AudioAficionado.org - MSS HiFi Took My Money 2

Hi everyone,

First, Merry Christmas to all here :) I'm lio from Hong Kong.

The following is my personal experience with MSS HiFi.

Earlier this year I was setting up a system for listening to my music collection via computer. I was looking for a decent DAC to fit in the small space and budget I have, then I found Bel Canto. I noted there was no official dealer in Hong Kong for Bel Canto products then I started to search in eBay and this was how I found MSS HiFi. I contacted them and asked for a quote for the 1.5 with black faceplate. I got immediate response from them and they told me this was not in stock but they could ordered it from the factory and it would ship within 3 weeks. I did ask to confirm that the item I ordered was new but they did not respond to this point. The seller had an excellent feedback on eBay and a nice looking website so I had no suspicion at that time (I did not go into the details of his website then). I paid him USD1,170 using Paypal on 22 September 2011. Two days later I paid him another USD250 for the an additional Bel Canto power supply as well. I then waited for the shipment while looking for and ordering other gears for my system.

About 7 weeks later all my other gears had arrived except the Bel Canto DAC. I wrote emails to MSS HiFi. After some six or seven emails sent directly or via their website there was no response, then I started look at their website more seriously. The style of their writing in their website made me worry, and I started to google MSS HiFi and Johnny Boey. The result, as you know, was shocking. Being an overseas buyer not buying from eBay, I knew I most likely have been screwed.

I wrote to MSS HiFi again threatening legal actions, and I received a reply saying that the factory had not yet shipped the DAC and they would sent me the power supply first. I wrote back saying that I knew what this was all about and asked Mr. Boey to wait for my further actions. I did not receive any further response from MSS HiFi nor did I want to communicate with them anymore. I received the power supply a few days later by FedEx whose packaging was labelled "Bel Canto DAC 1.5 Black". The power supply looked like new and had a serial no. but its packaging was open and it had the wrong voltage.

After my last email to MSS HiFi, I contacted Paypal Resolution Center. Unfortunately I found that my first payment had already exceeded their 45 days limit and I could not submit any claim. For my second payment, Paypal asked me to submit a Police report for their consideration but since I already received the power supply (which the second payment was intended for), I was not hopeful to get the refund so I did not bother to contact the police for the relatively small sum of money. My case was, of course, ruled not in my favor eventually.

I also contacted Bel Canto direct and their President replied to me that MSS HiFi was not their authorized dealer and could not have placed any order with them. I later became aware of the legal suit between Bel Canto and MSS HiFi (which as I understand was still ongoing at the time of writing this message). Bel Canto's President also asked me a few questions about my order which I thought he wanted to use to input to his legal case. He also helped me check the serial no. of the power supply which was confirmed to be genuine.

My next step was to file a complaint with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). After submitting all necessary information and waited several weeks (and some emails to chase the progress), I got a reply from a mediator who said she had been in touch with Mr. Boey and he promised to send the DAC within the last two weeks of December 2011. Of course I did not expect Mr. Boey could indeed send me any genuine product because of what Bel Canto's president told me. However, DCA told me they could not hold a hearing on internet purchase (their usual next step if the complaint was not settled) and asked me to contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) for help if I did not receive the product within the promised timeframe. As I expect there was more the DCA could do, because from their website I knew they had inspectors, they did actively investigate fraud, and there were consumer law covering electronic store that was enforced by DCA, I am still still communicating with DCA (at more senior levels) to clarify their role. In any case, I would certainly file a complaint with the IC3 if I did not receive anything within the promised timeframe.

That is my story until now. What amazed me so far was how MSS HiFi got such excellent feedback on eBay (which would continue to fool people who did not research hard enough like me to buy from them) and how MSS HiFi could stay in business till this day after screwing so many people without getting any attention from the enforcement agencies.

I would not want to disclose too much what further actions I would take. I would not rule out any options (including writing to New York media to publicize this matter) and I have got much useful information from the thread "MSS Took my Money". I knew the amount of money was trivial (particularly in a forum like this), but the thought that my hard earned money was in the pocket of Mr. Boey gave me a lot of driving force to continue to pursue this matter.

Thanks all for reading this long and boring message, but I do believe the internet community should be kept informed of this and this could be done by posting here.

lio