[TSOJOURNER]

Has anyone had an experience with sails4free.com. It is a web page that advertizes free jib sails if you agree to fly an advertizment for a nautical company. The only hitch is you payment of $30. for shipping and handeling.

I recently (September 2000) submitted an order for such a jib and have not received one to this date. My charge card had been billed for the S&H back in early November.

I had initialy learned about sails4free on another mesage board. The message poster went on about his great experience with the company. He did say that the sail had taken numerous weeks to get to him but his charge card wasnn''t billed until he received the sail.

Am I looking a gift horse in the mouth.... or am I being taken for a ride.

Has anyone had a similar experience. Any info would be a help.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

I ordered from them, got a sailcover after about three months, it was too small, sent it back about 6 months ago and never heard another thing from them. I think they are overwhelmed but that doesn''t justify the fact that I am out the money I sent them for a cover they never made the size I needed.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Ordered in June and have not received anything since. Wish we could get a class action against them! Just $30.00, but a whole bunch of us times $30= a bundle. Rip off artists. They honored a couple who wrote glowing reports to suck the rest of us in.

 

[hamiam]

Why don''t you just call your credit card company and fight the charge? That technique has worked for me in the past.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Hate to admit I got sucked in to that SCAM!!!!After 6 months or more could not get any satisfaction. After threats to take legal action,got e-mails stating "check #---
was being mailed to replace my $30. along with a little for my inconvienence.
After not receiving the check,further inquiry was- we can''t be resposible if the post office dosen''t deliver(or similar wording).In short I never got a sail, a sail cover, or my money back.
I was in touch with persons on the Mac26X list that indicated at least 20 people had the same experience.
My check was deposited in Chicago,though the outfit supposedly was in Coconut Grove Florida.
Sound too good to be true???? Pete

 

[TSOJOURNER]

ps. you can e-mail me at [email protected]

 

[Denr]

I thought sailors were to smart to fall for such scams, that''s why we own sailboats rather than power boats. Have you ever heard of the old adage "if it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is". Do you not wonder why North, Dolye, UK, Sobstad, and Neil Pryde are still in business? It''s because they charge customers cash-money for their products......DUH. I''m thinking about giving away free running rigging next week, but first you''ll have to send me a case of beer, doah! Stop being a HOMER

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Denr''s reply has Nothing valuable to say!

 

[Denr]

Sometimes the truth is painful.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Actually, I think Denr said it all...... if y''all want to part with your money for something that sounds too good to be true....
go ahead and spend your money. I''ll give you a free -------------(you fill in the blank), but you have to send me $100.00 in advance, either by check, cash (preferably) visa or mc. Them wait 6-10 weeks for delivery. Lets see, at 2 suckers, ooops I mean customers perhour times 8 hours.....wow big money, and if I string a bunch of ''gomers'' along for 6-10 weeks man, what a wad I''ll have on the way out the door............

Before you respond, think about the average cost of a jib sail, also consider the actual value of your flying it occasionally against the actual cost....... Wouldn''t it be smarter for them to actually buy real advertising than to waste it on sails that may only get unfurled or raised "occasionally"? Oh-doh!

If it sounds to good to be true, guess what, it probably is...............

 

[TSOJOURNER]

nothing of value in that reply either!

 

[hamiam]

To me there was nothing free in this deal; the sailboat owner was forced to hoist a jib or a main or have a sailcover with some ad on it. Personally, I would never deface my beautiful sailboat with such advertisement, however some were willing to do so in exchange for a free whatever. I don''t know if the intention of the owner of sails4free was to defraud customers or if he just fell victim to the crash of dot coms. The exchage is not that outrageous in my opinion.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

skipperpete.....There wasn''t supposed to be anything of "value" in that reply. It was an object lesson which for all intents and purposes apparently passed well above your level of comprehension. If the message alluded you, se la vie....

 

[Bilge_Scum]

Dear states:

"if it sounds to (sic) good to be true, then it probably is"

As a "to (sic) smart" sailor you should recognize the form "too" in this instance is not spelled "to"! C''mon!

 

[TSOJOURNER]

"C''est la vie" perhaps ?

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Eeeeek! A spelling "faux pax"! Ahhh, but somehow I think the message still penetrated the majority of craniums..... I suspect it - the spelling - was more a lack of proofreading, fast fingers, and my errant laptop keyboard than a lack of syntax awareness........... But thanks for pointing it out! "too" is correct.

 

[Denr]

Pardon my spelling oversight. I was so excited about my pending sailing vacation that I completely lost my grammatical footing. Plying the waters of Lake Michigan on a great boat does have its rewards. During my vacation I decided to be more tolerant and forgiving of the "Chowder Heads" willing to give their money to clever hucksters, I only wish I would have thought of this scam first! Damn!

 

[TSOJOURNER]

It''s not really that unbelievable an offer. Where I''m from...Philadelphia, there are advertising companies paying people $400 a month to wrap their cars in ads for stuff. Some are even giving people the cars, for free, seriously....

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Your first sentence says it all!!!
"there wasn''t supposed to be anything of value in that reply" Why waste time writng then???(if you don''t have anything of value to say??)!!

 

[Denr]

Skippy, I suggest that you sell your boat and consider going into professional wrestling. Now there''s a profession where everything is just a real as the "sails for free" offer was. The dopes were duped!