[meteorite-list] Update: Stolen meteorite shipment

From: John Gwilliam <jkg2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:19:58 -0700
Message-ID: <20090805152009.OLFD14387.fed1rmmtao106.cox.net_at_fed1rmimpo03.cox.net>

I'm glad to see you had an acceptable resolution to your problem.
Many people are not as fortunate as you and end up taking the entire
loss themselves. Maria Haas is one of those people who work "behind
the scene" at solving issues very effectively. The next time someone
complains about the IMCA, remind them of this incident.

Best,
John Gwilliam

At 07:41 PM 8/4/2009, Gary Fujihara wrote:
>Aloha,
>
>Since my original post on this subject June 1, a lot has transpired
>and I thought it in the best interest of the parties involved, as well
>as the members of this list to know (as the late Paul Harvey would
>say) "The rest of the story".
>
>The meteorites I had purchased were won on ebay in a bulk auction that
>took about 3 hours to run. I paid for the items, and they were
>shipped out of South America soon after. When the package arrived, I
>eagerly went to the post office to claim my treasure. After the
>discovery of the theft of my meteorites in shipment (I received an
>empty box from the post office), I staggered home in disbelief. I
>emailed the seller notifying him of the disaster, but did not hear
>from him in a couple of days. At this point I was not a happy camper
>and filed a grievance with IMCA, a claim with eBay and Paypal, and
>wrote my email to the list.
>
>The seller responded to my emails, was empathetic and offered to
>assist on his end by filing a claim at his post office, and suggested
>I do the same at my post office. I returned the next day to file a
>claim at the USPS. Meanwhile Maria Haas, representing IMCA, responded
>almost immediately by contacting both the seller and me separately
>first to gather information from each other's respective viewpoint.
>She extracted the facts and shared with me the IMCA code of ethics and
>the issues of insurance, customs, taxes and other things that which I
>was not aware (but were reiterated by list members in response to my
>email). She then took steps to mediate the situation in as tactful a
>manner possible.
>
>At some point, the seller offered to share the loss with me, and
>agreed to refund me half of my payment if I would drop my claim with
>Paypal (which was withholding my payment to him until resolution). I
>dropped the claim, the seller reimbursed half my loss and the rest, as
>they say, is history...but wait, there's more.
>
>Since then, I have become a member of the IMCA. Not to become a big
>dealer, but to establish and uphold a modicum of the integrity and
>honor that was demonstrated to me by the characters in this story,
>themselves upstanding members of the IMCA. I have learned a lot from
>them and other IMCA members and dealers, and am dedicated to extending
>and perpetuating those values to the current and next generation of
>meteorite enthusiast.
>
>BTW, the seller (as many of you can guess) is Eduardo Jawerbaum, and I
>am a happy winner and recipient of some of the meteorites he had on
>auction a couple of weeks ago! Yes, I bought some more meteorites
>from the same person in the same country and postal system from which
>my previous shipment was stolen. Slow learner? Repeat offender?
>Obsessed collector? Maybe a little of all, but I must tell you that I
>am happy to continue to be a customer of Eduardo, and the proud owner
>of the freshest Franconia you've ever seen. Mahalo Eduardo ... Peace
>and poi.
>
>Gary Fujihara
>AstroDay Institute
>105 Puhili Place, Hilo, HI 96720
>(808) 640-9161, fujmon at mac.com
>http://astroday.net
>
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John Gwilliam

Too many people were born on third base
and go through life thinking they hit a triple.
Received on Wed 05 Aug 2009 11:19:58 AM PDT