But it's not impossible
by Winter Celtic (2013-01-11 16:42:04)

In reply to: Why on earth would you need to name people?  posted by Starburns


Because I did in fact get into the stadium and get game tickets from someone I know with ELITE Security (through my dealings with them at San Diego Comic-Con in he past). That's it.


Assuming the security firm got tickets at all...
by El Kabong  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...those tickets are highly regulated by those who receive them.

Unless you donated a kidney to save this guy's life, the possibility he was able to get two tickets out of their alleged allotment and then give them to you for free strains credulity, as does your claim you drove over 500 miles round trip every day for four days.


More
by Winter Celtic  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I'm honestly unsure if there's an allotment given to the security firm. He had 2 tickets that he was going to give to some family who didn't make the trip.

As for the drive, it was more like 400 miles RT and we only went down there 2 days.


But you got all the way to Greenacres on Saturday... *
by PHIL_94  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Right
by El Kabong  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

He has tickets worth about $1k each, and first he's going to give them to "some family", and then he's going to give them to you, a random person he's seen at Comi-Con.

You must be the luckiest person in the universe to know these people.


No, it's not like that
by Winter Celtic  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

First, this guy wouldn't be selling the tickets. He was going to give them to somebody. And it's not a random encounter. I know the guy (yes, through Comic-Con but not simply through bumping into him or anything) and contacted him ahead of time just in case the opportunity arose. And yes we were very lucky that it did.


Must be a saint *
by El Kabong  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Because he didn't scalp his tickets?
by Winter Celtic  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Seriously, though, he is a nice guy. And he's offered to accommodate me (if he can) whenever ELITE is running security at events.


Solution: Take a cash advance on that credit card of yours.
by MistakenD  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Transfer it to checking and pay back each and every person in full that donated a penny. Have them come back on here and verify that you repaid the money.

Edit: removed my theory.


How much has he contributed to the Rocky fund?
by Starburns  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

A pair of tickets to some of those events would probably cover all of the dog's medical bills in a charity auction.


If you had extras and didn't need the money...
by Shadyirish  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Wouldn't you want your tickets going to someone who could sell them to save a poor dog's life?


It's okay
by Starburns  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

His sister lives in Los Angeles so it doesn't cost him anything to stay there and drive back and forth to San Diego every day.


I suppose they could be contacted to find out (link)
by Brandon  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


which one of those guys would admit to going to a comic
by jt  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

convention?


the Purdue grad *
by ThreeD  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


What you originally said was that you got "access"
by Starburns  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Now it's that you "got into the stadium" and "got tickets."

If some friend of yours gave you tickets why even invoke the security firm? Unless of course you also told someone else some sob story which would be even more phenomenally classless.


That was for the tour *
by Winter Celtic  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


When asked about your trip to Miami for the game ...
by Ofcr. Tim McCarthy  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

... you spontaneously started talking about how lucky you were to get "access" to the stadium tour? And not about how lucky you were to get thousands of dollars of game tickets for free?

Like I say, even with all the practice you've had, you're still bad at this.


And Bonger, you're on something of a fool's errand. You'll never catch a liar in his lies by asking him for more explanations, because he can always make up some more. Instead, you compare his story to what you know, both specifically about him and generally about how the world works. Specifically, for instance, this guy first said he got "access" from a buddy in game security. When advised that we can all see him wearing actual game tickets around his neck, the story is that the buddy gave him thousands of dollars of tickets for free. Now, when it's pointed out that didn't say he got free tickets, he said he got "access," he says that when he said "access" he meant the dinky little stadium tour and just forgot to mention the thousands of dollars worth of free tickets. And others note that his facebook page showed him doing other costly things -- which he now simply denies, claiming he drove back to his Mom's house in Orlando every night.

More generally, he visibly was begging for money at the same time he was going to the BCS championship game in Miami. So flag pops up there. Then he says a buddy he met at Comic-con and who was a manager of the game security force not only snuck him into the stadium tour (what?), but gave him the thousands of dollars worth of free tickets. As grown people we know that's just not plausible, and adding that to what we know specifically gets us further down the road.

And once you've confronted a liar, you're not going to get far by asking more questions and listening to what he actually says in any detail. Instead you ask more questions and watch him, and listen to how the story changes rather than the details of what's in it. Does the story simultaneously get more elaborate and less plausible? Check. Does he get defensive ("You're a very judgmental person")? Check. Does he throw up roadblocks to dangerous questions ("What, now you want my buddy's name and address and hat size?"). Check. That behavior, combined with what we know about his story, gets to the conclusion.

He was caught in a lie from the start. When confronted, he gave an explanation that didn't come close to explaining the truth and that was itself implausible. Everything he's said since then has been just what you would expect a cornered liar to say. There's a very simple way for him to square it -- give the money back and have the donors tell us he's done so -- but he's not interested. So. He's lying, and he's a con man. He's not going to change just because the thread gets longer.


The sob story?
by Starburns  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Suddenly things are becoming a little more clear.


That's not helping *
by Winter Celtic  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


ELITE should have footed the bill for Rocky instead *
by Brandon  (2013-01-11 16:42:04)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post