QTH.COM Swap Chat

I responded to the following ad:

Listing Number: 894358
Date Ad was Placed: 03/03/11
Name: Don Waldrep
Phone Number: 660-827-3374
Callsign: KB0XA
Category: RADIOHF
Heading: Mint Yaesu FT-847 (Rarely Used!)
Ad Message:
This FT-847 is like brand new!
It's been sitting covered on a shelf since it was brand new.
I just never got into satellite radio like I had planned to and never could bring myself to sell it.
I'm sure there aren't many FT-847s in this condition with only a few hours on them.
Comes with power cord and hand mic and will be double boxed.
I hooked it up yesterday and used it for several hours and everything works just like it did the day I got it.
$995 includes FED-EX Ground to the lower 48
PayPal, bank check or USPS Money order all okay.

PMS: The FC-20 tuner is available for $150 shipped

and sent him a little over $1100

What I recieved was a radio with dings, scratches and scuffs, as well as being modified for out of band operation.

I sent this email:

Hi Don,

A radio arrived today.... but I want to make sure you sent the right one... I was expecting:

Heading: Mint Yaesu FT-847 (Rarely Used!)
> Ad Message:
> This FT-847 is like brand new!

Really bummed about the scratches (BIG ones), rubmarks, and the ding on the top right hand corner. Additionally, the radio has been modified for out of band operation.

Needless to say, I'm somewhat disappointed. I paid top dollar for "mint" and "like brand new".

His reply was:

Don,
???????????
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!
I considered it to be in mint condition.
I never noticed a ding, but I did see the light surface scratches on top, but they were not through the paint.
I had absolutely no idea it had an out of band mod. I never go outside the ham bands
and I don't see why that would not be a plus for the future.
It's been in a box on the shelf ever since I got it from my elmer who was dying of throat cancer.
I think it's a fine radio and I think you got a fair deal. I had numerous people try to buy it after we made the deal.

After asking him to refund the money, his reply was:

I think most people would just tell you to sell it if you don't like it and stop complaining

Now, this is mostly my fault since I failed to do some basic research on the guy. Had I done so, I would have found this prior, yet similar deal:

http://chat.qth.com/viewtopic.php?t=750 ... ight=kb0xa

But since I didn't, all I can hope for is that my experience will be a lesson to others that this guy can't be trusted to either represent his equipment accurately, nor do the right thing.

I didn't post all the ranting commentary he has subsequently sent to me, as it is very similar to the commentary he left for the guy in the above listed link.

Save yourself some hassle, disappointment and money. Skip dealing with this guy and find someone trustworthy.

If he ultimately does the right thing here, I'll update this accordingly. For now though, he has gone dark on me.

I answered his nasty threats to Blackball me before he posted the lies and libel! This Radio Reseller DIDN'T JUST ANSWER THE AD BY EMAIL, he called me on the phone and we discussed everything and he finally talked me down to $950 and then talked me into selling him the FC-20 for $135 shipped later that day.
NOTE!: he says " I didn't post all the ranting commentary he has subsequently sent to me" .
That was because he's lying! I offered to refund his money!
here's proof!
To: Don Flint
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 8:51 AM
Subject: Re: Emailing: labelAction
You can do all the research on my call you want to and all you will find is that insane complaint from some guy who makes his living buying and reselling radios. He says he took the knob off an old Drake receiver he bought and found scratches behind it.
I never took the darn knob off. Then he demanded half his money back, but wouldn't return the radio for a refund.
He was doing what many resellers do, just trying to make some extra bucks on the resell!
If you think you got burned,return it and I'll give you your money back and then sell it for more than you paid for it and I'll mention the little surface scratches and transmit mod in the ad.
After that nasty insulting email, I think most people would just tell you to sell it if you don't like it and stop complaining.
Now that he has libeled me here on QTH, HE CAN KEEP THE RADIO AND THE TUNER AND I WILL TAKE THE APPROPRIATE LEGAL ACTION TO GET THE LIBEL REMOVED!

The ad, IMHO, certainly implies that you bought it new, covered it and put it on a shelf. Now, you say you are not the original owner. When speaking on the telephone, did you state you were not the original owner?

The ad also says 'Mint' and 'Mint' means no surface scratches or dings.

Give him his money back and sell it to the 'many others who wanted it after it sold'.

BUT, it looks like he would rather badmouth a fellow ham than just send it back and gracefully accept the refund!
That was his choice, NOT MINE!

..

This is one of the main reasons that I won't describe ANY radio as mint or excellent. The best one will get is "good " condition. Then I supply any interested parties plenty of high def pics. When I get asked about scratches or spots it sends off alarm bells and I try to steer the buyer away. I tell him that he probably doesn't want this rig anyway.

In most cases the person is probably pretty picky about condition and I'd rather have somebody be pleasantly surprised than disappointed when he opens the box.

Your reputation is worth FAR more than the $1100 that was paid for the rig. Send the gentleman his money back , pay for return shipping, and put it back up for sale at the same price. Supply plenty of pics to anybody who wants them. Just tell them the rig looks good to me, but you decide if the cosmetics are good.

Suing for libel is a tricky business at best. You haven't suffered any provable loss and it certainly isn't worth the lawyer expense. Both sides would be laughing all the way to the bank.

This is sick!
He was offered a refund before he did this malicious, slanderous public smear
Why not graciously accept the refund instead?
Everything is now MOOT!! The lies are libel are already here !
Even an idiot knows you at least wait until you get your money back before you smear the seller.
Isn't it amazing how some people would rather throw a temper tantrum in public than get their way?

Interesting how this is going. He has apparently confused me with someone else who has issues with him. More interesting is how his rants sound strickingly similar to the dispute he had with the guy whos link I posted here.

And wipe the chalk marks off with a little windex!

kb0xa wrote:And wipe the chalk marks off with a little windex!

Will Windex take off the ding and the deep scratches? I never knew that it was so magical.

Photos #1 and #2 eliminate the 'mint' and 'like new' claims of the seller.
There is no need to view the rest.

Refund the money.

How could this radio of been "sitting on a shelf" since brand new when in fact your not even the original owner?

Judging from the pictures the radio is maybe in "good" condition.
( I use that term very loosely).


IMHO refund has to be given.

What is important here are two things:

1) How he misrepresents what he is selling

and

2) How he handles himself and the issue afterwards.

Hopefully this thread will serve to save someone else this kind of hassle.

kb0xa wrote:And wipe the chalk marks off with a little windex!

You sent him $1100 for a mint condition radio and his response is for you to wipe it off with some windex...Scary.

That was his choice,not mine!
Threats shouldn't be taken lightly, and they spoiled the outcome early in this situation! That's too bad!

af6vm wrote:Interesting how this is going. He has apparently confused me with someone else who has issues with him. More interesting is how his rants sound strickingly similar to the dispute he had with the guy whos link I posted here.

I think I know what happened. Don sent you the wrong radio. Instead of the one that he got from his dying Elmer, he sent you the one he bought off of qrz.com on Feb 23. Yep, that must be it!

Wow af6vm - I feel your pain. Unfortunately, people (not just ham's) like kb0xa - honestly believe they are correct and simply don't care what anyone else thinks. The more you "prove" how kb0xa has intentionally mislead you (and the other ham) in a sale - the firmer he will stick to his insane reasoning. Thank goodness for Karma!

That radio is certainly well used and far from mint. It has not been in a box for its entire life. It may work well but it looks about average.

K9XR wrote: I think I know what happened. Don sent you the wrong radio. Instead of the one that he got from his dying Elmer, he sent you the one he bought off of qrz.com on Feb 23. Yep, that must be it!

Ooh!...busted!

Blackmail is the act of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing, socially damaging, and/or incriminating nature. As the information is substantially true, the act of revealing the information may not be criminal in its own right nor amount to a civil law defamation; it is the making of demands in exchange for withholding the information that is often considered a crime. English Law creates a much broader definition of blackmail, covering any unwarranted demands with menaces, whether involving revealing information or not. However, from a libertarian perspective, blackmail is not always considered a crime [1][2]. Some libertarians point out that it is licit to gossip about someone else's secret, to threaten to publicly reveal such information, and to ask that person for money, but it is illegal to combine the threat with the request for money, which raises the question, "Why do two rights make a wrong?"[3]

Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).[1]

In common law jurisdictions, slander refers to a malicious, false,[2][not specific enough to verify] and defamatory spoken statement or report, while libel refers to any other form of communication such as written words or images.[3] Most jurisdictions allow legal actions, civil and/or criminal, to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism. Related to defamation is public disclosure of private facts, which arises where one person reveals information that is not of public concern, and the release of which would offend a reasonable person. "Unlike [with] libel, truth is not a defense for invasion of privacy."[4][not verified in body]

False light laws are "intended primarily to protect the plaintiff's mental or emotional well-being."[5] If a publication of information is false, then a tort of defamation might have occurred. If that communication is not technically false but is still misleading, then a tort of false light might have occurred.[5]

In most civil law jurisdictions, defamation is dealt with as a crime rather than a tort.[6]

A person who destroys another's reputation may be referred to as a famacide, defamer, or slanderer. The Latin phrase famosus libellus means a libelous writing.

Don said in his ad and i agree (I'm sure there aren't many FT-847s in this condition with only a few hours on them). I'm sure there are not many 847's with that much cosmectic damage with just a few hours use.

I'm confused! Is don telling us that he knows he is a liar or does he think he can sue someone for telling the truth?

----- Original Message -----
From: Don Flint
To: SlantHQ
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: QTH.COM Ad -- Mint Yaesu FT-847 (Rarely...


Don-

Obviously, I would be an idiot if I sent a radio back to someone who already committed fraud against me without having the funds in my hands first.

You can tell yourself whatever you want, but the fact remains that you burned me, and I made sure people knew how you operated. You further made my point every time you typed something.

This radio requires $250 in repairs to get it close to 100% ( Yaesu estimate), and that's what I want back from you to make this go away.

Paypal is not an option. A postal money order for $250 will remedy our dispute. If you send it, I will not file complaints with various authorities, and I will make sure everyone knows that you stepped up and did the right thing.

There is no room for negotiation here Don. I have nothing to lose at this point.

Let me know how you want to procede.



MY ANSWER TO THIS "BLACKMAIL DEMAND";
Don,
The absolute undisputable truth is, I offered you a refund and was going to do a PayPal refund, but a friend sent me an e-mail with your smear on QTH before I could get it done.
You jumped the gun on me and of course all the usual smear group of had to add their insults too.
Why did you choose go that way rather than take the refund?
All you ever had to do was remove that libelous smear and we could work it out graciously.
Do you honestly think I'm going to send you $250 or $1070 plus shipping while that slanderous garbage is still there?
You've tried to totally destroy a fellow ham and my reputation and that is still continuing today.
You can easily sell the radio for $900 today and the tuner for $150, so why demand $250 after trying to destrroy another person.
Remove the garbage from the forum and give me your word that you will not smear me any further,and I will send you $150 by PayPal this morning and you will have $785 in the Radio and $135 in the tuner.
Or, since you call it a junk, low output, modified radio, remove all the libelous garbage and send it all back, and I will refund every cent you paid for it plus $25 to ship it back.
It's all in your hands.

HIS REPLY;
Interstate fraud is a felony. I'm done dealing with a bottom-feeding loser. I'll start filing monday morning. BTW. qrz put my post back, but deleted yours. You're done.
Good luck with that.
Game over!


I BENT OVER BACKWARDS FROM DAY ONE,BUT THIS SQUIRREL IS NOT INTERESTED IN GETTING HIS MONEY BACK!
ALL HE'S TRYING TO DO IS TO FORCE ME INTO SUBMITTING TO HIS $250 BLACKMAIL DEMAND AND SAYS HE'S GOING TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST ME WITH THE F.B.I. MONDAY IF I DON'T PAY IT!

An attempted Blackmail Complaint is being filed with IC3.gov first thing monday morning!
NUFF SAID! (PER MY ATTORNEY)[/b]

I should have lumped the attorney fees with an extra $100 and settled the whole thing.

Truth is, you scammed him and are now trying to justifiy not doing the right thing because he called you on it and is upset with you.

Man up...or better yet, ham up.