Anyone know Patrick Vamvakas? He is selling stuff on audifans...
 

I transferred money to him on the 26 and then asked him for a tracking number 2 days ago (the 2nd of march) and then again this morning with no response. I have heard of some people getting scammed lately so was just wondering if anyone knows him or maybe I need to call paypal to try and get my money. He was very fast with emails while in the negotiation phase of things and now nothing.

I go to school with him and I can vouch for him
 

good guy and I helped him tear down the car he is parting. I know we are all busy, but he works 40+ hours a week, full time student and he just got diagnosed with some crazy lung infection...You'll get your parts... E-mail me if you don't hear from him and I'll knock some sense into him!

He is always slow to ship. Be patient and send him reminders.

Cool, Thanks. Was just getting nervous with all the scams that have been going around. I will be
 

patient.

I've bought things from him in the past and I had no problems, good guy in my book.

He sounds sick and busy. I feel better knowing that though.

i had a dispute with him through Paypal, bought a power steering pump on Nov 19/2008.
 

I needed one badly, the price was good and he said he'd ship it the next day.....2 weeks later i asked for the tracking number to see what's up with my package.....he said he'll ship it the following day and send me the tracking number.....he tells me this after 2 weeks.....alright...3 days later i emailed him again asking if the package was shipped yet and get me the tracking number.....he sais give it more time....finally the package was delivered on Dec 8/2008....you do the math how long it took.
I finally get the pump, install it and it's knocking like crazy...power steering works but the shaft has play in/out and the pump knocks big time....old one was quiet...hmmm.
Anyway, i was really pissed that it took forever to get it and once installed it sounds like a diesel but what bothered me the most is that he lied to me...i'll ship it tomorow, tomorow, tomorow and so on.
Everybody's busy, i'm busy, you're busy, he's busy.....he's in school and working, i was in school and working at the time....i needed to drive my car everyday for 100 miles.....I could have bought the pump from somebody else(i actually had someone else lined up with only $15 more)?
Lying makes things worst....a lot worst.
I bet he's a really nice guy on everyday basis and I'm sorry to hear that he's sick, i see his ads on audifans, good prices and all but honestly, I don't think I will ever buy from him again....unless he seriously gets his $^%t together.
I had a dispute opened through Paypal after 16 days since I paid and didn't get anything which in the end gave him the money because the item has been delivered at some point....nothing else mattered. It wasn't about the money, I really really needed a pump because i really really needed my car. That's all.

Weldo, being prompt when you are holding someone's money is part of the deal.
 

They pay you for a part, you don't sit on their money while you're "busy".

If he is so busy that he can't do reasonabley normal business, then he should take down his ads until such time as he is able to do business.

Or in his ads say something like the following:

"Due to my schedule, I can only ship parts once every other week."

I agree, and understand where you're coming from
 

I probably should've put a disclaimer like that when I was selling off a lot of my stuff/parting cars. I know sometimes things get crazy every now and then and makes us loose track of time.

I bought Stroker//S4's old block through him
 

Stand up guy.

Audifans isn't a buisness, it's a private classifieds
 

Just because someone is selling stuff doesn't make it there number one business. If you want complete timeliness and professionalism, go to a professional. Normal people can't just drop everything and ship something out.

I've been prompt when I GAVE stuff away..$$ of the transaction doesn't matter, it's common courtesy
 

Say you are going to do something, real simple...do it.

this is what I do when I sell parts..
 

I let the prospective buyer know that I will contact them for the paypal when I am ready to ship. Only then do I accept the paypal and ship..and if I ship I always send the tracking number to the buyer..

That said, I've never been a "volume seller" like
Weldo or some of the other folks on the forum.

Weldo can probably chime in on the fun of assembling just the packaging materials when selling alot of parts..

I really didn't do "that much shipping"...
 

I mean, 17 UrS cars isn't too bad...

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/55085/2178053470061453191astviz_fs.jpg">

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/55085/copy_of_audiworld_picture_1.jpg">

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/55085/copy_of_audiworld_picture_3.jpg">

but you'd expect to let you know of that...took 20 days to get my pump

We agreed on a price for some clear corners and I went to pick them up, and got no
 

contact from him. Tried emailing many times after that. Nothing. At least respond with, "sorry pal, I sold them", or something.

parts I received were well packaged and undamaged, thank you :)

I don't see how that matters.
 

1.) You take someone's money.

2.) You ship them the stuff that they paid for.

Not "drop everything".

A reasonable amount of time would be a few days. Like this:

"Hey, I got your money today. I'm going to drop the box off at UPS Monday."

If it's going to be a longer time than that, or there are complications, then the conversation goes like this:

"I got your money today. I don't think I'll be able to get your stuff out until the 20th. Is that going to be OK?"

If it isn't, then the seller refunds the money. If it is, then the buyer knows what to expect.

This isn't rocket science. It's just plain common courtesy. If you offer stuff for sale, and take money, you have to be prepared to be timely about your end of the transaction. After all, the buyer was quick paying you, right? Why don't you owe the same courtesy to that buyer?

Whether it's an organized business or a private seller, the same thing applies. If the seller can't live up to his end, then he shouldn't put stuff up for sale until he can hold up his end. Or he should be up-front about what his timelines are.

I completely agree.
 

Folks have real lives outside of their Audi hobby. :)

Hell, I personally have no problem with long shipping times if some guy is in a bind and needs the extra time. He just needs to be up-front about it.

"Hey, Brian - I want to buy that muffler bearing set you have on AF."

"No prob, PayPal me the $1500 and it's yours. I am a bit busy right now with life and stuff - is it OK if I get that out to you on the 18th?"

"No hurry. Send me a tracking mumber when you put them on the boat, mmmkay? :)"

Everybody knows what to expect, and if I didn't hear from you right on the 18th, I don't think I'd even think about it. Hell, the buyers have a life outside of Audi stuff, too. :)

To chime in on myself.....haha
 

Hello all, Sorry for the delay in some of the parts I have sold. I have been trying to stay on top of everything, but will admit that on a few cases I have slipped up and parts were delayed. I have been trying to keep up on emails and shipping, but have been extremely sick for the past four months with a lung infection and disease, this being the reason my car is now gone :( The delay in most cases has been due to the fact that I have been in and out of doctors and hospitals all over the state for months now and sometimes was there for days at a time. If your parts were delayed in any way I am very sorry and thank you for your patience at times. Cheers all