Let's just break his *fudge*ing legs.

Profanity filter still working?

First he has problems getting people their complete order. Then he has a death in the family. Okay, I can see how this might mess up a business where he is the sole owner, proprietor, and only employee as well.

But to know that there are lots of upset customers out there, who are more than ready to pursue legal action against him, and decide to go on vacation and not bother to inform any of his customers via email, web-page, or the message on his answering machine that he will be out of touch for several days?

Guess he was hoping the magic business elves would fix his problems while he was gone.

He prolly forgot to pay the magic business elves.

Call ICE. I bet those Magic Business Elves are undocumented, illegal immigrants. They really need to build that wall between the US and fairyland.

No, they get magic business visas.

I imagine they create their own magic business visas, which would
be the problem right there.

Yeah, damn magic business elves, they can never play by the rules.

I doubt he went on a holiday. I still have no replies from him, Paypal were also happy to reject my claim against him as it's 'too long since payment was made'.

Posted By knthrak on 05/01/2007 12:45 AM
I doubt he went on a holiday.

Ya think?

I truly believe now that he has always been an idiot. He just survived for so long through sheer luck.

Can't this guy just get his butt slapped in jail for postal fraud and be done with it if all this stuff is true? It seems that this is a federal crime he's committing.

Look, folks.
Here's the bottome line.

Want your stuff or your money?
There are NO LESS than 3 things you MUST do.

1) File a complaint with the FBI.
2) File a complaint with the USPS
3 CAREFULLY read EVERY BIT of info I posted on Bartertown and follow my lead.

You might have a problem with #3 right now. They recently had a server crash or some-such and are in the middle of reloading everything that's been posted to the site since earlier this year.

Now, there's no guarantee that these 3 things will suffice... but they will help.

Also, did you pay via credit or debit card? If so, forget PayPal. Go through the bank that issues your card. You can find their toll free # on the back of your card. Tell them you have a FRAUD complaint.

Eric

At this point, if there's anyone who knows robert, and can get my money back, I will give you 50% of it to cut my losses.

Wow! I had a response today from Robert to my BBB claim thingy. It would seem we have had a communications breakdown. Hopefully this can all be sorted out nicely.

Posted By knthrak on 05/10/2007 6:16 AM
Wow! I had a response today from Robert to my BBB claim thingy. It would seem we have had a communications breakdown. Hopefully this can all be sorted out nicely.

Wow. Some people beleive anything......

as soon as he pays everyone back then I will stop calling him... emailing him.. etc..


ANd next time he contacts you tell him to contact the rest of us..

Be sure to follow through on your claims. Don't call it off just because he finally sends what he owes you. This POS deserves everything he gets.

Posted By Flagg07 on 05/10/2007 10:23 AM
Be sure to follow through on your claims. Don't call it off just because he finally sends what he owes you. This POS deserves everything he gets.

TDZ deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. He's hoping some people will drop all the charges if they get their stuff. If a thief robs a bank and then gets caught, he doesnt just give back the money and walk away free. It would be really stupid to let him get away with this after all he has put people through.

Hmmm....my bad, I got my stuff and DID drop the claim. You guys are right, he should have had to pay in some way for the inconvenience I had to go through....but I'll be honest, I was soo relieved to get my stuff, it kinda swamped the anger I would have been justified in feeling.

No, if I get my stuff, I will drop the claims. Because once i receive my stuff I have nothing to claim against rather than slow delivery and poor communication.

And the rest of us are sitting here... Screwed by that SOB.

I hope everyone gets what the ordered or TDZ gets what he deserves..

You gotta be kidding me?!!!
Mail Fraud is a federal offense. He stole from you guys and yet your still pussy footing around. You guys need to get together and contact the FBI together with all of your information. Either one of you or all of you need to let them know the particulers of your issue
https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

http://www.ic3.gov

http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/

Look at the track record here, He continues to have the worst luck in the world, either his E mail is out, or He has deaths in the family, or whatever. He always strings the rube along till the last possible moment.

He claims that he has issues, yet has enough scratch to go on vacations?

The internet sight is down, so as usual time is against all of you. Whatever city this con artist is in should have a file on him. You would all do well to get together and work this issue out by contacting the closest postmaster about this. Of course I already said this guy is a flake, and he was stringing you all as long as possible.

Even though some of you guys got the stuff, I say he's going to change his " Name" ands open a new internet store and do the same thing again.
Pull out the big guns and get someone in the legal realms to look into this issue. It is internet fraud,and theft if I ever heard of it.
1. you ordered something from him, paid, and you didn't receive anything. He has every other excuse going for it, and makes excuses, all along having phenominal luck in having personal issues come up at opportune times.
2. Even though people continue to get shafted, he is still " selling" to people. loe and behold, there are all the other " hey dropzone, wheres my stuff..." stories coming out of there.
3. Eventually Bartertown feels the heat, and his little stint has probibly affected thier credability as well.they probibly won't touch this with a ten foot pole, because they know thier in the hot seat for covering his asset for the time that they did. As well, I say they are more wrapped up in protecting his " Good Name" then they are about squaring this guy away and doing right by the customer.

Seller or not, this duche affects the whole of the gaming community, because this issue plays on the basic trust that people have to buy stuff over the net.

You all need to get some representation, or at the very least have someone take a look into this matter. Its one thing to have a misshipment, or an issue with a legitamate buisness, its a complete different matter that someone would take all of your scratch and string you along with a bunch of BS.
27 pages of this guy... and still no stuff??? WTF

You guys need to pool together and put the screw to this guy. from what I can read here, the other guy with the idea to collectively list each and everyone and thier stuff, and then get it to the right people should get your local cops off the duff and do something about it.
The guy is laughing this to the bank, and knows you guys are punked out.

I have a issue about it because if he steals from you, he'll easily go do it to anyone.Of course he is going to resurface again with a different internet store, "so he can serve you all better..."

I have a few friends that deal with gaks like this, maybe I have them go look into this issue. I'll give you thier opinion, and hopfully what they can do about it.
gl to you on the issue, More to follow.

I reported it to the IC3, they don't seem to care. I've had a response via BBB and I will play that out.

Posted By Grot 6 on 05/10/2007 3:58 PM

The internet sight is down, so as usual time is against all of you.

 

<SNIP>

3. Eventually Bartertown feels the heat, and his little stint has probibly affected thier credability as well.they probibly won't touch this with a ten foot pole, because they know thier in the hot seat for covering his asset for the time that they did. As well, I say they are more wrapped up in protecting his " Good Name" then they are about squaring this guy away and doing right by the customer.

 

 

Re: The site is down

 

::raises hand::

 

Umm... that was me.

It's amazing what a few emails to eCrater, followed up with proof and links to other complaints will do.

 

Re: Bartertown... You really shouldn't talk about anything if you don't know what you're talking about.

He's been pulled as an advertiser (weeks ago) and banned from the site. Additionally, the Admin staff over there have taken this whole thing VERY personally.

Want your stuff?

Do what I did.

Contact the USPS and file for mail fraud.

Contact the FBI (IC3) and file a fraud complaint.

Call his home and leave him a voice mail telling him that you've done these things.

Call his cell # and leave him the same message.

IF you paid via credit card, contact them for a fraud complaint.

 

It worked for me. He found my "other box" in the mall's "mail room."

(almost $90 worth of stuff)

Eric

 

 

 

the one thing im unsure in is this:

what protections do uk and european users have on this? we dont have the same support or mail fraud protections you guys seem to. how would a uk based person proceed with this?

millest

At a minimum, overseas buyers could attempt to follow through in the same way. I could be totally off base, but I would bet that mail fraud would cover international as well. I'm sure there are others who know the answers to your questions Millest. Regardless of where you are, it couldn't hurt to contact the FBI and such.




People like you are why people like him are able to continue stealing. Following through on a claim is a way to be part of the solution:
1) He is forced to change his ways and run a competent business.
2) He can't stand the heat, resulting in closing the business and making it safe for other gamers who won't get screwed by this guy.

Dropping it because you get your overdue product makes you part of the problem.
1) No real need to change his business model of you giving him $$ and him giving you nada.
2) He gets to take 15 day vacations on your loot.

Lemme guess, you believe his BS about family problems and vacations... Funny he was in the exact same situation months before this thread started. The "death" excuse came out as a direct result of this particular thread. "Hey the Drop Zone, Why are you Posting on Dakka but ignoring my e-mails for product.... or something along those lines. Anyone that believes any of the crap that spews from this thief's mouth is naive. Wake up and smell the fraud...

Here's a little known fact about this poor guy who fell on tough times. He opened a Bad Trader Report on a new trader. Why? Because after TDZ sent the new guy an item, the new guy, for whatever reason, flaked out and didn't pay. Eventually, the new guy sent the item back (+/- 2 weeks). TDZ was pissed because he was out the $4.55 that he spent on shipping the item in the 1st place. While I agreed that he had a right to be pissed, because at the end of a trade, nobody should end up with less $$ or product then they agreeed on. In this case, TDZ was out the $4.55 shipping.

Most of you are probably out well over 10 times that and have waited much longer than he did, yet some of you are willing to let him slide. I wonder what Robert the thief would have done if the shoe was on the other foot....

Posted By Flagg07 on 05/11/2007 3:50 AM

People like you are why people like him are able to continue stealing. Following through on a claim is a way to be part of the solution:

No, my claims will be dropped as they are claims for not receiving an item, should I receive the items in question then those claims are no longer valid.  Not contacting me and taking a long time to send me my items are a different matter.

I have received some progress via the BBB, which is good for me as i'm not a US citizen.  It's worth noting that the stuff I ordered would cost USD350 from GW, but only 150USD from TDZ.  So once I have my stuff, i'm happy.

Robert has already lost his online store, this has hurt his business, and has no doubt caused him no end of grief.  While I feel for people who've been going through the same things I have, once someone receives their items, or a refund.  It's over, and whether it was on purpose, whether he is a nice guy, or a turd, if everyone has their stuff, or a refund, there is no need to keep harping on about it.

So while someone like yourself can be self-righteous sitting on the internet a few thousand klicks away, unless you are also out of pocket to Robert, you have no right to tell me what I can and can't do regarding my personal claims against TDZ.  If I don't get my money/items, I will persue it until the day I die, if I do, then my trade is completed and I would wish him all the best in the future, and TBH, if he sorts everything out, and TDZ continues to trade well, and ship items, with the same sort of discounts, one day I may just buy from him again, as people always deserve another chance, if you don't believe that, then I hope people will give you short thrift into the future, perhaps that will change your opinion.

100% your choice. Though I'd strongly reccomend not doing it as you're asking for more problems. To each his own...





Magical Memories had the same feelings you do. He was even so bold as to put his money where his mouth was and turned down Bobby's offer to ship before payment. He wanted to show Robert some good faith. That didn't pan out so well for him.

Not knocking you MM, just pointing out the probable outcome of giving this guy a 2nd chance.





Huh, this isn't something the BBB should be aware of? As we are all well aware, it's certainly your choice to drop the claim. I wonder how many other people will get suckered by this thief.

I have every right to express my opinion. That's what forums are about... I don't need to be out anything to take an interest in seeing a thief get what he deserves. Don't throw a hissy just because I didn't get taken.




This is something I'd expect from TDZ, not someone who got scammed by him. Are you going with him on his next vacation or something? By the way, where do you stand? It IS or IS NOT ok to tell people how you think they should handle things?




And I hope you fall for his pitch again. Chances are, my hopes will be recognized before yours since I have no plans to steal from or scam anyone and you seem just slow enough to get taken again. Good luck with that. I'd love to hear how a 2nd deal pans out for ya.

Anyone who drops charges against TDZ is a fool. You are saying what he is doing is OK. Is this what you paid for? to have to go through all this to get the product you paid for? Good customer service and reasonable shipping time is suppose to be included.

TDZ wanted to give me a negative reference because I questioned where my BFSP set was,after it never showed up. All I did was ask if it was shipped, or when it would be shipped. Guess what? No response. He "lost" my emails. I didnt get anywhere until I posted about him a Bartertown. AFTER that he shipped.

Flagg is right. If you drop charges YOU are part of the problem. I hope he doesnt send you anything,then maybe you'll get off your thumb and take a stand instead of punking out.

TDZ enjoyed his vacation and he used your money to pay for it. Oh ,wait, he was greiving for his dead relative......yeah thats it......keep sending those orders chumps.

First of all, I think everyone needs to take a virtual step back and BREATHE for a moment.

There is NO need for us to be spewing such vitriol at each other.

There is no need for the negative comments directed at each other. We're all free to share our opinions here, regardless of whether or not we agree. Remember that when responding to each other, please.

Now, to make a few comments:

No offense taken. In fact, I was going to bring it up myself. It took me over a month to finally get my items that went missing. I got excuses as to why they were missing (the box had been lost in the mall's mail room), but I eventually got my stuff.

Why do I feel I got it? Because I can be VERY  "not nice."

I don't fight fair. I fight to win. I hit the FBI & USPS, as well as eCrater. In fact, if you check out his eCrater site, and search for items, you'll find none available. As I said before, "That was me."

MY ORDER WAS EVENTUALLY RECTIFIED AND I WILL NEVER EVER KNOWINGLY DO BUSINESS WITH THE DROP ZONE AGAIN.

MY TRUST AND FAITH IN HIM IS IRREVOCABLY GONE.

F*** me once, shame on you. F*** me twice, shame on me.

 

All of that being said, I have to agree with Starslayer & Flagg's opinions on dropping your complaints. If you drop your complaints (I have not dropped my old ones, but I have not started any NEW ones, as I DID receive my stuff and I think it might be illegal to do that, now), then you make it more difficult for others to obtain recompense. It can be anything from the law looking at it, seeing that the guy is EVENTUALLY getting stuff to people (some, anyway), and lowering his priority to them ignoring it entirely (believing that he'll EVENTUALLY make good).

You just never know.

 

Eric

Good luck lads.
I think I'd rather pay full price at a brick and mortar than risk all this crap.

I would too, but my hobby shops don't carry what I wanted and their special ordering services are wanting (I ordered three mounted daemonettes over a year ago and haven't heard squat).

That is a problem, I'm lucky these days because I can get to a GW easily enough, and any other stuff I can grab from UK mail order fairly easily.

Well, I can definately say I got suckered, but fortunately for me I came back with a bloody nose and my goods.

I do agree with the notion to keep the pressure on TDZ, but we have to be factual about our dealings. I raised a Paypal disbute that my items were not recieved, I recieved them....that means the case HAS to be closed. If I keep the case open, and its found that I have recieved the item, then I'm defrauding the system and I get punked.

Now, would I endorse shopping at TDZ or with Robert? HELL NO! and I would shout it from the roof-tops....but, even so, thats my opinion, and other shoppers are free to heed my warnings or not. If Iorek, STARSLAYER and Flagg07 want to start a "hurt Robert" campaign, then sign me up.

What-ever we do, whether it be through the legal system or through negative advertising, we have to make sure we're not open to legal proceedings ourselves and that we are 100% honest in our dealings, anything else will get Robert the sympathy vote and an eventual flood of new schmucks (...er, customers! )

Considering how long it took you to get your order and what you had to go through, you should still have a valid complaint with the BBB.
Delephony,I wouldnt want to you to say you didnt get your product to get TDZ in trouble. But lets keep the pressure on, until everyone gets their items.

In the event that you lost money from this guy.


- My magic eightball tells me that your local authorities are very interested in it. The ball tells me that you should do a few things.

- Contact the state that this guy runs the store out of. The state capital has an office called the corporation commission. It is a department that has to do with stores operating in the state. To run a business in the state, this guy needs to have a license. If its just a guy doing it on his own, hes violating another law, and the authorities get very interested in interstate fraud.The issue does get into FBI territory, by him being a smart scam artist, it is very likely that the guy may go to ground and resurface as another store.Let them know, either way.

- The authorities need to be told the particulars of your issue. In starting this report, you don't get to hem and haw around, You need to tell them the truth and show your proof that you paid for something that you didn't receive. All of you need to get in touch with them about the matter. the more of you scammed, the better. (A united effort is needed if you want to get action, remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease!!)

- You need to know that who you buy from is a legit seller.Check before you send the money, make sure you have someone on the other end that you can get in contact with, and make sure you know what your getting. Contact your BBB for the store BEFORE you send payment. And don't send cash. Make the payments in some other way. CC or PayPal.

- Make sure you generate a police report and let your local authorities know, either way, so the authorities have something to go by when it happens again. Depending on the amount, you overseas may have a better chance of getting this guy in the cookie jar, because of the international trade laws, and someone who knowingly does this is trifling with not only US law, but international law as well.You guys in England have to get with your people over there for your slant on this issue. In the event that he did you wrong too.

My Magic eightball told me to stay out of it and to tell you all that if you were scammed that you need to file the report and get the ball rolling to have anything happen. They told me that most people would just as likely take the loss, and that the scam artists bank on that.


I know that this stuff is alot of what is already has been said before, but the magic eight ball tells me that it is prevelent, and is going to get worse if you don't deal with it. Its a hard crime to prosecute, but that it isn't impossible.

I hope for The Drop Zone's sake that it is just bad luck and bad buisness practice. The Magic Eight ball told me of some of the things that could happen, and none of them were good. There was talk of jail time, but more of fines and loss of licenses.


BE careful of dealing with them, TELL THE TRUTH, and do what you need to the get this issue dealt with. Rest assured, they will deal with this guy in the event that it is in case Theft.

I hope you guys get your stuff or the money, but I hope this guy gets whats coming to him even more. A thief is a thief.

well you guys can count me in as another dropzone victim, if anything organized is going on you can count me in on it.  does anyone have his phone number and cell number?  could someone please private message me with it?  i wouldnt be surprised if its in this thread but waiding through  29 pages of this is something i don't have time for.  thanks

 

dax

Here's a little known fact about this poor guy who fell on tough times. He opened a Bad Trader Report on a new trader. Why? Because after TDZ sent the new guy an item, the new guy, for whatever reason, flaked out and didn't pay. Eventually, the new guy sent the item back (+/- 2 weeks). TDZ was pissed because he was out the $4.55 that he spent on shipping the item in the 1st place. While I agreed that he had a right to be pissed, because at the end of a trade, nobody should end up with less $$ or product then they agreeed on. In this case, TDZ was out the $4.55 shipping.

That kid supposedly changed his mind after it was shipped, and sent it back to Robert.

I was one of the few (maybe only) people to tell Robert that he shouldn't try to destroy a newbies reputation for less than five dollars. I told him that openly in the thread.  Unfortunately both Robert and the newbie ended up with several BTRs. But it was pretty strange for him to start acting all superior even after getting a few complaints against him for the bits problem (which is seperate from the other problems). Not sure how telling him to back off translates into "covering his assets" though.

 

 

Guess who's moving shop.

BBB seems to have failed to get anything from him, so if anyone can get him to reimburse me i'll give you half.

Considering how many people want to crack this guy in the jaw, it's pretty ballsy to give out his new location.

He can afford rent on a better place with all the money he's stolen. Someone nearby should blanket the mall parking lot with flyers on how he's ripped everyone off. Give him a little free advertising in thanks for his great customer service.

Heh, flyers are for noobs.

Show up early for his Grand Opening and stink-palm him.




"Would you like a chocolate covered pretzel?"

Yes, I would like to kick him until his eyes water, but I live in the UK....will someone please do me a favour and give him a kick where the sun don't shine....and I don't mean London

Posted By blue loki on 06/04/2007 8:38 AM
Heh, flyers are for noobs.

Show up early for his Grand Opening and stink-palm him.




"Would you like a chocolate covered pretzel?"

Yeah, stink palm.....he'd probably enjoy it.....

I'm thinking of something to hit him where it hurts....his wallet. Letting potential customers know the truth is the way to go.

Posted By Delephont on 06/04/2007 9:51 AM
Yes, I would like to kick him until his eyes water, but I live in the UK....will someone please do me a favour and give him a kick where the sun don't shine....and I don't mean London

It's not a good idea to even remotely threaten someone on the internet these days. 

Not in the USA anyway.

Nor is it a good idea to accept someone's money with the promise of delivering a product, and then using that money to finance a vacation and a new store...

Dear Robert, you are a piece of SH!T and I hope someone does kick you till you cry.

This all notwithstanding. I'm still offering $75 US to anyone who can get him to give me my money back.

This all notwithstanding. I'm still offering $75 US to anyone who can get him to give me my money back.

Mods, please forgive the threadomancy. I do have an update of sorts, though:

I know this is old, but you guys should all take note; we have confirmed that The Drop Zone is now operating as Drop Zone Games.
Robert kind of fell off our radar for a while, but he's been spotted at GenCon wearing a name tag for Drop Zone Games.
I don't know what reputation he has as Drop Zone Games, but we know what it was as TheDropZone.
I'll steer clear, personally.

Eric

Well, that's unfortunate because their name is now similar to an excellent business I know.

There is an absolutely excellent store near me called "Dropzone Games" and they even have a Dakka account, "Dropzone":

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/user/profile/52219.page

So, please don't confuse the two! If you live in the Maryland area, the local Dropzone Games store, run by the former GW Bunker manager and in the same location, is fantastic.

And Dropzone Games, MD staff were definitely at GenCon last year. I saw two of them personally.

It seems quite odd that someone from 2007 is back all of a sudden.

But there definitely is a legitimate and excellent business current in this hobby by that name.

I would be very cautious with jumping to conclusions here. Even inadvertently associating Dropzone Games, Md with a previous shady dealer is completely inappropriate.

Edit- typo

No conclusions here; only facts. I am not interpreting them to mean anything. I am only handing them out.

Honestly, RiTides' word means a lot to me. If he says that the place in MD is kosher, that's all I need. That does not, however, mean Eveland is not back, and using their name as a cover (since it's so close to his own old one) to get in with a Vendor badge/license/whatever.... or using his OWN old business name and counting on the fact that it's so close.

If you're going to deal with a "Drop Zone," be sure it's the right one.

Eric

I almost crapped my pants when I saw this thread.

WHERE ARE MY CHAOS HOUNDS?!

Don't ship them to that old address, btw, Robert. I have moved.

And I'll take the equivalent value in Tau, now. That Lost and the Damned army is long gone.

And MagickalMemories, thank you for your amazing memory!

Yeah, agreed- they may be using name similarity to their advantage. Make sure you get the good Dropzone Games! Located in Glen Burnie MD... also the good store does not use a space in their name afaik, so the names s are not identical, thankfully.