Does anybody know/dealt with Ronald David Vento?

[Scootersv 0]

Hey folks.

Does anybody know the guy by the name of Ronald David Vento?

He claimed to be a rigger, his e-email is [email protected]

I know people had a very negative experience dealing with that person.

Any help/info re: his current whereabouts or contact info would be great & much appreciated as he is not responding to the e-mails sent to him.

Thanks in advance.

Serg

[dukekala 0]

So, this guy is definitely a fraudster and is back again. Here is my story.

I needed a new reserve, found this ad http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=82571&d=1 for PD-193R, the price seemed reasonable enough, so I contacted the seller and we agreed on the terms, $55 for shipping to Estonia (where I live), and that I will pay him up front with PayPal.

So I did that, sent him the money.

The next day I received a notification from Paypal saying that a refund has been initiated on my payment. With no further explanation why.

I contacted the seller about this and asked what is going on.

He responded that he had trouble transferring the money from PayPal to his bank account. I did not think much of it, since the notification about refund came from PayPal (I could verify it at paypal.com, in my account there) and even though the refund was shown as pending (the money was not yet transferred back to my PayPal account), I got the impression, that this delay is because of PayPal, that they need some time to process it. In other words, I thought that the money is back in PayPal system and will eventually land on my account again.

So, while it did appear weird to me, that somebody has these kind of problems with PP, I was not yet suspicious.

Now we agreed that I will pay him through Alertpay.com instead (it was his suggestion), I have not even heard of alertpay before, but checked it out and found it to be reasonable enough. Small, not that widely known, but apparently reliable enough. I created myself an account on alertpay, and immediately found out that they have a limit of $200 per month for credit card transactions. About 3x time less than I needed.

They did however offer an alternative - a simple bank transfer, first to my alertpay account and then from there to the seller.

I did that bank transfer, it took a few days to clear and when it finally reached my Alertpay account I immediately sent the money from Alertpay to the seller. Then asked him to post the reserve when he receives the money.

He promised to do that.

And now all the sh*t hit the fan. I started doing more background checks on him (I did some before even contacting him the first time, but apparently was not careful enough, at least I did not find anything back then). This time I found this posting here, I contacted the author .. and lo and behold - I am already the second buyer for this very same reserve. He already "sold" it once, to Scootersv and the same thing happened to him. The seller went completely silent, after having received the money. Maybe Scootersv will post his story as well.

And just when I was talking with Scootersv, I received another notification from PayPal, saying that the refund has failed, because the receivers bank did not clear it. THAT was completely unexpected to me, apparently I and PayPal have completely different understandings about what a refund really means.

I have not been able to contact the seller any more. His very last e-mail to me stated, that it is 6AM in the morning at where he is, that the post office will open at 8AM and he will send the reserve to me then - in 2 hours.

That was before I got the information from Scootersv.

It has only been a few days from that last e-mail, in any other scenario I would be willing to give him a benefit of doubt, since everything can happen, maybe he was hit by a car or something. But now - I am completely convinced that this guy is a fraud.

Here is where I stand now:

I have paid him 2 times $705 dollars and I will never see that reserve. I have done everything in my powers to dispute those transactions, with PayPal, with my bank and with alertpay, but frankly I would be very surprised when they manange to recover any of that money. I still hope though ...

So, in hindsight, I was very VERY VERY stupid. I really have no one else to blame than myself for having too much trust in people on here.

I want this to be a warning to other people on here. Do follow the recommendations against scam on this site very cafefully, step by step, before even thinking about buying something. Do backup checks on the seller through different channels.

Most of the guys on here are honest to good and cool skydivers, but alas there are a few bad apples around that manage to destroy all the goodwill.

And, you, Ronald David Vento, I hope you choke on the money.

[Andy9o8 0]

You do seem to get into rather public conflict with people you do business with, don't you?

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3633763;page=unread#unread

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3660663;page=unread#unread

Which makes me wonder (on multiple levels): WTF?

[Scootersv 0]

Does not look like only Scootersv has got "a habit" getting into rather public conflict with people he does business with. Scootersv is personally aware of 4 other occasions DZ.com members had a disastrous experiences dealing with other DZ.com members, but they just did not have balls to announce that publicly - that's the main difference.

It has just been mentioned that:
"Most of the guys on here are honest to good and cool skydivers, but alas there are a few bad apples around that manage to destroy all the goodwill"
and Scootersv is completely agree with that.

Maintaining his DZ.com for 7 years Scootersv has had personally 3 negative experiences dealing with other DZ.com members. Perhaps Scootersv should shut up and let people like Ronald David Vento sell the very same gear number of times to different people hoping comments posted by people ripped off would also make some Dz.com members wonder (on multiple levels): WTF?

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

Does not look like only Scootersv has got "a habit" getting into rather public conflict with people he does business with. Scootersv is personally aware of 4 other occasions DZ.com members had a disastrous experiences dealing with other DZ.com members, but they just did not have balls to announce that publicly - that's the main difference.

It has just been mentioned that:
"Most of the guys on here are honest to good and cool skydivers, but alas there are a few bad apples around that manage to destroy all the goodwill"
and Scootersv is completely agree with that.

Maintaining his DZ.com for 7 years Scootersv has had personally 3 negative experiences dealing with other DZ.com members. Perhaps Scootersv should shut up and let people like Ronald David Vento sell the very same gear number of times to different people hoping comments posted by people ripped off would also make some Dz.com members wonder (on multiple levels): WTF?

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Refer_to_Yourself_in_the_Third_Person

[likestojump 3]

Andy, at least 2 people got screwed by this Vento person, and you blame the victim(s) ? Is this normal practice for you ?

[Andy9o8 0]

You raise a reasonable point, which is that even though a person may be paranoid, it doesn't mean that they're not all out to get him. OK, fair enough.

[Scootersv 0]

Seeking for an apology in advance from some of the DZ.com members who are particularly not happy with this type of threads for bringing this up again, excuse me for being paranoid about all this:

This Fraudster Ronald Don Vento is back on the market again with the same reserve canopy he's already sold 3 times and now has got Pilot 188 for sale. And again no S/N on any of the products he's listed.
Be aware and don't become his next victim.
I'll see whether I'll be able to find any more info on him and then let everyone know.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=85424;d=1
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=85383;d=1

[freeatlast 0]

Thanks Serg

Can one of the mods not lock his adverts and disable his IP to stop him advertising here?

[freeatlast 0]

He seems to have moved up in the world and is now offering to sell a cypres2 Expert for $820!

Perhaps he could be simply barred?

[Scootersv 0]

Look what i've managed to find on the above mentioned "person of interest":


FAA Registry
Name Inquiry Results

RONALD DAVID VENTO
Address
Street 1060 KAMEHAMEHA HWY APT 2606A
City PEARL CITY State HI
County HONOLULU Zip Code 96782-2824
Country USA

Medical

No Medical Available

Certificates
1 of 1

DOI: 9/22/2008
Certificate: SENIOR PARACHUTE RIGGER
Rating(s):
SENIOR PARACHUTE RIGGER
BACK
CHEST

Limits

SEAL SYMBOL VB9.

All info is publicly available and it looks like he's been silly enough to use real name in the in the DZ.com ads & communicating with buyers - how smart is that. I might pay him a vizit then on my way to US next year so we can have a quiet beer together.

I'm also wondering how many people would let this guy to pack their reserve canopy for them?

[tuffyjensen 0]

I bought the cypres 2 with no problems. After showing interest, he emailed me right away with his number. I called and he said he was living in Vegas and we could do a paypal transaction. I happen to have one of my ex-casino employee's/buddy living there so I suggested he take it to my buddy and he would pay him cash on the spot as he gave my buddy the cypres. All went perfect, but can't speak for any of his past transaction or if I didn't have a connection.

Be Safe and Have Fun, in that order!
Tuffy