THIEF ON EBAY SELLING ROHLOFF

[sd]

Has sold a few already this is his listing

I have made an offer of £900! Emailed him multiple questions. Told me to ring him. All bikes sold have been German or only available in Germany. A Stevens bike made in US but only exported to Germany. Said it was his hobby collecting Rohloff bikes. Has 25 expedition bikes available. Claims to be a retired pilot who has spent 25 years in US. Poor English (a standard requirement for pilots) says he is Polish. Have decided not to tell eBay as doubt they will do anything, at best ban him allowing him to come back as someone else. Police are worthless at the best of times but no doubt they will ask me to prove it. I think I will ring Rohloff tomorrow. Any other suggestions?

[JB, I have edited your post to remove the link. Without absolute proof the seller is selling stolen merchandise, the claim that he is a thief is potentially libelous, putting the Forum and Thorn Bicycles at risk of legal action and as such is a direct violation of Forum policy and guidelines. I'll let your post stand as a general warning for buyers to exercise due diligence. The best place to pursue this would be eBay, but he has an excellent feedback rating there. I appreciate your concern and efforts to prevent the sale of possibly stolen merchandise,  but such claims must be made with great care. Best, Dan.]

[sd]

Have emailed Rohloff but cannot find phone number? Anyone

[jags]

there out there sd thats the truth.

[Matt2matt2002]

Serial number?

Sad but too true about eBay. I was. Aught out over so e Ugg boots a few years ago.
They were no help at all.
But I tracked down the guy and.......
That's another story.

Matt

[sd]

   Rohloff bloke emailed me to tell me nothing he could do AND he has 3 bikes stolen?

[mickeg]

If he said he collected many of the Rohloff bikes in USA, that is a sign that something is wrong.  Simple fact is that Rohloff bikes in USA are extremely rare.  The distribution system in place makes Rohloff hubs here very expensive, I got mine shipped to me from a bike shop in Germany at a much lower cost.

I have never seen a Rohloff other than the one on my bike.  A neighbor works at the biggest bike shop in town as a mechanic, he said my Rohloff was the only one he has ever seen, they have never had anyone bring a bike with a Rohloff into the shop.

I was in western USA recently, only two people that looked at my bike recognized the Rohloff.  One was a guide that works for a bike touring company, he used to competitively race mountain bikes.  The other was a German tourist.

[Andre Jute]

About Stevens being an American brand made only for the German market... What sort of sense does that make? In fact, the Stevens slogan is, "Stevens bikes -- German Engineering at its Best".

Also suspicious that he wants you to call; the written record via Ebay of what is said about an article offered for sale is a very valuable protection for the buyer and the seller both.

All the same, that doesn't necessarily make him a thief. He may simply be misinformed, or not familiar with the way Ebay works.

[IronMac]

I was in western USA recently, only two people that looked at my bike recognized the Rohloff.  One was a guide that works for a bike touring company, he used to competitively race mountain bikes.  The other was a German tourist.

Odd, I live in Singapore and there is only one Rohloff dealer in the city. I've seen only one other Rohloff in five years but dozens of Singaporean cyclists recognize a Rohloff.

[sd]

About Stevens being an American brand made only for the German market... What sort of sense does that make? In fact, the Stevens slogan is, "Stevens bikes -- German Engineering at its Best".

Also suspicious that he wants you to call; the written record via Ebay of what is said about an article offered for sale is a very valuable protection for the buyer and the seller both.

All the same, that doesn't necessarily make him a thief. He may simply be misinformed, or not familiar with the way Ebay works.

. Never said it was only made for German market it is only exported to Germany no other country within Europe.  That is according to Stevens.

[sd]

Oh well did my best. On another site where I made the same allegations one of the users said he was going to send the link to the seller the next day the site was threatened with litigation so deleted the whole thread. I got this eBay email from the seller later that day....

Dear sd??

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/thief-selling-rohloff-on-ebay.15521
I recommend you halfords they sale legit bikes
also ask may be police need the dog ?

• Administrstor edit: Removed seller's name to prevent potential libel claim against this forum. -- Dan.
  
  
  
  
  I have removed parts of the link to the cycle forum, a number from the vendors user name and part of my eBay user name. As you can see he admits it? No idea what the dog bit is about.
  
  From Rohloff...
  Hello John,
  
  thank-you for your email and sharing your concerns.
  
  Please report your suspicions to the police! We are relatively powerless in such situations without police intervention and past experience shows our inquisitive questions have proven to scare such sellers away. Contacting the seller officially will not do any good.
  
  The police will unfortunately ask for proof of these allegations as they are bound by laws and regulations as to how they can handle. It is a terrible situation when a bicycle is stolen (I personally have had 3 bikes stolen in the past) but we are equally as unable to provide this evidence and as such are unable to help. I apologize for the bad news.
  
  I will contact the seller from a private account but regret that I am unable to do anymore.
  
  Please report your suspicions to the police. Many thanks in advance.
  
  .....I went to EBay they said contact police, police said contact eBay....surprise surprise. I eventually rung the City of London fraud squad who never got back to me (about 10 days ago). They supposedly deal with internet fraud.
  I am fairly certain there is another vendor who is doing same. IE loads German made bikes Rohloff equipped and again Stevens
  
  Bollocks to it I bought this one after asking for Rohloff serial number and checking with Rohloff. Sending all paperwork. Note is it a bargain??
  
  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301177226491?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
  
  http://msgbikes.com/bike-specifications/santos-custom-built-travelmaster-2-6-alu-shimano