[meteorite-list] ET re Another fake name, serious business

From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Nov 16 20:34:03 2004
Message-ID: <02d001c4cc43$dd7abc60$6401a8c0_at_c1720188a>

Hi List,

I agree, this mooching, unauthorized number piggybacking and taking a free
ride has got to stop. It takes a lot of work to catalog, prepare type
specimens, manage names and promote official meteorites. The dealer who
does the right thing might have to wait years for a classification and pay
lab costs. Why should just anybody be able to piggyback for free
immediately on a dealer who is doing the right thing? The NomCom rules have
been made pretty clear so there is no longer any excuse for this
unprofessional behavior.

In my opinion, this is a public issue. It is pretty simple:

If a dealer does not have paperwork proving he submitted a type sample and
is not listed as the main mass holder, be cautious. If he is unable to
demonstrate he acquired the material from somebody who put out the effort
and is listed on the documents, be careful. If he cannot prove provenance,
then more than likely what he is offering is not official. Unofficial
pieces should not command the respect of specimens that have been studied.
People who piggyback are undermining consumer confidence and the public
should be made aware of this unsavory practice.

Everybody should do his/her best to do the right thing,

Adam





----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler_at_mac.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler_at_mac.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 5:06 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] ET re Another fake name, serious business


> I'm with Mike Farmer on this.
>
> First, to lay out the issues without any name calling is NOT
> mudslinging.
>
> Second, think of the following analogy. I rob a bank and get caught
> red handed. Someone contacts me privately and offers me a chance to
> return the money and my identity will never be revealed to the public.
> Do you think the public's interest is served?
>
> If Mr. Thompson has a good explanation, I'm sure he will make it known
> and each list member can make his own evaluation.
>
> Meantime I think this is a very serious business. I've invested many
> thousands of dollars in my meteorite collection. How am I to know if
> what I paid for is what I'm told it is? It is based on trust. If
> various dealers are claiming to be selling material that they don't
> have and maybe others are relying on "pairings" based on looks or an
> opinion where does it end? This could be just the tip of the iceberg.
>
> For example, I bought a piece of Lueders, a Silicated Iron. To me it
> looks a lot like a piece of silicated campo, What's the difference,
> they're both IAB Irons? Well, one is worth 5-10 times as much as the
> other. Once trust in the sellers of meteorites breaks down, it would
> call into question the value of all the rare material in our
> collections!!
>
> From what I've heard so far, I'm not likely to ever take my chances on
> a dealer who does not adhere to nomcom rules.
> And equally unlikely to purchase from persons who ridicule attempts to
> keep the selling of meteorites from descending into an
> bottomless pit of unverifiable pairings and unauthorized number
> piggybacking.
>
> My 2 cents.
>
> Mike Fowler
> Chicago
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Michael Blood wrote:
>
> The issue I made is NOT who is right or wrong.
> If you were to post a very similar announcement,
> saying you had addressed this issue with ET and was told to take a
> long walk off a short pier and he didn't care what you thought
> about what he was doing and you think collectors should be
> aware this is going on - THAT WOULD BE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT
> situation.
> Instead, you FIRST publicly chastise him. Whatever
> is going on - that is a poor start at ANY attempt for remedy,
> regardless of the circumstances involved. You don't know
> what is take on the situation is - you haven't even addressed
> the issue with him. MAYBE there is a good explanation - MAYBE
> there isn't. MAYBE he looked at it one way and will change his
> perspective once he hears what you have to say - MAYBE he
> won't.... we don't know, because YOU HAVEN'T TALKED TO HIM
> ABOUT IT.
> There are a good many of us who will be far more
> interested in ANY issue you have with any other dealer IF you
> report civil attempts to resolve the issue on your part met
> with a lack of cooperation on their part.
> THEN I start wondering what is going on. Then I start
> listening to the content. However, when it is a one way mud
> throwing event, all I see is mud throwing - the content is
> unimportant to me if the process isn't clean.
> Other than that, thanks for a relatively civil response on
> your part.
> Sincerely, Michael
>
> ---------------------------------------------
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Tue 16 Nov 2004 08:22:11 PM PST