Bss M-250's, SCAM Don't buy them!!! Options

[mupp]

I have got my hands on a pair of brand new BSS m-250 loudspeaker studio monitors and i was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about them (i.e. their value, and where i could sell such items)

Any help would be much appreciated

Let me guess. From a guy in a transit van - both claiming to be delivery men for a audio company, and they say...had 2 on the order, but 6 got put in by accident...and wanted to sell them to you to get some beer money.

Sad to tell you man - its a scam. There is no such thing. Brendle Sound Systems doesn't exist, all the glossy brochures, recommended retail price, and everything the guys had - faked. The invoice is fake, their sound company doesn't exist.

I got caught out by the same scam. Afterwards it seems stupid - but at the time, for some reason, you agree to it.

Now - the speakers are worth varying amounts. The 2 I got duped into buying - a mate of mine into expensive audio equipment tells me they're worth £250 absolute max.
They go up loud and don't distort too bad, but they won't be worth what you paid for them I doubt. There may well be varying speakers with that same model number as well... so just because mine sound ok, yours may well sound crap.

Good luck on them, and if you want more info on the scam - here you go ->
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=BSS+sp...fncis.de&rnum=4

It's also listed here -> http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/12424, and here -> http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4...0099140,00.html
and here http://pub42.ezboard.com/faudioforum83468f...picID=179.topic

Different fake make/model number, but same scam worldwide.

[yvesvl]

Unbelievable !

A friend of me just (5 min ago) called me and asked me to lookup "bss 250 speakers".

He was standing in a gas-station and 2 man, who came out of a mini-van came up to him trying to sell speakers.

Exactly the same story ! They told him they had ordered 4 speakers and by accident they got 4 boxen with 4 pairs of speakers....

So I started looking for any info.
At first I didn't find anything (except for cofee machines with that model-nr) but I told him not to buy it anyway...

Right after I hung up the phone, I found this forum. With exactly (ok, almost exactly) the same story.

I called him back. He was allready driving home and he followed my first advice, so he didn't buy them

After hearing about this forum he called the police...
Let's hope they catch the assholes....

place where it happened: Gas-station at "Linker Oever", Antwerp

[Just Been Scamme...]

Just bought a pair, BSS M-250 Loudspeakers about 20 minutes ago for £300

I just came on the net to see how much they were worth and going to try and sell them on, hopefully make abit of money as I'm a poor student, when i stumbled across this forum.

Same story, some guy in a White Van, seemed abit dodgy but i still went ahead with it. Gutted.

He approched me on my street just as i was walkin home from university,
Ladywell Street,
Preston,
England.

If Anybody ever finds out if they get caught it would be great if u could let me know - [EDIT LPM removed email at member's request]

This post has been edited by lepetitmartien: Fri 31 Mar 2006, 15:54

[lepetitmartien]

Could you post a decent pic of them so people can see and be aware. Please name the pic by the "proper" speaker name (BSS 250) so that it comes up in picture search too.

Maybe build in China and worth not a lot.

Easy to buy some by the truck load and start swindling people.

If anyone can make a pic, I can put it on the MM server so you don't have to bother about when it won't be available etc. on a personal FTP.

Contact me thru my member info page (click on my name) and don't put mail addresses in the forum.

Swindllers I hate that!

[tobz]

I managed to get swindled with these damn speakers too....although they sound good, i didnt really want them!
But hey, never mind...at least we have something for our money (on the bright side!)

Just wondering if anyone can help me tho... is it possible to test the speakers for a power output rating etc? I want to know the real stats on them because, as they are kinda dodgy, i reckon the stats given to us are incorrect too! Thinking of hooking up an amp to them, but dont know what power of amp to buy to make them sound good-ish!?
Any ideas anyone?
Cheers.

[zagadka]

It has happened to me as well... 3 days ago...
I forked out 200 quids. They sound really good, I can't compain but I just feel now very strange with this fact that I had been tricked.
But I carried out a small investigation on the whole web and I found some information in Germany. It seems that a lot of people are also confused about them in there, but actually U can buy them there. I don't know German language well enough but I managed to translate a few bits. Below I put some links so if U know German U can easily find out what they wrote about.

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...&category=11276

http://www.pbportal.de/forum/showthread/t-37159.html

http://www.preiswen.de/sound1.htm

http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-30-886-1.html


The price is 179 euro per pair. But I don't know if this is true.
Then, U can find they are writing that this speakers comes from Latvia or Russia. Other information I am not sure about, U have to investigate about it on your own.

[tallpaul2011]

£250 quid! aaghggghhh!,

Two men, white van, left overs from an order, what was wrong with me?

Worcester Park, Surrey, England.

[scrypt]

The same scam has been pulled in the States for quite some time. At least one friend of mine was taken, so heads up, New Yorkers.

The only decent warehouse deal I've ever found was through a reputable engineer at a shady studio that depended on my client's business too much to steal from me. I've often wondered whether the Mac I bought under those circumstances was actually hot.

In any case, the message is clear: Don't ever buy high end audio from the back of a stranger's truck.

This post has been edited by scrypt: Sun 14 Dec 2003, 10:11

[TOMi]

Propper gutted!
I'm a (now extremely skint) student in Salford, who also payed £230 for a pair of BSS-M250s, suposedly worth £1500. That was yesterday, Jan 21st 2004. I tried to find out a little about them, and this is what I found.
Exactly the same happened to me as the others of you. Just nice to know I'm not the only one...
I note that they've also been around Preston, which isn't far away - but acording to "Alex" (as he called himself) he's been all over the contry, so who knows how many people might have fallen for it. These people must be stoped!

I should point out that on doing research on these from when I was scammed, I did find out that in America, certain individuals had been getting their own back.

Two people claimed to use their girlfriend as a decoy who pretended to be interested in the speakers, then stole the scammers' van.
There was also a report of one person who was actually stabbed by someone they had previously conned.

I think it needs to get some press coverage - just a mention on a national radio station or something would probably be enough. Currently, the only way you hear of it is if you, or someone you know, has already been scammed by it.

And who wants to report it to a newspaper themselves? "Mr <whoever> of <wherever> was tricked into buying 2 speakers he believed to be worth something, from the back of an unmarked transit van".. you just look an even bigger gimp than you were already.

[Steve999]

Has anyone managed to sell on these speakers? How much did you get back? Where did you sell them? I've just been scammed and want rid of them as I didn't really want them in the first place.

[newrigel]

Man I've seen those clowns all the time @ places.. (car washes,covenient stores ) and I alway's thought the stuff these guy's sold was on FIRE! Who in their right mind would buy a speaker without listening to it first? Now, Levis, shirts and such I could see someone buying... but TRANSDUCERS??? Remember the saying... "Caveat Emptor" beware!

[Hellhamster]

These guys were just in Bristol this afternoon (March 11 2004). Just got swindled out of 200 quid by these men. Given accurate discriptions to Avon Police. Glad i had the forethought to take their descriptions and registration number down. I am a poor poor student and now I'm even poorer.
Still glad to know i'm not the only one. So are these speakers any good???

[StevieBoy]

Sorry to be a killjoy (maybe that's not quite what you are) but I can't quite see where the swindle is. These guys say they're selling speakers - and that's what you get. They say they're worth more than the price they're offering - well, they may believe that ('worth' being a very elastic concept).

The worst they may be doing is fiddling tax, it seems to me.

[Hellhamster]

The point is that they trick you. THey dont just 'say' that they're worth more, they have printed up false papers, invoices, articles brochures, even fake ads that show other people selling them on for £1500 or so. They have put a lot of effort into making you believe these speakers are what they say they are, that's the most annoying thing.

[Dsourza]

I bought a pair myself some years ago, 250£
Ultimately, u can almost name ur own price, but because of the fact that they have gone to so much trouble of making all the paperwork seem so authentic, 2 the naked eye, it seems like the deal you`ve been waiting for...
They actually sound somewhat ok, but it has to be at the price not much over 80-100£, at least i think.

They`re also operating here in Denmark, just 2day i was stoppet by 2 guy in a blue van, i was just about to lock my bike outside a netcafe, when a blue van pulled over by my side, some swedish guy stuck his head out and said, "erhm, xcuse me freind" i cut him off and said " so u got got some speakers for me" i didnt know if he was about to drive off or spin around around twice on his seat , never the less i took my time and said "yearh i bought a some a couple of years ago" i talked him down to selling them off 3pairs for a decent price, they would even come a set up a pair in my apartment for me and others to test the sound quality, he even gave me his phone number for me to call him later (how stupid is that ) - i mean hey! - if i knew anyone who needed a pair of speakers then i could help out some of my freinds, and thats would be it...or on the other hand, i could turn them in, but dont see the harm in what theyre doin, i should have know better the last time i bought`em and i can get`em cheap now, no matter what, as somebody said earlier in this forum, dont think u can buy high-end gear for that price out of a freakin van by 2 guys that dont know shit about anything, least of all music-gear...

Just a thought from D-:

[tecnical]

speaker scam now in wale's u.k mate of mine nearly brought 4 but thank's for the internet got back to him in time thank's to your web site

[wolfeye]

So.... These guys seem to appear in Sweden nowadays and one of them speaks swedish in a acceptable manner ( claiming that he is from sweden though, what a joke!!! ). They show their ID's and we get their names too ( both fore and sir names ). As I didn't want to deal with them anyway I just took a quick look at ther ID's and figured out that the "swedish" guy was Peter. They started to pull out the same story as they always do with having a pair of speekers over and blah blah. Me and my friend ( students ) got really intressed as we realized our chance to earn some money here. The guys wanted 8000 kr = 550 pounds for the pair of speekers. My oppinion was 4000 kr = 275 punds for a complete 4.1 system ( 2 main monitors, 2 satelites and one sub bas ). I also started researching these speakers more closely as one of them got really nervous... I started to feel that something was wrong ( it isn't every day you buy something from the back of a van ). All the speakers seemed ok and we agreed to give a final offer for the 4.1 system. They finally agreed 275 pounds for all of them and we took the stuff and got home.

So then we started to figure out the real price of them as we from the beginning realized that they'd been overdoing it a little bit. So then we stumbled upon this site and realized we had been tricked. But hey!!! Why don't we see how they sound...

We plugged these speekers into our amplifier and found out that they actually sound really good. Ok. It isn't worth the price the two guys claimed it to be but I can tell you that I'm satisfied having a 4.1 surround system for 275 pounds or 450 euro. I think I've paid what they are worth, which means that I havn't got tricked in that way but our ideas of selling it further is now another subject to discuss...

.....
The components in these speakers are probably from china but who cares... Your components in your computer are probably from taiwan...

[scritz]

Hi!
Sadly enough i found this forum to late... I also got swindled... or how you might express it... 2 guys rentvan from germany.... Well be aware that they are widening their terretory... I was foold today i sweden...
But i guess I shouldent complain... 200 euro is´t that bad for that kind of eqipment, its mostley the thought that I got swindled that bothers me...

Be AWARE! These guy are proos.. They even helped me install them in my appartment and let me listen to them... They let me look on the internet for information about Bss without getting coold feet. They even asked me if i could speak german (which i said "yes, alittle but not much") and then they diskussed the prise (200euro) in german, so that i would think that they didnt want me to understand. And offcourse they made me think a was making hell of a deal.

By the way: In Sweden they call the subsystem for: bss, AC-001
Two packages one whit the sub and one with the satalites.

Have anyone else been foold in sweden?

Hoppfully the people that is doing this is being cought soon!

/scritz (sweden)

[boulou]

Hi,
I hope I had read this forum earlier, I got caugh by these guys today in Bristol (they're back in the uk apparently), it sounded like a good idea at the moment (and I should't have drunk so much yesterday).
Are they of any good at least? Do you know their real charactiristics ? I bet the 250 watts is a scamm

[zenstalinist]

250 watts IS a scam... I've read numerous accounts of people opening those speakers to find that they could barely handle 15 watts RMS.

I just noticed one of these scams running on ebay... If the current price holds out, the buyer will pay about all they're worth.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...5703799033&rd=1

Notice another indicator of fake statistics. 4-8 ohms... Either they're 4 or they're 8... The scam artist obviously doesn't understand how resistance and impedence work, as we all know, it is the amplifier '4-8 ohms' appears on, meaning it can handle that resistance... OF course,, they probably are 4-8 ohms... Somewhere in that range but it can't be guaranteed where!

IT should also be noted that the bass-enhancing feature some of these sepakers are sold with consists of a small cermaic capacitor... That's it. IMO it probably makes it worse.

I have a policy... Always research before purchase.

These guys give will appear all open and will let you investigate further because they know if they don't, you'll think there's something nonkosher about it. Whereas if they say 'see for yourself', then there's still a chance of you buying it even if you do, and you're more likely to just take their word for it once they offer this amount of glastnost.

I might consider advising you to contact Ebay whenever you see a speaker that is known to be a scam.

[scrypt]

. . . I did find out that in America, certain individuals had been getting their own back. . . . Two people claimed to use their girlfriend as a decoy who pretended to be interested in the speakers, then stole the scammers' van.
There was also a report of one person who was actually stabbed by someone they had previously conned. . . .

As satisfying as those stories from America sound, I've never met anyone from my burg who'd have the moxie to leap into the front seat of someone else's van and drive off whistling. I'm not doubting your honesty or integrity in any way, but I do wonder about the source of the particulars.

Street scams are far more common in New York than men in vans with strangely unfamiliar speakers. Just the other day, two Jamaican men approached me, supposedly to sell a G4 titanium laptop for $400. They claimed to be willing to show me said laptop before taking my money and seemed extremely eager to accompany me to the bank. When one of them told me a story about "famous hackers" meeting once a week to devise schemes of massive G4 larceny, I had to excuse myself to go somewhere to chortle.

Other friends have bought, variously, blank DVDs packaged as bootlegs of LoTR and packaged telephones that turned out to be bricks in boxes. The real deals are to be had in places like Chinatown electronics stores, where consistent addresses guarantee that any transaction which takes place won't involve your salesperson skipping town. When it's time to beat h/e/i/r/m with a car antenna (to continue the stereotype of the violent American), you'll know where to find h/e/i/r/m.

This post has been edited by scrypt: Mon 14 Jun 2004, 21:34

[marrakoost]

just want to inform anyone that gets scammed that these speakers are now officially famous...

if you've ever played max payne 2, have a look around his apartment and you should see some familiar black towers

i'd include a screenshot if i could...


£200, leicester, day of student loan arrival...

[angryfather]

The bastards appeared in Farnborough Hants yesterday and swindelled my son out of his hard earned summer savings. Same old story, guy in a white van etc. I hope that someone catches up with them one day and gives them what they deserve.

[londonboy]

Likewise - just got done today in Norwich in the UK. Luckily i only offered £50 and they took it. Either way though i still got scamed and it hurts.

I think they are doing the University runs and preying on students.

eyes open everyone!!

[MessyPup]

I am also in Salford Uni, He stopped me on Seaford road (…from a white van…) but I only agreed to hand over the cash after I heard them hooked up to my stereo in my room. I paid £200 but up until I read this page I was very happy with them, now I can’t help not to feel conned. What really hurts is that I trusted this guy and he was tricking me all alone.

I’ve found a guy selling a set of BSS M-250 speakers at www.findit.co.uk
He said he bought an extra pair by accident when ordering from Audio Direct, he said he has a 2 Year Warranty Card as well, although I checked Audio Direct and I can’t find BSS M-250 for sale…

He also says that the speakers are recommended for use with a BSS Omnidrive loudspeaker management system or similar. I checked the link he included:

http://www.hhb.co.uk/hhb/uk/products/detail.asp?ID=314

I found 11 items system made by BSS, including a BSS Omnidrive loudspeaker management system, but no M-250.

I guess this guy has also been tricked by the white van and is trying to cover his losses but he said he bought them for £1300 (from Audio Direct) but will accept £900


Since there has been this idea of being conned I can’t get it out of my head that there is something wrong with the speakers.
Is there anyone out there that is actually happy with the quality of the speakers?

[sa77]

Hello everybody.
Im from Sweden, and i have a story to tell.
Last monday 4/10-2004, i was showing my car to a guy he wanted too buy it. And suddenly a car drove up to us, AND it was a White TRANSIT VAN, whit two people in it. The one who was driving spoke swedish pretty good, and he started to talk too us and explaining that they had loudspeakers to sell. he said that they brought them up from germany, too deliver to a company in Stockholm.Thay had a order for picking upp 6 pair of speakers, but when they had left, they saw that they had loaded the car whit 10 Pairs. Htey had all the pappers and i stamp from some german company. It semed to be correct .
It sounded very good and i thought that this was a very good deal, he said that 5 minutes before he had sold 2 pairs, for 8000 swedish kr. And i said that i couldent get so much money, He said what could i give then, half give me a offer he said. MMMMMMMM, i was getting suppisches, he was very keen too sell very fast. And hes friend was not saying anything, so i started to talk to his friend , he couldnt talk english, but german.Apperently he was from the company they had picked them up from.
The guy who was looking at my car wasn't so imprest by the way he was acting, so he said no and walkt away.
So thay was focused on me, get some monye and you can buy the last 2 pairs for 2500 swedish kr. It was a good deal i thought, and i called om my car phone, too check my account.
When i was checking , i said to the guy that i didn't have the monye. And i wanted to call a friend , if he could come and look at the speakers and bring some money, beucouse he is very good at this stuff.
Then i saw that he didn't liked that, so i said that i did'nt wont to buy.
He jumped in to the car and said it was my loos.
Yeh Yeh!! i glad today.
I talked to my friend, and we started to look for the speakers, and my friend did find this forum.
I can say that they have comed to Sweden to. The guys in the White Transit.

[fictionmusic]

This whole thing is very weird. The same thing happened to me in Ottawa Ontario about 6 years ago. I don't remember the brand, but 2 guys in a van were going to sell me some speakers that the original purchaser had backed out of buying. I didn't like the looks of the guy who was trying to sell me the stuff so I declined. Good thing too apparently. I still believe in the motto
"if it's too good to be true, it isn't"

[sa77]

" fictionmusic"
Did the speakers name were ,LinerPhase , a friend of mine were offered to buy some speakers severly eyrs ago, and those was called Linerphase. those speakers were covered whit something looking like black felt.
This was in Sweden , stockholm.
Is it some body else who reccognise the namn LINERPHASE Speakers.

[lepetitmartien]

It's just INSANE this swindle is still up and running!

[ashem]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...!!!!!!!
... i can't believe it... 200 quids... u're right, and i thought about it... but i don't know, one of the speakers they sold me is still in its box!!!! ... and the guy showed me his driving license, i wrote down the number on his driving license... i haven't checked yet, but i guess it's a fake one, what do u guys think? ... well, now, the best I can do is to get someone to tell how much they're worth... i imagine there is no way to belive what's writting on the back of the speakers, is there?
what's written is the following:

bss - studio monitor m-250
sensitivity 90dB
Normal impedance 4 Ohms
Frequency response 30-20 000Hz
Music power 250 W
Crossover frequences 500/5000Hz

is this the same as all of u guys??? ... so, do we have a definite idea of the value of those speakers?? ...

thanks, i guess i won't be able to sleep tonight... i can't belive i've been that stupid... after 8h of lectures at university, for sure ur brain doesn't work well anymore...

guess the best is to keep them, isn't it? or should they be trashed cuz they have absolutelly no value?

...
i can't belive i got accepted into bristol university and be able to be that stupid...

[fictionmusic]

" fictionmusic"
Did the speakers name were ,LinerPhase .....those speakers were covered whit something looking like black felt.

Well I didn't see the name but they were coverd with what looked like black felt. The area I lived was were most of the Ottawa University students lived (much like the experience of other posters) so I imagine it is the same outfit (an international conspiracy of speaker con-men!)

[sa77]

" fictionmusic"
Did the speakers name were ,LinerPhase .....those speakers were covered whit something looking like black felt.

Well I didn't see the name but they were coverd with what looked like black felt. The area I lived was were most of the Ottawa University students lived (much like the experience of other posters) so I imagine it is the same outfit (an international conspiracy of speaker con-men!)

OK. This was in Canada, you been offered these speakers.
I can say its seems to be world wide spreed. Beucouse my friend ,were offered these in Sweden, stockholm, some years
ago. Like my friend, i was offered to buy on the street,like everybody, but not neer any University or were students live.
They just came up whit a car, leaning out of the window, at a shoppingmall on the parkinglot.

[londonboy]

On the question of what they are worth:

I just managed to get rid of mine for £350 which is far more than i would have imagined. However other people i have spoken to or seen on e-bay seem to be about £50 at the most.

shame!

[MessyPup]

Hey, there is a lot of upset people out their over this BSS 250 problem... but has anyone sat down and realised that 1) they do work and 2) just because we have all been 'conned' it doesn't mean the speakers are of a rubbish quality...


After the annoyance of being tricked wears off and the speakers have worn in, I am now quite pleased with my pair (for £200), is anyone else also pleased with there's......?

.....or am I alone on this one?

[ashem]

to tell the truth, I haven't tried them yet... cuz i don't have the material to...
i thought about selling them on ebay.. but i'd feel bad to do excatly what happened to me to someone else
However, one of my box is still closed (means COMPLETELY NEW!!!!!). I live in Bristol, if anyone is interested, i'll give them for the price I paid them... 200 quids... if they're worth it, i'd love to do so (I'm in a SMALL university hall... they take about 1/2 of the space in my room... which is really getting on my nerves)

IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED I HAVEN'T TRIED THEM, AND I'LL SELL THEM FOR 200 POUNDS (ok, it's not cuz it's in caps more people will read it, but it sounds like i'm telling everyone... )

so if u hear anyone looking for those kind, these are 100 percent NEW!!!! (WHAT A DEAL!!! ... it'll go for the one proposing the largest amount of money) It starts at 200 and goes up by 50!!!

... Hope never killed anyone, did it?

[lepetitmartien]

Uh oh… it's for the classifieds this post

please do

[ExoXile]

HAHA!... My dad bought thesame speakers, mini-van,leftover-speaker,bear needing persons.......

He got the speakers for 250£.

Most of you guys speak english, but this happend in sweden!

Thanx for the scam revieling anyway.

[souljor]

same happened to my friend 3 days ago in nottingham

heres the ones he bought.

they sound pretty sweet, worth 300 quid even (maybe)

i aint gona tell him he got scammed thoughhe would be so pissed.

[alistevenson]

Well peps, is 1:30pm and about hour ago same thing nearly happened to me and my friend in Sheffield. He was walking home from Uni, same story, guy, white van, speakers etc. Came back to halls to ask me about them, seemed a good deal, we were going to get them for £200. But, just as we were about to draw cash, had big second thought. Firstly, these are not £750 speakers, have you ever seen a pair of speakers for £750, I promise you they look ...nice, good speakers rely on good wood, and the wood on these BSS was obviously crap, (plus £700 speakers sound amazing). The sticker on the top showing frequency levels gave it away aswell.
For £200 you can get a good pair of speakers from a good hifi retailer (e.g Richer Sounds) and I promise you they will be better than these bss ones, plus if they break them you can always take them back.
Feel relieved that we stopped at the last minute, .....but what a scam.......good effort to the guy for trying........but what a load of crap.

[scrambles]

http://www.scamshield.com

This scam really is amazing. I got hit in college at least 3-4 years ago. Paid $200 cash and actually still have them in my living room today. They sound decent enough, good for large parties when no one's really paying attention. The pseudo-company for me was Dynalab.

Is there a White Van Scam headquarters, you think? These people are definitely trained somewhere, because it's exactly the same spiel everywhere, right down to asking for extra beer money after the deal. Didn't get me on that one though. java script:emoticon(':)')

[LindseyTantrum]

Two of my friends have just bought these speakers for £400!

They got scammed in the Sainsbury's car park in castle marina, Nottingham 2 days ago. I've just showed one of the guys this site. They're obviously not worth anywhere near that so he's pretty pissed off.

[souljor]

theres obviously alot of them running this operation.

quite unbelievable really when you think they must have aheadquarters and a boss/manager etc.

[fictionmusic]

I imagine this secret warehouse full of crappy speakers, white vans, and guys with maps of all the university towns world-wide.

I do wonder how these guys do operate though. This scam has been pulled from Boston to Sweden and a lot of points in-between. (and even though there are those who say it all seems fair...you bought speakers, and they work...it is a scam nonetheless)

[lepetitmartien]

Maybe it's space invaders working on the earth invasion?

(for the innocents here, it's a joke!)

[fbeyer]

it seems to me the two guys are just doing a bit of creative marketing, it's not that different from when you see these amazing discounts being advertised from most music shops, where they show original prices that never exissted in real life (might have been the original inflated suggested retail price, from six years before), and the amazing new low price you get (save £££ !!!).

so these two guys are free to attribute the price they want to these speakers.

so they bought these speakers from their supplier (who knows, maybe they even paid vat) and then they pretend to have received them by accident and instead of doing the right thing - return them - they're willing to sell them to you.
so ok, that's a lie, but you got what you paid for: a pair of working speakers and a nice story.

[fbeyer]

so that's true.

so I do seem to start every sentence of mine with "so".

so I must go now.

so.

[redcoat]

on my honour im not an easily angered man but i sure as hell will stress test their speakers with a fist if i ever see them near derby unicversity again.

i feel such an ass spending £300 for em, they sure sound nice and i ordered a good samson amp to go with em, but i fear such a powerful piece of equipment will blow the speakers.

i dont know if i will call the police or punch them out if i see them again. the second sure as hell is far more tempting.

i am a person that goes for all out quality, and i feel so stupid for not listenin to gut reaction and leaving, but i had an exam and was in a rush, so they played the hurry and decide game. ack! well so long as no-one i know finds out i suppose

[smalls]

Yep, they're in cardiff today, just got done, £270 and in middle of exams... SHIT! A conselation is within 45min, the cops was onto them.. Fake registration WH 02 DLK . BEWARE..... 1 american tanned guy with the gift of the gob, no tools in the van ...hoew could i be so stupid.!

[lepetitmartien]

At least some police is on them!

sigh!

(We should found a club (trying to see the bright side of scam)

[smalls]

Just had chat with police, they cant do shit.. its a civil crime ,what they're doing is completly LEGAL. So,people, if anyone finds out anything about this bald stocky guy in his 40s or the american tanned 20s skinny prick with verbal diahreia it will be much appreciated, as i'd like to make a personal visit. Strictly business of course. In the meantime, you've got to laugh!

[redcoat]

they are the very wankers that got me.

i swear that if i ever find em im gonna act interested and 'stress test' the speaker cones with something feckin heavy. failing that im gonna stress test their heads with each other.

im so bleedin angry.

[eightspeeder]

well, I have to say it was a good scam. they had me fooled. seemed like pretty nice guys, and the catalogues and everything looked legit.

but now I'm out £210 and half a bottle of stolichnaya. I'm just glad I didn't give them any more.

I wonder how many of those white vans are out there... how many of these guys. one of mine was from boston and the other was british, sounded like he was from london. the american had long hair, sideburns, and I remember he had his lower lip pierced. the british guy had short hair. said their names were john and chris, respectively.

hey, someone said it was pulled in boston. same guy, I guess... all ye scammed, unite! let's find these guys.

[eightspeeder]

and one more thing... that whole "well, they're pretty decent speakers!" line doesn't do it for me. I mean, they're too big for a student, and if they were really worth £1000 or anything close to that, it'd justify having them. but they're just "pretty decent" and now, in the middle of exams, I've gotta start thinking about how I'm gonna get rid of these big, clunky, worthless speakers. and most of all, it's just really humiliating. white van with no tools or wires or anything... and what were they doing on campus? in hindsight, the "what were you thinking?" factor is just unbearable.

I'm in bath, by the way. a few people said they got scammed in bristol... well, just know they're still in the area.

[redcoat]

well i have a clean criminal record but im happy to taint it with some payback, and failing that i have a mental friend who would do it for the sport

well i feel really bad for doing so but in the paper mine go, only sellin for the price i paid tho, i feel bad enough sellin em off to someone else but now i damn well need the money.

this realy freakin sucks.

[Rass]

This happened to a friend of mine today (27th Jan) in Liverpool. so beware if you're in the North west. To be fair i've just had a look at them and tested them out and they look good and sound good from a standard Stereo system. I'm just glad i did abit of research on them before i offered to take them off his hands for £400 which we had previously agreed on
They definately 'prey' on students on with fat loan cheques dont they

[simonjlr]

The same thing just happened to a mate of mine

28th Jan in Exeter. Looks like they've had a long journey from Liverpool.

Guy called Alex. By the way he was acting, i thought he was a friend of my mate. I wouldn't have let him buy them if i knew the whole story.

By the Uni as well.

I've been to look for the bastards, but no avail.

[Sfsdfsd Ssfdsf]

yeh, im the idiot mate of 'Simonjlr' above who fell for it in exeter today

same tanned american geezer, this time he was called alex, and an english mate. the english one said he was from london and as im from north london, a place called crouch end, i mentioned that and he knew it, and that it had a clocktower, and said that he was from Finchley. not sure if he's actually from finchley, but he knew north london well so my guess is he's from round there.

i only bought one, as i was given the impression it'd be easy to flog it off on ebay and make some profit, paid 150 for it. oh well, dont think i'll find anyone who wants to buy it so i just hope it works for long enough for the 150 to be worth it. i'll just have to get used to hearing music in mono. hah

does anyone who has a set, or just one want to take this one off me and have two, or three? 100 quid seems to be what they are worth from my research on this message board and others. longshot i know, but if you are pleased with yours, then it'd make sense. i dunno. contact me if you're interested.

[Steely]

Hey,the same thing happened to me last Thursday about midday. Luckily I only paid them £150 for both of them which means I should be able to get my money back when I sell them.I went to the police station and reported what had happened but they just said that they hadnt committed a criminal offence because they had sold me speakers that worked but had sold me something on false information. They therefore advised me to contact the Trading Standards Unit which I did and although they cant do anything without more information they are monitoring the situation in England.If you have information on the guys behind this scam you should contact them so they can catch these people.The Plymouth branch is 01752 304580 if you live elsewhere in England you could give them a ring to get your local branch number.I've also put a notice out on the Plymouth University website warning people about the scam and written to BBC Watchdog,so hopefully no one else will fall victim to these people.

Nicholas Steel (Steely)
Plymouth UK

[lepetitmartien]

It's time some authority handle the problem, once and for all.

Thanks Steely!

[mrminnitt]

Seems to me that if the police have their numberplate they should at least pick them up and do them for tax evasion and supplying false information to customers. If i ever see them again I'm not going to react well. My speakers are pretty good but i wasnt planning on buying them and now i am definitely trying to get rid of them. Not an easy task! Spread the word about these mo fo's.

[Sfsdfsd Ssfdsf]

nah, they wouldnt be using their proper number plates, then they'd be caught too easily. i reackon they rent a white van for a week, and put on new number plates every day. unless they're in a car accident its pretty unlikely the police stop them and find out they have fake plates on.

[mrminnitt]

[SIZE=7]Does anyone happen to know for sure what the specifications of the speakers are? If they are what they are supposed to be then it isnt too bad. If i can connect them to a 100W amp then i can use them. If not i will connect them up to the amp anyway and blow them up! Just for fun and to take a bit of anger out on them.

[Oldencaulfield1]

These ho's scammed me yesterday in Portsmouth and i could be sure i saw the driver on his own today, unfortunately i could'nt run fast enough though. Was one of the guys an american posing as Dani with Illinois i.d. He did most of the selling. The driver was some hooligan looking ho in a bomber jacket with a bald head, called himself Mike. Can someone confirm if it was the same guys for them. Its left me a poor as hell student with a complete lack of faith in anyone. These assholes deserve to burn!!! Did anyone get a return on there's and if so where did they sell? If anyone is still looking for a pic. someone is selling a pair on e-bay with pic included. My deepest sympathies to all who suffered, if i see them around again i'll give them all your regards, nice to know i'm not the only susceptable one out there though.

Tom

[mrminnitt]

I was also scammed in Portsmouth at the shell garage near the Pompey Centre.It was an American posing as Dani and a bloke posing as Mike. I also cant believe they managed to convince me to buy some speakers that i didnt really want! Mind you they were very convincing. I have put the speakers on ebay but no one is really interested (surprisingly!). If i get what i ask for i still stand to lose £70. If you do see them again give them a good kicking for me. Like you I am a poor student and am now looking for a part time job coz they took my next months rent money! If anyone can make websites it might be an idea to make one warning people about these gits.

[redcoat]

yep, the same guys that got me, and im certain to not get my money back on these big mamoth turds.

i really hope to get the chance to visit them once again, there a lil bit of anger burning just for them.

[Huggie]

I live in New Zealand. I hope these guys come down here. You guys in the northern hemisphere get all the good deals.

[gogmagog]

i know a few people who have been had by these bastards
there is a similar scam where carpets which are 'surplus to requirements' also PCs

from pot to watches....never ever ever buy on the street

if only someone could get their licence number we could traxk em down and all get together and gently explain our grievances (or paint heir little van red with their blood)

[lepetitmartien]

Keep things legal please. (even if I can understand the hitch

[nmetzgen]

My housemate was in the process of buying these speakers as i was looking at this website, so as he was outto get the money to pay 'alex' i called him and told him about the scam.. he ran back avoiding the white van and put a note on the door with their numberplate and a warning.. looks like we got ourselves a free pair of sh*t speakers..
lol

that ll teach the pikeys

[eric blair]

Any one had any luck selling their speakers? The whole things kind of totaly scinted me, those men "Alex" are actualy the most evil man iv had the unfortune to meet, does anyone know if they are acctually worth any thing? "Alex" was in norwich on the 11th trying to f**k skint students over.

[woodstockric]

I too had dealings with the "Men In The White Van"
who stopped me as I was pulling out of my Banks drive
through line, same story....They were installing new
speakers in all of the "Carmike" theaters in panama city,FL.
and ended up with "3 EXTRA SETS" of speakers which had
already been paid for.
However, being a musician I always have my guitar and
an amplifier in my van, so when I was approached by them
to buy the speakers I had them pull over to a wal-mart and
plugged my amp in to an outside recepticle to test them.
They seemed to work real well,and didn't distort at a
fairly high volume, They had paperwork showing that the
speakers retailed for $750.00 each but they would take
$350.00 apiece for them.
Well, after telling them that I really did'nt need them
but was always looking for a good deal,they asked how
much I would be willing to pay for them, and I told them
I would give them $275.00 for both speakers, They acted
as if they were insulted by the offer, but I said "You don't
have anything invested in them and and $275.00 would
buy alot of beers, since that's what they originally said
they needed to sell them for.
So I got back in my Van and cranked up then one of
them ran over to me and said "OK,WE'll TAKE IT!"
As it turned out it was a great deal, I still have them
(5 yrs later) using them as my studio monitors,
Of coarse my deal may have been the 1 in 1000
that turned out OK.
woodstockric,

[petter]

Well, "they" are in Sweden as well now!
A friend of mine bought 4 monitors for about 450 EUR. Didn't need them, but...

They look very much like a pair Radiotehnika speakers that I own myself. Made in Russia!
I had those speakers for over 10 years now. They work actually pretty god!
25-25.000 Hz! (?).
I bought them when I took a sea trip to Riga.
I actually bought 2 pairs. I paid about $ 60 for all four!!!! I felt ...bad about this deal! They are worth more than that! But I couldn't help the fact that thing were the way they were. (Those prices were possible because of the "East and West thing").
The problem is in did that you need some look about the quality!
I succeeded to make a pair out of 2 and they are still in my home studio!
The other 2 are not working 100%. I connect them to my stereo in the dayroom. I barely use them though...


I am pretty sure the BSS are made in Russia like someone wrote in a post in the beginning of this threat.

But, if they work they are definitely worth the money most of you guys paid for.

I don't know how to qualify the act those "man in the white" van are doing.
OK, they're lying about the origin and price of the speakers. But they are selling a product, and nobody is really forced to buy...
I am not taking their part, I am just trying to figure out how the low would qualify this...

Peace/P.

[smalls]

Well i say "FUCK THE LAW" in this case. If they can't do anything about targeting vulnerable student by missleading them into buying something of a false description, then God help us.

Question: Is the below false description?

"NAD amplifiers use these speakers to sell their product"
"They're worth 1400 euros"
"This is what the top dj's use"

And is the following legal?

False company name
Fake information
False identities
False registration on their van

I say no more.

[curlyroman]

hello. they got me too when i was a poor student in preston, a couple of years ago. i cant remember if they were in a white van on my encounter with them though. but, for some reason my cash card wasnt working. so, i asked the guys if it was ok for me to wire the money into an account. the fellow doing all the talking agreed. now, from what i remember it wasnt acctually his account it went into it was his girlfriends. still does anyone think its worth seeing if my bank still has records of the transaction - it may help to hunt them down... the girfriend at least.

email with any suggestions.

[TimmyDome]

It has happened to me as well... 3 days ago...
I forked out 200 quids. They sound really good, I can't compain but I just feel now very strange with this fact that I had been tricked.
But I carried out a small investigation on the whole web and I found some information in Germany. It seems that a lot of people are also confused about them in there, but actually U can buy them there. I don't know German language well enough but I managed to translate a few bits. Below I put some links so if U know German U can easily find out what they wrote about.

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...&category=11276

http://www.pbportal.de/forum/showthread/t-37159.html

http://www.preiswen.de/sound1.htm

http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-30-886-1.html


The price is 179 euro per pair. But I don't know if this is true.
Then, U can find they are writing that this speakers comes from Latvia or Russia. Other information I am not sure about, U have to investigate about it on your own.

Hi, I am a new member from Germany.
I was just ripped off by those guys convincing me buying those loudspeakers. I was pretty sceptical about it but I finally wasted 600 EUR for it, with the so called great view earning more than 1500 EUR if I sell them on ebay.
However I found one positive request concirning the enterprise which is producing them.
If the product is not faked (BSS - M-250) then the quality should be all rigt.

Those guys called me in English and involved me into a conversation. They werde all students from the United States, working some weeks in Amsterdam now in projekt which is supported by the enterprise (" Really Big in the USA" BULLSHIT!!!!) they are working for in the UK.

I put those loudspeakers into ebay, hoping I will get more than 300 EUR for it in order to limit my financial desaster.

Greetings

Timmy

[CptAnalog]

These people even use the want ads to recruit "salesmen" here in Nashville. They post ads looking for people to break into pro audio and sound reinforcement, "no experience needed."
The first time I called they said that all the jobs had been filled, after I told them of my work experience. The next time the ad ran I Googled the number. All I got were links to posts on various audio BB's, all with the same sad tale of white vans, often with a "sound company" logo, selling "pro" speakers cheap.
At least if you buy KLH at BestBuy you know it's Chinese crap.

This post has been edited by CptAnalog: Sun 20 Mar 2005, 11:16

[Bogdan]

This story is so funny . I will expect the guys with a gun ok ? :-)

[SacredJ]

hi everyone, I have been conned too!
I am a student from Utrecht, The Netherlands, and have bought the BSS M250 speakers last May 2005 for 150 Euros. I do not feel the pain of getting ripped off as hard as other people, cause paid much less then them. But still it isn't cool to find out its all a big woldwide scam. Still the same story; 3 guys white van, 1 american and 2 english, saying they were installing a big sound-studio for a radiostation here in Utrecht. After a long negotiation bout the price starting from €1000, I got them to install the speakers at my place, do a sound-test (they sounded great!) and then paid them a wopping €150.
After all this I got the Dutch cell-phone number of the American guy and his American drivers-license (I didn't thrust these guys afterall but liked the price I got for the speakers). Don't know if it was a fake ID and I don't know if I'm allowed to post these here, but I just will for all the conned people out there:
Dutch cellphone: 06-42258278

American Drivers License:
Number: S72348422
date of birth: 06-18-1981
name: Charles D. Haverty
adress: 735 Haverhill Street, Reading MA (massachusettes)
phone or area code?: 01807-1130

I also found this official message from BSS Britain's bulletin board

BSS (Brooke Siren Systems) Audio Ltd do not, never have and have no plans to ever build any speakers.  The "BSS" M250 & S400 speakers are allegedly built by a swedish company Brendal Sound Systems but I say allegedly as no one as ever heard of them. On average we get 4 or 5 calls a week from people who have been offered or sold these speakers from the driver of a "white van", sometimes on the street, at service stations, car parks etc. I have been offered them myself under various guises over the last 3 or 4 years. This is part of a somewhat dubious "con" trick. They say the speakers are "left over" and they'll sell them to you for a cash figure (around £250??) which is well below the fictional list price of around £1000. Sometimes you even get  a number for the office to confirm the list price. A bargain! Well, no because from my experience these speakers could be put together for around £50.  Legally it is in a grey area and it is extremely difficult for anything to be done except to not buy these speakers. If you have bought these speakers and are unhappy I believe your only recourse is to contact your local Trading Standards office.

Hope somebody catches these guys,

SacredJ, Utrecht, Netherlands

[edit, add the quotes, link, LPM]

This post has been edited by lepetitmartien: Fri 24 Jun 2005, 13:59

[ViRuS52]

No... no... it cant be true... NOOOOOO!!!! I bloody well got scammed by the same bloody lot back in october!! Wondered why no one would touch them on EBay!! Some guy even offered me 20p. shouldve followed my gut instinct. Natually, same scam as everyone else. two guys, white transit van etc etc.

Im just bloody glad I didn't pay them the £800 they were after and only lost £400 instead!!

Tho it is a scam, the speakers aint half bad from what i can tell... Supose they should still be worth summit, assuming they aint stolen which adds a whole new dimension to it.

The funniest thing was I picked up a third one at the skip for £10 a couple of weeks ago!! lol thats when it dawned on me to check the forums to see if any one else knew about this. Lo and behold, here you guys are. i also found this link: Linky

That confirms the same thing. all two guys, white van, surplus stock. all the key points match identically. This has been going on for a while I gather, and is not jus bound to England. It's at LEAST Euro wide.

So, other than palming them off onto a gullible "friend", is there any way people have found to make their money back?

[Callum]

Hello,
Im a student from Glasgow. Paid £300 for the pair .

The bloke said he was meant to be delivering 6 and had recived 8 and did i want the spare two. Seemed a really nice bloke had all the paper work etc.
Im gona try and see if i can get this scam broadcasted on T.V or radio because it seems that no one has done it already and enough people have suffered. I dont know if these guys are breaking the law or not but by telling everyone it will mean their evil will come to an end.
Even now the guys you bought the speakers off are probably speking to some one saying yeah they are really worth £1200 but i'll do them half price.
Evil basturds. If heven and hell exist these guy will live in eternal torment if that is any comfort. then they will think differently. ha ha ha

[panaira]

Hi gys,
Just saw a pair on ebay and really liked the design and everithing.Surprisingly they were just 40 quid.The auction ended at 41 pounds + 20 delivery,so there are people who will pay 60GBP for them.
As they can not be found in any shop,I think 60 quid is what they are worth.
I am realy sorry for all of you who have paid 200+ pounds,
but hey,they realy are cute and if the sound is OK...

[bssm250]

Hey guys,
I have one of these speakers in really clean condition and the sound quality is actually really decent too, no distortion or crackling and it'll happly go to high volume from my technics amp (i havent taken it all the way up). I've been using for about 3 months as a studio speaker and all my music-tech head mates said it produces good quality sound. I know its just luck though as some of you guys have had crap sounding ones.

Yep they aren't what we thought and I paid £90 for this one, but if anyone wants it they are welcome to it for say £35.
I live in Cambridge so it would need to be picked up, or I dont mind a little drive to meet somewhere, plus it didn't come in a box! Did anyone elses?!
My email is [See my post LPM]
Feel part of the family!

Reason for edit: email in clear

[lepetitmartien]

Please guys, for classifieds, NOT in the forums, use our classifieds (link in my signature).

And no, no clear emails in your posts, save if you need spam… (safe link to send an email thru the pop up menu on each member's name

[mortalengines]

I am sorry to hear about all of this....this kind of stuff has been happening in the US for something like 25 years....I never fell for it but a co-worker of mine did about 8 years ago....Beware of deals that sound too good to be true...they probably are.

[dave123trowel]

Hi everyone...
Brendle speaker systems are a company in Finland and do ship to the u.k...
I have had a set of the BSS M-250 speakers for some years now of which I purchased from a friend who did acctually get them shipped in..
Didn't pay much for them either which was good as I was so pleased with my purchase..
They had amazing sound quality untill my ex girlfriends little brother poked one of the cones in!! ( Hence she is now the ex!! )
I am looking to get the speaker replaced at the moment as they are taht good when in good working order!
If I have any joy in getting the speaker replaced would you like me to get details of the company in Finland on here for you all to have a look at??

[Jon2pitter]

I managed to get swindled with these damn speakers too....although they sound good, i didnt really want them!
But hey, never mind...at least we have something for our money (on the bright side!)

Just wondering if anyone can help me tho... is it possible to test the power speakers for an output rating etc? I want to know the real stats on them because, as they are kinda dodgy, i reckon the stats given to us are incorrect too! Thinking of hooking up an amp to them, but dont know what power of amp to buy to make them sound good-ish!?
Any ideas anyone?
Cheers.

Is there any way people have found to make their money back?