H&R coilovers and anti-roll bars - Group purchase

[dazzer]

If anyone needs John's number to arrange a bank transfer then PM me.

[PhilT]

What happened to Clive Harper? Seems to have disappeared on the 18th August....

[TWH]

As far as I'm aware, there can't be any security issues with a bank transfer, as with account details someone can only make a payment in, not out. Or am I wrong? I went for transfer since that's how I paid so details have already been given anyway.

[DavidT]

As far as I'm aware, there can't be any security issues with a bank transfer, as with account details someone can only make a payment in, not out. Or am I wrong? I went for transfer since that's how I paid so details have already been given anyway.

I'm no expert on banking security but I know for a fact that a scammer attempted to rip my brother off on ebay by registering an ebay account using the banking and personal details he got from a previous ebay scam.

He purchased the car with the false account and simply asked for personal and banking details so he could 'make his payment'.

I'm not saying there is anything out of order here, I'm sure there is not but the question about sharing banking info was asked.

[dazzer]

@TWH - Not sure I understand your point. If you paid out money from your account then you must have known your own account details, therefore you can make outbound payments. The issue is one of security. If someone wanted to make a payment from your account by transfer over the phone, or via fax then security information would have to be provided (could be a signature check, DoB check, mother's maiden name, password etc etc).

[TWH]

I'm assuming though, that because he couldn't use the false account that he didn't make the payment and your brother was not left having sold the car and got no money?

I only ask the question because I would have thought that account name, sortcode and number are details that are relatively available (whenever you use a check or make a payment to another account etc...?? I'm just wondering how much damage could be done with these details as I'm fairly ignorant in this area!

[dazzer]

Purely down to the level of security that your bank places over the management of it's accounts. You are right - when you issue a cheque or use your debit card you are releasing information about your account details. How well do you feel your account is protected?

If you are not very confident about this last point then get a refund by some other way. If it's not secure enough to perform a refund then change banks as a matter of precaution.

[TWH]

I've got no reason to doubt the security of my bank, and I was always under the impression that with sort code and acc number, you could only make payments in so no problems. I was just wondering if anyone new any different as identity theft etc.. is something that's becoming bigger and something I should probably learn more about. I've not worries though and hae asked for the refund through bank transfer.

Cheers.

[KayGee]

Identity theft relies on creating a dual identity and only very occasionally using those details to grab your existing accounts (quite hard and also unusual to do this). Name, sort code and account info might be useful to someone who had your passport/driving licence/birth certificate and an alternative address....They usually start with copy of your birth certificate/passport/driving license and use your credit rating to setup accounts, loans, mortgages etc.. you know nothing about until the bank start tracing things back.

[rsdreamer]

Right Guys, this is the current position.

I managed to meet up with John yesterday afternoon. It took the usual chaos, ie, we arranged to meet early at South Mimms Services, he didn't turn up, I waited, left messages on phone etc, and eventually gave up.

As you are all well aware with John, he does get back to you, and right enough, he called me later in the day to arrange another meeting.

I eventually met him at the M4 / North - South circular junction, where he had waited for me for about 20 minutes or so.

He gave me a full cash refund in my hand, and we had a brief chat about why things had gone wrong !!!.

I am sure that he's basically a good chap, just not cut out for the commitment of running a group buy of this size.

He did say that generally by day, he's been working for his Father in recent weeks, and he hasn't had the time to deal with this group buy as well as he would have liked.

He has told me that he is offering full refunds at the moment, and that you all should now be aware of this. He also tells me that he is still trying to get the kits at the same price, and as soon as he's located them, he'll email anybody who confirms their continued interest.

As I've previously noted in various PM's to some of you, I have been in touch with John over the last three weeks, almost on a daily basis. If I haven't been able to get hold of him immediately, he's always called me back, many times in the evening.

When we met yesterday, he seemed genuinely embarassesd about things.

If anybody hasn't made contact, give him a call, and leave your number. He should get back to you within two days.

Lets hope we can all put this behind us now !!!.

If anybody has any queries, drop me a PM.

Regards,

rsdreamer.

[TWH]

Yeah, it certainly isn't something I'd wish on anyone! Cheers for the info!

[CliveH]

Clive Harper is back! The mysterious disapperance on 18th August was nothing sinister, merely my 2 week annual holiday (on 20th August) followed by complete chaos on my return to work, including a few overseas sorties! My feet are now back on the ground for a few weeks.

I have to say I'm a little embarassed to have kicked off this idea to find that it's fallen apart.

It's always easy to assume the worst when things start to go wrong like this. I have neither met nor spoken to John, but from reading the comments above he does seem to be a genuine guy who's just taken on too much.

I hope you all get your money refunded quickly and painlessly, and find an alternative source - I, for one, still want a set so whilst the forum may not allow us to enter into a group purchase, lets at least pool our knowledge and resources to find a reliable and inexpensive source.

As for giving out bank account information (not to John, but in general), I am always cautious about this as there are so many scams going around - how many offers do you receive from the likes of Nigeria asking for your participation in helping them offload their latest "budget surplus"? (Gordon Brown may be able to help on this one...!) - apparently, the first thing they ask for is your bank account details so that they can transfer the funds to a "reliable place" until it can be distributed! As said above, most banks are now paranoid about security and should have adequate measures in place to avoid your account being subjected to fraud, but it's still happening every day of the week...

[KayGee]

Err that is not true, the usually ask for "financial help" in transferring the monies out of an African country and this requires paying a few bribes, then keep stringing you along extracted more money each time. The other type of scam is where they send you a check for too much money and ask their shipping agent picks up extra money from you, only to find the cheque bounces after 14 days. This is known as either the 411 or 419 scam after the Nigerian Criminal Code it contravines.

This is estimated to be Nigerias 3 to 5 th largest industry.

The only way to use your sort/account number to get money is by fooling the banks security checks.

[TWH]

Thanks for letting us know what happened rsdreamer. It's unfortunate that the group buy went so horribly wrong, but hopefully, once everyone has refunds it'll be a relatively painless lesson learned.

I'm still very interested in sorting out my suspension so would welcome information on inexpensive sources.

[CliveH]

OK, well whatever, I dont entirely agree with that KayGee but lets not get into a discussion on Nigerian financial scams, this isnt the place for it.

Getting back to the H&R kit, would it be wise to start a new thread as this one is now rather cluttered?!