Complaints Against Michelle Levinson
Indianapolis, IN.

MBL730@aol.com

If you have questions about the complaint,
please contact the person who it was filed by.

I answered an ad for Valentino which was posted in the "Beanie Connection" guestbook. Michelle Levinson, who posted the ad, subsequently messaged me, and asked how many beanies I was willing to trade for Valentino. I preferred to buy Valentino outright, and explained this. We agreed upon a very high price (my first online trade - I didn't know any better) $55.00, plus one beanie. At that point, I asked if this person was an adult or child. She did not respond to the question, but asked for our telephone number so that we could complete the trade. I provided the number, and as soon as I answered the phone, it was obvious I was dealing with a child. I did not feel comfortable talking to a child I did not know, and placed my own 10 yr. old on another line, while I listened and supervised the deal. I overheard the trader's father ask if she was "trading;' therefore, I felt that there was adult supervision regarding the deal. The final deal was $55.00 plus one Freckles in exchange for Valentino; and we were also to send Seaweed, Chocolate and Stripes in exchange for two Happys, which this trader led us to believe she had. I mailed the money order and beanies the very next day, certified mail, return-receipt. The trader emailed us when she received the package, and told us that she was happy with them. She told us that she would be mailing our beanies the next day. From that point on, we received constant conflicting messages from this trader. To make a long story short, she did not have *any* of the beanies she had agreed to send us. I attempted to speak with her mother via telephone, but this child must have her own line, and always answers it. She refuses to put her mother on the line, and the parents are divorced. I then FedExed a letter to her mother, requiring an adult signature only. This child somehow intercepted this letter, we learned through an IM with her. She states that her mother gave it to her unopened, and that her mother wants nothing to do with her trades. We asked that our money be returned along with the four beanies, since it was obvious this child had no intention of sending us anything. We then made another "agreement, " which was that she would send us the two Happys and our money (she insisted that she now had the Happys). About 10 days later, we received a package with one Chocolate, and only two $20.00 bills. My 11 yr. old daughter engaged in an instant message with Michelle, which I read, and Michelle openly admitted that her "father trades beanies, but she rips people off." Then added that she does this to "get the better trade, DUH." I again telephoned the child's home, only to have her answer the phone again. I asked for her mother; she refused to put her on the line. I informed Michelle that she could find herself in a lot of trouble if she continued to engage in this type of behavior. She stated that she would be sending us all of our beanies back, along with the rest of the money. We never received this, either. We posted on the Beanie Connection Guestbook to warn others of this trader's practices. She subsequently posted under another the Garcia123456 ID that *my* 11 yr. old daughter, "Ciaira," is the "bad trader." My daughter then began receiving "hate email." (I supervise each and every trade my daughter engages in). Soon, I found my several letters in my mailbox from others who had also been "scammed" by this 10 yr. old, unsupervised child in New York. One woman had mailed five beanies and received nothing in return from Michelle. Another had sent Michelle a Spooky and and Garcia, in exchange for a tye-dyed Lizzie from Michelle, but received only the regular Lizzy in the mail. Another emailed us stating that he had been "ripped off for $55.00" from Michelle. We also heard from 6 different individuals that Michelle had promised a "Humphrey." It appears as though Michelle has acquired many of her beanies by advertising rare beanies, or answering ads looking for rare beanies, and leading other traders to believe that she has them. She then agrees to a trade, receives her beanies....and the other traders are out beanies and/or money. 've reported her to TOS, but haven't heard anything. I've also reported her and her mother to an online consumer agency, and will be reporting her to the U.S. Post Office. This child is very, very clever, and I wonder whether or not her mother/and or father is involved. Please add her to your "bad trader" list so that others do not experience the same.

Update: July 30, 1997

Here's an update regarding the problem I've had with Michelle Levinson (MBL730 or Garcia123456): Since I spoke to her mom on Sunday, my e-mail address has been posted in Ty's guestbook as a "bad trader alert" by Michelle. She seems to be doing the same to me as she did with your other complaint from Ciara. Please let me know if she tries to warn you about me to add on your list. I'm going to get this little brat yet! For the most part, I'm completely out of the trading market now because of her comment on the guestbook. I've had deals cancel since this was published for everyone's eyes.   Lorie Levinson is totally amazed at what I've brought to her attention regarding her daughter. She's willing to make good on our deal and unfortunately, she owes me 2 Maples with Pride tags. She says that if she has to she'll buy them but wasn't aware of their worth until I told her.

In the complaint letter on your list, the person behind MBL730@aol.com was reported to be a young girl who sometimes masqueraded as an adult online.  When she emailed me, she signed as "Mark." She made several $400+ bids on Humphrey in a recent auction of mine, but I never did official business with her. At one point, she (still signing as "Mark") asked if I would auction her BBs off like I was doing with mine. I answered with a list of info I would need to sell the BBs and asked what commission I would get. She gladly supplied the info and said she'd pay whatever commission I wanted. This seemed odd, but I thought that perhaps this "Mark" was just a newbie (the typing in all the emails seemed rushed and unorganized, like someone not used to email). I then asked if she was still interested in Humphrey. She never answered my question even though I asked it again in later emails.

I was becoming more and more hesitant about selling her BBs, so I suggested she give me her phone # (still thinking this was an adult guy) to talk it over. She replied with the one-line message: "Can you give me your number??" I never did, but I asked for online references. After a delay, she sent me 2 aliases, "lovbeanies" and "alamo58", but didn't include their email addresses. I thought these were people from the TY Guestbook, but I couldn't locate them. I finally dropped the whole correspondence.

I recently tried to get in contact with her again and received this message in reply:

"Hi, this is Michelle's mom and she is no longer trading on the internet. If you need to talk with her, e-mail me at LMSSJ."

Trader/Seller Name: Michelle Levinson

Trader/Seller Email: MBL730@aol.com

Comments: Im about to report the most disgusting trade I ever had. This was during Christmas, when my daughter needed 1997 Teddy. "Michelle" responded with a high offer of $55.00 as it had Stinky (the beanie) tags. We agreed on - $55.0 and Spooky. She said Beaniemom emailed her saying it was valuable. I then asked if I was dealing with an adult or child, she did not answer my question, but she insisted that I call her on the phone. So, I did. When I was talking to her on the phone, I r alized she was a child. I put my 11 year old daughter on so she can make the deal with her. I made her do it on the speaker phone so I can supervise the deal. Then her father came on the phone and asked "are you trading again? Ok, you may trade". So I fig red it was fine. 10 Days later, I still have not received my beanies. I began to worry; so I IMed her and she said she "forgot" to mail, and she will mail ASAP. Then, we tricked her saying that I'm going out and you will talk to my 11 year old daughter, B T I wasn't going out, I was still supervising their IM. Then she IMed saying "ha, kid. I ripped your (BEEP) off." I was furious and insisted to talk to her mother. This unsupervised child is spoiled. She has her own phone line. I then sent her mother a ma l Via FedEx requiring adult signature only. But, this child somehow intercepted this letter, and signed her name on the receipt. She said, "I'm sorry, I will return these beanies and never deal again." But, she only returned a dirty Happy, and a box full of worms and dirt. I have continued to email her, and today she finally admitted that she is not sending anything. I have reported her to AOL, and I will soon be reporting her to my local authorities, ISP, Online Fraud Center, and The Indianapolis Post Office.