So people are still selling speakers out of white vans

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Had a guy in a white van pull up to me yesterday while I was pumping gas and ask me

"Hey guy! Do you want to buy a surround sound system?"

I quickly said no and pointedly looked away from him, he got the message that I was wise to his scam and moved on.

In case you don't know this is a well known scam where people pressure sell really crappy speakers as high end $$$$ jobs at cut rate prices out of a van.

I was almost curious to have him go on to see which of the several scam stories he was spinning that day, but it's not worth it.

I feel bad for anyone that falls for this. Saw them pull up to another guy that was vacuuming his car (captive audience) and I guess he didn't immediately shut it down because the guy was showing him some sort of glossy ad or something. But they ended up piling back in and driving away as I pulled out.
 
I know a gullible person who bought them once. they had a horrible buzz and were completely useless.
 
Yeah, my cousin got ripped off by him. My cousin lost $400 :(
He's a smart kid, he just doesnt think all the time, which in this case cost him alot of money. Someone better get this prick.
 
Happened to my brother outside a Tower Records a month ago. Luckily he was smart enough to know it was a scam.
 
Damn, I thought most of the people do at least get a set of speakers they are just not worth the price the guys in the van ask and are no where near the high end stuff they claim it to be.

I'm a little surprised these guys haven't all moved on to selling oven doors as plasma sets.
 
I was approached by one of these outfits once. They didn't even get out of the van or even stop moving. One guy just threw open the door in back while another drove slowly along side me. I thought they were going to attempt a kidnapping or something. I'm 6'5", 250, so I wasn't TOO worried, but still.

At first they pretended like they were from some radio promotion. They quickly dropped that and just went with, "Hey man! Aren't you interested in HIFI SURROUND SOUND STEREOS?" The scary thing was when I kind of chuckled (I couldn't believe the guy was talking like that with a straight face) and told them I wasn't interested, they got really agitated and started insulting me and suggested that they were going to follow me home. I went back into the store I had come out of to get some assistance and they peeled out of the parking lot. That was a tense drive home...

The other (easily recognized) scam I've experienced multiple times is a woman or man -- not obviously homeless and/or strung out, but not exactly normal either -- approaching in a parking lot with the story that their car just broke down/ran out of gas/whatever, and their kids are waiting for them to pick them up and could they have a little cash to get some gas/call for help/catch a bus. Once, I said "Oh? Where's your car? Maybe I can help you get it started." That guy just walked away. Another time I offered to let a rough looking woman use my cellphone and her response was to try and SPIT ON ME.
 
I've only had this happen to me once last year in a grocery parking lot. At that time, I just happened that I also had some speakers in my car that I was trying to get rid of.

I don't think he was prepared for the "No, do you want to buy some speakers?" that I answered him with.

Neither of us got a sale that day. :(
 
I actually knew a guy that did this a while back. He was a heroin addict and did not limit his scamming to speakers. He would have VCR's, Boom boxes and other things. He would put bricks and what not into the boxes and reseal them to look like the were never opened and hewould have like a demo model to show. He would travel statewide and hit people up at factories on paydays. I know he got caught and beat severely a couple of times. Then one day he just disappeared.
 
:rofl:

I just came back from Target not :15 minutes ago, where I was appoached by a white van about speakers. Must be the time of year!

Sooo Funny!
 
this happened to me last year... yep infront of a Shopper's Food Warehouse near my house. Why do these clowns think people carry 400 or more dollars in cash in there wallets that they can spend on speakers?

Anyways next time this happens, I will wave my hands and do the jedi mind trick on them..."No you don't want to sell me junk in speaker boxes..." Now see I honestly thought this was only done in major cities like Miami, but after I saw that happened to me last year, it could be anywhere!
 
This has some interesting stuff on the scam. You can read peoples stories from your area, apparently a lot of people fall into this. They are also on Craigslist a lot lately too. First time I was approached was way back in 1995. The story I got was their boss messed up their work order and gave them an extra set. All they wanted was their cost (like $400) and beer money. I can't believe they are still doing this scam and even worse people are still falling for it.

Edit- One guy that posted on the above site actually bought the speakers and brought the guys in the white van back to his house because they said they would install them for an extra $100. Then they "got a call" from their boss once they got to his home and before they could install it. I can't imagine inviting two strangers selling stuff out of a van to my home so they know where I live. In a big city like Phoenix no less. People really need to be smarter.
 
I had no idea this was happening.....It has never happened to me.


I had two separate instances when a guy wanted to sell me a computer. I was just walking down the street and I get approached.
 
yeah, i remember a Lincoln Navigator passed by me and asked if i was interested with speakers. can't you see i'm walking down the street, and you expect me to haul it like that?

then another instance, a Camry passed up and asked me if i wanna get some scanner and laser jet printer for $30 a piece. i told him i got those sh|t already and he asked me where i bought it, i told him at the flea market. and he looked pissed and sped up. :rofl:

the Bay Area is full of people like those, i wonder how can they afford gas. :rofl:
 
[quote name='tehweezner']i'm pretty sure no CAG would ever get scammed like this.. you have to be pretty loose with your money to be taken :)[/quote]

People can get scammed if they are tired or if they have a lot on their mind....No one is above getting scammed.
 
This happened to me a few years ago in a Wal-mart parking lot. A guy pulled up to me in a white van and rolled down the window, asking if I wanted some speakers. I think his line was that he was doing a home installation and they had ordered an extra set by mistake. I said if he was giving them away, I'd take them. He said he had to at least get something for them. I said no thanks then, and he said okay and drove off.

I didn't even realize it was a scam until I read about it on here just now. Fortunately, I already had a surround sound system and didn't need another one, nor did I have the money to buy one.
 
First thing I though of when I saw this thread:

B0000012SK.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

"MO MONEY!!! MO MONEY!!! MO MONEY!!!"
 
[quote name='jPoD']Fairfax is a pretty major city.[/QUOTE]

actually, I live in a subburb of fairfax :p its not a major city like with tall buildings like Miami or NYC or LA.

dull, overcrowded is what's best to discribe this shitty city.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']actually, I live in a subburb of fairfax :p its not a major city like with tall buildings like Miami or NYC or LA.

dull, overcrowded is what's best to discribe this shitty city.[/QUOTE]

Well it's more of a major city than Haverford, PA where my cousin bought those pieces of crap...
 
so what if an unknown CAGger pulls up and offered you game titles? he has a trunk load of titles, still sealed.

it's possible coz i remember walking out of TRU and some guy in a black sedan offered some PS2 titles. although i didn't own a PS2 console at that time he tried to offered me $15 for each game. i was like dude, i could get those like $10 on clearance or better GameCrazy is right across TRU. :rofl:
 
I watched my buddy fall for this scam 5 years ago in a Best Buy parking lot in Orlando. After learning from his mistake, some guy in Ft. Lauderdale tried to sell some to my brother while he was driving. Being wise to the scam, my brother and his friend started calling the guys scammers. Next thing they know this guy is reaching in the car trying to rip my brothers chain off. I'm pretty sure it ended with some kind of scuffle and they got out of there unscathed.

Another time about two years ago, in the same shopping center that has the Best Buy in Orlando, my roommate and I were coming out of SuperTarget after buying some groceries and once again, the white van showed up trying to sell us some "awesome" speakers. My roommate said something to the effect of "Go away scammer" which really set one of the guys off. The guy just went nuts, saying like "Oh I got you before, you're a real fucking moron, I scammed your ass!" Meanwhile we're trying to load our groceries in the car and these dudes are sitting in their van just screaming at us. At one point it shifted into, "You shop at Target, you're gay! Only fags shop at Target!" My buddy turns around and says "How the fuck is shopping at Target gay?" and the guy starts trying to get out of the van saying he's going to kill my friend. At that point, cars were backed up because this guy was sitting in the middle of the road and some employees started to investigate. Once the guy realized everybody is watching him (and we were about to beat this guys ass) he hopped back in the van, peeled out, and sped off laughing like he achieved some sort of victory.

The moral of the story is if you get solicited by one of these guys, call them out. All sorts of fun things happen when you do that.
 
My friend fell for that scam back in 2000, I was so happy when I found out it was a scam bacuse he was always bragging how he got a better deal then I did when I bought some speakers from the store. The look on his face when I showed him online all the people that fell for the scam, priceless.


I had a guy sell me a Asian dreamcast(not sure what type but it DIDNT have a 56k modem) with powerstone in a video arcade parking lot for $100. The American DC had not come out yet.
 
[quote name='Xevious']I had no idea this was happening.....It has never happened to me.


I had two separate instances when a guy wanted to sell me a computer. I was just walking down the street and I get approached.[/QUOTE]

me either.
 
The same fucking shit happened to me yesterday in a damn home depot parking lot two young guys in a white van trying to sell a surround sound system fucking idiots , How much do they try to sell this things for anyways !


Conversation :

Driver : Hey dude you wanna buy a home thather system i bought two and now im trying to sell one !

Me: No i have one

Driver: Yeah everyone has one !

Me: How much are you selling it for ? (just for laughs )

Driver: Wait let me show you , hold on let me park !

Me: Look dude im honestly not going to buy it so save ur time !

Driver : then if you're not gonna buy it why do you wanna see !

Me: I don't want to see it you are the one that wants to show it , you freaking idiot ! Walks awayy...........
 
I actually know someone who sells the kinds of things these guys are trying to sell but...

1) they're legitimate good quality items
2) they don't sell out of white vans
3) you need to have connections to buy from them

Basically, it's the black market. These people steal things or whatever...I really dont' know...but my cousin has all the hookups. If someone was really selling what they were claiming to be selling, do you think they'd actually go up to any random person who might end up telling their "boss" or the cops?
 
ironically many many years ago my brother got a couple of speakers out of a van somewheres for 100 bucks for 2 and they ended up being GREAT..... of course he knew what he was looking at i imagine i never took him for being stupid
 
In my neighborhood, I've seen guys with pickups trying to sell meat out of freezers in the back.

"Hey, wanna buy some meat?"

(me, walking to get the mail)"What? Hell no!"
 
[quote name='chakan']In my neighborhood, I've seen guys with pickups trying to sell meat out of freezers in the back.

"Hey, wanna buy some meat?"

(me, walking to get the mail)"What? Hell no!"[/QUOTE]

shoot, do people actually buy that stuff?

since i personally know people who have been in organized crime...shoot, i'd probably be scared i was eating a human body or something.
 
yeah, the meat thing happened in front of my store a few months ago. At least with speakers, you probably won't get sick or die from food poisoning. now old meat.. that on the other hand is crazy.

A friend of mine once bought a set of speakers out of a van. They sound decent enough.. (no hissing or anything) but hindsight is always 20/20.
 
:rofl: at this thread. I had this asian dude come up to me at work (CC) with on of those laminated printouts with pictures of the speakers. He said his friend sold him some speakers for a grand and wanted to make sure he got a good price. I told him we didn't carry it but offered to check online for him since I was curious myself. Found all these hilarious results and message boards talking about how it was a scam. I then spent a good 20 minutes trying to explain to him that his friend isn't much of a friend.

On another note, anyone ever get approached by a chick with a big bag/purse trying to sell knock off cologne and perfume? This happened to me last week. I was just walking and this randomly asked me what cologne I wear. Then she handed me a piece of paper with a bunch of prices of different brands. I just laughed at that point.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']actually, I live in a subburb of fairfax :p its not a major city like with tall buildings like Miami or NYC or LA.

dull, overcrowded is what's best to discribe this shitty city.[/QUOTE]

yup my fam lives there and i visit there all too often. ifs dull and booring.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']actually, I live in a subburb of fairfax :p its not a major city like with tall buildings like Miami or NYC or LA.

dull, overcrowded is what's best to discribe this shitty city.[/QUOTE]

yup my fam lives there and i visit there all too often. ifs dull and booring.

yeah this happen to me last week. i was driving home from school and this guy in a white van pulls up next to me. he hears me blasting my music and rolls down his windows and asks me if i want to buy a plasma screen tv and some speakers. good thing the light turned green. i sped off before he could pester me any longer. i didnt think this happen to other CAGs but i guess it did...
 
[quote name='PhreQuencYViii']They buy the vans from people driving speakers who ask them if they want a good van of course.[/quote]

Ha, they probably buy them to find the motor has been replaced by a brick.
 
[quote name='gofishn']I watched my buddy fall for this scam 5 years ago in a Best Buy parking lot in Orlando. After learning from his mistake, some guy in Ft. Lauderdale tried to sell some to my brother while he was driving. Being wise to the scam, my brother and his friend started calling the guys scammers. Next thing they know this guy is reaching in the car trying to rip my brothers chain off. I'm pretty sure it ended with some kind of scuffle and they got out of there unscathed.

Another time about two years ago, in the same shopping center that has the Best Buy in Orlando, my roommate and I were coming out of SuperTarget after buying some groceries and once again, the white van showed up trying to sell us some "awesome" speakers. My roommate said something to the effect of "Go away scammer" which really set one of the guys off. The guy just went nuts, saying like "Oh I got you before, you're a real fucking moron, I scammed your ass!" Meanwhile we're trying to load our groceries in the car and these dudes are sitting in their van just screaming at us. At one point it shifted into, "You shop at Target, you're gay! Only fags shop at Target!" My buddy turns around and says "How the fuck is shopping at Target gay?" and the guy starts trying to get out of the van saying he's going to kill my friend. At that point, cars were backed up because this guy was sitting in the middle of the road and some employees started to investigate. Once the guy realized everybody is watching him (and we were about to beat this guys ass) he hopped back in the van, peeled out, and sped off laughing like he achieved some sort of victory.

The moral of the story is if you get solicited by one of these guys, call them out. All sorts of fun things happen when you do that.[/quote]

Waterford Lakes?
 
This happen to me once. Some guy said he need to sell his speakers for car repair. The funny part is that this is at the car stereo store I work at. Probably the dumbest place to try the scam on.
 
Just had the same thing happen to me when I went to CC to pick up Chibi Robo. Weird that they are hitting so many places around the country at the same time.
 
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