I received an email from a viewer who thought they had found a great deal on a used car, but several things about the deal didn't add up, primarily the proposition from the seller to use "Safepay Solutions" as the holding company for the payment.
I have discovered numerous consumer complaints about "Safepay Solutions".
The company has an unsatifactory rating with the Better Business Bureau, which has received more than 20 consumer complaints about them in the past 36 months.
http://reno.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=100&bbb=1146&firm=6011210
Http://www.talkgold.com/forum/r90580-.html
The parent company of Safepay Solutions dissolved the company under that name in 2007...
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS130156+04-Jan-2008+PRN20080104
...and now may be operating under the name Emaji, and it's stock is trading for under a penny a share.
http://www.hotstocked.com/companies/e/emaji-EMJI-92632.html
In my opinion, this viewer did the right thing in backing out a deal, especially with a company with such a spotty history.
http://www.ratingshub.com/review/index2.php?item_id=328
This is a good reminder that if you're getting involved in a transaction, involving a company that you aren't familiar with, it's always a great idea to do some of your own research before jumping in.
After seeing our story, Terri from Redmond writes in, with another take on this:
I had a very similar incident with a used car on Craigslist as the SafePay one you reported on. It was a 2002 VW Passat with 48,000 Miles for $4000 (way too good to be true) She told me that we would be using Ebays Protection Program for "our" safety. I told her I didn't even know what that was and I needed to know what city to look at the car in. She said the car was here with her in Dallas, TX and that she was a single mom with 2 kids with money probs, that's why she was selling it so cheap. She said it was in great shape, no engine probs, damages or hidden defects, never smoked in and always garaged blah blah blah and that we WOULD be using Ebays Protection Program for this and all she needed was my full name and address so she could open a case number with Ebay with no further obligation or fees to me. Then the car would be shipped to me where I would have 7 days to decide if I wanted it or not and she would pay the shipping back if not. I told her as good a deal as it was, I would pass. I tried to email her a week later and her email address was suddenly invalid. Please also share this as there are more ways than SafePay they are trying to use!!
Thanks for reading this.
Terri
That's a good reminder as well. If you're making a major purchase, such as a car, it's always better to make those deals in person, face to face.
If you have questions about a deal that you're involved in, or think you might be getting scammed, let me know about it, and I'll look into it for you.
I'm Bill Wixey, keeping your Money Safe.