SCAMMED BY A BT'R!!!!!

Wow.  That really sucks.  I'm so sorry!

The site IS getting really big these days.  It's a shame that with size we are going to get some low lifes floating around.

Good luck!

Bummer.  Sorry to hear that.  It's unbelievable the stories people will concoct to draw people in.  Hope you're able to get some of the money back.

Was this someone we "knew", or someone with few/no posts who signed on specifically to sell a bike?

Somebody with 30 posts on BT.  Doesn't look like a dedicated scammer.

We have followed up by filing a claim, however they can only recover funds if there are enough left in their paypal account. They cannot gain access to personal funds.

Just sent a couple of PMs. I found her husband on BT as well.

They don't seem like scammers...I looked up some old posts, and they seem like normal folks. Weird. 

 I agree. That's why I trusted her and we sent the money without tying it up in Escrow for weeks. I really do believe that she needs the money. But time after time, she sent me emails saying one thing and another thing was true. When I sent the money, she told me she paid the bike store to ship it  and it'd be out in the mail tomorrow.  10 days later she told me she was having a friend at the bike shop do it under the table for a case of beer, that he hadn't gotten it shipped, and she'd pick it up herself from the shop and have it picked up by fedex.  She gave me a tracking number that was orginated, but then 7 days later, the package had not been picked up.  Now, she won't answer ANY of our attempts to reach her.

I am just sick and heartbroken about this. We really wanted to be kind and do a good thing for another BT'r. We felt for her situation and tried to help her out, thinking I'd get a bike in the process.  Now we have to play hardball.  If she couldn't get it together to get the bike shipped, then she should have returned our money, or had a friend take care of it for her.  I worked extra to earn the money for this bike...and I do feel as if I've been scammed....like it was nothing to her to take our money because she was desperate. I have a family too.  It's not nothing to us.  I'm just sad.

Mel 

x2 

Not finding her.  Double check the name and report back.

FWIW, I was scammed by a guy on Slowtwitch quite a while back.  You never know who you're dealing with unless they have a solid reputation.

The only way we can keep BT clean is to police it ourselves and "out" those who are of questionable character.

Good luck.

Correct name:  bschro01

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/view-profile.asp?action=view&uid=21712

Dude - sorry to hear that.

Apparently, here is what your bike looks like...

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=30651

Need names, pictures, address, and even GPS coordinates so we can do a night insertion recover the money as well as the bike followed by a quiet extraction, of course after we slap them upside the head.

Sorry to hear you got screwed by someone that you thought you could trust, I hope you recover something. I got screwed several time at EBAY and it left a terrible taste in my mouth. If I can't see it, I won't buy it anymore and it's a shame we have to resort to that.  Good Luck.