Deals Gone Bad - Share Your Story

[redmedals]

I have to agree with Ron Boomsma, the piece is not a real Mother's gold star as it was represented to you; so the seller should have given refund.
Unfortunately Matt you have very little recourse being in Canada and you say the dealer is in the United States.
What is compounding this is that if he had you sign something that you did not receive the first parcel he is possibly collecting insurance from the USPS on that package. So if he keeps your money too he is double dipping. And possibly committing a fraud on the US Postal Service by accepting an insurance payment on an item you payed for and have nothing to show for it. And that he has kept your payment. Maybe contact the US Postal Service to report a possible mailfraud. Believe me the USPS takes that very seriously.
Hope it works out for you.
Ron

[Bob]

Originally Posted by HuliganRS

Sometimes this needs to be dragged into the mud for others to avoid simmilar problems in the future! After all, we all work for our hard earned money and I for one would hate to loose mine!

Rusty.

Should have read this thread sooner. Hadn't visited this dealers website for several months until I had a look again this Saterday. Saw an rare / expensive group... and couldn't resist sending him an email stating my interest to purchase it. Response: this group has been sold a long time ago already and hasn't been on the website for weeks.

Well, please don't BS me! Sound like I'd better take my business elsewhere.

[Dat Nguyen]

A few months ago, I email this person to request additional photos of an HSU group. The link to the photos was not working properly on his site. I had cash on hand to purchase this group. Surprisingly he email me back saying that he can't email me the photos and that I had to wait till he fix the link to the photos. He must be doing good business because he didn't get a dime from me. After a week of waiting, I spent my $7000 on some really nice digital cameras and lens.

[AlexF.]

Bob, did you inquire about the HSL group with 2 Lenins, by any chance?

[AlexF.]

Bob, thanks for confirming that in PM.
First of all, just want to state that I don't even attempt to patronize anybody here, but as classics sang "I'm going slightly mad..." when I read this, since I happen to know "the other side of the coin" for most of these stories..., and I'm a very straight and unbiased guy, who hates the misrepresented facts, so here you go:

On recent total overhaul of the website, a lot of categories were merged or dropped, everything cleaned up, etc. Huge job, considering amount of material, and a fact that it's a one man show, this is only a small part of his business, and he's on trips across the globe 5 weeks out of 2 months, on average.
This HSL group was listed in 3 or 4 diff. categories, mistakenly migrated into new page for a couple of days, before taken off alltogether (while final inventory).
That's the real story. Now, Bob (his own words), suddenly decided to check, saw something, iched, shot an email, and opps! You were told that the group is no longer available... Yea, total BS...

Don't have time for mother-heroine story, Rusty, and some others right now, just say that I've read Matteti's emails, and that dealers' replies, I don't say that this situation couldn't have been handled better, but about 60-70% of what said here isn't quite true...

Guys, please realize that people complaining here are unknown and really "virtual", nobody saw them, we only see what they write, as opposed to this (or any other) dealer, who could be met at most shows in person, who's well known and respected. All of you (myself included) have a lot of respect for Mr. Paul McDaniel for his knowledge and expertise. He saw hundreds if not thousands of top orders.
Let me remind you that probably half of those was OWNED by this particular dealer at one time or another, some more then once... So, the level of expertise is there, believe it! And mistakes can and do happen, unfortunately, same as with Mr. Paul, but we all know that they're not intentional.

Most of people here are novice small time collectors, and I understand the frastration. It's an expensive hobby, for sure. Yes, this is not your typical store, where you buy what you see. Many times items are one of a kind, more then one person is after it, timing, other factors, could be prevailing. Sometimes you search for years before you find what you're looking for. But as you progress, you will realize that the real joy is in the hunt:love (and then in the ownership, of course:love ) Enjoy the hobby, don't let small dinks stop you in your tracks! By "deleting" a dealer off your "list", you only hurt yourself, nothing more.

There is always 2 sides, guys, emotional account of one person, especially when dramatized, can be deceiving and way off the path of truth.

Sorry for a long post.

-AF

[Nack]

Numerous valid points Alex--thanks for some different perspective.

[Bob]

Bear in mind, this isn't the first time this has happened to me with this specific dealer.

Although I appreciate the "hassle" and possible technical hickups with keeping a website up to date, I manage a business myself as well and. just like a customers "offer to buy" should be considered a firm offer not to be pulled back, similarly customers should be able to expect the same from sellers.

Now, obviously in the case of "unique" items, there's always this short time period after something has been put online that mails from different possible buyers may cross each others pass and the corresponding delay in updating what's being sold. I can appreciate that.

What irked me was the need to point the finger back to me - I must have been the one not looking correctly.

Oh well, best wishes to all in the end... buyers, sellers, dealers, collectors, arm-chair admirers, etc.

[rboomsma]

Originally Posted by Nack

Numerous valid points Alex--thanks for some different perspective.

Just my 2 cents, but this is a good thread for us novice or average collectors.

As we are the bulk of the market for the dealers. Keep in mind that there are some here who work with the dealers so they have there own point of view for $$ reasons. Having been collecting now for about 5 years I have come to learn who those are.

There are good dealers and not so good,:nono this thread will helps those who don't know yet where they should buy and avoid or proceed with caution.

[matteti]

I just wanted to add that I have not told any lie in my storie and I even didn't tell all the bad things that happened. I tried to summarize to most important facts. I have been too honest and kind and because of this I had to pay. I just shared my story to tell people to always always be careful when trying a new dealer. A cheaper price might not always be an as good deal as it look. Customer Service is also very very important.

I don't claim that this dealer is always bad or something, because this I don't know. The only I know for sure 100% is what happened in my personal case when I dealt with him, and unfortunately, this transaction turned out very bad.

As Alex F. said, we are here virtual up to a certain point. But not so much. We cannot afford to tell lies or BS about that kind of topic. The market is very small and for no reason someone would like to be blacklisted from a seller. Also, for no reason, someone with a bit of intelligence would willingly scratch an award before returning it to the dealer for a claim... This would be the most stupid thing ever... It would ruin all the possibility to get reimbursed. I have no problem having anybody writing me an email or even phoning me if they want to speak to me. I am not virtual or anonymous.

I've dealt with several dealers in the last 6 years and several select E! repeated Sellers as well and never had any problem. So, please don't pretend I didn't say the truth without knowing the whole story in my personal case.

No offence here Alex F., but you might no be as unbiased as you claimed since the dealer involved here has its logo and link to his website in top of your list of recommended links on your own website.

[HuliganRS]

Alex,

While I can apreciate your view on this topic, I have to tell you that with the amount of horror stories I hear, this is B.S.

Anyone who has ever dealt with this person knows what to exect.
I can share several personal experiences but why bother?

Yes, this person has a tendency to slowly update his site but that's no excuse.

Rusty.