Donor has been pretty active in the "for sale" areas on Head-Fi. Well, turns out our boy donor is pulling a fast one on us. He runs the headphone product review site www.headphonesrock.com. He talks to manufacturers to get review samples and then turns around and sells them to folks here. We just caught him red handed. He had the gaul to have us ship the unit directly to the buyer saying the buyer was a reviewer ... which of course he wasn't. Un-friggen-believable! One wonders if he was going to just steal our product copy writing and print it as his review, after all, he was never even going to listen to the amp. NEVER EVEN GOING TO LISTEN TO THE AMP! He's not even a descent headphone geek or he would have at least listened to the amp first out of curiosity!

We looked at the reviewed product on his web site and the gear he's sold on Head-Fi and there was a STRIKING similarity of gear.

This guys real name (we think) is Benjamin Donnaloia, his email address (one of them anyway) is [email protected] . DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS GUY!

wow, what a douchebag. can you get him banned from HF for this?

I also like how he asks for donations to help cover "web design" costs. He's running the ever popular Joomla CMS with a "paid" template ($50 assuming he couldn't scam it out of someone for free).

Already done. But without being able to punch the little douche in the face it's not particularly satisfying.

On the plus side apparently he's enough of a moron to screw up the donate link so that it doesn't actually work. What a tool.

Already done. But without being able to punch the little douche in the face it's not particularly satisfying.

That really sucks. Sorry to hear about the stolen amp

Probably makes it even harder for honest people to audition your amps.

Thanks for the heads up, Tyll. Can you have him charged with theft...or something? Here's from one of his ads:

PS. I am on my 50th post now, so I can legally sell stuff here, however before these rules were implemented I sold a Go-Vibe 5 to Goorackerelite in November of '06, so I can assure you that I am not a scam artist

I guess it's the same as when someones says, "but honestly,......."

His site's homepage also features mentions of the Diablo and Pandora...two of the more notable gear scams currently going. Maybe he's an admirer.

Please tell me you posted feedback for this douche on Head-Fi. I've heard horror stories about reviewers holding gear hostage until a man'f agreed to sell it at a discount but damn, straight up selling the product before you even review is bullshit.

His site's homepage also features mentions of the Diablo and Pandora...two of the more notable gear scams currently going. Maybe he's an admirer.

I"m out of the loop. How are the Diable and Pandora scams?

I"m out of the loop. How are the Diable and Pandora scams?

Both LaRocco and Storm took money ($500ish) for promised products, never delivered, and basically cut off all communication with customers. I don't really know the specifics on Storm, but since I'm one of the ones who paid for a Diablo, I know that up to 50 units were sold to the tune of $515 (I think...don't really remember) with promises that they would be ready "soon." That was 25 months ago, and still nothing but occasional excuses, promises, and teases (pics), mostly via Duncan at ipastudio, who more or less spearheaded the Diablo plan, and to whom we actually sent our money. I don't think this is a case of intentional fraud, but the results are the same. I think with Storm, Ken Law just basically took the money and disappeared, and though it looks like a couple people in Austrailia got the dacs, are still trying to say that everyone should be happy and wait, and that's about it.

http://www.ipastudio.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22374#post22374

10 days till judgment day!

I hope someone drops the hammer on Larocco, it sucks that Phil's name is getting basically trashed by someone that he no longer has any affiliation with.

From his website :

"Note: We do charge $100 for featured reviews and inquiries can be sent to [email protected]"

Sorry to hear about what happened Tyll. That is just terrible. Those types of folks just ruin it for the rest of the people who are legitimately trying to review products