the_faith•1d agoProlific Poster

Threw $400 down the drain on a fake concrete sealer scam

I ordered a 5-gallon bucket of "industrial grade" concrete sealer from a random online store last month. Paid $400 for it because they claimed it was the same stuff used on airport runways. When it arrived, the bucket was half empty and the liquid smelled like watered down paint thinner. I tested it on a small slab in my backyard and it peeled off like sunburn skin after three days. The website I bought it from is now completely gone, no number, no address, nothing. I should've stuck with my regular supplier instead of chasing a deal on some shady site. Has anyone else gotten burned buying materials from a website that looked too good to be true?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowan_ross1d ago

Trust me, half empty bucket is the red flag right there.

adam1861d ago

Man that "peeled off like sunburn skin" part really got me. I've been there with the half empty bucket nonsense and it makes your blood boil knowing you got played that hard. The website vanishing act is the worst part because you can't even try to get your money back or leave a warning for other people. I'm sorry you had to learn that lesson the hard way, it's a sick feeling when you realize you threw away real money on nothing but lies. You're not alone in this, I swear half the construction supply sites popping up lately are just fly by night operations running the same scam.

johnson.eva21h ago

Actually the half empty bucket thing might not be the red flag you think it is. I run a small handyman service on the side and I've ordered concrete products from legit distributors where the bucket isn't filled to the brim because of settling or foaming during shipping. The real red flag is the smell you described, real concrete sealer shouldn't smell like watered down paint thinner, it should have a thicker chemical smell more like epoxy or solvent. Also if it peeled off in three days that means the binder was completely wrong for concrete, probably some cheap acrylic they just tinted gray. The website disappearing act is the dead giveaway though, real companies don't just vanish overnight like that.