Loosing hope

RedCowboy said:

This is part of the damage that SciFi did, he hurts good people who do not deserve this scrutiny, SciFi stole more than peoples money, he stole other peoples business and stole from all of LPF's accountability and reputation.

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I agree RedCowboy :beer:

There is also Survival lasers for some nice host assemblies, combined with a DTR diode/module/driver unit.
This combination would require minimal assembly and soldering, and would give you the satisfaction of having built your own laser!

Alien Laser said:

the pictures you can see on my profile
or Youtube,
https://www.youtube.com/user/HONDACOMPAQ

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Nice collection Alien

RedCowboy said:

This is part of the damage that SciFi did, he hurts good people who do not deserve this scrutiny, SciFi stole more than peoples money, he stole other peoples business and stole from all of LPF's accountability and reputation.

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Yeah and the bad thing about that as I've noticed, is that the laser community a long with companies is very small as it is, it's not like you can go to your local target and buy a high powered laser, so even just one company making those kinds of mistakes impacts quite a bit
But back to what I was saying about the Laser community being small, I like it that way and know all of the veterans like yourself, definitely don't want everyone and their grandmas getting into a hobby like this lol that would just mean more irresponsible possibility. Just to let you know I just wanna say that I know I'm still a very low rep member but I respect members like yourself quite a lot.

There's a Sticky in the B/S/T section titled "6 Steps To Prevent You From Getting SCAMMED" by Tech_Junkie who BTW is now banned - didn't know him nor do I know why he was banned.

Rule #2:
"2. When using Paypal never send as "Gift" or "Money Owed". If you send money this way you cannot file a dispute through Paypal if you get scammed. If someone asks you to send money this way its a sure bet its a scam. Always send money as "Payment For Goods", and write a description of the item in the message field. If something goes wrong you have 45 days to file a dispute in Paypal. If you have not received your item by the 40th day, open a dispute. If the seller tries to stall, and/or says they will not refund your money unless you close the dispute, then escalate the dispute to a claim and let Paypal handle it. But do not file a dispute until it reaches at least 35 days. Delayed deliveries are not uncommon."

There are a couple replies thanking the OP. Once I found this forum I too wanted a laser and did not want to undertake making it (I wanted it to work for sure if I was going to spend $400+). I found one I really liked but the Seller was firm on the payment as a gift. I had read this Sticky as part of my homework and just didn't want to chance it. So I passed on the offer and then watched and waited. Eventually I ended up trusting the Seller and bought a fairly expensive one. One small shipping hiccup but the fault lies squarely with USPS. They actually delivered it with signature required to the wrong house.

:wtf:

That house's owner, whom I've never met, was kind enough to drive over and give to me. So all went well. Laser host is gorgeous and so is the beam. I intend to buy more from this Seller.

So I completely understand your position as a Buyer but as I got to know more Sellers I learned they also get scammed quite a bit. But it still cuts both ways. In fact I'm still trying to recover a laser I bought for more than $500 way back in Sept 2015. So my conclusion is as it always has been:

So you guys honestly think I have nothing to worry about with alien? I get it I'm the new guy and he's not... I just wanna know if I'm safe sending him money with no parachute? I love Aliens work! I really do.. But if I send him money and get nothing in return it dosent matter how good his work is now does it?

Yoshi1988 said:

So you guys honestly think I have nothing to worry about with alien? I get it I'm the new guy and he's not... I just wanna know if I'm safe sending him money with no parachute? I love Aliens work! I really do.. But if I send him money and get nothing in return it dosent matter how good his work is now does it?

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I haven't bought from him but I have a pen he made. Very nice work. And if you get scammed, well the people here aren't very forgiving for something like that but yes, it will be an (another?) expensive lesson.

But I would add this, I bought from Styro and he is extremely hard to get a hold of with his busy school schedule. So I needed a cell phone, personal email, something that he'll respond to if I ran into any trouble. He agreed and I bought his:



So I think you're on the right track asking for some contact info other than through this forum.

Trust is earned we have to recover from damages done to this forum
the only way we can earn trust is to trust each other, its like a book you can not judge the book by its cover
never give up and lose hope

Yoshi1988 said:

So you guys honestly think I have nothing to worry about with alien? I get it I'm the new guy and he's not... I just wanna know if I'm safe sending him money with no parachute? I love Aliens work! I really do.. But if I send him money and get nothing in return it dosent matter how good his work is now does it?

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I had a great experience buying from him. Sent the money as a friend and he got the laser to me in like 2 days. It sucks how the Sci-fi issue has everyone all paranoid now. This place has a lot of actual decent people. We shouldn't let that piece of crap Eitan ruin the experience here.

Well I'm gonna buy from Alien sinse his track record seems pretty good... I'm sorry Alien none of this is your fault, Eitan just did a good job making me suspicious of everyone.. Either way good or bad you guys will be hearing what I have to say about Alien... I'll take a shot in the dark and let everyone know how it turns out for me... If I get what I saw in his videos I will be VERY happy!

Dont trust the humans hahahaha :knight:

Alien
In the midst of the largest advertiser defrauding a significant number of forum members, do you think its a good idea to advertise that you knowingly violate paypals terms of use?

“If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a Personal Payment for the purchase."

If its about the fee-include it in your charge. I charge my clients a 3%fee when i take a credit card instead of a check because thats what i pay in fees.

But when you ask a customer to pay you via personal only - that prospective customer can report you to paypal and they can (and regularly do) shut down accounts for such violations. The reason is that it circumvents paypals ability to properly report 1099-K to the IRS and removes the paypal settlement protection that protects buyers and sellers.

SciFi is not going to be back in business because hes been openly violating PayPal's acceptable use policy by selling lasers that violate US import regulations. I cannot see his paypal account reopening given the disputes and Paypal discovering he's selling goods that violate their AUP. He may also get hit with one or more $2.500 fines.

I'm not about to report you to paypal, but youve written in a public forum that you are knowingly violating their policy.

If its not about the fee (which is fair game to ask the customer to pay), why else would you not want to accept payment for goods as required?

Michifan said:

Alien
In the midst of the largest advertiser defrauding a significant number of forum members, do you think its a good idea to advertise that you knowingly violate paypals terms of use?

“If you are selling goods or services, you may not ask the buyer to send you a Personal Payment for the purchase."

If its about the fee-include it in your charge. I charge my clients a 3%fee when i take a credit card instead of a check because thats what i pay in fees.

But when you ask a customer to pay you via personal only - that prospective customer can report you to paypal and they can (and regularly do) shut down accounts for such violations. The reason is that it circumvents paypals ability to properly report 1099-K to the IRS and removes the paypal settlement protection that protects buyers and sellers.

SciFi is not going to be back in business because hes been openly violating PayPal's acceptable use policy by selling lasers that violate US import regulations. I cannot see his paypal account reopening given the disputes and Paypal discovering he's selling goods that violate their AUP. He may also get hit with one or more $2.500 fines.

I'm not about to report you to paypal, but youve written in a public forum that you are knowingly violating their policy.

If its not about the fee (which is fair game to ask the customer to pay), why else would you not want to accept payment for goods as required?

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Okay guys,

This is actually a serious issue. PayPal likes to send nastygrams to forums with trading sections, and having users openly say they're using the option that violates their terms is just asking for it. For an example of how other forums handle it, look at the astronomy forum CloudyNights. There are plenty other services to use as a way to reduce fees that are just as safe or safer than PayPal's feeless option.

Rivem said:

Okay guys,

This is actually a serious issue. PayPal likes to send nastygrams to forums with trading sections, and having users openly say they're using the option that violates their terms is just asking for it. For an example of how other forums handle it, look at the astronomy forum CloudyNights. There are plenty other services to use as a way to reduce fees that are just as safe or safer than PayPal's feeless option.

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So basically keep it to PMs if you wanna talk about cheating paypal:shhh:

Razako said:

So basically keep it to PMs if you wanna talk about cheating paypal:shhh:

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Yep. Deleting direct evidence in posts is a good idea too. If you really don't want to pay that fee, look at cryptocoins, postal MO, bank transfer, cheaper echeck services, etc.

--$1.99 for USPS MO up to $1000 iirc
no id needed to BUY one- Current Photo ID required
to cash at banks or POs.. doing anything illegal with one
is a Federal Offence.

w/PP if & when lasers (portable) come up in the dispute ...it could go either way or no way at all.... ditto if payment is for a ra44le- dr4wing-
or other items not allowed on PPs list.

IMO it may be hard to find better protection than using your CCard.
or deal with a trusted partner.