W211 AMG Discuss the W211 AMG's such as the E55 and the E63

****BUYER BEWARE**** -- Stephen's 540rwhp Kit

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Old Aug 14, 2004 | 10:28 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by W0n6_3d4n
Not many people in here driving Benz willing to modify their car cosmetically let alone the engine, and yes E55 is still rare in my city (only seen 3 times in a year).
i have seen well over a dozen in Sydney :p

Stephens is located in Melbourne as well.
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Old Aug 14, 2004 | 11:15 AM
  #27  
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E55 B,
Consider doing a Lexis search for a reporter who has previously written on the hazards of internet business, or better yet, the hazards of paypal business.

Contact that reporter and maybe the international slant will be of interest to them.

Then maybe the ugly ink will get paypal a little more active in your case.
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Old Aug 14, 2004 | 01:38 PM
  #28  
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How does anyone know if he even is in Melbourne or Sydney? Just because he has a phone number there and someone has contacted him with it doesn't mean anything. It's easy enough to get phone numbers forwarded.

I'm so sorry to hear about the bad news E55 B. Have you considered hiring a private investigator if things don't pan out with Paypal refunds? If you could locate this shady fellow, perhaps you would find there are many who have been scammed?

Hope all works out. Thank you for posting so responsibly and maintaining such professional composure...I'm not sure I would be able to keep my cool as admirably as you have.

Best,
Cannis
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Old Aug 14, 2004 | 07:21 PM
  #29  
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He is in Melbourne

I can confirm that he is in Melbourne per trace route details on my e-mail. My e-mail arutomatically trace routes anyone anywhere.

Sign up for $50 for 1 year at www.didtheyreadit.com
its pretty darn cool. It also reports if it is forwarded and each time it is opened. Big brother is watching.

Thanks for the ideas on the paypal press. I will search Lexis when I get to work Monday.

By the way it looks like he opened my e-mail and read it for 2 seconds then closed it...he also needs to upgrade his PC. Windows 95, lol. Maybe he will do that with my $6,300. perhaps I should just fly to Australia and pay a visit.


To: <stephen@ipn.com.au>
Subject: Re: Refund for E55 parts
Sent On: 08/10/04 (06:34PM)
1st Opened: 08/11/04 (06:29PM)
Tracking Summary
Total: Opened 1 time by 1 reader
Tracking Details (latest first)
Opened: 08/11/04 (06:29PM)
Read Duration (approx.): 00:00:02
Location: (AU) AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA, MELBOURNE Show Map
Organization (ISP): TELSTRA INTERNET
Opened On: CPE-144-132-75-12.vic.bigpond.net.au (144.132.75.12)
Language: en-au
Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; T312461; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Referrer:
Operating System: Windows 95
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 10:42 AM
  #30  
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E55baller-sorry to hear about your troubles. This is looking like a clever scam. Thanks to you for posting a quick warning on this board. Stephens may have been stalling you, hoping to possibly get a couple more orders before disappearing. Your quick warning may have saved others from the same misfortune that you have suffered.
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 11:42 AM
  #31  
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Yes its gotta be a full blown scam as he has been stalling me for 60 days. It now makes sense for Stephen not to have to come back to the board as he apparently no longer owns an E55. Whats your bet he nevered owned a Ducatti or a a Ferrari.

My credit card company said they believe it is fradulent and will get back to me ASAP as they are conducting research.

I think he was hoping to get a bunch of suckers at the same time. I hope I have at least saved the board from any such losses and pain.
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 11:58 AM
  #32  
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1989 Toyota Tercel EZ - dyno'd @ 70whp/77wtq
Hey you... OZ members.... Can you report him to authority?

I did experience similar thing couple years ago.... got ripped off by a person in UK..... asked my friend in UK to report it to authority..... and boom.... couple months later, he's in jail... 'coz the police found A LOT of evidence in his house
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 12:03 PM
  #33  
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I can't believe Stephens turned out to be a scam. I always thought his hp numbers were suspect and unrealistic. Sorry to hear that a board member got screwed by him.
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 05:27 PM
  #34  
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I don't want to condemn anyone before things have cleared out but i was wondering, why doesn't Stephens send pictures from isolated airboxes or pulleys and such small mods like that..I mean, I requested pics of airboxes several times (from him)

Ville
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 05:41 PM
  #35  
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I'm in Australia and although I haven't met Stephens, I'm pretty sure he exists. He had a Gallardo for a while and he and I sent a couple of PM's about meeting when I took my G to Melbourne. I think he is advertising in the car magazines here for Benz performance gear. He runs an IT business as well - see www.ipn.com.au. His full name is Stephen Snowden. We only ever talked by email, but he seems a regular guy. There has to be another explanation.

He's posting today on Ferrarichat I noticed.
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 06:55 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by mhh
I'm in Australia and although I haven't met Stephens, I'm pretty sure he exists. He had a Gallardo for a while and he and I sent a couple of PM's about meeting when I took my G to Melbourne. I think he is advertising in the car magazines here for Benz performance gear. He runs an IT business as well - see www.ipn.com.au. His full name is Stephen Snowden. We only ever talked by email, but he seems a regular guy. There has to be another explanation.

He's posting today on Ferrarichat I noticed.
Probably trying to scam some Ferrari victims. Someone should go over there and make a warning thread.
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Old Aug 15, 2004 | 06:58 PM
  #37  
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http://www.samspade.org/t/lookat?a=ipn.com.au

Server Used: [ whois.ausregistry.net.au ]

ipn.com.au = [ 203.94.154.61 ] Domain Name: ipn.com.au
Last Modified: 16-Nov-2002 05: 32: 01 UTC
Registrar ID: R00010-AR
Registrar Name: Melbourne IT
Status: OK
Registrant: Eramba Pty Ltd
Registrant ID: OTHER 085 020 695
Registrant ROID: C0374617-AR
Registrant Contact Name: THE MANAGER
Registrant Email: stephens@ipn.com.au
Tech ID: C0374618-AR
Tech Name: Stephen Snowden
Tech Email: stephens@ipn.com.au
Name Server: ns.ipn.net.au
Name Server IP: 203.94.154.4
Name Server: ns1.ipn.net.au
Name Server IP: 203.94.154.5


http://www.ipn.com.au/contact_us.asp

Sales
For more information on any of our products or services please contact us at
Phone: 1300 134 304
Email: sales@ipn.com.au

Support
For customer support please call our 24 Hour Customer Support Line
Phone: 1300 655 436
Email: support@ipn.com.au

Melbourne Head Office
Ground Floor, 95 Coventry Street
South Melbourne, Australia, 3205
Phone: +61 3 8699 2999
Fax: +61 3 9699 5793

Sydney Office
Level 2, 201 Miller Street,
Sydney, NSW, 2024
Phone: +61 2 9954 9123
Fax: +61 2 9929 3233

Last edited by oggle; Aug 15, 2004 at 07:01 PM.
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Old Aug 16, 2004 | 10:25 PM
  #38  
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Happy hunting...

Stephen Snowden

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/sho...?t=8831&page=3

http://www.whitepages.com.au/wp/resSearch.jhtml
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Old Aug 17, 2004 | 10:51 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by mhh
His full name is Stephen Snowden. We only ever talked by email, but he seems a regular guy. There has to be another explanation.
why hasn't he responded to all that has been posted about him, his deal with E55 B and all the controversies surrounding him then?
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Old Aug 17, 2004 | 11:40 AM
  #40  
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E55 B, you gotta register to that ferrari site and blow that guy up.
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Old Aug 18, 2004 | 07:23 PM
  #41  
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All -- My credit card company stepped up and worked to issue a chargeback so the money is finally back in my account. What a scare! I can sleep now.

Looking at Kleeman and Evo now to do business with.
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Old Aug 18, 2004 | 08:04 PM
  #42  
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I am glad everything is okay for you now..
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Old Aug 18, 2004 | 08:46 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by e55 baller
All -- My credit card company stepped up and worked to issue a chargeback so the money is finally back in my account. What a scare! I can sleep now.

Looking at Kleeman and Evo now to do business with.
congratulations on the successful resolution ...did your card company indicate the course of action that they will be pursuing?
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Old Aug 18, 2004 | 09:32 PM
  #44  
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glad to see things werked out well...
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 01:56 AM
  #45  
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nice!!! gg
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 03:22 AM
  #46  
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Doing a chargeback will likely result in your PayPal account being permanently terminated, as it's against Paypal's TOS to do this. It's stupid but Paypal doesn't want people circumventing them to get back funds. To be safe, I would be sure to tell my bank to refuse transfer of bank funds back into Paypal should they try that.
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 10:01 PM
  #47  
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<<Doing a chargeback will likely result in your PayPal account being permanently terminated, as it's against Paypal's TOS to do this. It's stupid but Paypal doesn't want people circumventing them to get back funds. To be safe, I would be sure to tell my bank to refuse transfer of bank funds back into Paypal should they try that.

Thanks all I am very glad to have it resolved. Yes I did receive an e-mail from paypal saying that they were reviewing my account for a potential terms of service violation but then they pitched me $1.5K of buyer protection. Poor marketing.
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 10:22 PM
  #48  
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I guess its resolved, but you're still out some cash not to mention peace of mind when ordering from the internet now. Sucks.
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 10:26 PM
  #49  
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I am glad you resolved this matter.

Regards,
Manuel
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Old Aug 21, 2004 | 05:36 AM
  #50  
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Smile A new member....

I am glad you got the issue resolved, but that makes me rather concerned. I have looked at Stephens posts on Ferrari and followed them. This guy is a straight up sociopath. He brags and boasts about all the cars he has, and makes false claims on them. I hope someone teaches this guy a lesson he will not forget.
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