WARNING: thesaint00 = Negative Zone Under New Name?

[Mr. Zipper]

As I have documented in the past, The ebay seller known as the Negativezone (aka The Watcher000) imploded leaving many buyers without their items and incurring a mess of bad feedback, myself included. At the time of the implosion, they sent an email begging for patience citing all sorts of mysterious stress related problems with the owner.

 

Now, I've noted a seller, thesaint00, that bears a striking resemblance to my old friend The Negativezone(thewatcher000). I confirmed thesaint00's contact information and the seller is from Seattle. The Negativezone was from Seattle.

 

Compare auction listings:

 

Negative Zone auction for which I paid and never received book

 

Current saint00 auction for same item I never received

 

Interesting how they can currently offer the same items they can't seem to send to their old customers. Obviously, they feel no obligation to send items from the old seller account. Their attitude is obviously, "Why bother to send items that people paid for once the seller account is trashed anyway?"

 

If this is the same seller -- and I'm 99% sure it is -- I can't believe ebay can let a seller blatantly rip people off then just set up shop under another (thinly veiled) name.

[dudesim]

Aww thats too bad

That has happen to me before an its Bull

you neg them an neg you what F ZOO

[musicmeta]

I too have bid and won an item

item I won

 

from this seller and have yet to receive it. I will verify that this is indeed the seller as I bid and won another Dr. Strange that I did receive. Thanks for the info

[Mr. Zipper]

thesaint00 has not responded to my inquiry asking if they were The Negative Zone, so I think it's safe to conclude that these are the same people.

 

[Mr. Zipper]

Negative Zone auction for which I paid and never received book

 

Amazing. It's worked for 6 months, but one day after I post the above link, it goes "invalid item"!

 

Who says eBay doesn't protect shady sellers?

 

And since the Negative Zone (James D Linebarger) is obviously reading here, my message to them is, "Why don't you losers send the books people ordered? Are you planning on ripping off thesaint00 customers the same way you ripped off your old customers?"

 

If you have the balls to post here, I don't want anymore of your lame excuses.

 

Steve Zarelli

[Red Hook]

Don't [!@#%^&^] with New Yorkers! Go Zip!

[Mr. Zipper]

Don't [!@#%^&^] with New Yorkers! Go Zip!

 

At this point, I'll never get what I paid for, but I will post about them on every message board I can find. They will feature prominently on my blog and I just might set up a web page devoted to their antics.

 

I will follow them through every cheesy name change. I will file a complaint with the postal inspectors. (Yes, James Linebarger, I still have a cashed check with your name and signature on it along with all the old emails with your address.)

 

I will cost them a lot more than the $30 they stole from me.

[Mr. Zipper]

Response from thesaint00 (Strangeland Collectibles) to my inquiry if they were the Negative Zone:

 

Sorry, this is Strangeland Collectibles. This is not Negative Zone.

 

Did you have a question about the Book?

 

Jamie

 

Liar.

 

I told them that they have been exposed and I have confirmed that James D Linebarger, Seattle is listed as the contact for thewatcher000 (The Negative Zone) and thesaint00 (Strangeland Collectibles).

 

I also let them know that I was spreading the word.

[jazzster_12]

The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is that the saint ID has been registered since '98 and has over 1000 feedbacks. Has he been selling with both ID's for awhile or can these be faked?

[Mr. Zipper]

The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is that the saint ID has been registered since '98 and has over 1000 feedbacks. Has he been selling with both ID's for awhile or can these be faked?

 

According to the feedback record, thesaint00 sold regularly from 99 until early 2003. There is a year gap in the feedback, then thesaint00 starts selling again in April 2004 -- the same time that the Negative Zone went under due to "health problems."

 

Yup... all honest sellers need "backup accounts."

[jazzster_12]

Aha.... the plot thickens. I think you are right on in this instance.

[RoseMarysBaby]

even if they were having problems getting the books they should have refunded you the money. You should have had some time of recourse such as going through ebay and paypal to get a refund.

[Sharkey]

If you were ripped off you should definitely file a complaint with the postal inspector for mail fraud. Contact your local police department and call the seller's local police department and file complaints with them too.

 

People who have successfully ripped others off will only stop if they are forced to. IMHO the only way to let them know you are serious is to file the proper complaints with the authorities and let them know you have done so. Whether they end up being prosecuted or not is in the hands of the authorities, but at least you have done your civic duty by exposing a fraud.

 

Ebay is a mess with such people, unfortunately.

[Mr. Zipper]

UPDATE

 

I have been contacted by Jamie (Linebarger) -- thesaint00. He sent me a long a detailed email which went into quite a bit of personal information. Given the email, I can only conclude he is telling the truth. I won't reveal all the personal information, but here it is in a nutshell:

 

The Negative Zone is not my business, and never was. The only

affiliation I ever had with the Negative Zone is that I used to be

married to it's former owner, Jennifer Dowling. Any business you did

with them, it was she is the one you did business with, and she is the

one you had, and I can see still have a problem with.

 

... I guess that brings us back to me. After getting laid off from my job,

I decided to start selling again on ebay. I had to do something,

because the economy in Seattle is horrible, and I have been unable to

find work, and unempoyment will not cover my expenses. I guess I am in

the same boat as a lot of people. It wasn't that difficult for me to

start up again, because Jen and I made an agreement to split the

inventory of the old business when she left. Some of it was hers, some

of it was mine, and we split it down the middle. I reactivated my old

account with Diamond Comic Distributors, and here I am.

 

As a peace offering, he offered to send me the book I never got from his wife (he admitted the chances were low to none of ever getting anything from her.)

 

So, I agreed to explain the situation here to clear his name. Hopefully I'm not being a sucker, but I believed him and wished him well.

[The Brain]

here's hopping for the best The Brain

[musicmeta]

UPDATE also,

 

Jamie contacted me and informed me that he will be sending out the Marvel Masterworks book I won and said he just somehow overlooked that I paid for the item via PayPal. I will post the exact message when I get home tonight.

Anyway, I've ordered from him before and received the books, so I think it's going to be allright. I will let everyone know when I get the book so he get in the clear.

[musicmeta]

I can safely say this seller is legit...at least for me. I got my Doctor Strange Marvel Masterworks book in today. It was shipped priority mail.

 

Here is the e-mail I sent her

 

Hello, I paid for this item - Marvel Masterworks Doctor Strange Vol.1

> 2nd ed via Paypal on July 25th and have not received this book yet.

> When did you mail this book out as I believe I should have recieved it

> by now. I did receive the Fantastic Four Vol.2 2nd edition and auction

> ended a couple of weeks after this one. Please inform me of the status

> of this book. Thank You,

 

Here is the quick response I received:

 

Michael,

 

Thank You for writing. I am afraid I really owe you an apology here. I

went back to check on this, and I am afraid it has NOT Shipped yet.

There is an explanation for it, but I still feel bad about it, because

it was a clerical error that shouldn't have happened. I get Paypal

Notifications by e-mail for all of my orders, and I always go by those

to help me make my Shipping lists, because I have had some problems with

the "new and improved" Myebay 2.0, and doing it from the e-mail receipts

is a lot more relaible. However, I always double check with my PayPal

Account History to see if there was any I missed, and I have always

avoided mistakes by doing it that way. I am afraid this is one time I

did not double check enough, and your payment got overlooked. I

didn't get an e-mail receipt for this payment, and I guess I must have

missed it when I double checked my payment hsitory. I never make errors

like this, but I guess we are all human. Still, I really want to

apologize for this, because it inconvenienced you and now your Book is

really going to be late going out.

 

So here is what I am going to do. I am going to Ship this to you

tomorrow and I will upgrade it to Priority Shipping, so you will get

this week. I am definitely not going to send it Media Mail after all

this time. If you would like, if you e-mail me a reminder tomorrow I

can send you the Delivery Confirmation Number so you can track the

package as well. Also, to make up for the inconvenience, I would like

to offer you Store Credit for One Free Marvel Masteroworks Book of your

Choice. You can redeem this whenever you like, so if there is a

particular volume you are missing, if I don't have it in stock I would

be glad to order it for you. I apologize for this mishap, and I hope

you will continue to do business with us in the future. I would hate

to lose a good customer.

 

EVERYTHING IS A-OK with me on thesaint00. I will buy from this seller again.

[Mr. Zipper]

UPDATE

 

thesaint00 made good on his word and I received the long overdue Marvel Masterworks yesterday via Priority Mail. Again, he didn't have to make good on his ex-wife's debts, but he did and I commend him.

 

Given this and the information revealed in the previous messages, I would recommend this seller and wish him the best.

 

[OldGuy]

Sounds like a standup guy.

[blutobc]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to change the name to this post as you guys seemed to have gotten things worked out?