 PM
No I am not the same Tu Tam. Your check was signed by Tam Tu not Tu Tam. My screenname is a wink at all the 'online detectives' out there that post information that they have read online and consider it to be fact. The only information or detective work that needs to be done is thru the Fountain Valley Police Department and the US Postal Service and Paypal. This is a matter that will be solved thru the court system. For those that bought thru Paypal consider yourselves lucky that you have the TOS to back you up. For those that sent check and money order, hope that if guilty, the authorities are able to locate thier bank accounts and reinburse you.
posted on December 5, 2000 07:24:40 PM
tutam...sorry to ruin your day but my receipt says Tu Tam. The rest of your post I agree with, and I, too, hope that this will be resolved to our satisfaction.
posted on December 6, 2000 03:47:24 AM
if you ordered proir to nov 10 with pay pal...
*NOTE: The following policies apply to payments prior to November
10th, 2000.
If after contacting the seller you are unable to resolve the
dispute and the seller has not shipped the goods, you may file a
claim with PayPal.com for reimbursement of non-receipt of goods.
Purchases from sellers who are Verified Users will be protected
up to an aggregate of $5,000 per buyer per year. Claims must be
filed not earlier than 30 days after the date of payment, and not
later than 60 days from the date of payment. In order to file a
claim, please log in to your account and click on the "Help"
button at the top of the page. Then click on "Contact Customer
Service" and choose the "Buyer Protection Claim" selection from
the drop-down menu. You will receive an automatic response
containing the instructions for filing a claim by e-mail.
posted on December 6, 2000 06:08:04 AM
TuTam, you mean to tell me you are just going to wait till the police gives us information on what is going on? You dont have the slightest urge to find out what has been said to the police or anything? I for one, have found out a TON more than the police are reporting to us, as of this moment.
It at least makes me feel like I am doing something other than just sitting here worrying about what is going to happen....but hey to each his own I guess.
Later
dunebuggyjay
on a better note, Paypal finally responded to me about getting my money back. I have to send them a bunch of info...so we will se what happens from there.
posted on December 6, 2000 09:02:39 AM
I only have interest in the information that the police provide. What will you do once you get the information? Take Gametek to court and spend $3000 in legal fees and time off work to get your $330 back? Or go to Tam Tu's apartment and confront them there and then be slapped with legal charges of your own for trespassing or assult? Assuming you take the high road and take them to court what information will you provide as evidence? Do you have Gameteks Business licence #? Do you have the purchase order reciepts that they bought the playstations from their distributors? Do you have the name and address and business licence of thier distributor? Do they even have a distributor? Do you have information to prove yes or no in a court of law? Do you have thier Dun & Broadstreet #? How many employees does Gametek employ? Were any of these employees involved in any possible fraud charges? Was Gametek really telling the truth and it is really the Distributor that should be investigated for fraud? If so do you have the same information for them? Who did Gametek plan on using as a shipping company? UPS, Airborne, FEDEX? Were any of these companies contacted before hand to schedule a pickup/delivery? Well of course not you say because it was all a scam. Well can you prove it was a scam and by which party? Does Gametek have a warehouse that the units would be shipped to/from or was it being shipped direct from the distributor? Did Gametek actually ship your unit? Do you have a tracking #? How do you know they never sent you a tracking #? Do you have access to thier server, database, phone records and other records to prove fraud? You don't? Well are you going to see the judge this afternoon so he can issue you a search warrent so you can obtain these documents? If Gametek can not be arrested until December 16th when they default how do you expect to get farther than the Police who will have the information dug up during an information during an investigation. You will need a whole lot more than addresses, phone numbers, SS#'s and bank accounts, and who pulled what websites off what servers when to take them to court. Thats why I say let the police take care of it and stay out of their way so we don't have 2500 Barney Fife's out there looking like a group of Keystone Kops. File your fraud documents with Paypal, Post office, or Credit Card company and let them do what they are paid to do with our tax money and bank charges.
posted on December 6, 2000 09:39:48 AM
Tutam, you have it all wrong. I want to know the truth for my OWN well being. I know how slow it takes for the Authoritys to let the public know what is going on..thats why I want to find out myself. I have already gone threw the motions with paypal, and bbb, and such. I just want to know the real story...not some watered down "no comment" story from the police.
If i did live near Cal..you better beleive I would be checking things out as we speak. They have my money, and I want it back..or at least a resonable explaination of what is happening. Who knows..with everyone flipping out because we dont know what is happening, its probably just making things worse. If in fact we knew that the real TamTu intended just to take our money and run..fine (we could all just file for our money back)..but we DONT know that. police are investigating. No arrests have been made. No smoking gun found.
I think I've made my point. I cant just sit here hoping the police will tell me something. It aint gonna happen. I just want the truth..thats all.
posted on December 6, 2000 10:00:20 AM
SEE INFO FROM Better Business Bureau. This is the first time they have presented a real report here is the better business bureau website. Power in numbers I say so if some of us file a report on line (I have) it might help if we just keep hacking away at it:
http://www.bbbsouthland.org/
GameTek
---------------------------------------------
This Report was developed from various sources, including the business, governmental agencies, and the experience of the company's customers.
For further information contact the Better Business Bureau of the Southland
315 N. La Cadena, Colton, CA, 92324
(909) 825-7280
---------------------------------------------
GameTek
17284 Newhope Street, Suite 215
Fountain Valley CA 92708
Business Started: Unknown
File Open Date: 10/27/00
Last Report Date: 12/06/00
Principal Contact:
Phone: (714) 534-9511
Fax: Not Available
EMail: Not Available
Web Address: http://www.ps2cart.com
Bureau ID: 13142754 <----COULD THIS BE LIC #?
(from K)
Member Status:
Join Date:
Nature of Business
This company's business is an video game dealer.
Bureau File Experience
We rate this company as having an unsatisfactory business performance record. This company advertises on their website a Sony Playstation 2 for sale at a price of $349.99 to $399.99. The company's advertising is misleading. Complaints on file allege failure to deliver the product, not receiving confirmation of orders and difficulty contacting company personnel. The company has not responded to complaints presented by the Bureau. On December 4, 2000 Bureau personnel confirmed that the company's website is no longer active and that company phones are answered with a recording stating that the mailbox is full. Thus, there is no way to leave a message or receive return calls. Prior to sending money, consider that this product is difficult if not impossible to obtain through normal retail stores due to an over demand of the product at the Sony Corporation. If you have placed an order with this company, please contact the Fountain Valley Police Department at 714-593-4485 or complete a victim notification form at www.fountainvalley.org/gametek. The Better Business Bureau does not endorse, recommend or disapprove of any company, product or service.
Additional Phone Numbers
There are no additional phone numbers for this company on file.
Additional Trade names
Game Tek
Gametec
P S 2 Cart.com
Additional Addresses
There are no additional addresses for this company on file.
posted on December 6, 2000 10:08:26 AM
in regard to TuTam's message. You don't have to spend 3000 in legal fees, small claims court will take care of that and if you alone took them to small claims court it is possible to obtain your refund plus legal fees as well. I would venture to guess this co is not a bonafide outfit therefore you will never be able to get them to small claims court cuz they have nothing to lose and possibly can leave the country with no forwarding address (if you catch my drift). However because of the MAGNITUDE of their ripoff it warrants 1) big money AND therefore the undivided interest of the authorities. Actually how large the rip off is really helps all of us because the interest is on in such a large case. This case if it is truly as bad as it sounds will be of a very high level and I am sure bank accounts have been frozen etc., until a thorough investigation has been done. Just knowing the police have stated that they know approximately how many orders et al, means they have evidence somewhat. For those of you that can, print out those reports (the police one from fountainvalley etc), I have done this and taken all print outs from two forums on this to my bank. I proved this has fraud written all over it (PS2Cart) and they have STOPPED payment on my cashiers check! You can also do this with a money order, push hard!!! it is your money!!! if yours has been cashed you won't be able to do this, but if it has not, and you road in on the end of this thing...you may have a chance. Sometimes after many months restitution does come if they can nail the company and freeze the accounts. File reports at any point you can. And pray for the best. AND remember what goes around comes around...in time they will get their turn too and I hope they get slammed. K
posted on December 6, 2000 02:07:39 PM
hi this is my first time here, i to bought from ps2cart, but i sent them a money order i sent it on nov.9 so im sure they have already cashied it by now. i did call the company that provided the money order and they said to copy the reciept on both sides and send it to them along with the 12.00 fee and they will check to see who and where it was cashied and they will send me that info and after recieving that to call them and they will send me an affidavit and to fil it out and send it back and their fraud investigations will take it over from their and i might be able to get my money back. also they said that if the money order was altered in any way that i would automatically get my money back.so if any one else sent a money order try calling the company that provided that and try doing what i did i do live in calif but about 4 hours from fountain valley and i to talked to the person at ps2- 2 different times and was told mine would ship dec.5 so if it did i should have gotten it today? and i didnt and the ups man runs about 12to1 here and it is 2 here so i dont think its coming. so
posted on December 6, 2000 03:45:15 PM
Here's the billing info based on who paid for the registration of PS2CART.COM Contacting this individual direct, or filing lawsuits direct may get you guys someplace.
Tu, Tam
[email protected]
17284 Newhope St. Suite #215
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
US
714-534-xxxx
posted on December 6, 2000 03:55:47 PM
I am from NJ, and im crazy. I hope for their sake that they are not picking up the phone because they are busy packing and shiping our ps2s'. If you are calling from out of state go to phonefree.com and download the program to make free long distance calls. Their fax still works as well as there phone. I have a plain ticket already, i got notin to do next week, so myself and a few well trained "fellas" are taking a trip out to Cali to solve this little problem. It is not the money, it is the whole principle of the situation. TuTam.....Blam....Blam
posted on December 6, 2000 04:56:10 PM
This is all great info. Androidmj, thanks for your help especially if you are from Paypal. I have been hoping to get some help from PayPaldamon. I haven't seen his responses in any of these paypal threads (except the one where the guy said Mastercard won't work with Paypal anymore. Damage Control?). Anyway, I did send in my claim information 3 days ago. Again, I received no real response from Paypal although the customer service reps I have spoke with have been polite and helpful. Whether they are BSing me into a false sense of security I don't know but it sure would be great if PayPal responded to SOMETHING I emailed them. Overall, though, I am beginning to get a good feeling about getting a refund from Paypal. They have told me they are aware of the scam, they do intend to refund, and have given me pretty clear directions about how to claim a refund.
Daimon, what can you do about getting your guys to respond to emails? At least some confirmation they received our claims.
If you think Paypal is going to voluntarily give you your money back, you are insane...then you also believe that the ps2 is "on the way."
A credit is posted just as fast as a charge. They are feeding you all sorts of junk. When my company issues customers credits on c cards, it shows up the next business day close....
Paypal is doing all they can to keep this all tied up.
You are a fool to let them continue using your money.
posted on December 6, 2000 05:17:55 PM
Scooter, I am not sure I said they are going to give it back automatically. If you will notice I not only started this thread to gather troups to bombard Paypal and gather thoughts on how to make this happen but, throughout this thread, I have tried to make public the correct way to claim a refund according to the rules. Besides that I have made numerous phone calls and sent many emails in gathering my own information. These calls include investigative follow up to information posted here. No, I don't expect Paypal to just give it back. History doesn't support that theory. I am doing something about the situation and have seen some positive signs. Hopefully this thread will help everyone get their claims in on time and everyone get their money. No offense taken by the "fool" comment although maybe we should all feel a little foolish considering the predicament we are in. By the way, what do you suggest to get our money quicker ("allowing Paypal to use my money"? Write insulting messages to Paypal and others in these threads?
[ edited by Hammer1961 on Dec 6, 2000 05:29 PM ]
posted on December 6, 2000 06:06:09 PM
it wouldn't be Tutam refunding your money...ehm...otherwise this predicament would not exist. If refunds occur it will be because the co's bank accounts were frozen by authorities and the money is still sitting there and it will be used to refund in this case (that takes time and court order stuff). Tutam does not want to refund your money...he just wants your money. That has become painfully obvious to I think all of us. Hey Frank let us know when you get there...
posted on December 6, 2000 07:48:19 PM
I spoke at length with a PayPal representative this afternoon about the PS2Cart subject. He was courteous, well informed, and quite helpful on the subject.
Without prompting, the rep looked over the order, and mentioned that I was not effected by the change of TOS, and that I should be fully covered by the original rules.
Nothing to worry about, please fill out the claims form, keep these in your records, and we will have your account credited within 45 days.
Now, I'm sure quite a few of you are already gnashing teeth.... "What's taking them so damn long! Credit transfers are instant! They're lying!"
Attitudes like this will only add to the problem. Yes, an electronic transfer takes seconds- the assloads of paperwork that is going to have to be done for claims purposes on each one of those can take weeks.
Many companies don't cut checks but once a month anyway. First of the Month... end of the Month. That's just how accounting is kept track of.
Real buisness takes time, because there is too damn many people / departments each step has to go through. Besides... if you can sit for 3 months waiting for a no-name company to deliver your PS2... can't you wait another month for PayPal to finish their paperwork?
So as our departed friend Cornholed used to say... "Sit down and shut your piehole!"
posted on December 7, 2000 03:54:05 AM
I have only one thing to say that I thought to myself it is too late for Gametek to be right everyone know they are a Fraud, but How were they supposed to send us e-mails with order #'s when there server shut them down??? hmm.......
posted on December 7, 2000 05:55:58 AM
Mail is on a POP server and the webpage is not. They are two separate things. This is typical anywhere. Get your facts straight before you speak and stick to the subject.
posted on December 7, 2000 06:38:37 AM
I thought I'd pass along a website that my wife found. We called them, and checked them out, and in fact, asked a friend in Melbourne, FL, where the company is located, to check them out for us. We decided to buy from them. Use your best judgement.
The company is Space Coast Computer Technologies, Inc. and we found them on Yahoo.
posted on December 7, 2000 09:12:15 AM
I was wondering if someone can provide me with the info. I need to get my money back from PayPal. I filled out the customer service form, and haven't heard from PayPal yet. Where do I get the claims form, and everything else. Thanks.
posted on December 7, 2000 04:50:19 PM
Netfootin:
The better business bureau in Melbourne, Florida confirms that the address for that company is an abandoned building and the number is a cell phone. My better judgement says decline.
posted on December 7, 2000 05:31:29 PM
hi! i had sent an email to dect. rick freeman and i got a response from him! he said that we might get a refund from gametek at a later time,that refunds are a civil matter between costumers and gametek and need to be handled separately from the criminal investigation. and to keep checking their web site as info. is being posted as they get it.YEAH RIGHT!!!!!
Your information is questionable at best. BBB doesn't have any information, pro or con, on the company. Your assertion that the phone number is a cell number is inconsequential, and doubtful at worst. I don't know what your motivation is but your input in this case is useless, and in most other posts, it has been antagonistic.
Do have a nice weekend.
Peace
Netfootin
PS--If you prove right, I'll give you all day to tell me 'I told you so.' You'd like that.
[ edited by netfootin on Dec 7, 2000 06:22 PM ]
posted on December 7, 2000 06:48:15 PM
Actually I don't care one way or the other I am just relaying the messages that were on ps2bargins.com message board.
? Write insulting messages to Paypal and others in these threads?