Just wanted to chime in and say that I am in colorado springs and had a blue station wagon pull the same stunt on me in the parking lot of a high end audio store last year.
I had this happen to me several years ago here in Northern Virginia. Once I got the pitch about the guys accidently having an extra pair of speakers, I explained that if the cost of the speakers was over $200, then my buying them under those conditions would be the commission of grand larceny, and could be punished by 20 years in prison – and their selling the goods was also grand larceny.
As I now know, they probably weren’t actually selling stolen goods, but the little speech certainly sent the message that I wasn’t going to be a good victim.
- Rick
:eek: I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of instances like this where one of them watches you enter your PIN, then they grab your card off you and scarper.
Homer: “Look at these low, low prices on famous brand name electronics!”
Bart: “Don’t be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs.”
Homer: “I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there’s Magnetbox, and Sorny!”
Had the scam tried on me at one of those self-service car washes. At the time I thought they were stolen and told them “no thanks.”
Later learned that they are just really crappy speakers. Kind of clever in a way, in that it appeals to the greedy and stupid.
Like the Nigerian scams, its frequency means somebody is falling for it.
Let`s see,
Me - 6`4", 225 lbs.
Them combined - no challenge.
Plus, I would have pointed to a nearby parking lot and told them to wait there whilst I make the withdrawl.
Hi, I’m stupid. I actually fell for the speaker pitch when I was shopping for my parents one Christmas about 20 years ago. The scam was new and I hadn’t heard about it yet. Oh, did I mention I was naive as well? They still have the 150 dollar pieces of crap in their house but, being parents, have never turned the stereo past “2” so it didn’t really matter.
A guy I knew in college (a real jerk) bought a Triniton he thought was stolen for several hundred dollars from somebody in a 7-11 parking lot. When he got home and plugged it in, it didn’t work. He took off the back and found, instead of electronic guts, a large brick. Served him right.
My husband sold those speakers and steroes when he was a pup- he said they were just the crappiest equipment available sold at greatly inflated prices. He was just leaving teenagerhood and got to travel with the job which he found very exciting. He is all grown up now and still feels a little guilty for selling the crap.
We have the same scam here in England. A variation on it is a carpet selling scam.
Some shify looking geezers rock up at your house with a “arabian/persian” carpet, acting deliberately clueless and dodgy.
You assume said carpet is valuable and nicked so hand over your hard earned sovs.
Said carpet is actually a piece of junk. They have prayed on your own greed in believing you are getting a bargain.
In Chicago there are vaguely disreputable people who approach you to try to sell gold chains. The chains still have the tags on them from reputable stores, showing a value of several hundred dollars. So people surreptitously buy them and go back to the 'burbs crowing about the deal they got; they used to bring the “gold” into my dad’s stores to get valued. All of the chains were, without exception, cheap gold plated crap worth just a few bucks. Most of the time they weren’t even stamped 14k.
I’m surprised anyone even takes the time to listen to these guys whenever they are approached. To me this is like telemarketing, but in person. My basic rule is, if I want something I will go to a store that sells what I want and buy it there. I’d never give into an unsolicited offer to buy something off the street from a complete stranger, especially where several hundred dollars are concerned. I’ve never actually experienced this sort of thing, but I’ll be sure to look out for these kinds of people and I will warn family and friends to avoid them.
I love screwing around with these guys. “Really, I bet they’re stolen!” That means they must be a great price!" I’ll take all of them but I have to write a check ok?"
Some people are just really, really good at pitching you.
I never bought any speakers*, but I once bought a necklace at a bus stop. Beads on a cord. Not crap; I’d say it was worth the $4 I paid for it, and it would have gone well with my burgundy outfit (not that the guy selling it knew that I had such an ensemble). The thing is, though, he just kept yammering and yammering until I went from agreeing that it was nice to agreeing that it was a crime against nature for me not to buy it. It wasn’t until we made the exchange and he left that it occurred to me to wonder why he had just a necklace—no kit or catalogue or anything—and why it was a matter of life and death for him to sell it to me.
I still have it, in fact. But I’ve never worn it, because every time I see it, it reminds me that I let someone else completely subvert my will.
*BTW, has anyone ever reported such a scam to store security? Once at Albertsons and once outside of a Kinkos, I had people approach me with what had to be scams, and the Kinkos guy also appeared to be tweaking. I ignored them, then went inside and informed security, who shooed the people away. Doesn’t solve the overall problem, of course, but I didn’t want other patrons to be bothered either.
I keep waiting to meet up with the white van people but never do.
I know a thing or two about audio and sound so I always thought it would be fun.
Or course, I already have speakers.