To Flame or Not to Flame

Kris ,thanks for taking the time to get involved, In this strange world we must all care for each other.Don you are doing a great job with this site it is a privledge to be a member. Give it time ,and Don will solve the problem.....

Folks...I am going to close this thread now and hide all the posts except for this last one. It's not that I don't appreciate all the feedback and the attempt for the members here to watch out for one another, that's what makes you all so great. I do want to give the seller a fair chance though and allow him to respond to me or those that feel they have been left hanging. I promise you that if I don't get a response and/or good explanation soon, I will post more details. In the meantime, all the ads from this seller have been removed.

OK folks. It is with some regret and hesitation that I re-open this thread. I think that we have become a pretty close family here and like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I also felt that the best chance of reaching a resolution to the problems here was to not alienate the seller and run him off. The best chance of finding a positive outcome would have been to keep it to a dull roar, keep him within our folds and hope that he would find it in himself to do the right thing.

The person referred to here as the seller was member Dakotasport. The email address that he has listed here is bigggdozzer@yahoo.com and the number he had listed to contact him was 727-364-7639. He lists New Port Richey, FL as his city of residence. The name is Tim Moulton. This is all information that he posted here publicly so I have no problem adding it to this post. Tim has been a member here for over a year and even tried to organize a meet and eat in FL a while back. So he is not a person who just jointed up here to start posting items for sale and scam people. He has been a fairly active participant of our club. That is all the info I have on him.

I truly wanted to, still want to, give Tim the benefit of the doubt but he has made that very difficult at this time. I have sent him PMs and Emails. I had initially considered the possibility that maybe he was sick, in the hospital, or some other similar situation. The fact is though, he has visited the site and even posted about another item that he had for sale AFTER I sent him the email asking for some clarification and at least his side of the story. Therefore, I know that he has had the opportunity to reply. I have also sent him a PM but it shows "unread" at this time.

In almost all cases, there are at least two sides to any dispute. Whatever the sides may be though, there is no excuse for refusing to reply to emails, telephone calls, etc.

At this time, I know of at least 3 incidents regarding deals with this member.

1. A member bought a seat from Dakotasport. Sent him $265.00. Never received the seat. Emails and messages left on his telephone have gone unanswered. He did finally post that a message in response to this issue that he was sorry and would get the seat right out. It seems that he had actually sold the seat to somebody else or decided to keep it and offered a different seat in place of it. I don't know if the different seat was acceptable, the same, different, more worn, whatever but apparently that seat was not wanted or never sent. I'll have to let the member who was buying a seat fill in the details.

2. He was looking for a set of slash cut mufflers and had a set of mufflers that he wanted to trade. One of our members sent him a set of mufflers. Upon received them, he decided that there were not in as good of condition as he desired. He notified the member that he did not want to trade but would be willing to buy them. I don't know if he wasn't happy with the proposed price or if the other member decided no thanks, just send them back please but what I do know is that he stopped responding. He kept the mufflers and stopped replying to emails or telephone messages left.

3. There was another member who bought an item from him. He mailed the check. Once the check was received, Dakotasport contacted him saying that he was going to need more money. The member buying the part did send the extra money asked for and did finally receive the part.

I have heard that there may be some other incidents also but don't know for sure and have no details.

I should also point out that some members here have purchased items from Dakotasport and have reported that the exchange went perfectly.

So these are the facts as I know them. I truly hate having to bring something like this to light without having heard the other side, if any, of the story but I would be remiss if I just sat here and allow this to continue without at least letting our members know that there could be issues with dealing with this person. He even had a set of chrome forks for sale off a Midnight Venture that I and at least one other member here was interested in but I personally can not send him money at this time knowing about these other issues.

I have removed all ads from Dakotasport from our classifieds. I am also posting a link to this thread in any other threads where he has offered items for sale. At this time, I would simply say that it is a "buyer beware" situation.

I am not banning him at this time. If I ban him, he will not be able to login here and respond to any PMs that I have sent nor reply to and clear up any of these issues. I will give him another day or two and then if he chooses to not respond and resolve these problems, he will be permanently banned from the site.

I would ask that the members who are involved in these disputes to please post here and make any corrections to the limited details that I have posted. I also want to apologize to all that this has happened. We have a good group here but unfortunately, things like this are bound to happen sooner or later. I will continue doing all that I can to prevent such things but there is no sure fire way to do so.

I will also ask that we keep the "flaming" to a minimum. At this point, the goal should still be to try and reach a good resolution to the problem and try to get the money and/or items back from Dakotasport. I still hold a very flickering hope that there will be some reasonable explanation that though may not excuse it, will help us to understand why.

At this point, unless we learn something very soon, I would recommend that any of you who have paid for parts and not received them to look into any legal options that you might have. Small claims court is usually the place to address such things.

Don

Many Thanks for doing all this Don. You are truly worth what we pay you ... lol ...

Steve:bighug:

could the name that is being looked for as far as "midnight" have been midnightstar? or something like that? but not the one showing in the members now as midnight_star?

I recall a seat buy / exchange we did with a guy in florida quite a while back, all I remeber is it was midnight something.dang its h*** to get old and forget things.

Now thats funny. At least you made Cindy laugh her A** off.

 

I am calm Don, I am drifting Don

Dale

Thatis the fairness that we all have come to expect form you Don and you never disappoint. Thanks for looking at all the facts.

For everyone else especailly those involved on the short end of those deals, Now that it is all out be careful not to flame but you have all our support and now that we know the facts we can all beware too.

This site has so much class!!! Especially all the people here looking out for one another.

Scotty

don, as usual your right on.perfect way to handle the problem.

Good work, Don. It won't bring back the payments Tim scammed, but it will give us some satisfaction.

Don't know Tim/Dakotasport, haven't done business with him, and probably won't.

I'd just like to offer a counterpoint. The members I've dealt with on this site have been great. I've sold a few items, and payment has always been prompt, and a few times, more than I requested. A time or two, I've had to refund payments when an item was sold quickly, before I could edit the ad, and someone sent payment before I could respond. I wouldn't hesitate to buy or sell to any member on this forum (well, except Tim).

I'd also like to remind those members who've purchased something from me that my original offer stands; if the item they received wasn't satisfactory for any reason, return it and I'll send you a refund. There's no time limit on this offer. I'm not in the business of selling parts for my livelihood, but when I do sell spare parts, it should be a good deal for buyer & seller.

I guess my memory isnt so bad afterall...............see this :

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2669

he was known as Midnight Star at one time.

but all posts by him are now under the new name..

The plot thickens.

The plot thickens.

No Pictures here!!

Jerry

Those I would be willing to pay for Bill, Just send them to my address and I will send you the money............:rotf:

But if they are for sale let me know. I will be at your doorstep

Dale

hey dale, see if i ever sell you my baron bag slashers.:rotf:

And to think I almost ordered the chrome lower fork legs..........

My suspicions were piqued when I heard that the bike, which from what I understood was in perfect condition, was being to parted out.

I for one have really enjoyed this thread. It started out by a simple question and then lots of options and opinions were offered, even some got a little hot under the collar, YES, it all shows we care for things and have feelings and care for one another. Love does not always come easy, it usually has some rough spots, but it's how we handle these trials is what shows what kind of people we really are. We got through it all very nicely, learned something about each other in the process and found out that BIG DADDY does come in handy sometimes, JUST LIKE IN A REAL FAMILY. Sometime I wonder where he gets all the wisdom and insight, maybe he has a secret stash somewhere.

Congratulations all. Now go have a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. And, no I'm not suggesting that we do this on a daily basis.

I guess my memory isnt so bad afterall...............see this :

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2669

 

he was known as Midnight Star at one time.

 

but all posts by him are now under the new name..

You sure know how to use the search button, or you have a lot of time going back through all those posts.

Congrats to you and your memory.

Brad

Don,

Thank you for your action. I hope this will provide some positive response, but I certainly don't expect any as of this point.

I was the one who entered an agreement to purchase a set of pillow top seats for $250 +$15 shipping. He said he shipped them USPS but they were damaged. He was going to get them repaired, get new ones from a dealer friend, etc. I trusted and accepted his excuses. Eventually, I advised him to just return the money. Tim has been very difficult to get a hold of as the phone number in his listing does not connect and he does not return emails. He called me after I posted a note in the thread where he was offering to part out his bike. Promised to send a check. --- Nothing ---.

I would really like to think there was some good excuse for this not working out. After this amount of time, and other similar poor business reports, it appears I have been had.

Perhaps this will give me incentive and focus for a long trip this comming summer.

Don, again, thanks for your diplomacy and help.

RR

Brad, she doesn't forget anything, anything I do wrong anyway......

I guess my memory isnt so bad afterall...............see this :

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2669

 

he was known as Midnight Star at one time.

 

but all posts by him are now under the new name..

That's it. I was close. Thanks for the research.

Was it you who purchased a set of pillow tops from someone that I asked about? I thought he perhaps sold them again - but delivered them the second time.

RR

That's it. I was close. Thanks for the research.

 

Was it you who purchased a set of pillow tops from someone that I asked about? I thought he perhaps sold them again - but delivered them the second time.

 

RR

RR sent you a cpl PM's

Well...still no response from Dakotasport so as of a few minutes ago, I have banned him from the site. All the info I have on contacting him is listed in this thread. Sorry this happened and maybe he will come through yet but it doesn't look good.

Don

Brad, she doesn't forget anything, anything I do wrong anyway......

Hope she forgets some of the things that were said in Colorado. Hate for that to come back to bite me, or Chaos.

PS I know what you mean.

Brad

Don , once again great job and thanks for all your efforts and concerns!!!!!! Merry Christmass to all and to all a good night . Good luck to those who have deals going with this person.

Hope she forgets some of the things that were said in Colorado. Hate for that to come back to bite me, or Chaos.

 

PS I know what you mean.

 

Brad

Colorado!

That was something I will never forget. First time I ever got thrown out of a PARKING LOT for being too loud. I told you to quiet the ladies down.....:rotf:

Colorado!

That was something I will never forget. First time I ever got thrown out of a PARKING LOT for being too loud. I told you to quiet the ladies down.....:rotf:

Was Don with you all by any chance? Just curious since he told on us with the ranger in the shorts at Vogel.

:rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

:rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

(sorry Don)

Margaret