Mike Ruggiero, Inc. floydpinkbell77 (user name on ebay, although since my purchase, it has been removed). Money taken, item not received! New York
I bought a Verizon blackberry 8330 curve off of ebay on August 30, 2009 (using paypal). The seller's user name is/was floydpinkbell77, and had over 12,000 sales on ebay. Their feedback rating was around 98%, so I read the reviews and decided it was a reputable company.
It is now September 14, 2009, and I have not received the blackberry phone as of this date. I realize that things happen with the mail, but after reading numerous articles on the web (about this seller), I realized that I may have been ripped off. One article, which I read on this site, actually stated that the seller uses several screen names, and is actually a man named "Rob", who runs a company called Cellular Wholesale, USA, in New York. It also listed a phone number, so I called the number, and a man identified himself as "Rob". I explained my situation, but he stated he did not know anything about the ebay screen name, and asked me how I got his phone number.
I am a Federal Law Enforcement Officer, and noted that "Rob" was very nervous sounding as we spoke, and I could plainly hear him shuffling papers as if he was trying to find something. He stated that he was upset that someone had posted his number on the internet, and that he had already received numerous calls in reference to the same incident (selling phones that were not received). He said that he was a wholesale company, but did not sell me anything on ebay. He asked me if ebay had provided his number to me (what does it matter), and I told him no, but reinforced by opinion that he was hiding something.
I have filed a claim through paypal, but they say it make take 30 days to get me an answer back. I can't do anything through the seller, because he has been removed from ebay according to their website (states he is no longer a registered user).
I am also going to research this "Cellular Wholesale" in New York, in an attempt to get to the bottom of this mess. If Mike Ruggiero is actually this "Rob" as referenced, then he will be laying low, as he now knows people are on to his scam.