Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Paramax speakers

My nephew who is just a kid (23) bought these paramax speakers out of someones trunk. He paid $1200 bucks for this "home theater". They do have a web site paramaxaudio.com but it sure looks shady. Anyone heard of these they sure costs alot. The salesman gave him a line of bull saying that it was suppose to go to kid rocks house but he cancelled. Ya right. I hope he didnt get ripped off too bad Im not sure which ones he bought.

Never buy anything out of someones trunk. That was my advice but he didnt tell me about this til after he did it. AHHH poor kid just had a baby too.

Google "white van speakers".

All you need to know:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/460/RipOff0460439.htm

this is to bad....Paramax = White Van speakers, rip off city, probably worth 1/10th what he paid.


From wikipedia, paramax is just one of the brands they hide under.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speakers#Brands_reported_to_be_sold_out_of_white_vans

I feel sorry for his kid.

I wish they'd ended up with Kid Rock. That guy deserves them.

I feel bad for your relative. I can only imagine how that would feel being ripped off in a scam or by a confidence scheme. I am always very cautious of individuals and situations (I don't trust anyone). For instance when I was walking in a mall and someone tapped me on the back and I turn around and they say "Oh I thought you were someone else" and they walk off, I automatically check my pockets for my wallet, keys etc for any sleight of hand.

Theres an old saying that holds true

"If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is"

Ahh come on, give these guys a break. They're just trying to earn an honest living...

Say, is that BigWyrs rig in the background?

LOL! We need a bIg RiG photoshopped in the background that says auDiopile spekerz stor...something like that

It's amazing the lengths some of these scammers will go to: setting up an "official" looking website ect. As mentioned, you can't get any info on their "dealer" network or contact them. These kind of guys are trolling around parking lots all over N. America, can't the owners of the mall parking lots ect where these clowns frequent, nail these guys for trespassing, if nothing else?

BTW....a 1 yr warranty?

I'm surprised the web site didn't try to install a trojan while people were visiting!

Installing a Trojan is pretty difficult if what the person sees doesn't excite them.

Check out the "awards" on this page: http://paramaxaudio.com/loudspeakersLM48W.html

You can't read any of them and they don't click anywhere for reference.

Back when I was in college a white van tried to sell me speakers. I had never heard of the scam before. The story they told me is that they're on their way to do an install, and the person ordered a pair of speakers, but they got two pair because of a mix up. He said he wanted to get rid of them before he went back to his boss. Showed me a shiny spec sheet making the speakers look great. Said they were normally $1200, but he'd let me have them for $600. I said, "I'll give you $50." He replied that he couldn't let them go for less than $500. I told him, "you've basically stolen these speakers and anything I give you is profit." He then asked if I had any friends who might be interested in these amazing speakers.

Later, after finding out what the scam was really about, I'm glad I didn't give him the $50. They probably aren't even worth that much. I feel sorry for this kid who just got royally screwed.

He hasnt even hooked them up yet I would be curious if they even work or if they did how it sounded. I didnt even know he wanted a home theater I have some old stuff I dont even use but I am going to give them to him anyways.

Yeah this is an old scam. If Kid Rock is buying a HT for $1200 bucks then the music business must not be what it used to be.

How was it that a 23 year old kid happened to have $1200 bucks on him anyhow? When I was 23 I was lucky if I had $3 bucks in my wallet so I could add fries to my Big Mac order!

I've heard of these white van guys offering to follow you to an ATM so you can get the cash.

I actually had a guy try to pull this on me. it wasn't a white van it was a blue sedan. He showed me the speakers and told me that there was a delivery mix up and he got 2 extra pairs of speakers so he wanted to get rid of them before the boss got back =)... He told me they were worth $2500, but he would let them go for $500. I told him to wait in the parking lot while i go get the cash. i came home and googled them. I could get them on ebay for about $400. I went back to the parking lot just to tell him off. He got a bit angry. LMAO.

wow I just read the http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/460/RipOff0460439.htm

It basically describes exactly the story I was told. Too funny.

There's a very similar type scam going on around here where a guy in a meat truck stops at the corner and goes house to house. The first time he stopped at my house he says, "hey I was supposed to deliver this meat to the people (points at house across the way) but I guess they're on vacation in Hawaii. So I don't want to go back with a truckload of meat or my boss will be mad, I'll cut you a hell of a deal on what I have"...

"First of all", I told the guy, "that there is my parents house, and I'm pretty sure they aren't in Hawaii. Secondly I'm a vegitarian (which isn't true, but I figured if he could bullshit me I could do the same right back to him), so I'm afraid I wouldn't be interested in any meat you might have no matter how low the price".

The guy said thanks and left. I noticed the same truck at least 3 times after that first incident... but they never came back to my house. I wonder if they listed my address as 'vegitarian' in their data banks? Lol

Thats interesting I had a similar meat truck stop by my house in quincy. The truck had a Columbia, Mo address

I don't think the meat trucks are quite the same scam. I've never bought from them, nor do I plan to, but I know people who have. They say the meat is as good or better than other pieces they've bought for the same price. I think they're just bulk sellers of meat. They could probably do without the creative marketing stories, but then I wonder if people would take more offense to a door-to-door meat salesman vs. someone which happens to have an unclaimed product which may go bad if he can't get rid of it.

I'm more put off by the story. Pointing to my parents house & telling me they're in Hawaii means you've lied to my face the very first time you met me & opened your mouth. So I have no use for you.

The meat may or may not be of good value. If you like to buy your meat in bulk it may be worth a shot. But I like to pick and choose my cuts of meat myself.

So no they may not be the con artists these White Van guys are, but its still underhanded in my book. They are playing off of your sense of getting something cheap in both cases, which to me is unethical. Give me the real poop when you want to sell me something and I'll respond a lot better.

This thread really comes down to the business practises of the companies involved. There are people/businesses out there that only want to sell you something ONCE, knowing full well what they are selling is garbage and you'll never give them your business again, but they made a quick buck which is all they care about. Other companies want your business down the road as well, so they'll do everything to make you feel confident in dealing with them.

On a slightly different note, I really would like to see the gov't crack down on telemarketers as well. Some of these people are rude and obnoxious to say the least, when you don't want whatever they're selling. One window installer/seller calls up and asks me if I want new windows installed....when I say "I don't need any", he actually says to me "why not?"......so I politely asked him if he was a fack'n moron with no understanding of the English language.

I've been approached by the dreaded "white van" three times that I can remember and the approach is nearly always the same. I'm wondering if somebody wrote a "Handbook for White Van Speaker Sellers" for these guys....

I hate to admit it, but I did a one week stint as a telemarketer back in my early 20's. I was trying to sell magazine subscriptions to people who already had subscribed to some magazine or another. I had a list of people who had a current subscription and I was supposed to try to sell them a 6 magazine bundle at a discounted price. What sucked is that there wasn't a variety of magazines to choose from, it was just the same old 6 magazines you had to push on these poor people.

Plenty of people sounded interested, but when they asked if they could swap out some of the one's they had no interest in for something they might like better, I had to tell them it was just the 6 I'd mentioned. So most people declined. But I couldn't let them off easily (here's the trick most people don't know), you see we were monitored, and we had to keep these people on the phone as long as possible because supposedly the longer you keep someone on the phone, the more likely they are to buy what you're trying to sell. So if they said, "no thanks", then we had to keep pressuring them until they had said 'no' three times. It's a federal law if you're a telemarketer that once the customer has said 'no' three times, you have to hang up. So if you ever get a telemarketer that you don't want to talk to, just say, "no, no, no"... and they will have no choice but to get off the phone with you.

But not many people know this, so they would always keep on talking even though I'd know they weren't interested. There were so many times I'd be sitting there wishing the person would just say 'no' three times so I could let them go, but we weren't allowed to hang up before they had said 'no' the three times. So there I'd be talking to some irate individual who didn't want the 6 stinking magazines I was trying to push on them, and all I wanted was to hear them say 'no' three times so I could stop bothering them.

Needless to say, after I recieved my first check I immediately quit, I hated having to harrass people needlessly. I didn't like telemarketers harrassing me, so I felt bad doing the same to someone else. But finding out that saying 'no' three times forced them off the phone sure came in handy!!!

Unless you're a jerk like I pretend to be sometimes. If I'm not pressed for time, I've got no problem playing the game and feigning interest just to use up a telemarketer's time. After all, the longer s/he's on the phone with me, the less time they have to annoy someone else in a less playful mood.

Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!

Or just say "thanks, but I'm not interested" and hang up. Most of the poor bastards that get these jobs probably couldn't find anything else, and you do what you have to when you have bills to pay. I have yet to meet a person who enjoyed working as a telemarketer.

I never get any callbacks. I also don't get many telemarketing calls any more. They must have a deadbeat file somewhere with my number in it by now.

Not this guy.

Hey these were their theories, not mine. I never saw an advantage in keeping them on the phone at all. In fact during my brief stint the longer I kept someone on the phone the more irate they got and the LESS likely it seemed they would buy. Some of them I figured would cancel the subscription they currently had just to get back at us.

It definately wasn't a job you could do very long if you have an ounce of humanity in you. All the people I made upset for such a lousy paycheck, jeeesh, there was no way I was going to continue doing such a crappy job. The newpaper add said, "work in a fun atmosphere making tons of money talking on the phone". Sounded good at the time. Anytime we weren't actually talking to someone on the phone we were supposed to hoot and holler like we were at a party. That was the 'fun atmosphere' we were supposedly working in. But trust me, it wasn't fun. After getting off the phone with someone you'd just royally pissed off it didn't come natural to hoot and holler let me tell you.

What a sick concept.

I have no problem selling my soul, but yeah, I need it to be for a significant sum of money.

Oh yeah, I wouldn't lose any sleep being Andrew Dice Clay if I was getting paid like Andrew Dice Clay. But pissing people off does not come naturally to me. So doing so for $120 bucks a week didn't come close to cutting it for me. Give me $120,000 a week and I'll piss other people off all day long!

I used to politely say "no thanks" or "I'm not interested". IF they kept up the schtick - which now I can understand why they do, I would say no again and then hang up. After a while I would say no once and then hang up if they kept talking. Now, the minute I realize what type of call it is, I wait to make sure it is not something like MADD, and then just hang up without a word.

Ohhh, the irony of it. While reading this thread I get a telemarketing **recorded** call about helping me get out of debt. I think they had the volume turned up to reference levels too. This begs the question about saying "No" three times then legally they must end the call...what if it is a recorded message? how would that apply?

Those are illegal.

...unless they have a previously established business relationship.

...or are a non-profit, or political organization.

The laws are obviously more lax in Canada reg telemarketers. I get recorded calls all the time...."Important notice about your credit card....", or...."the warranty may have run out on your vehicle". I get these two recorded calls, probably 20-30 times each per year. Oh, and there's the one where I've just won a "free" cruise to the Carribean---A friends wife fell for this one years ago. They gave them a free cruise alright, but there were "service charges" ect which brought the price over and above what they could have gotten the cruise for in the first place.

I don't know about that, Adrian. Those scammers have been running in the US too, until the FTC busted their lame asses back to the stone age a few months back. It's the same recording, I'll bet.

Of course, we still get some, but not as many.