1MagicShop.com??????

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Nick Maggio
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1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Nick Maggio » November 25th, 2004, 4:44 am

Is 1MagicShop.com a real entity? My order was placed on September 7th. A status Email was received on September 26. The order shows "processing" since October 7th. My credit card was charged over a month ago. Their phone number is disconnected. There is no listing on Yahoo for the address they give. Three Emails have subsequently been unanswered. The site is still up and indications show front page updates have been executed. An email and phone call was even sent to their hosting company. No response to the email and a frustrated lady at a residence answers the phone number listed.

Have I been the victim of Credit Card Fraud?

Nick Maggio

Carlo Morpurgo
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Carlo Morpurgo » November 25th, 2004, 5:23 am

Yes....same experience with me. After several threats I got what I ordered after a long time.
Check you google groups for threads on this.
You can ask refund from your credit card company.
Carlo

Nick Maggio
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Nick Maggio » November 25th, 2004, 12:14 pm

Thanks, Carlo.

You were correct about this company.

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » November 25th, 2004, 6:41 pm

Your message sent to the hosting company will most likely be unanswered also. It is my understanding that the person who owns this website also has several other website and runs the hosting company that these sites are hosted on.

Best course of action is call your credit company and get a refund.

Bill Palmer
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Bill Palmer » November 27th, 2004, 6:52 pm

1magicshop.com has been a thorn in my flesh for about 2 years now. One of their people logged on to the Mind and Magic forum under two different names and solicited business like crazy. Ted and I did nothing about it until the complaints started coming in.

The fellow who was hawking their wares got booted off the Cafe and off the Mind and Magic Forum as well.

He tried to pull a couple of interesting scams. One was when he tried to set up an association of psychic entertainers. Then he found out that the PEA had beat him to the punch. He put up a forum, and had three people log on in as many months.

They have consistently had problems delivering merchandise, but no problems at all taking people's money.

Go to your credit card company about it.
Bill Palmer, MIMC

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » November 28th, 2004, 3:07 pm

They got me too... Ordered ONLY a month ago... Still nothing... E-mail was rejected...

Nick Maggio
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Nick Maggio » November 29th, 2004, 9:00 am

It would seem that a great deal more unsuspecting magicians will fall victim to these unethical business practices before 1magicShop.com implodes.

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 7th, 2004, 4:13 pm

:mad: :confused: I just discover that Iwas scam by that "compagny" What can we do to get are money back is there any solution to stop them?Is there a safe place to shop online?

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NCMarsh
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby NCMarsh » December 7th, 2004, 4:51 pm

I feel deeply for those ripped off, but I can't help commenting -- this is FAR less likely to happen at a brick and mortar shop...

best,
N.
IllusionArtistry.com

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Brian Morton
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Brian Morton » December 7th, 2004, 5:40 pm

Damn, Nathan -- beat me to it! Shop real stores, folks!

brian :cool:

Bill Palmer
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Bill Palmer » December 7th, 2004, 6:13 pm

There are a couple of on-line dealers that I have never had a problem with. One is Stevens Magic Emporium. Joe has always dealt with me squarely.

The other is Hocus Pocus. I have never had a problem with Paul Gross or any of his staff.

Others -- well, read the posts.
Bill Palmer, MIMC

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 8th, 2004, 7:28 am

:) THANK TO ALL ,I learn a good lesson here. To bad that we can't stop those s.o.b. :mad:

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 8th, 2004, 3:17 pm

You can always do a whois and get the registrants information. It contains a contact number.
HTH
Kim

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2004, 2:39 am

There are a couple of on-line dealers that I have never had a problem with. One is Stevens Magic Emporium. Joe has always dealt with me squarely.

Hey: I have been dealing (Bricks and Mortar and now internet) for 30 years and I challenge anyone to come up with a discontented customer. That is a genuine challenge. Any problems I rectify them without any fuss. Goods lost in the post - my insurance company pays. Sometimes we forget an order but we make it right! Martin Breese

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Matthew Field
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Matthew Field » December 11th, 2004, 3:42 am

I'm happy to say that Martin Breese has always been a most pleasant man and honest man to deal with. He deserves our support for the many projects he's initiated and brought to fruition.

Martin -- please be sure and reserve a Fred Robinson book for me!

Matt Field

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 11th, 2004, 4:55 am

Kind words Matt and greatly appreciated. Your book is reserved. Martin

Nick Maggio
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Nick Maggio » December 11th, 2004, 10:16 am

To better clarify my purchase from 1magicShop.com is to admit that I am a victim of fraud; plain and simple. Having been involved with Magic, as a hobby for many years, the forums are a new outlet for me. Therefore, I am naive to the scams. While reading a thread on The Magic Cafe, a person started a topic about Kolossal Killer. A Google search on the product came up with only one vendor: 1magicShop.com. Since the reveiw was glowing, I placed an order with this ,hitherto, unknown entity.

There is a possiblity that I am totally off base on my 20/20 hindsight, but here is how I reconstruct the con:

The person initiating the thread was a close associate of 1MagicShop.com; if not the owner.

The effect either does not exist or is currently not available. It remains to be seen if the hype matches the true effect.

Needing cash, 1MagicShop.com charged my credit card and did not ship product ( billing should occur at time of shipment and not before, unless authorized by purchaser - Fair Credit Act ).

1MagicShop.com figures that I would walk away or forget about the purchase due to its low dollar amount. Either that or seek a charge-back from the credit card company. In any case they would profusely apologize for letting the matter "slip between the cracks."

To bolster my contention, I researched some Google groups. There were many complaints. One listing was from the owner of 1MagicShop.com. His message was dated around February 2002. He admitted that his business closed its doors recently due to dire financial matters. It was now open again and would past patrons please give them another try. Other replies indicated that the owner ran several Web Sites in order to dodge detection.

Normally, my suppliers are well-known merchants and local. With the advent of the internet, a multitude of vendors arose offering a broader product base. In the end, taking my own advise and that of an ancient Roman; "Caveat Emptor"; a bitter pill.

Nick Maggio

Richard Hatch
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Richard Hatch » December 11th, 2004, 11:31 am

Nick, not sure this is entirely relevant to this thread, but we have the booklet in question in stock, under the title "Original Kolossal Killer" as well as its sequel "Kolossal Konceptions". Both are by Kenton Knepper and can be found on our site by doing a search under "Knepper" along with his other titles. I'll leave others to judge the value of these works, and to you whether you want to risk ordering them online again! We do have a "brick and mortar" operation as well as the website and you are welcome to visit and inspect the books in person before purchasing should you ever be in the vicinity of Humble, Texas! I'm disappointed a google.com search did not turn us up, but it may be due to the variant spelling of "Kolossal".
Here's a link to our site:
www.magicbookshop.com

Bill Palmer
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Bill Palmer » December 11th, 2004, 12:26 pm

Originally posted by Martin R Breese:
There are a couple of on-line dealers that I have never had a problem with. One is Stevens Magic Emporium. Joe has always dealt with me squarely.

Hey: I have been dealing (Bricks and Mortar and now internet) for 30 years and I challenge anyone to come up with a discontented customer. That is a genuine challenge. Any problems I rectify them without any fuss. Goods lost in the post - my insurance company pays. Sometimes we forget an order but we make it right! Martin Breese
Martin:

If you will check your records, I have never done business with you. If I had, I'm certain that I would have gotten the same great service from you that I have gotten from the two dealers I mentioned.

I can't judge a dealer I haven't done business with.
Bill Palmer, MIMC

Nick Maggio
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Nick Maggio » December 11th, 2004, 12:30 pm

Richard -

Mid-January I'll be in the Ft. Worth area visiting my son. Houston is a good-size drive, but we have some aviation museum visitation goals that might bring us near you.

In any event, thank you for your help in identifying the product. Purchasing over the internet for me is and, probably will be, a very pleasant, safe and cost-effective buying mode.

Look for a PM from me.

Nick Maggio

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 12th, 2004, 8:45 pm

I ordered from 1magicshop in November. My card was billed immediately and no product was shipped. I tracked down the owner. If you have been ripped off you might want to know who he is. Here's his name and contact information:
Johnathan Smith
342 Brookfield Ave
Staten Island NY 10308
718-966-9150
718-966-1192

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MaxNY
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby MaxNY » December 13th, 2004, 4:41 am

Staten Island.... there you go. John Smith, original? Oui?

John LeBlanc
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby John LeBlanc » December 13th, 2004, 4:46 am

Originally posted by tarchilles:
I ordered from 1magicshop in November. My card was billed immediately and no product was shipped. I tracked down the owner. If you have been ripped off you might want to know who he is. Here's his name and contact information:
Johnathan Smith
342 Brookfield Ave
Staten Island NY 10308
718-966-9150
718-966-1192
Getting that information is not difficult; it's part of his registration information for the magic shop and hosting company he (ostinsibly) runs. The real trick is getting him on the line.

You'd think that if someone had a burning desire to get thrown in jail, he'd pick something quite a bit more spectacular to do than this sort of fraudulent activity.

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 13th, 2004, 9:00 am

This 1magicshop apparently is still in business taking money with no merchandise shipped. I placed an order and had the charge run thru proptly, but shipment listed as 'pending'. No reply to email or to phone. The word needs to get out that this is just a rip-off.

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 13th, 2004, 12:29 pm

The guy also uses the email address: johnpalm@1hostplus.com

Tracking this address you'll learn that he stutters, he's an inept code writer and his marriage is a mess. A crook and a loser!

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 13th, 2004, 12:49 pm

Let's see. We know where the guy lives. We know his phone number. Googling 718-966-1192 we can find all his businesses. Can't any of you you wizards figure out how to shut this clown down? There's always the local cops.

John LeBlanc
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby John LeBlanc » December 13th, 2004, 2:57 pm

Originally posted by tarchilles:
There's always the local cops.
"Local cops" -- so that's the latest euphemism?

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 13th, 2004, 5:52 pm

Local police departments do not handle mail-order fraud. That's a federal issue.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Bill Palmer
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Bill Palmer » December 13th, 2004, 9:09 pm

I think the "local cops" he had in mind might have been what we used to refer to here as "the sphagetti brothers."
Bill Palmer, MIMC

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 14th, 2004, 8:07 am

I hope you realize that if "something" were to happen to this guy, that your public comments here might be used as evidence in an investigation.
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Pete McCabe
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Pete McCabe » December 14th, 2004, 10:53 am

There is something very simple you can do: contest the charge and complain to your credit card company. They will investigate your complaint, which costs them money. If they get enough complaints they will stop accepting credit card payments from the guilty party.

And you won't be out any money.

As long as you pay with a major credit card the most you should suffer is aggravation and inconvenience.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 14th, 2004, 2:04 pm

Pete's right, unless you used PayPal! Then you're just screwed.
But, if you made a direct payment to the vendor using a credit card, they WILL reverse the charge if you contact them and explain that you never received the merchandise.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

John LeBlanc
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby John LeBlanc » December 20th, 2004, 7:57 am

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
Pete's right, unless you used PayPal! Then you're just screwed.
But, if you made a direct payment to the vendor using a credit card, they WILL reverse the charge if you contact them and explain that you never received the merchandise.
This is one of the few unfortunate aspects of using PayPal.

On the other hand, I think PayPal is a better solution for payment than handing over your credit card information to some part-time yahoo running a magic shop out of his closet.

There aren't many shops on this planet I'd put in the same column I would Stevens Magic and H&R Magic -- two shops I fully trust.

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 27th, 2004, 10:26 am

I feel compelled to add to this thread that I have had many perfect internet transactions with the following:

H & R Magic Books, Humble, TX
http://www.magicbookshop.com

The Magic Warehouse, Reiserstown, MD
http://www.themagicwarehouse.com

Both will confirm if they have an item in stock BEFORE you order it, and hold it pending your order/payment.

After a (very rare) shipping mixup, H & R paid return shipping for the incorrect items from both customers, and rectified the situation with corrected shipments immediately. My other transactions in buying/selling/trading used books with them have gone flawlessly.

Magic Warehouse will even take your order online with the option of your mailing a check or money order to follow!

Both have reasonable shipping charges. Both ship quickly and safely, and all goods have arrived in perfect shape and as advertised.

I recommend these online dealers for your inspection. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

Jon

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » December 31st, 2004, 7:22 am

One of the issues with 1magicshop is that Johnathan Smith is not the owner of the firm Tracy Smith is.

I checked with the credit card processing firm, the bank and also also owner of the domain name is Tracy Smith. Look Below its not Johnathan Smith its Tracy Smith. She is also the owner of 1hostplus.com, statenislandonline.com and siaction.com.

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » January 7th, 2005, 11:23 am

You would know, wouldn't you, Jonny Maxx?

Your website www.jonnymaxx.com is hosted by 1hostplus, the website you claim is Tracy's. Also, the phone number listed on allnightproductions (also hosted by 1hostplus) which features you as one of their entertainers is the same number as 1magicshop - 718-966-1192.

So, why did you have to check with the credit card processing firm to discover something right under your nose?

What's more, it's not a stretch that your name is as fake as mine and that you, Jonny Maxx, are actually Johnathan Mark Smith. And since I know that Johnathan Mark Smith's marriage was on the rocks about a year ago, it's not that much of a stretch to assume that you are trying to pin your own fraudulent dealings on your estranged wife.

It's only too bad that your three kids have you both for parents.

Is that enough, or do you want to know more about yourself?

Guest

Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Guest » January 7th, 2005, 12:03 pm

Dang! Now this is becoming a thread to remember! I feel like I was just at the end of an episode of Monk!
Steve V

Jim Riser
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Jim Riser » January 7th, 2005, 3:55 pm

Can this be classified as "exposure"?
Jim

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BlueEyed Videot
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby BlueEyed Videot » January 7th, 2005, 4:14 pm

Dunno about exposure, Jim, but I hear that some producers from FOX network are trying to option the rights for a reality TV show...

Bill Palmer
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Re: 1MagicShop.com??????

Postby Bill Palmer » January 7th, 2005, 4:50 pm

Jonny Maxx, AKA statenisland, used to post on the Mind and Magic forum and shill for 1magicshop.com. Now he has changed his tune.

The post about the breakup of his marriage really explains a lot.
Bill Palmer, MIMC


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