White Van Man Scam - another one

BM007

I nearly just got suckered into one of these.

I was out walking the dog an a guy pulled up in a large van and asked if I wanted to buy a cheap mattress. I asked him how much and he quickly jumped out to show me it. He said it was worth £700 and someone had paid a large deposit for it so they were just trying to shift it. I told him id give him £75 for it but he said he couldnt take less than £100.

He gave me his business card and I walked away. I started to think how I could do with a new mattress so I texted him back and offered him £85. He then rang me and said I could have it for £95 and I agreed. I went to the cash point and withdrew the money. As I drove home I started to think that something was dodgy.

If someone had already paid a large deposit for the mattress, then surely that would be a win for the company? They get a £700 mattress back that they could resell?

Anyway I rang him back and said I had changed my mind. He said I would get a receipt and I could write down his reg number. He asked me why I thought it was a scam and I said it was probably cheap crap or stolen or something. He started getting very pushy saying the ones from Argos were cheap crap and this one was the best you could get and it even says so on the mattress.

He asked how he could be driving round in a £25k Sprinter van if it was cheap crap. I said maybe he had sold a lot of them.
In the end I told him I was interested and he seemed to get quite angry and before he hung up he called me a 'silly c**t'

I dont know if this truly was scam or not but it seems likely and I am glad I backed out.

The company was Dreamworld Beds and he claimed that perfectsleepbeds was the manufacturer of the mattress. Here is a photo of his business card. I have blurred his number in case it is legit.

If anyone can prove to me it wasnt a scam then I will happily remove this post.

*EDIT I cant post links yet.

pulliptears

Dreamworld Beds have been around the Stoke on Trent area as a van approached my In Laws the other week telling a similar tale.
Fortunately they said no.

Lemele

So, I got taken in by this. I can spot most scams miles away but this one I think I just wanted to believe! :think: The story was a bit different to the ones on here, and the van was seemingly authentic (lovely red thing with 'Dream World Beds' on the side and back), with the guy fobbing off orthopedic/memory foam mattresses for £180 (for a double). Gave me a card with just a mobile number and a website (perfectsleepbeds.co.uk), told me they mostly sold to trade but sometimes public bought through the website and they weren't going to turn them down - except a couple of people had cancelled (after paying big deposits) which he reckons was due to not being able to pay the rest or something! I'll admit I was taken in by that bit at least at first!

We were really in need of a mattress and it seemed an ok deal even if it wasn't the best mattress in the world, so I got one. The guy didn't even ask for the money; I felt dishonest that I 'nearly got away without paying' (but I'm sure this was an act! - rolls eyes at self).

Anyway...further research implies that memory foam mattresses have no springs in. Whaddya know, this one has got them. Maybe it's an old one recovered or something? It looks lovely and is soft to lie on and as long as it remains that way we shall be fine (and I'll be happy with the purchase), but I am concerned it might get big grooves in from being lain on like some I've read about...

After buying mine he went onto try and sell some to my mum who lives nearby (she obviously has more sense than me nowadays, as she refused in the end!) and I started to doubt and took a few photos on the sly of the van, the reg and some receipts... looking at them later I notice that the a mattress sold to someone miles away is priced at £160! Funny that!! (In other words the story is a lie.) There is also an address in Fife on there.

Grumbley

Would like others to know scam in south wales just bought a matress from the back of a van, usually have a lot more sense story was preety far fetched but needed a mattress cost £100 looked ok but after reading other posts here same old story. Got his card but only mob number van was sign written local company etc. Hoping just a cheap mattress and not dangerous as bought for my son. It is supposed to be a coolmax memory foam you can buy them for around that price but worried now it is not genuine. First time got taken in never again I broke my own rule never buy on doorstep and never out of back of a van ! ! ! Just caught me at a week moment with cash on me lesson learnt

Mindless_Clone

These guys have been round my way (West London) in the last few months doing this. I got stopped on the way to the school run (normally a very quiet residential street but at the time, a fair few parents going to pick up their little ones) and asked if I wanted to buy a mattress. Same story as before - company gone bust, need to sell off cheap, painted van and card with mobile number on only. Guy was explicit that he needed them gone today before the receivers counted them... this part may or may not be true I suppose and it never occurred to me to question it since that would seem a legitimate (although perhaps not entirely legal) reason for someone wanting to offload stock sharpish.
As it happened I didn't need a mattress but I knew someone who did. I was going to text the number to my friend but my son came out of school via the medical room as his clumsy gene had fortuitously kicked in at the end of the school day. So I just forgot all about it and it wasn't until days later when I found the card in my pocket when putting the laundry on that I thought "doh, missed an opportunity there". Sounds more like it should have been "phew, lucky escape!"

ashleypride

I fail to understand, why anybody would ever consider ever buying anything from a random van.

Pinkypants

Because we all want a bargain!!!



Most of the time the mattresses are legit, the gangs go to the manufacturer and buy 30-40 a time at trade price. Then sell them on, which is no different from the stores or online retailers.

The scam is the made up story and the it was £499, but boss has told me to sell them for £100. They probably bought the cheapest crap possible from the manufacturer.

No guarantee or any come back should it develop a fault.

ashleypride

Pinkypants wrote: »

Because we all want a bargain!!!

I too like bargains, but doesn't stop me loosing common sense. If somebody is selling from a van the only person getting a bargain is them.

thenudeone

I was in holiday in Norfolk and was approached by the driver of a branded (can't remember the name) bedding company van: "just been to a trade show .... don't want to have to take it back to Leeds .... " told him I was on holiday and couldn't take it home.

Sounded fishy and was probably an expensive way to buy a cheap mattress without any comeback.

Mindless_Clone

ashleypride wrote: »

I fail to understand, why anybody would ever consider ever buying anything from a random van.

Yeah, I know. When you recount it to others you think "!!!!!! was I thinking" but actually, I think that part of the scam is the psychology of where they are sold.
We all expect people to phone/email/knock on the door trying to get us to part with our money and we're prepared when it happens and can all spot it a mile off - most of us anyway. But when you're out, walking down the road, you're just not expecting someone to pop out and offer you a mattress... actually I used to know a girl who would have been thrilled if any bloke had but that's not relevant ... anyway, point is I think the selling method catches people unawares.