Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 13 Hi all, Yesterday a post was made from a guy who runs parts-friend.com I see he has very recently made a Bimmersport account. Looks as though the post he made was removed or deleted? Can anyone recommend this site? I got a quote from him and was surprised but at the same time had the feeling if it seems to good to be true then... Website looks well made and the emailed quote was quite promising. Just thought I'd ask here first before making the payment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3095 Report post Posted January 13 I would be very cautious.. looks dodgy to me but.. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 13 Wondering if an administrator removed the post or if he deleted it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 1963 Report post Posted January 13 Posts were removed by Admin as they had not made any contact with the site before posting, which is a direct breach of the site rules. If they cannot be bothered to do that simple task you have to wonder how good they are. Part of the reason we ask for contact before they post is to check them out to determine if they are genuine so members don’t get ripped off. My personal suggestion would be to stick to known and trusted vendors. 2 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 1766 Report post Posted January 13 Good guy admins keeping us safe 🤜 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 14 No reviews in Google either. No mention of the company in other forums. I'd say you're probably right. @PartsFriend Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1115 Report post Posted January 15 Maybe someone should buy something really cheap and small, and see if it turns up Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 3381 Report post Posted January 15 33 minutes ago, zero said: Maybe someone should buy something really cheap and small, and see if it turns up I was thinking that, I need a few $10 gaskets. But then I imagined how easy it would be to service low value orders then fleece somebody on something of high value later on. I hope the admins reached out to the OP rather than just killing the thread, an invite to "please read the rules and engage with the community to help us understand" would help Bimmersporters much more than just shutting it down. To be honest, it looks like a one man band (or at least very few people) who have (trade?) accounts with various German suppliers which might allow for some sharp pricing. I think the cost of shipping will be the biggest factor because the only thing that can influence that is volume. 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 15 I've emailed him/them to find out more about the company and to see if there were any independent reviews etc. But I think I might just have to go through FCP as usual. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 15 Reply from David Holm from Parts-friend. "Hi Cam, If you have concerns about to get your parts and don´t lose money I can tell you that I do this for a living (selling parts worldwide). I do understand that it is a little step to buy that far away without knowing my company yet, but you can trust me in full please. If you decide to order and decide to pay via PayPal, you will have also some extra safety (buyer protection) in case you don´t get your parts as promised my side. Once I know which parts you have decided to order, I will send you a detailed pro- forma invoice also with an invoice number and all information given from my company (attached, not filled in yet). It will look more professional and you also can put in the invoice number to PP or your wire transfer and you can point on, once you will not receive the goods. But you will get the parts, as mentioned, I do this for a living, if I don´t supply parts after ordering and get paid, it would take 1-2 month and I am over. I also already thought about putting reviews on the website in future, propably something to add soon, would be happy to get a review from your side after that. Best regards David" How much buyer protection do we really have through PayPal? Is it as easy as claiming a refund of the parts don't turn up? Has anyone been through this before with PayPal? From the PayPal website it makes out to be quite safe and easy to get a refund. If it was a small savings, I'd go through FCP but it's about 25% cheaper (incl shipping). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 711 Report post Posted January 15 Refund process can vary in length depending on the situation, but Paypal and Ebay are buyer bias in general. Ive never had a issue in the couple ive done in over a few hundred transactions. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M M 237 Report post Posted January 15 Same, Paypal generally just sides with the buyer right away so I can't see it being a problem for you. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 15 If that's the case, I might risk it for the biscuit. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andrewm 187 Report post Posted January 16 (edited) I found buyer protection useless for scammers because although paypal processes it as a refund by charging sellers bank account, if there is no money in the bank account associated with the paypal account then the process goes no further. I bought something off a forum seller overseas because I thought I had paypal buyer protection - they had plenty of feedback and posts but they never sent it and went to ground. I eventually filed with visa and they did a chargeback on paypal so I got my money but paypal kept replying ' refund process is underway' then 'refund is processed' even though the image was of 'refund failed' Edited January 16 by andrewm 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 1963 Report post Posted January 17 I do hope that wasn’t this forum Andrew, if it was can you pm me the user details? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andrewm 187 Report post Posted January 18 9 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said: I do hope that wasn’t this forum Andrew, if it was can you pm me the user details? No, one of the big US mercedes forums. Ive had pretty good luck with NZ purchases. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 1766 Report post Posted January 18 Gosh the guys reply reads straight like a Nigerian scam. I know english probably ain't his first language but there are some similarities in the wording to common scams. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 1233 Report post Posted January 18 (edited) 11 hours ago, KwS said: Gosh the guys reply reads straight like a Nigerian scam. I know english probably ain't his first language but there are some similarities in the wording to common scams. Was just going to say something similar. Generic White Man Name Generator was definitely used. Edited January 18 by Driftit 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cammsport 207 Report post Posted January 20 Latest email. "Hi Cam, good morning How are you doing please? Did you received my two mails regarding to your add enquiries please? Did anything worked out well for you so I can put into a proforma invocie to have an overview for you? Thank you very much, have a great day and best regards David" Everyone I've met from Germany has far better English than this. I'm not getting on my high horse, I only speak one language. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matth5 416 Report post Posted January 20 (edited) If you pay with credit card you should also be able to do a chargeback via your bank. Personally I'd rather deal with my bank than Paypal. Say all you want about our banks, but I assure you big US financial institutions don't give two shits about customer service when things go wrong. If you pay via Paypal, using your credit card (not your Paypal balance, if you have any), you should still be protected by your bank. Edited January 20 by Matth5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 1766 Report post Posted January 20 Reads like a scam. Walk away. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 1233 Report post Posted January 20 Oh wow that is Scamlish for sure. Any German would speak perfect English as previously mentioned. Or would use a translator which would not make more spelling mistakes than a stuff.co.nz article. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M M 237 Report post Posted January 20 I have to agree now, every German I have met (here, Europe or elsewhere) has spoken better English. Especially since he claims to have been doing business worldwide. I wouldn't go ahead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PartsFriend 9 Report post Posted January 21 Hi guys, good morning to your side of the world, I am sorry for my late reply. I thought I would get a mail whenever there is an activity. First of all, thank you for discussing, happy that there is a feedback, even it is not a good one for me though except a better pricing than FCP EURO from the US. Thank you @E30 325i Rag-Top (admin) thats true, I guess they deleted it because I didn´t know that I have to introduce myself before, I made this after I got informed and it was my mistake, thats true and I am sorry, could have know this better.. I am new to this (forum)- thing, but I do like it. Thank you that you didn´t delete this conversation here, so I might have the chance to reply to it without seeing my company name gets burned for no reason because I still work / and worked hard for it. Thanks also to @M M and @Driftit, @KwS, @Matth5, @M3AN, @qube, @zero, @Eagle, @andrewm, to at least discuss this and not all words turned out bad for me 🙂 @Cammsport thank you very much for your enquiry and your trust / try, you are right, no google ratings yet, as I told you might something to think about in future. I do understand that it is might a bit risky to buy far away from a unknown dealer, and yes one of you was right, it s a one- man show (for now). But how to start please? Buy google ratings? Ask friends to rate 5 stars? Not my way. (instagram @partsfriend, some of my recent work whenever it s worth to upload + time making a picture) Happy for a follow if you also use Instagram and I am not burned as the "bad scammer guy". say "hello" please if you follow so I know who it is, I like it personal, because I like my job and try to find my own way in this business) Regarding to my english, sure you are right, not that good as yours for sure, as a native speaker or someone you are dealing with in the US or in the UK and I also notice when it comes to several mails a day and a bunch of work, that my english isn´t the best and getting worth, still learning, still growing, don´t like that too as it looks not that professional, you are right. Will put more work into it. Cam, let s do it the other way around, let me know what you need please out of your latest enquiry, I will send the parts and you pay after you have received them? (as a special because I usually need to pay my dealers within 2-3 days and I would run out of money and couldn´t order more parts offering this in general) (I know I am late to reply to it, so maybe your order was already placed at FCP, but like mentioned I thought I would get any notification and well also my fault not checking it before, busy days getting all things done) And no, I am not from Nigeria or something, I am from Germany and raised in Berlin :- P I do speak German very well ;- ) and English as best as possible, learned in school, never spend longer than 2 weeks in the US or any english speaking country but it should be good enough, to understand what my customer is looking for + explain the steps from enquiry, order and shipment. Thank you again guys, appreciate that there was a response and this forum looks like to have a good and helpful community, if there are parts in future, please give it another try, even if you only would like to compare to FCP or any other dealer you use to buy parts from, maybe in future someone gives it a try. Would be happy. And why can´t a one- man company beat a big one from time to time?... in service + pricing... (please use contact@parts-friend.com if there is something might interesting to check) but I will check this site now every day to see if there is someone interested and willing to try / or any question. Cheers and stay safe (hopefully without a bunch of mistakes, I put in some more time :- ) ) best regards David 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 1233 Report post Posted January 21 Well I would like to apologize to you. Sorry for mistaking you as a scammer. And thank you for the effort in regards to introducing yourself. Your English is on par with most on this forum We are overly cautious and suspicious when it comes to parts. Forums are still often targeted by spam and scams as they are easily breached by bots. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
