A mystery for Languish detectives; or, a scam averted

[Grey Fox]

Googling Louis Vuitton agenda, as I have no idea what agenda means in this context, it appears to be some kind of personal organizer or book.  I can't believe someone would pay $500 for that.

That's what an agenda is.

[DontSayBanana]

BTW, GF- AOL email address is free nowadays; anybody with an AIM account can use an @aol.com address.  Sprint IP used to (probably still does) kick a lot of scammers using AOL addresses.

[DisturbedPervert]

That's what an agenda is.

I've never in my entire life heard of this called an agenda.

[merithyn]

I have.

stjaba, answer my question!

[stjaba]

I have.

stjaba, answer my question!

Her boss (a doctor) got it for free as a freebie/prize/giveaway in Las Vegas. At my girlfriend's work, a pediatricians office, they have some sort of incentive system, and basically almost all the non-doctor employees are eligible for monthly (or quarterly?) raffle/giveaway that the doctors contribute to. Usually the items are like worth 50 bucks, but I guess this time the docs decided to be generous and my girlfriend got lucky and won it .


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I am now pretty confident that it was the buyer who was trying to pull a fast one. The buyer sent this email to us this morning:
"eBay closed the case. Can you alert the postmaster inspector???"

I don't think so Even if nothing gets done, I hope she lives in terror for the next few days. 

[stjaba]

I think the some person in the postal system lost the parcel (slid down behind a seat/behind a machine, whatever) and just reinserted it in to the delivery stream it (damaged, because it was crushed behind the seat or stepped on because it was on the floor, or whatever) when it was found, and it was then delivered.

This happens once in a while even when you use UPS. 

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

That does strike me as plausible, except for the fact that package was allegedly dropped off in the very late afternoon/early evening. As far as I am used to, mail is typically delivered in the morning or early to mid afternoon.

[DGuller]

What justice needs to be served if you get your cash and the buyer gets the product?

Because otherwise the buyer gets a freeroll.  She wins if her scam works, and is no worse off if it doesn't.

[DGuller]

I think the buyer is the scammer.  "Finding" something almost immediately after finding out that the heat was on is a classic tell-tale sign of an amateur thief suddenly realizing that they didn't think things through. 

I think the theory about it being a theft of opportunity is spot on; lots of people are not hardened criminals, but have moral foundation shaky enough to try to pull something when the opportunity presents itself.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

I think the some person in the postal system lost the parcel (slid down behind a seat/behind a machine, whatever) and just reinserted it in to the delivery stream it (damaged, because it was crushed behind the seat or stepped on because it was on the floor, or whatever) when it was found, and it was then delivered.

This happens once in a while even when you use UPS. 

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

This is a great motto for dealing with any postal or delivery company, it may even be written on the side of Purolater vans, or at least it should be.

[MadImmortalMan]

The fact that she was willing to accept a partial refund is extremely suspect. If she got nothing, she'd want her money back. All of it.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

The fact that she was willing to accept a partial refund is extremely suspect. If she got nothing, she'd want her money back. All of it.

yeah this is the one thing that marks her the most as a suspect. but I guess there's no real proof.

[stjaba]

The fact that she was willing to accept a partial refund is extremely suspect. If she got nothing, she'd want her money back. All of it.

Yeah that struck me as a little suspicious too.

I did a Google search for her email, and the only hits were posts on pageant websites that seemed geared to five year old girls.  http://www.voy.com/53332/

I also put her address in Google maps, and it turns out she lives in some generic Levittown-like suburb in Long Island. It would have been so embarrassing to be scammed by a suburban pageant mom. 

[Lucidor]

Perhaps there was a hidden agenda to her shenanigans?

[Barrister]

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

Defense lawyers frequently like to claim conspiracy or malice against their client when the slightest thing goes wrong in an investigation.  I always want to say - you've dealed with government before - we couldn't pull off a conspiracy against your client if we tried!

[garbon]

how would a postman know how valuable this thing is? To a typical person its just a weird little book.

It doesn't take a genius to know that Louis Vuitton items are expensive.