Scam Report: @Santa refund service and VIP membership

[34]

Scammers Profile Link: https://cracked.io/SANTA
Sales Thread:
Amount or Item(s) Scammed: 0.042 BTC (1000 EUR on August 25, 2023)
Screenshots of Communication: https://postimg.cc/gallery/GNR697H
Additional Information:
 I paid 1000 EUR (0.042 BTC) on August 25, 2023 to Santa for VIP membership. I explicitly purchased this membership to get a discounted rate on a Wayfair refund I planned to purchase from him. Before I purchased the membership, I sent him a screenshot of my cart and asked him to confirm that he would be able to refund all of the items. He confirmed that he would. I purchased the membership and submitted the refund. He repeatedly told me for weeks that he was “working on it” and that it would be done “soon.” After not receiving word from him for another few weeks, I checked again, and he finally told me that he would not be able to complete the refund because Wayfair did not provide return labels, and that there was nothing else he could do.
 
The possibility that the refund would fail was not mentioned before I purchased the refund from him. In fact, it was the opposite — he specifically said that the refund “would not be an issue.” His advertisement for the refund service claimed it was done by a Wayfair insider, which was clearly a lie — if this were true, he would have been able to do the refund. Because of this deception, the failure to inform me that there was a risk of not being able to do the refund, and the refund failing, I requested a refund for my VIP membership. I would not have purchased it if I had known the refund could fail, and I did not feel comfortable being “VIP” with a seller who thought it was okay to lie to customers in this manner. It’s also worth pointing out that he has not provided any other promised VIP benefits, even since this scam report (https://cracked.io/Thread-Scam-report-fo...-1000-euro) was opened against him last year for the same reason.
 
After I requested a refund, he began to insult me and threaten to do the refund “the dirty way” (with a fake police report), which I did not want done. I had to ask him multiple times not to do this before he finally agreed.
 
Because of 1) the lie that he would be able to do the refund “with no issue,” 2) the omission that the refund could be denied, 3) the atrocious customer service with extremely delayed response times, and 4) the insults and threats to do the refund in a dangerous manner even after I asked him not to proceed, Santa is not someone I would like to do business with. I would like a full refund of the BTC amount I paid for the VIP membership.

Crypto address for a refund: BTC 3522P6mhemk2hJdZUYAaFnBEcYeW5b9GDt

[1]

System bot message: @SANTA (SANTA) has been notified about this dispute via private messages and has 24hours to reply in this thread

top [exp 16/12/24]

 

Taking care of cracked.io's leechers. Every day.
If you have a question regarding your leeching level, click here.

[31.380]

pm me on tg https://t.me/bySANTA

Regarding Your Allegations:
I would like to address the concerns u have raised in ur recent message. I will provide detailed responses to each of ur allegations and clarify any misunderstandings

Allegation 1: VIP Membership Abuse
You mentioned that u purchased a VIP membership solely for a Wayfair refund. However, it is important to note that individuals who acquire a VIP membership typically aim to request refunds on a regular basis. The VIP system is designed to provide a cost-effective solution for those who anticipate needing multiple refunds over time
You attempted to exploit the VIP system by seeking a refund for one order and ask for refunds in case it fails. This approach is an abuse of the system and is not in line with the intended use of the VIP membership. If ur primary objective was to obtain a Wayfair refund, u could have waited for the refund confirmation and paid the owed fee instead of paying a lump sum of $1,000 upfront

Allegation 2: Guaranteed Refunds
Refunds are never guaranteed, and they never will be. The method u refer to is a technique used to attempt a refund, not a guaranteed insider strategy. Therefore, a refund may or may not be successful. If u  have no prior experience with refunds, it is common sense to understand that success is not guaranteed

Allegation 3: Delayed Dispute
The dispute linked by u is unrelated to this one. You opened a dispute after more than seven months had passed since ur purchase, which is likely due to the recent increase in cryptocurrency prices. If u had requested a refund within a few business days, it would not have been an issue. However, waiting for seven months is unacceptable

Allegation 4: Threats and Police Reports
You have never been threatened by me. I explained to u that the method used by my team is one of the safest available. However, I also mentioned that there are unconventional methods, such as creating a fake police report, that some refunders use (without customers agreement). I want to emphasize that I do not condone or engage in such practices. Police reports are not to be taken lightly, and they should not be used as a "safe" refunding method

The last time I heard from u was on October 1, and I have not received any messages or orders from u since then. Your recent message is clearly an attempt to take advantage of the current crypto pump. I have never refused to work with u or any other VIP member, and I never will. Despite ur misunderstanding, I acted in ur best interest by not using police reports without ur permission. However, instead of feeling protected, u claim that I am threatening u. If the order had been refunded using a police report without ur knowledge, I am confident that u would have been upset

Moving Forward
Please feel free to pm me on tg whenever u have an order to be refunded, a question, a tip, or anything else a VIP member may require. I am committed to providing u with the best possible service and ensuring that ur experience is both ethical and better than previous refund attempt

[34]

if u win this ask for a btc amount refund not $ amount refund

 

pm me on tg https://t.me/bySANTA

Regarding Your Allegations:
I would like to address the concerns u have raised in ur recent message. I will provide detailed responses to each of ur allegations and clarify any misunderstandings

Allegation 1: VIP Membership Abuse
You mentioned that u purchased a VIP membership solely for a Wayfair refund. However, it is important to note that individuals who acquire a VIP membership typically aim to request refunds on a regular basis. The VIP system is designed to provide a cost-effective solution for those who anticipate needing multiple refunds over time
You attempted to exploit the VIP system by seeking a refund for one order and ask for refunds in case it fails. This approach is an abuse of the system and is not in line with the intended use of the VIP membership. If ur primary objective was to obtain a Wayfair refund, u could have waited for the refund confirmation and paid the owed fee instead of paying a lump sum of $1,000 upfront

Allegation 2: Guaranteed Refunds
Refunds are never guaranteed, and they never will be. The method u refer to is a technique used to attempt a refund, not a guaranteed insider strategy. Therefore, a refund may or may not be successful. If u  have no prior experience with refunds, it is common sense to understand that success is not guaranteed

Allegation 3: Delayed Dispute
The dispute linked by u is unrelated to this one. You opened a dispute after more than seven months had passed since ur purchase, which is likely due to the recent increase in cryptocurrency prices. If u had requested a refund within a few business days, it would not have been an issue. However, waiting for seven months is unacceptable

Allegation 4: Threats and Police Reports
You have never been threatened by me. I explained to u that the method used by my team is one of the safest available. However, I also mentioned that there are unconventional methods, such as creating a fake police report, that some refunders use (without customers agreement). I want to emphasize that I do not condone or engage in such practices. Police reports are not to be taken lightly, and they should not be used as a "safe" refunding method

The last time I heard from u was on October 1, and I have not received any messages or orders from u since then. Your recent message is clearly an attempt to take advantage of the current crypto pump. I have never refused to work with u or any other VIP member, and I never will. Despite ur misunderstanding, I acted in ur best interest by not using police reports without ur permission. However, instead of feeling protected, u claim that I am threatening u. If the order had been refunded using a police report without ur knowledge, I am confident that u would have been upset

Moving Forward
Please feel free to pm me on tg whenever u have an order to be refunded, a question, a tip, or anything else a VIP member may require. I am committed to providing u with the best possible service and ensuring that ur experience is both ethical and better than previous refund attempt

I have no desire to use your services after this experience. My points in the original post still stand. You promised that the refund would be done, and when it wasn't, threatened multiple times to continue doing it in an unsafe way (as seen in the screenshots). You also claimed it would be done while it was in progress and you knew that they would not send the return labels (as you claimed in the screenshots, "it will be done this week.") I have not received any other benefits of VIP, nor do I want to. You clearly did not give me the promised "priority support," for example, as evidenced by the fact that I had to message one of your staff members to get a response about my refund four days after I placed it (screenshot). I also had to check in with you about the status of my refund multiple times to get status updates, and it seems that if I had never done so, it would've gone completely ignored or never worked on. You only told me it had failed when I asked you for an update (repeatedly), not when you found out, as you should have. 

For these reasons, and the others I stated above, I have no desire to do business with you. 

This is not related to the cryptocurrency prices now. I waited to file this scam report because of a fear of retaliation.

[31.380]

1) Refunds are never guaranteed and will never be
2) I never guaranteed 100% success, aside from stating that I can process Wayfair refunds. This does not mean that if 10 orders are refunded successfully, ur order will be refunded without issues as well
3) I have never threatened u or any other staff member. I have explained the two methods used by refunders and stated that we opted for the safest one (not the fake police report option) on tg
3) You have messaged a staff member who provides basic support by replying to customers in group chats. They do not have access to the spreadsheet containing the orders we are refunding
4) You were not ignored. If I have an update for u, I will send you a private message with the exact news. There is no point in writing/replying to each customer with "No updates for now." It's time-consuming and pointless
5) Priority support means answering questions that have not been answered already or questions that make sense. I have explained why there is no point in writing "no updates" on a daily/weekly basis when I can write to u when I actually have something new
6) It has been 7 months +, and u have had enough time. To reiterate, if you were looking for only one refund (the Wayfair one), u could have paid our fixed fee upon refund confirmation instead of paying $1000 USD for a cheaper fee and a few other perks. You are clearly trying to abuse the VIP system by requesting a refund on an unsuccessful first refund. This is not how a VIP subscription works
7) If, after 7 months since u paid for it and 5 months with no questions or orders from u , u appear out of nowhere asking for a refund, u are delusional
8) I am still willing to offer everything that the VIP plan offers, including cheap fees on refund confirmation, tips and tricks on bypassing security, a private store list custom-made for each customer and up-to-date limits, etc. I hold no grudges and look forward to hearing from u

[31.380]

1) Refunds are issued via the same payment method used by the customer. If a customer sends $100 via PayPal, they will receive a $100 refund through PayPal. If they send 0.1 ETH, their refund will be 0.1 ETH
2) The user did not purchase a mentorship (not teaching him how to do refunds or anything similar); he bought a VIP Membership for a service I offer. This membership is primarily used for discounted fees and long-term refunds
3) I cannot prevent random scam reports. However, in this case, the user purchased 7 months ago and had no contact with me for over 5 months. Opening a report without prior notice or attempt to contact me suggests an attempt to exploit the VIP system

To clarify, if the user was looking for one refund, not a long term plan, he could have paid the required fee on email confirmation (no payments upfront). Instead, he opted for a VIP membership, which provides discounted fees and a more favorable refund process. In the event of an unfavorable refund outcome, he chose to complain and ask for refunds

customer has access to my tg account and has never been ignored or blocked. If he needs assistance, he knows where to find me

[34]

I will reiterate all of the points I have already raised below:

1. You are impossible to reach on Telegram, and “VIP priority support” is nonexistent. This is evidenced by the fact that, on multiple occasions, you took 4 days to respond to me about the status of my refund. Your Telegram group chat is filled with complaints of how you are unresponsive, even to VIP members.
   
2. You blatantly lied about the status of refund, when it was obvious that it had failed. In my messages, you say it “should be done this week,” and when I messaged you back, you said “talking with my team,” when at both points, you knew that Wayfair would not refund based on the content of the emails that you had access to. You did not proactively message me — instead, you only told me about the issues with my order when I messaged you first, which is unacceptable even for regular customers (much less a “VIP”). If I had never checked with you, I have a strong suspicion that you never would’ve messaged me to tell me it had failed (or any other updates). You also clearly did not care, or make any effort to, keep up-to-date on the status of the refund, evidenced by the fact that I had to tell you about the emails I received from Wayfair (emails that you should’ve seen yourself proving Wayfair would not issue the refund).
   
3. You, in no uncertain terms, said this refund would be “no issue” — “no issue” is completely different than “I can try.” You cannot backtrack and say "there is risk" after saying this in such an absolute manner.
   
4. You lied about using a Wayfair insider to complete the refund (this false advertisement further made me believe that the refund would be successful).
   
5. After the refund failed, you threatened to do the refund using the fake PR method, even after I asked you three times politely to not do so.
   
6. This would be a different matter if I had used any other VIP “perks,” but I did not use a single one, because (1) they were never provided, like priority support, and (2) I have no desire to do so (as I have exhaustively mentioned). You have proven yourself as someone untrustworthy to do business with.
   

I am trying to be reasonable and respectful. We will not do further business together. Please refund me.

[31.380]

1. I've emphasized this point multiple times. A normal person wouldn't send daily messages stating "No Updates." You'll receive messages from me promptly if there are any updates regarding ur order or if there are sensible questions to address. This is priority support
2. Delayed responses can be common, especially in cases where Amazon is scrutinizing orders and causing delays in refunds. This is beyond my control, and I inform customers when support is causing delays in refunds
3. You mentioned a 4-month-old (date since u paid for VIP) tg announcement about a Wayfair insider. Insiders are generally fired within a short period. I've never claimed that a refund would be facilitated by an insider or through an "insider" method. Order success depends on various factors, such as previous orders, refund history, refund amounts, and other aspects
4. I didn't threaten u. If I had, I could have proceeded without ur consent. However, I respected ur decision, as I would not risk any customers for a quick refunding fee. I was merely trying to explain the methods used by refunders, and I was surprised by ur reaction
5. VIP membership has its advantages, some of which are listed in the group, while others are offered privately to each customer to ensure up-to-date information during purchases. This information changes rapidly, making it impractical to update the group every hour
6. I don't force u to work with me. I continue to offer the services you paid for as part of a lifetime membership, regardless of whether a refund fails or succeeds. I don't charge extra after VIP payment is made, nothing extra as a fee on successful refund beside fee owed to staff team (agreed until process is started), so u cannot ask for membership refund out of nowhere
7. As previously mentioned, if u requested a refund within a few business days, I wouldn't have complained about a four-figure refund. However, it's been over 7 months since your purchase, and ur excuse for not opening a dispute is unconvincing. With no card issues, store problems, police involvement, or investigations, there's been no obstacle to open a deal dispute during this time

If u're ready to receive ur money back through quick / instant refunds, please message me on tg. VIP services will be provided as agreed upon

No questions, orders, or wish to work with me? that's perfectly fine. I'm committed to offering what u paid for, and I won't withhold services without justification. You are the one refusing what u paid for, not me