# e-bay fraud alert: ACOL



## Dranoel Dragon (Oct 9, 2007)

Anyone know this guy? Done any business with him? 

His profile lists him as a power seller, with nearly 24k feedbacks. He has had a few lately that show he went a month before shipping items.

I bought 6 tjet bare chassis off him, it's been three weeks, haven't recieved them and after two messages sent I haven't heard back from him. He's not dead and he's not in the hospital because he has shipped other items (a lot of them) since my auction ended.

I don't like getting ripped off. You might want to avoid doing business with him as he may decide you're the next buyer that's not important enough to ship items to.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

*Been there.. done that..*

I have dealt with him plenty of times. He is slow.. the last two times, very slow. This is the seller I buy most of my crowns and pinions from. It used to be about 2 weeks, but the last couple times it took between 3 weeks and a month to get my stuff. I haven't ordered from him since May because of the long delay. I can tell you one thing, you will get a note in your package when it finally arrives apologizing for the delay, and basically begging you to either leave positive feedback or not leave feedback at all. My gut tells me (from prior experience and a lot of guessing) until the cost of the complete chassis haven't been met, he won't buy them to part out. The parts sold are to get you to look at his resin copies of track buildings and billboards (which also take 3 weeks to a month to get). Hang in there DD.. Your stuff should arrive... fashionably late as usual..


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

i have bought a few things off him too... as i recall, it was also crowns and pinions. this was years ago, so i don't remember what the service was like, but i DID get my stuff...

--rick


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

I bought a good bit off him, mostly well over a year ago, and had no problems. the last thing was wheels, probably last year, and I remember they were mailed in a plain letter envelope instead of a padded envelope or box. Maybe times are tough now?


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Although it's been awhile since I've bid and won any of his auctions, I do recall he took a longer than what I would consider the norm to get the products to me. However, he did respond to emails for status when sent. I just stopped dealing with him.  rr


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## highcountry (Apr 6, 2005)

Here's the scoop as I know it....

His name is Al Cole, he lives in Fremont Ohio. He has been on ebay for years. Back when I was far more active in slots I won several of his auctions and I bought things from him on the side too, service was always great, he seemd like a good guy. Due to that he has a large feedback number and a good rating. I beleive he has at least one other EBAY ID but I am not sure what it was, I have not used ebay for at least 3 years. His Wife Barbara also helps him and her email addy sometimes comes into play. He has a website to deal selling resin slot building repops and that is where my recent experience with him came, and a very bad one at that. I provide his website link as information....

http://www.big.als.slots.4t.com/

BAck in Late April I arrange to buy $100 worth of vintage slot car building repops for our little 2 lane sceniced track. I send them a check after we have agreement on buildings and price with shipping, the check is cashed back on May 7th. Sometime in June I start sending emails to inquire the where abouts of my stuff but I get no responses. At that time he was inactive on ebay but with high positive feedback I suspect something is up. After considerable effort I manage to contact Al. I found out my previous email contact was to his wife and she was away from home for months taking care of an ailing relative. Through July and August he returned email and first blamed a heavy backlog of orders, then a PC crash for his delays. In early August he even agreed he owed me and would through in some extra buildings to make it up to me. I tried to be patient and give him the benefit of the doubt citing his past positve record on ebay and his prompt and open communication with me by email this summer. Mid September I began to email again to inquire status and now he fails to respond. I have asked he simply refund my money and be done with all this and I get no response to that. I presume perhaps family matters have evolved to demand a lot of his time, however, he has had 5 months and numerous contacts to make this right so my sympathy has run out.
When I was in touch with him he claimed he does not have a telephone (Impossible to believe) but I do have his address. Bottom line is, if you have something that prevents your ability to do business, you stop doing business until you get your life in order.

I will be taking out a number of ebay ID's soon and doing Buy it now on all his auctions to get his attention since he won't answer emails and if he does not make good on the hundred bucks or the goods soon, he will find me continuing to hose up his auctions. I have a business trip his way in a couple months and he may find me at his door step as well. Yes I am pissed, but he has dragged this out, communicated in the past and failed to deliver, now he feels he can blow it off....wrong, he can refund my money or deal with me on my terms.


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## twolff (May 11, 2007)

His address is on his contact page too.

Looking through his billboard photos, there's a ton of copyrighted material up there. Car manuf. Soft drinks, beer, etc. I'm told Harley Davidson will jump down the throat of anyone selling unlicensed merchandise.

I think you can file charges for mail fraud w/o a visit to the state. The postal service might be able to point you in the right direction.


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I used to a lot biz with him, I remember him going by the name Mac, back in 2002, 2003.... I bought the 12 pc. t-jet and afx parts cards he had and a few pit cases. Always took forever to get, but it was always first rate stuff. 

Sorry to hear he's not responding.... best of luck working it out, however, the alternate ebay ID thing probably won't work. I think to register now, you have to a Credit Card... so unless you have different CC's with different mailing addresses, you're probably out of luck.


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## DesertSlot (May 8, 2009)

O/T Sorry but I didn't want to start a new thread. Last night I read a listing where the guy says that sellers are not allowed to leave neg feedback anymore. Could this be true? I always thought it was kind of lame when you pay for something right away and then the seller waits for his pos fb before he gives you yours. Kinda like blackmail. The couple of things I sold, I gave fb as soon as I was paid.


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## highcountry (Apr 6, 2005)

You have to have a credit card to do buy it now but you can bid. I put bids on several of his auctions that no one will top and he emailed me. I have sent him my response on how to resolve his issue with me and that it will cost him more thn the money he has from me if he ignores me any more. I am really sorry to have to resort to this but I didn't creat the mess. The Copyright idea is a good one but I don't want to screw other slotters out of the abiliity to buy neat billboards, I only want him to finish his sale with me and I will go away.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Shop Elsewhere*

Nice to see he's still winning people over!

Bought a few things from Mac er Al er Sam er Joe ....er whatever alias he's using this year. LOL! Kinda yer first clue ...id'n it? To be fair, I have recieved everything that I purchased...in his own good time, when he's good and ready.

His screw you service attitude is unrivaled. Well except maybe for my screw you consumer attitude!!!

D'oh!


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*I believe this is the fella....*

If ya drive out there... just in case... this is him... 

Big Al of Big Al's Slots... nd


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## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

There is a local poster on Craigslist that posts multiple times each day (buying toys) in multiple categories - he uses different names to fool us Al, Alex, Alan, John, Bruce but does not change his phone number or pictures. Not the sharpest tool in the shed...., seems to be getting flagged regularly now!


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## desototjets (Apr 25, 2008)

DesertSlot said:


> O/T Sorry but I didn't want to start a new thread. Last night I read a listing where the guy says that sellers are not allowed to leave neg feedback anymore. Could this be true? I always thought it was kind of lame when you pay for something right away and then the seller waits for his pos fb before he gives you yours. Kinda like blackmail. The couple of things I sold, I gave fb as soon as I was paid.


Yes, that is true. A seller can no longer leave negative feedback,


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

desototjets said:


> Yes, that is true. A seller can no longer leave negative feedback,


Never understood why they did this. A deal is a two way street. When I used to deal there alot, I prided myself on shipping items within a day of receiving payment. Regardless of the method of payment, since we had a choice then, It would go out the next day once it was rec'd or cleared the bank. Although I still use them every now and then, it has become a joke and definitely a site for the buyer or the seller to beware nowadays! :freak: rr


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

the new system makes it much easier for a buyer to try and blackmail or extort a seller.
Like Roadrner said, a deal is a two way street... only now, one side has all the power


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## Dranoel Dragon (Oct 9, 2007)

I'll be paying him a personal visit this weekend. I assure you it won't be a pleasant one.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

take pics!


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## highcountry (Apr 6, 2005)

Pop him really good a couple times for me. I have a business trip to the area within the next couple months and I plan to stop by and properly "thank Him" accordingly for brand of thef....er....customer service. Till then I will resort to occasional projects form a distance designed to give him bits of grief . I've written off the hundred bucks, water under the bridge but I will take pleasure in knowing the hassles that are going to come his way over the many months to come.


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