Like the title says, has anyone heard from RavenDarkness in the past week or so?
I had a deal with him to swap my ColorClassic (plus 575 logicboard) for a 6500/300 motherboard plus other bits. So, after a delay on my part due to a family illness (which he said he was fine with), I packed up the CC and sent it off via UPS.
I sent him a note (which he never responded to) with the tracking #.
Anyway, to make a long story short- 3 delivery attempts, the last of which is noted that he has moved and the CC was just delivered back to my house.
So, I'm wondering what the deal is? If he had moved, I wish he had told me before I spent something like $25 to ship the CC. OTOH, given some of his posts about his run-ins with the local city, I wonder if he has been arrested or something.
Anyway, I guess I should be happy that the shipping cost is all that I am out, but I really would have preferred to just have this deal go through and be done with it.
So, does anybody have any insight or want to commiserate?
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ISTR . . .
dan k
I've got/had a swap going with him too. Which last I'd heard from him required me to file a damage claim with FedEx. I sent him a large lot of stuff and he claims the items he sent me in exchange were returned to him undelivered...which is nearly impossible. I sure hope he hasn't decided to permanently live in the wilderness or hasn't been eaten by a bear. This whole deal is rather suspicious, and if my claim with FedEx falls though (as it might if he's not there to let them inspect packaging) I'm not above a manhunt for the $$$$ lost.
But Steve seems like a decent guy who's just had some s---ty things happen to him lately and I can totally relate. So if that's all it is no problem! I got the impression that he was somewhat well know here which is why I went ahead with the deal.
I would be interested to hear some input from people who have dealt with him or know him personally. I'm still hoping things will turn out fine in the end.
- Tom
[edited for language by DrW]
Oh, one more thing. Just because UPS, FedEx, DHL, ect says someone has moved doesn't mean they actaully have. More likely its just their excuse for not being able to deliver the package when they tried M,W,F at 3:15...when most people would be at work...
Tom
Just so everyone knows, RavenDarkness is Steven Landon, a notorious scammer as far as buying/selling on Applefritter. (And I know from experience)
That's certainly interesting.
I was really suspicious about some of the things he was posting, like how his house was broken into twice, but they didn't take his computer (but after I called him on that he said oh, they took his big monitor), along with a few other things that set off my spidey-sense.
I emailed Tim Rynearson, Chief of Police of Claire MI about three weeks ago, and he replied back that he was sure he knew the person using the RavenDarkenss alias (After Raven said the Chief had been to his house personally, I emailed him a link to the housing ordinance thread), and he added "that individual has problems taking responsibility for his past and current actions." Of course, he couldn't give me any more information than that.
I kept that to myself, because it was only for my own curiosity to see if I was right that much of what he was posting was merely baiting and trolling for attention. But if he and Steve L are the same person... I seem to recall one of his many aliases here using the same 'poor me' stuff before when financial dealings started to fall apart.
I guess we'll just have to wait for his next alias to appear. Hopefully the next one won't be so close-sounding to Reverend Darkness (where's he been, anyway?)
i talk to him on aim once in a while. He used to be iMacMan, and even in personal chats he doesnt claim to use the fritter. He offeres to trade, i said ship it first.
I am in the same boat on a beige g3 I sent him. I havent heard form him since Aug 3, after he said that the comptuer was damaged in shipping. I was trading him for a b&w that he had advertised for sale. He said that he shipped the thing the same day I shipped it, but mine got there faster, and so he put a hold on the delivery of my computer till the claim could get sorted out. I hate thinking the worst of people, but I really hope he turns up soon.
While I concede that the "moved" part may be UPSspeak for "nobody home", they do leave those little post-its to let you sign for a package or ask that it be delivered elsewhere. So, he still could have just had the package delivered to the doorstep or held for pickup.
If nothing else, not doing so is a bit of poor form in a trade.
Of course, given his stories of how the city seems to be out to get him and the problems he appears to have had with other packages, maybe UPS and FedEx are also in on the conspiracy.
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In going back over his previous posts, I noticed one thing which has now set me off. When we made the deal for my CC, he says that he's been looking for one of those forever, but a couple of days later, his posts start featuring a signature with a list of computers that includes a CC. So, either I was told a falsehood or he started listing a system he hadn't even received yet. (Possible, I suppose, but a bit presumptuous, IMHO.)
I noticed that my last note from him was dated 8/2 which is 2 days after his big announcement that he was going camping for a couple of weeks. I suppose that that is where he is, but I would have thought it polite to say "Hey, don't send it yet, I'm going to be away until X."
I have to admit, the other posts have my hackles up and I should probably consider myself lucky to only be out the shipping. Assuming the best, though, I'm still miffed at the plain rudeness in his way of handling his end of the transaction.
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One more question... how many cars does this man have, anyway. Over in the "Other Technology" forum, he lists recent purchases of a hearse and a retired police car, totalling $3200. He also mentions a Bronco and a convertible in various posts.
All this from a guy who thinks its a big deal to get $20 for donating plasma.
Huh?
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From my dealings with RavenDarkness and the eMate I sent up, I got a name of 'S. Landon' with a shipping address. He confirmed receipt of the eMate, and did indicate a honest mistake in mailing the check (having found it in a stack of misplaced mail - no bigee). I have yet to recieve the check which was for only the amount of shipping ($15 or so). He also included a phone number, but I have yet to try it out. My patience has been in hopes that he can come through.
This thread gives me puase in those thoughts.
--DDTM
He could have been arrested you know. Didn't someone set up a lawsuit against him?
Oli
Just so everyone knows, RavenDarkness is NOT Reverend Darkness. There have been a couple of people who thought that we were one and the same, but I hope the rest of you did not think that.
Those stickies are the worst... half the time they fall off of your door, or are 'misplased' (ie stolen by #%(& kids!), and you never know you have a package waiting...
As for the closeness to Revrend Darkness, I'm suprised none of the Mods/admins/T.O. asked him to change his name or something so that there wasn't any distiction between the two. Also, if this guy is Steven Landon, he must be changing providers, or doing some sort of IP trickory in order to get on here (he's been banned before). I also think that it's rather stupid to talk about the police, and 'the city's out to get you' when it can be used to find out who you truly are.
Agreed. Actually, I never even noticed the naming similarity until this thread. If he ever comes back, this all will make for an interesting conversation.
I didn't see any need to be around while someone with a similar name was posting about hardware that sounded very similar to other posts.
I suppose I'll just have to trademark my nic... then I can sue for infringement...
It is good to know that there is a distinction between the Raven and the Reverend. I think your absence fueled the misconception that you were one and the same. Best suggestion to fight that is to maintain a visible presence and stay active.
(Can you really control the weather?)
--DDTM
I had other reasons for not stopping by for a while... maybe I'll go into them at a later date...
And regarding the weather... Lets just see here...
Average temp for August 19 - 97 degrees
Current Temperature - 70 degrees
Average rainfall for August - .06"
Current rainfall for August - 3"
So... I guess I'm getting better at this stuff...
Hey, cool! I invoked the Reverend!
Welcome back!
As for RavenDarkness, hopefully he will sort himself out as he says he's trying to do. He's his own worst enemy...it's just unfortunate others have been conned along the way.
Interesting that you would use the word "invoke" when pertaining to "Reverend Darkness"...
I like it! I shall now ask that all of my friends stop calling me and starting invoking me...
"Whaddaya wanna do tonite?"
"I don't know. Let me invoke the Reverend Darkness and see what's going on..."
So... What recourse do those of us who've been stupid enough to deal with him have? He claims nearly everything I sent him is damaged.
I sent a loaded Pismo, some Lombard parts, and a cool industrial LCD PC I never got to play with. He mentioned (either in pm's or the forums) that packages have been stolen when left on his porch. So requested a signature confirmation with FedEx delivery. AND just in case the package was left on the porch anyway I insured the whole thing for $1000. That's a bit on the high side, but knowning how these delivery drivers love to leave stuff just about anywhere I figured they'd owe me if it got stolen.
So he apparently got the stuff and told me it was all broken (except for the LCD PC). I was still waiting on my package from him which he claimed was on its way - a day or two later it was "returned undeliverable", yeah right I never saw a note and it was supposedly shipped USPS. I ship so much lately (to odd places) that they recognize me and would know if they were holding a large package for me! So, I file a claim with FedEx over the damaged shipment. At first my worry was that the claim would be denied because he wouldn't be there for FedEx to inspect the pacakge. Now that I see he does this repeatedly, I figure FedEx, UPS, ect will have him flagged and most likely won't approve any claims he's involved in.
We know who the Cheif of Police is in Clare, can he be charged with anything? I used to live about 30 mins from Clare and still have friends in the area...but I really don't want to have to go to extremes here. But that is a substantial amount of money for me right now. What pisses me off even more is that the list of stuff he was going to send me doesn't exist. The alarms should have went off louder when he had most everything I was looking for.
-Tom
Also look HERE for a more complete definition on the USPS site. Looks like this fits the definition. The first, he's done this repeatedly, so that fits, and second, the "or by causing to be mailed" is your clincher.
Wish I could offer more advice, but it's not something I've had to go through before.
I think you're S.O.L. with U.S.P.S.
Email, FedEx, UPS... all have nothing to do woth USPS... or the narrow definitions of what Mail Fraud actually is. As far as a District Attorney or whatever for whereever he's from... good luck with that too. I got zero action from mine on hot check writers.
Sounds like he scammed a few people and has moved on.
You got your CC back and from the other posts I guess you're the lucky one.
Krow
Out of curiousity, has anyone asked him to send them a picture of the damaged goods?
I know it's kind of a silly question, but I'm wondering what lengths he would go to to perpetuate these scams. Of course, like I said earlier, maybe UPS, the USPS, and Fedex are all in on the conspiracy to drive him from Clair, MI. Does the Domino's guy also make sure his pizza is cold and delivered at exactly 29:58?
I'm getting the definate feeling that I actually got off pretty lucky on this one.
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probably arrested.
Let's keep this within the bounds of fact.
When I mailed an eMate 300 to him several weeks back (via USPS), it was under the auspices and clear agreement (documented in PMs) that he would send me a check to cover the costs of shipping (between $12 and $15 dollars, don't recall exactly :?). Grant it I had no expectation of making money on the deal, just wanted to see it go to a good home ::).
I could postulate that he willfully devised to obtain the property under false pretenses (#1
and he caused to be mailed via the USPS said property, hence executing the scheme (#2 :)). I have a case ;D, but which is greater 
- the hassle over less money that it costs me to be a pizza (ususally get two with a bunch of toppings) or the desire to act on principle?
If a check does finally show up, I will let you know, but I do not expect it now that so many folks seem to have been maligned.
--DDTM
yes, definatley.
i really wish there was a way we could figure out if he was. instead of just speculation. (even though I, too think he was arrested for one reason or another)
Obviously, those of you who have made transactions with him have an address and a name... feel free to email me with the info and I can see what I can dig up...
phone number would be nice if you have one...
Back when I got scammed by him, we still talked on AIM for a bit. He sent me a link to his GeoCities page, which had several pictures of him. I can't find the site now or the pix, but he's medium height, brown hair, big glasses, skinny. Real nerdy looking. The pictures were of him and a girl (presumably girlfriend? though who would date this guy?) at some type of graduation - high school I'd guess.
He got my PB 1400 - said he'd send me a Wallstreet PB G3 for it.
...with the requested info. I have a known good address and a phone number of unknown working condition.
--DDTM
Watch it- nobody likes to have their appearance commented on in that way on a public forum, and remember he will, probably, be back here eventually to read this.
I'm curious... that trade seems a bit lopsided on the surface. What was the balancing factor?
--John
You pretty much just described every nerd in the US.
I'd bet money he has read it, but he'll never comment on it here because he'll be using a different alias.
"Oh, I'm using my friend's .mac account to host this picture. you better stop, or I'll sue you!" - 'Dr. Zoidberg'
I did , he claims his digital camera was broken at the time. He was full of it. I'm lucky to have received my damaged computer back which he claims was damaged during shipping by UPS. He can be charged with Theft and theft by deception if anyone wants to pursue the matter, on top of the mail fraud charges.
I thought america was full or lawyers and ppl sued each other all the time!
Maybe just a stereotype, but still, sue the bastard! You have TONNES of evidence. There have got to be no win no fee lawyers in america...