Phone or e-mail contact for Icycles

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob Carroll said:

Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
http://www.icycles.com?

I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find
that they block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that
they don't want to ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the
vast majority of people who will be ordering from their site will
have the items shipped to a US address anyway. And if it's some sort
of security thing, it seems to me that any hacker who wants to make
trouble is going to be able to spoof any address.

I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck
is up.

Do you mean http://www.icyclesusa.com/

Kevin Wuertz seems to have gone out of his way to not provide an e-mail
address or phone number through his Web site. While I've bought a few
times from Kevin and have always had good experiences, this sort of
thing is not confidence inspiring. Many Web-based retail companies
(often very large ones) do the same thing and it always makes me wonder
what they have to hide.

There is a way to post a question to them:

http://www.nexternal.com/shared/HelpDesk/ask.asp?CS=icycles

You can find a phone number by entering www.icyclesuse.com into the
search field at http://www.whois.net/

Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
http://www.icycles.com?

I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find that they
block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that they don't want to
ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the vast majority of people who
will be ordering from their site will have the items shipped to a US address
anyway. And if it's some sort of security thing, it seems to me that any
hacker who wants to make trouble is going to be able to spoof any address.

I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck is up.

Thanks!

Velo,

Understood and thanks for the info.

The annoying thing is that I have a US address and US charge card, I just
happen to be physically sitting in Israel. 🙂 It does seem like blocking
IP's by country wouldn't provide much security anwyay, since address
spoofing is so easy, and not only that, but companies with worldwide WAN's
often connect to the web at access points in different countries (for many
years I worked in NJ, but connected to the web via an IP address that was
assigned to a multinational company in Basel.)

"Velo Psycho" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Carroll said:

Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
http://www.icycles.com?

I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find that
they
block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that they don't want
to
ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the vast majority of people
who
will be ordering from their site will have the items shipped to a US
address
anyway. And if it's some sort of security thing, it seems to me that any
hacker who wants to make trouble is going to be able to spoof any
address.

I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck is
up.

Thanks!

I dont know much about Icycles' policies, but I know that many online
businesses have various countries on "block lists." These lists are
created by looking at the statistical number of fraud cases coming from
certain countries. Unfortunately, Israeli IP addresses have a
statistical level of fraud that places them outside of some businesses
comfort zones.

I'm neither rooting for the practice, nor condemning it. But I can
understand why they do it.

Bob Carroll said:

Velo,

Understood and thanks for the info.

The annoying thing is that I have a US address and US charge card, I just
happen to be physically sitting in Israel. 🙂

Hmmm... just to play devil's advocate, imagine how that looks to a
fraud detection mechanism. If I saw an Israeli IP address, a US
Billing Address and a US shipping address, the "fraud" light would
start flashing to me as well.

Quoted message said:

It does seem like blocking
IP's by country wouldn't provide much security anwyay, since address
spoofing is so easy, and not only that, but companies with worldwide WAN's
often connect to the web at access points in different countries (for many
years I worked in NJ, but connected to the web via an IP address that was
assigned to a multinational company in Basel.)

C'est vrai... it might be inefficient, but statistically speaking it
makes sense. Kind of like using FICO credit scores to judge credit
risk and even how much you pay for car insurance. There may be
greyhound buses full of people who are legitimate exceptions to the
statistics, but the stats dont lie.

Its definitely a bummer though.

Bob Carroll said:

Velo,

Understood and thanks for the info.

The annoying thing is that I have a US address and US charge card, I just
happen to be physically sitting in Israel. 🙂 It does seem like blocking
IP's by country wouldn't provide much security anwyay, since address
spoofing is so easy, and not only that, but companies with worldwide WAN's
often connect to the web at access points in different countries (for many
years I worked in NJ, but connected to the web via an IP address that was
assigned to a multinational company in Basel.)

Plus the smart fraudsters and crackers know there are open proxies in
countries that aren't blocked making it look like they're coming from a
legitimate country. I haven't needed to do it yet but if you craft the
right URL you can use Google as the proxy.

Greg

Quoted message said:

"Velo Psycho" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Carroll said:

Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
http://www.icycles.com?

I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find that
they
block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that they don't want
to
ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the vast majority of people
who
will be ordering from their site will have the items shipped to a US
address
anyway. And if it's some sort of security thing, it seems to me that any
hacker who wants to make trouble is going to be able to spoof any
address.

I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck is
up.

Thanks!

I dont know much about Icycles' policies, but I know that many online
businesses have various countries on "block lists." These lists are
created by looking at the statistical number of fraud cases coming from
certain countries. Unfortunately, Israeli IP addresses have a
statistical level of fraud that places them outside of some businesses
comfort zones.

I'm neither rooting for the practice, nor condemning it. But I can
understand why they do it.

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

well i would imagine icycles doesn't sell a lot of items to multi national
companies (and of course none of us shop on the web whiel we are at work)
just do a google search to find a free proxy in the us and enter that in
your browser.

"Bob Carroll" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Velo,

Understood and thanks for the info.

The annoying thing is that I have a US address and US charge card, I just
happen to be physically sitting in Israel. 🙂 It does seem like blocking
IP's by country wouldn't provide much security anwyay, since address
spoofing is so easy, and not only that, but companies with worldwide WAN's
often connect to the web at access points in different countries (for many
years I worked in NJ, but connected to the web via an IP address that was
assigned to a multinational company in Basel.)

"Velo Psycho" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Carroll said:

Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
http://www.icycles.com?

I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find that
they
block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that they don't want
to
ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the vast majority of people
who
will be ordering from their site will have the items shipped to a US
address
anyway. And if it's some sort of security thing, it seems to me that any
hacker who wants to make trouble is going to be able to spoof any
address.

I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck is
up.

Thanks!

I dont know much about Icycles' policies, but I know that many online
businesses have various countries on "block lists." These lists are
created by looking at the statistical number of fraud cases coming from
certain countries. Unfortunately, Israeli IP addresses have a
statistical level of fraud that places them outside of some businesses
comfort zones.

I'm neither rooting for the practice, nor condemning it. But I can
understand why they do it.

Fair Point.

On the other hand, there are tons of Americans here who spend lots of money
in the US. But yeah, I hear you that it could certainly look like fraud.

"Velo Psycho" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Carroll said:

Velo,

Understood and thanks for the info.

The annoying thing is that I have a US address and US charge card, I just
happen to be physically sitting in Israel. 🙂

Hmmm... just to play devil's advocate, imagine how that looks to a
fraud detection mechanism. If I saw an Israeli IP address, a US
Billing Address and a US shipping address, the "fraud" light would
start flashing to me as well.

Quoted message said:

It does seem like blocking
IP's by country wouldn't provide much security anwyay, since address
spoofing is so easy, and not only that, but companies with worldwide
WAN's
often connect to the web at access points in different countries (for
many
years I worked in NJ, but connected to the web via an IP address that was
assigned to a multinational company in Basel.)

C'est vrai... it might be inefficient, but statistically speaking it
makes sense. Kind of like using FICO credit scores to judge credit
risk and even how much you pay for car insurance. There may be
greyhound buses full of people who are legitimate exceptions to the
statistics, but the stats dont lie.

Its definitely a bummer though.

Thanks, good suggestion!

"Brian Meahan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:LB59g.63431$5Z.33818@dukeread02...

Quoted message said:

well i would imagine icycles doesn't sell a lot of items to multi national
companies (and of course none of us shop on the web whiel we are at work)
just do a google search to find a free proxy in the us and enter that in
your browser.

"Bob Carroll" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Velo,

Understood and thanks for the info.

The annoying thing is that I have a US address and US charge card, I just
happen to be physically sitting in Israel. 🙂 It does seem like blocking
IP's by country wouldn't provide much security anwyay, since address
spoofing is so easy, and not only that, but companies with worldwide
WAN's often connect to the web at access points in different countries
(for many years I worked in NJ, but connected to the web via an IP
address that was assigned to a multinational company in Basel.)

"Velo Psycho" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Carroll wrote:
> Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
> http://www.icycles.com?
>
> I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find that
> they
> block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that they don't
> want to
> ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the vast majority of people
> who
> will be ordering from their site will have the items shipped to a US
> address
> anyway. And if it's some sort of security thing, it seems to me that
> any
> hacker who wants to make trouble is going to be able to spoof any
> address.
>
> I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck is
> up.
>
> Thanks!

I dont know much about Icycles' policies, but I know that many online
businesses have various countries on "block lists." These lists are
created by looking at the statistical number of fraud cases coming from
certain countries. Unfortunately, Israeli IP addresses have a
statistical level of fraud that places them outside of some businesses
comfort zones.

I'm neither rooting for the practice, nor condemning it. But I can
understand why they do it.

Velo Psycho said:

Bob Carroll said:

Does anyone have phone or e-mail info to reach a live person at
http://www.icycles.com?

I am a former satisfied customer who is now rather shocked to find that they
block IP addresses from Israel - if their reason is that they don't want to
ship overseas then this is quite stupid, as the vast majority of people who
will be ordering from their site will have the items shipped to a US address
anyway. And if it's some sort of security thing, it seems to me that any
hacker who wants to make trouble is going to be able to spoof any address.

I would like to give them a friendly call to find out what the heck is up.

Thanks!

I dont know much about Icycles' policies, but I know that many online
businesses have various countries on "block lists." These lists are
created by looking at the statistical number of fraud cases coming from
certain countries. Unfortunately, Israeli IP addresses have a
statistical level of fraud that places them outside of some businesses
comfort zones.

I'm neither rooting for the practice, nor condemning it. But I can
understand why they do it.

Maybe they don't need another pinball machine.

For some reason I get an *insane* amount of spam in Hebrew selling
pinball machines.