The bargain hunters said they're after 'revenge' after being ripped off online. Picture: A Current Affair
Couple want 'revenge' on scammer
by Phoebe Loomes
14th Aug 2019 4:52 PM
A QUEENSLAND couple say they're out for "revenge" after being sold a dodgy, broken and dented fridge on Gumtree, and being left with little hope of a refund after being blocked by the seller.
Dallas and Sonja Cluff were duped out of hundreds of dollars when they were sold the fridge, and say after trying to contact the seller and negotiate a refund, he blocked them and deleted the Gumtree listing.
The couple, who have young children, say after trying to track down the seller online, they found he had posted more advertisements for other fridges, and they believe he may be a serial online scammer.
"This guy isn't gonna get away with it. I'm gonna stop him," Mr Cluff told A Current Affair.
"(He) is posting new Gumtree ads, trying to scam more people.
"We just want to get revenge, and get our money back, and make sure he doesn't do this to anybody else," Mrs Cluff said.
The couple said they'd saved for their kitchen renovations for over a year, and they'd picked the large fridge two-door because of the demands of their growing family.
The seller, who called himself Brent on Gumtree, presented in texts as genuine, offering up information about the fridge, listed for $420, saying it was slightly scratched, but otherwise okay. He claimed he was only selling it because it didn't fit at his new home.
The couple said in texts the seller presented as genuine. Picture: A Current Affair
The seller said the fridge had been given to him by his parents, and didn't fit in his new home. Picture: A Current Affair
The Cluffs said they're after 'revenge' after being ripped off online. Picture: A Current Affair
CCTV shows two men arriving at the Cluffs' home, with the fridge laying flat in the rear of a red ute.
Mrs Cluff said despite feeling uneasy about the situation, she was at home alone with her child, she didn't want to confront the seller.
The couple said they realised the fridge wasn't working fairly quickly. While the light turned on, the temperature failed to drop, and within 24 hours the fridge had still not become cold.
Mr Cluff contacted the seller, requesting a refund, but found the seller promptly blocked him.
After searching the Gumtree site, they found a seller with the same name, advertising a different fridge.
"Which was highly unusual, if he had a fridge given to him by his parents," Mr Cluff told A Current Affair.
Mr Cluff messaged Brent, telling him he would "hunt him down" but found the seller blocked him a second time.
He has since found more fridge listings he believes belong to the dodgy fridge seller, even going so far as to organise another sale at a different address so he could confront the seller - but Mr Cluff said the scammer "got wise" to the plan and never showed up.
Mr Cluff said he took the complaint to his local police station, but says officers "weren't interested". He said he then called PoliceLink, who weren't able to follow up on the complaint.
Mr and Mrs Cluff said they felt like Gumtree "don't care" about the incident.
Gumtree said in a statement they are now actively trying to identify the user and disable their account.
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