[meteorite-list] Buyers BEWARE!!!! *** update ***

From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:29:08 -0400
Message-ID: <8CE0423D6F8F962-2638-269FA_at_webmail-d128.sysops.aol.com>

Dan,

You are 100% right about everything surrounding authenticity and I
completely agree with your effort to make things right - as does your
seller who now has the daunting problem and expressed an attitude to
address it. It was his honest mistake as you see. Dealing in meteorites
is really hard work. It is easy to empathize with your seller as
everyone has been in a position where something hasn't worked out. When
evaluating honesty it is good to give them a chance to make things
right and if they do, casting them in a positive light. That sends all
the right messages about buying and selling meteorites to the 'public'.

Reputation is everything in the meteorite world and I just felt bad for
a guy living near Kennedy Space Center - your seller.

Anything related to KSC is dear to me for nostalgic reasons. Now that
the Space Shuttle program is dying down the place will essentially turn
into relatively minor operation. Gone is Apollo, crash are our spirits
in Florida and no major NASA workhorse program is seriously in the
works. The rocket garden is on its was to being the rusty rocket
headstones.

Chalk it up to being too sentimental and hoping you get a satisfactory
conclusion but without any heads rolling except with smiles,

Kindest wishes
Doug


-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Furlan <danfurlan at gmail.com>
To: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com>
Cc: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Tue, Jun 28, 2011 11:01 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Buyers BEWARE!!!! *** update ***


Dear Sir,
The seller still never checked the items before he re-sold them, yes
this is an honest mistake but very irresponsible and he sold hundreds
of these mounts with the incorrect weight and the people who bought
them paid triple the price of what they are worth retail.. If i was
him, i would of done exactly what I did today upon receiving the items
and bust a few of the mounts open and actually weigh the specimens
before selling hundreds of them.. And if i didn't own a scale i would
put it on the top of my shopping list ASAP especially before selling
any lunar material with weights in the milligrams. I don't feel i
dragged anybody through the dirt, all i did was report that he was
selling 24mg mounts that actually weighed 7-10mg. thanks to me he is
able to correct this mistake and hopefully he learns a lesson.
Furthermore people from met-list who may have purchased these mounts
can seek resolution as well. I cannot stress the importance of double
checking anything you buy to re-sell or even for personal collection.
I am sorry we do not see eye to eye on this. How would you like to
buy something that has a certain weight associated with it and when
you check it yourself you realize that the reason it weighs 2 thirds
less then the stated weight is because the seller never bothered to
weigh it?? If you wouldn't be slightly disappointed then I am sorry to
say there is something fundamentally wrong with you. I am not here to
baby sit sellers and understand their mistakes, I am here to do
business with professionals who i can trust will deliver on their
word. Like i mentioned in my previous update i am happy to see this
seller take action and revise his listings and offer resolutions. I
do not regret making my original post one bit because there are
hundreds of people out there who purchased lunar and mars material for
top dollar and didn't get what they paid for and they are entitled to
know about it. You may think I was being inconsiderate by making the
original post but in reality i was being responsible to my fellow
meteorite collectors and dealers who may have purchased these mounts
in the past assuming the weight was correct as well as any potential
buyers who had active bids on them as well. This is the price you pay
when you do business and mess up.. I am a very trusting person, and i
believe what people tell me.. but when i spend a lot of money on
something i wish to re-sell I will guarantee you 100% I am going to
double check everything to make sure it's is o.k. before i put it on
the market with my name on it.
Daniel Furlan

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 9:35 PM, MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com> wrote:
> I was eager to see your reply, Dan.
>
> I also corresponded with your seller today. He is really a
conscientious guy
> with excellent feedback and and incredibly helpful attitude.
>
> *He readily volunteered earlier to me that it was "100% his fault"
and told
> me he would do *anything* to make you happy, and that he believes you
> without questioning your integrity in the slightest and was pleased
to know
> the truth. Too bad all eBayers weren't so inclined.
>
> *He also said that the person who sold them to him actually made the
cases,
> not him, and told him those weights and that he had no way of
checking and
> he never even opened a case.
>
> *He also said that some of his auctions which still had the incorrect
weight
> vs. the others that never had a weight in the listing had nothing to
do with
> him "still cheating" as you construed on the list. Rather, the
auctions that
> were still running hadn't been changed and the ones that never had the
> weights were the buy-it-nows, according to him it was just the way he
had
> listed them. I didn't check this but it sounds plausible..
>
> *So, apparently, there was an honest mistake that was corrected in
the most
> professional manner by a simple communication. Yet you dragged this
guy
> across the coals in front of 1000 of his potential customers without
> checking better and then you shot me as the messenger for suggesting
to
> communicate more with him before cryiong wolf. You even violated eBay
policy
> by linking his name to his username in public, though a nitpick, I am
sure
> it would genuinely hurt the seller if he knew it - but he's not a list
> member so had no way to know or respond.
>
> All the while your seller is apparently holding his head down
embarrassed
> and trying to make things right. This is the problem with a one sided
story
> and honestly it seems irresponsible to me on your part. Do you agree?
Good
> luck in your future dealings, and I hope no one does to you what you
did to
> him. The kicker is, the guy feels so bad about it that all he can say
is
> that he understands your frustration and hopes you cut him a break.
> Doug
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Furlan <danfurlan at gmail.com>
> To: met-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Tue, Jun 28, 2011 8:50 pm
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Buyers BEWARE!!!! *** update ***
>
>
> Hello all, I have good news. The seller has promised to revise all
> his listings. He is also offering to replace all the mounts that i
> broke open for free. Furthermore, he is re-negotiating a new price
> with me for these mounts since i purchased a few of them now that we
> have an actual weight and hopefully we can agree on a fair price and i
> will get to keep them. If we cannot agree on a new price he has
> agreed to pay for the return shipping and give me a full refund. So
> just incase anybody has purchased these mounts from him, they are
> actually 7mg - 10mg and he never checked them and he appologizes for
> the mistake and is willing to refund anybody who purchased these
> thinking they were 24mg just send him an email. So hopefully
> everything works out with this guy and I am happy to find out that his
> mistake was not intentional and he is doing everything to resolve this
> issue including revising his listings to either take out the weight
> completely and just sell them as micro mounts or state the weight of
> 7mg - 10mg the choice is up to him and i am satisfied with either way
> he chooses to proceed.
>
> Daniel Furlan
> collector and dealer
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Received on Tue 28 Jun 2011 11:29:08 PM PDT