Service Care Blog

See Part 1, or you will be a little lost as to what I'm talking about:

Okay, at last post, I had replied to our possible business contact (or scammer) and we were wondering if he would give us more information.

Here is the reply:

-----Original Message-----
>From: Terry Lane 
>Sent: Oct 2, 2009 12:27 AM
>To: Toxey McDavid 
>Subject: Re: Appliance Refrigerator repair inquiry
>
>Hello Toxey,
>Thanks for your mail, well this are what needed to be done on each appliance
>below:
>
> REFRIGERATOR:
>
>Not as cold as usual
>Not cold at all
>Frozen in the freezer side
>and warming up in the fridge side
>Frosting up?
>Pooling water or ice on the floor
>Whistling, warbling, chirping, clicking, buzzing or making other funny
>noises
>
>
>IS YOUR DRYER:
>
>Too hot
>Not as hot as it should be
>Not heating at all
>Getting warm, but just not drying as well as it used to? Or not drying at
>all
>Not doing anything
>Rumbling, rattling, squeaking, clacking,
>or making grinding or other noises
>
>WASHER:
>
>Not spinning
>Not draining
>Not agitating, or agitating weakly
>Not filling, or filling too slowly
>Not doing anything
>Leaking water or oil
>Overflowing
>Leaving your clothes too wet at the end of the cycle
>Vibrating uncontrollably
>Spinning and agitating at the same time
>Screeching, squeaking, clattering, knocking, buzzing,
>or making grinding or other strange noises
>Do you smell smoke when your washer is running
>
>
>WASHING MACHINE:
>Not draining
>Not filling
>Not doing anything
>Stopping in mid-cycle
>Buzzing or making grinding or other strange noises
>Spotting dishes? Or even etching dishes
>
>I want you to email me the total quote for repair service for the appliance
>and also i will like to confirm you accept credit card by mode of payment.
>
>Thanks
>Terry Lane

As you can see, he did not answer the pertinent questions, but he did seek to clarify what was wrong with each unit... or did he?

There was something suspicious about the complaints he had listed, so I copied a few and google them to see what I could find.

Bingo.

A quick search of google shows that these complaints are taken, word for word, from various online appliance repair websites.

Okay, there is no longer any doubt. This person is not legitimate.

Basically, I have a few options:

1) Stop replying and ignore this scammer, and forget about it. (What fun is that?)
2) Send him a nasty-gram, and tell him he's been spotted. (Like he cares.)
3) Reply as if he is legitimate, and press him for information and see what I can do with it. See where this goes and what happens (without giving him any money, of course).

I'm choosing 3, for better or worse, because I don't like scammers. This kind of preying, cowardly thievery really gets my goat. So to speak.

So, here's my reply (bear in mind that these estimates, as I explain in the reply, are basically worthless and made up off the top of my head):

Hello Terry,

Based on this unusual set of complaints, I can give you general estimates
for these repairs. These are only guesses, as it is impossible to determine
what the real cost of a repair will be until the diagnosis is complete.

Refrigerators: $150-300
Dryers: $100-175
Washers: $100-200
Washing Machines: $100-200

I do not normally accept out-of-state credit cards, but I might be able to
make an exception for such a large set of repairs.

I'm still curious to know a little more about who I am dealing with. What
is the name of your company, and where do you operate your business?

Thanks again,

Toxey McDavid

Let's see what happens.

Will the scammer read our blog and run away? Will he reveal the location of his secret lair? Will the Penguin triumph over a caped duo?

Tune in for Part 3 to find out... if you're really bored, of course.

Labels: appliances, scams