WHAT DOES THE UACC DO ABOUT DEALERS?
Richard
This is taken verbatim from the UACC Web site, in regards to a complaint made
about a dealer Sam FJ Hall Premier Autographs - -
THE UACC does take action against dealers.
It is better to have the UACC than no organization at all.
Sam FJ Hall of Premier Autographs
Upon receipt of the Step 1 letter, Mr. Hall was advised that a complaint was
made against him by a UACC member and the UACC demanded that any items which
were deemed not genuine must be removed from E-Bay. The step 1 letter advised
that you would respond directly to UACC Ethics Board member Anthony Pizzitola.
Mr. Hall was advised that this same UACC member continued to raise concerns
regarding the fraudulent material being sold by Premier Autographs on E-Bay. A
step two letter was sent by Anthony Pizzitola on September 29, 2000. On
November 17, 2000 Mr. Pizzitola's communication served as the final step
requesting that Mr. Hall respond directly back within 10 days regarding the
autographs his company was selling. A communication of September 10, 2000
provided a resignation of Mr. Hall's UACC membership. However, once a
complaint has officially surfaced with the UACC Ethics Board, no individual can
resign from the club. Based on Mr. Hall's failure to reply back within the 10
day time frame, his membership was officially terminated. UACC President Paul
Carr did not receive an appeal so he upheld the termination as spelled out by
Tony Pizzitola.
Liz & Sand
It is the RD program we are most concerned about Richard. We all know that
there are THOUSANDS of UACC members selling eBay shit. What about the RD
sellers and Shadowland Collectibles in particular ?
Richard wrote in message <20010120190336...@ng-fg1.aol.com>...
Richard
Dealer.
Gunther
the UACC for "selling material on Ebay that was not genuine" according
to UACC's web site.
He still seems to be doing decent business and is listing a ton of
stuff there.
He must be SMG's private chauffeur as he has an awful lot of stuff
signed by her. :o)
Just a note to the rest of the NG about The Monte Gallery, Inc.
Jerry
On 21 Jan 2001 00:03:36 GMT, Richard wrote:
>Expelled by the UACC:
arrakis
Gunther <jlREMOVET...@REMOVETHIS2fwi.com> wrote:
> Richard, I noticed that Monte Gallery was also recently expelled from
> the UACC for "selling material on Ebay that was not genuine" according
> to UACC's web site.
>
> He still seems to be doing decent business and is listing a ton of
> stuff there.
>
> He must be SMG's private chauffeur as he has an awful lot of stuff
> signed by her. :o)
>
> Just a note to the rest of the NG about The Monte Gallery, Inc.
Makes sense that all of a sudden they went to private auctions a month
or so ago.And all their printed COA's have Member UACC on them,and they
will have to spend a bundle to change them.I'm not surprised as they
have so many multiples of the same autographed pics of the hottest
stars,and they have really increased the volume of auctions since their
expulsion.
>
> Jerry
>
> On 21 Jan 2001 00:03:36 GMT, Richard wrote:
>
> >Expelled by the UACC:
>
>
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Richard
member, there is nothing more they can do.
In cases that I am aware of, at least two dealers were ruined in tis autograph
business after expulsion. If I am wrong, please correct me, but ask Herman
Darvick and Bill Linehan, what happened to them after they were expelled from
UACC.
It is unfortunate if dealers get expelled and can still prosper, but if all
collectors did some homework, and find out about expulsions, I think any dealer
who is expelled would ultimately fail.
Would any collector knowingly buy from a dealer that was expelled from UACC??
I doubt it.
Richard Simon
Liz & Sand
>Would any collector knowingly buy from a dealer that was expelled from
UACC??
EXACTLY ! So expell some more and start with those tarnishing the UACC RD
program.
Richard
are Reg. Dealers selling fakes, file a report with the UACC. Do it now, don't
just post on this board.
THEY DO SUSPEND DEALERS.
Liz & Sand
Richard.
Richard wrote in message <20010121171657...@ng-cf1.aol.com>...
Richard
report about a dealer selling questionable items, before they can act.
FILE THE REPORT, do something if you know a dealer who is a member and who is
selling fakes. Action will be taken if you make a report.
Can the police investigate a crime with no report filed?? Of course not, so
file a report.
cyb...@themall.com
>Unfortunately the organization does not self police,
They should. I am not talking necessarily about the membership at
large, but, the Registered Dealer program. It is an organization whose
Registered Dealers we are always being told, by the dealers, we can
buy with confidence from. Really? Why? What guarantees are there that
these dealers are any better than any others? You yourself stated that
there is no self-policing of these dealers. So there are no guarantees
that I see.
>they have to receive a
>report about a dealer selling questionable items, before they can act.
>FILE THE REPORT, do something if you know a dealer who is a member and who is
>selling fakes. Action will be taken if you make a report.
>Can the police investigate a crime with no report filed?? Of course not, so
>file a report.
The police do "police" or patrol to prevent crime. The police do
investigate when there is suspicious activity with or without a crime
report having been filed. And the police protect the identity of the
complaintant. There have been at least two members of the UACC RD
program whose offerings have been questioned in the last month in this
newsgroup. Have there been any investigations into these suspicious
offerings? These dealers? Anything? Will the UACC protect the identity
of the complaintant? Will the UACC act on an anonymous complaint? If
not, why not?
The police, at least where I live, try to prevent crime by being
proactive and on patrol. With the UACC it appears someone has to get
burned, get victimized before they act. That does not inspire great
confidence.
Without any self-policing, which you already admitted does not exist,
the UACC RD program still looks like nothing more than a promotional
device for selected dealers.
CatE
Richard
suggest that some sort of self policing program be started , in order to
instill confidence in the dealers by the collecting public.
--
The AMA and the ABA don't do much of a job in these areas either by the way.
Liz & Sand
Your continued advice about *what all us collectors should do* is tiresome.
I still do give you credit for posting (flogging a dead horse) .... more
than can be said for a lot of your UACC RD colleagues.
As you know there are a number of UACC RD's that partake in and/or lurk on
this NG. Many of these dealers 'check out' other dealers auctions, in fact
go so far as to bid on items being offered by other RD's. I have seen this a
number of times on eBay in particular. If dealers are bidding on their
competitors items, then they are also surely seeing some of the bad items,
as well as the good. My opinion is that policing as a *community issue* and
maybe other RD's should be more involved. It seems like sense to me as they
should be the most knowledgeable in terms of looking at and identifying the
items 'deemed not genuine'. They also have the most to gain in terms of
cleaning up the RD program.
Perhaps this is not how 'the old boys network works' however ??
*Seems we are just having the same debate we were about 2 years ago except
then we were talking about cleaning up the UACC members. Then came the the
RD program and here we are having the same debate about cleaning up the RD
program* The organisation is still better than nothing Richard ? It
certainly hasn't moved any further forward has it ?
BTW .. it didn't escape my attention that Mr Hall was reported by another
UACC member. I wonder if this member had been buying items from Mr Hall or
did he report him out of some sense of duty. If it was the latter, then I
salute him ... other dealers should follow his exemplary example.
Richard wrote in message <20010121212943...@ng-cj1.aol.com>...
Richard
reported. If nobody reports a dealer, then nothing will happen.
Take it from someone who knows,,,, I have already testified as a prosecution
witness in court against a forger and worked with a NYC Agency in an ebay
investigation. It is not fun work to do. You get threatened,cursed, maybe
sued, etc.
I wish there was a better way. I make a good living in this business and I am
a collector also. Years ago, you did not have to worry near as much as you do
now.
At least the FBI has done something to help. And they are still doing more
from what I understand. I still think having an RD program is better than
nothing, though it is certainly not without its faults.
getf...@my-deja.com
If you go to the UACC web site and follow the link on
http://www.uacc.org/bulletin.htm (bottom of the autograph "news page" to
"If you are not a member, but want to file a complaint with the UACC,
click HERE"
that link takes you to A UACC Membership Application, and for $25 US
you can join the UACC and THEN report a violation. IF YOU ARE NOT A UACC
MEMBER, THEY WILL DO NOTHING FOR YOU.
Miles
I'm one of the infamous UACC Registered Dealer lurkers in this
newsgroup and can perhaps pass on some information regarding the
expulsion of Mr Hall from the UACC.
Mr S F J Hall still trades under the name of `premiere autographs`,
with the website addy of http://www.premiereautographs.com
Perhaps some other users of this group would llike to pass on their
comments as to the items being offered. I for one can't ever remember
seeing another dealer offer not one, but four Marlon Brando 10x8"'s
for sale.
It looks like no items have been listed on Ebay in the last 30 days,
though someone else may like to check using seller ID of
premiereautographs.
He was never a Registed Dealer of the Universal Autograph Collectors
Club, just a straight forward member.
One of my own customers here in the UK initially mentioned the items
being posted by Premiere Autographs on Ebay to me as he suspected
something wasn't quite right. He then contacted the UACC to pass on
his suspicions. It would appear the actions of the UACC are pretty
common knowledge now.
Just my two-penneth.
Miles
Star Signs
UACC Registered Dealer #100
dahoov
one is bad. The same person who signed one name signed the other!
That's what it looks like! Not only that, but the prices are insane.
And that Kidman/Cruise movie? It's Eyes Wide Shut not Eyes Wide
Awake. I am not familiar with all these signatures so I can't
comment, but look at something: a lot of signatures look like they
came from the same person at a different slant or something. All the
ones I looked at had the same color ink/marker for every cast member
like all the sigs were put on there at once. I am saddened by this.
Not delusioned, just sad!!! I am bookmarking this as BAD. If anyone
ever asks my opinon about this dealer, I will speak up!
cyb...@themall.com
Oh, and I can testify that both the ABA and AMA seem to do a much
better job of self-policing than the UACC. I checked what was reported
by another poster. Indeed, before you can lodge a complaint it appears
you must join and pay the membership fee FIRST. Nice. Real nice. At
least with the ABA and AMA I don't have to JOIN them before I can
lodge a complaint.
And the research continues...
CatE
cyb...@themall.com
Registered Dealers and now, before you can lodge a complaint, they
want you to pay a membership fee and join the very organization that
the person who burned you belongs to. Am I the only one who sees
something incredibly wrong with this picture?
CatE
Richard
Pres.of the UACC and try to get this changed.
Richard Simon
Liz & Sand
useless despite others saying it is better than nothing at all. I am not at
all surprised that they will only accept complaints from members. This just
about says everything anyone needs to know about the organisation.
I simply stick to the few dealers I know well and trust but this means more
of my hard earnt dollars stay in my pocket.
cyb...@themall.com wrote in message ...
Richard
complaint about joining UACC in order to file a complaint. I will let you know
the results.
Richard Simon
Richard
Don't you still think you are better off buying from someone who WILL give you
a refund if the item is questioned, rather than buying on an auction site, from
a seller who has just sprung up. They realized it is easy to sell forgeries,
and they will never join any organization, and will NEVER give any refund. Who
are you better off with? Even I will concede the UACC certainly has faults, but
I still think a dealer who will give you a refund is better than one who will
not. I can tell you numerous HORROR stories of garbage autographs I have seen,
obviously bought from someone who was fronting for the Marino forging family.
The seller was caught, virtually redhanded, and absolutely refused to give
refunds.
getf...@my-deja.com
Here is the response from Al Wittenbert when i questioned the membership
status of CLK320 "The Monte Gallery" last October.
My question;
Is The Monte Gallery a member in good standing with the UACC?
Mr. Wittnebert response;
"Are you a UACC member ?"
My response;
"I am not a UACC member, which is not the issue here. This
is a simple question regarding the Monte Gallery who claims
to be a member in good standing with the UACC, and NOT under
investigation by the UACC. Is this statement TRUE" ??"
Mr. Wittnebert response;
"It may be a simple question, but I don't work for you. I work for the
UACC membership."
My response;
"That is the response i would expect from a mickey mouse
organization, NOT from an organization with such a high
opinion of therself like the UACC. In other words you are
saying the answer to this question will cost me $25 ..
Thanks for being such a professional ."
Mr. Wittnebert response;
"Your welcome."
Liz & Sand
Richard wrote in message <20010124081929...@ng-fw1.aol.com>...
>p.s.
>Don't you still think you are better off buying from someone who WILL give
you
>a refund if the item is questioned, rather than buying on an auction site,
from
>a seller who has just sprung up.
There are MANY good dealers out there who are not UACC RD's or even UACC
members. I am less interested in refunds and more interested in
authenticity. If I research my signatures and make comparisons before
bidding, refunds are not a big issue Richard. You are addressing this issue
to the wrong people ... knowledgeable collectors. The issue of the eBay
fraudsters ripping people off and not offering refunds should be addressed
to the casual buyer who knows no better and who does not research a
signature before buying it.
Liz & Sand
WHAT IS.
Its pathetic. He is a dealer I held a lot of respect for too !!!
getf...@my-deja.com wrote in message <94mtec$8cd$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
Richard
But how does a novice collector become knowledgable. That is where one of the
problems lies. The ebay crooked seller has taken advantage of those people to
the tune of multi millions of dollars. A number of them have communicated
with me and have not been able at all to get any type of refund, after the item
has been examined and has turned out to be bogus. Those people deserve some
consideration.
I do totally disagree with the UACC policy of not taking complaints from non
members. I wrote to the UACC President today. Here is a copy of me letter:
Paul - I don't think we have ever talked or written to each other before. My
name is Richard Simon and I am RD #108.
I have been making several postings lately , defending the RD program, on the
autograph collectors newsgroup.
One attack that I do agree with though, when someone goes to the UACC Site, and
wants to make a complaint about a UACC member, the link they click takes them
to a membership application. I feel , as do many who post on the newsgroup,
that membership should not be a requirement for making a complaint about a UACC
member possibly selling bogus autographs.
I would like to suggest a change in policy
Richard Simon
I would hope something can come of this and I will keep you posted.
Richard
cyb...@themall.com
The words of the UACC membership are its own worst enemy.
Better than nothing? It IS nothing.
CatE