Fishy Betty

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grant

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Aug 3, 2011, 10:45:40 PM8/3/11
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The craigslist "antique" one.....here's the latest, kind of
interesting-----

One of our customers contacted the guy, had planned to buy the bike
for as little as possible. Expected to meet him on the street down by
the corner near the liquor store, but one surprise after another, and
all good:

-- the guy met him at his (the guy's, the seller's) place-o-bizness
-- guy seemed normal, nice, forthcoming, not shyster-like or the least
bit shady
-- seller took the bike with some other stuff as payment for work
performed...when the woman couldn't pay. He said she was crying when
she dropped off bike etc.

We have the serial number and some particulars. The bike was bought
from us (not from one of our five dealers), and we'll try to track it
down. I think we'll be able to.

The repurchase price was $600.

If we can track down the original buyer, the rebuyer---who is, like,
the nicest kindest guy you'll ever meet---has offfered to take the
loss and return the bike, but of course we won't let that happen. If
he's able to return the bike, we'll cover him for it and toss in a bit-
o-reward in the deal, and then the woman gets her B back.

If we can't make that happen---for whatever reason -- then he'll keep
the bike.

If after that, the original owner comes forth, we'll work out some
happy thing for her.

On a side note, I contacted WDC police. told them we might have a
thief (turns out we didn't...unless he's supercon guy)-- and they
said, "We don't do that. Contact the FBI." Whoa.

May have an update, not sure. later.

Grant

Leslie

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Aug 3, 2011, 10:57:28 PM8/3/11
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Hopefully it wasn't shady, just a bit unfortunate luck for some gal;  who might just be lucky and see a friend return... that'd be cool!

David Faller

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Aug 3, 2011, 11:09:14 PM8/3/11
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This is "Rivendell Reader" material.

Mojo

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Aug 4, 2011, 12:01:08 AM8/4/11
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This is why I buy from Rivendell.
Your good folks!
I appreciate all of your efforts.

Joe Bernard

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Aug 4, 2011, 12:06:40 AM8/4/11
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This story would be a lot happier without "construction guy takes crying girl's bike". How 'bout giving Crying Girl a payment plan, arsehole..
 
Joe "I'll take it, then BS people on Craigslist" Bernard
Fairfield, CA.

Peter Pesce

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Aug 4, 2011, 9:35:40 AM8/4/11
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I never cease to be impressed what an upstanding company Riv is and what a fine group this is.
Who knew Riv's came with a whole host of "guardian angels"?

Sean Whelan

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Aug 4, 2011, 9:54:54 AM8/4/11
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How about we all stop judging this guy who we don't know, who seems to have been nice in the end?
I have more bikes than cash on hand on any given day. I don't imagine that when I call the furnace repair
guy to my house that he would be too happy when I said, "Thanks for fixing this, I don't have any money, would you like
my lugged steel Bianchi frame?"

We are all too far from the situation to understand it well enough to place value judgments.

Glad to learn that it wasn't stolen.

Cheers,
Sean



From: Joe Bernard <joer...@gmail.com>
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thu, August 4, 2011 12:06:40 AM
Subject: [RBW] Re: Fishy Betty

This story would be a lot happier without "construction guy takes crying girl's bike". How 'bout giving Crying Girl a payment plan, arsehole..
 
Joe "I'll take it, then BS people on Craigslist" Bernard
Fairfield, CA.

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Allingham II, Thomas J

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Aug 4, 2011, 9:57:25 AM8/4/11
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+1. This makes my day, Grant (and, especially, Re-buyer -- you're a hero, too).

-----Original Message-----
From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mojo
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 12:01 AM
To: RBW Owners Bunch
Subject: [RBW] Re: Fishy Betty

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grant

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Aug 4, 2011, 10:28:45 AM8/4/11
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It's hard to not put pieces of d'puzzl together when the edges are so
barely jogged---the "antique" thing, the comment that he got it from a
relative, the dimensions given, the sizing 'instructions'.....there
wasn't a syllable in the CL ad that didn't raise suspicion. It is
Great to be surprised in the end...like finding out (spoiler alert)
what a groovy guy Snape was.

G "Be suspicious, but be ready to be happily surprised" P

Lee Chae

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Aug 4, 2011, 11:23:25 AM8/4/11
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Hi Joe. I understand your sentiment as my first response was something
similar. But then I remembered that I have quite a few friends in the
trades. I'm sure they would much rather be payed for the craftsmanship
they provided, rather than having to take something in barter and
spending their own work or home time selling it. Like most of us, they
have mouths to feed, homes to pay for, and in their case, a business
to run. It would be similar to me buying a custom from Riv and then
asking them to take my espresso machine as part of the payment (if I
had an espresso machine).

That may not be the situation for this fella, but whatever the truth
of the matter, I think it displays a certain great character of
Rivendell to wring a happy ending out of a tough situation, at its own
expense.

Big cheers for nice stories in the real world,
Lee
SF, CA

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Joe Bernard

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Aug 4, 2011, 12:14:01 PM8/4/11
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I realize my response is cynical, but his approach to selling the bike irritates me. When you combine "crying girl" with "dishonest ad", you're left with "pissed off Joe". Y'all are welcome to the better attitudes you're sporting, but I'm in a mood over this debt ceiling madness, so I'm keeping my "bad one" for a while.

Joe "bad attitude" Bernard

cyclot...@gmail.com

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Aug 4, 2011, 12:56:21 PM8/4/11
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I have a NIB Krups 5220, do you think Riv would take it in lieu of
payment for a 54 Hunqapillar frame? I like the new blue ones!

Montclair BobbyB

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Aug 4, 2011, 2:30:48 PM8/4/11
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Grant, you're kindness is unconditional, and THAT alone is inspiring.

Still there are a few unsettling questions in my mind about this
story... The seller's asking price ($2000) vs selling price
($600)...don't know what conversation took place with the re-buyer,
but that's a pretty big spread.

The other thing I'm not entirely convinced of is that this woman
(unfortunate as her situation seemed) was necessarily a victim. After
all, SHE willingly gave up her Betty (which among this forum could be
construed as the ultimate act of betrayal). Was she acting
irresponsibly for accepting services (in the first place) without
having the means to pay for it? Did she not care enough about her
Betty to fight for it, or at least resort to other drastic measures
before ultimately having to sacrifice poor Betty? At the risk of
winning the award for "insensitive-bastard-of-the-day", I still
maintain this was ultimately HER choice; and as far as I'm concerned
her Betty apparently wasn't stolen from her. So is she really the
victim here, and is she really worthy of having her Betty "gifted"
back to her?

I may be insensitive, but I'm no fool...I'd hate to see Mr Rebuyer
(whose autograph I want) to become the unintended victim here... I
just wonder whether there's more to this story...that's all...

Bobby "insensitive puppy-killer" Birmingham

Anne Paulson

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Aug 4, 2011, 2:43:11 PM8/4/11
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On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 11:30 AM, Montclair BobbyB
<montcla...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Grant, you're kindness is unconditional, and THAT alone is inspiring.
>
> Still there are a few unsettling questions in my mind about this
> story... The seller's asking price ($2000) vs selling price
> ($600)...don't know what conversation took place with the re-buyer,
> but that's a pretty big spread.

We don't know the conversation that took place, but imagine the
conversation you'd have if your boss called you into his office and
announced that the company couldn't pay you, but they were offering
you some used skis or a used sewing machine instead. Maybe they'd
be loath to part with their dear Rossignols or their beloved Bernina,
but you just want money. And if you took those skis or that sewing
machine, which you didn't want, who would criticize you for selling
them, for whatever price you could get?

Things are tough all over. The unemployment rate among construction
workers is horrific right now; the seller was almost certainly not a
bloated plutocrat, but some guy who took a job and was dismayed when
he found out the person who hired him couldn't pay him. And who knows
why the woman, who should not be referred to as a "crying girl," which
suggests a six-year-old surrendering her Barbie bike rather than an
adult responsible for her debts, couldn't pay the worker. She may have
had financial reverses also-- things are tough all over. Although the
deal was initially suspicious, now it just sounds like a sad story of
a bad economy.

--
-- Anne Paulson

My hovercraft is full of eels

Seth Vidal

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Aug 4, 2011, 3:46:40 PM8/4/11
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Anne,
This is exactly what I have gotten out of the whole story, with one
additional detail that I think is worth highlighting:

1. Grant and rivendell acting with great integrity and generosity.
2. The re-buyer in dc behaving excellently. With great altruism and sympathy.

Forget whether or not there is a bad guy (or woman) here. Let's focus
on the people who did well and should be lauded for it.

-sv

Steve

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Aug 4, 2011, 4:22:28 PM8/4/11
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On Aug 4, 1:30 pm, Montclair BobbyB <montclairbob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Grant, you're kindness is unconditional, and THAT alone is inspiring.
>
> Still there are a few unsettling questions in my mind about this
> story... The seller's asking price ($2000) vs selling price
> ($600)...don't know what conversation took place with the re-buyer,
> but that's a pretty big spread.
>
If you look on the Washington DC craigslist where this was posted,
there were a couple of other posts claiming that the bike was stolen
because the seller didn't know anything about the bike he had...this
probably poisoned the well for him in selling it, so he took the cash
offer he had in hand, which may not have been enough to cover his
costs.

The lesson to be learned here in addition to the kindness of strangers
(Grant and the re-seller) is to not to rush to judgement...I'd argue
that while this may work out in the end for the original owner and the
re-seller, the guy who took the bike in payment is losing out on the
deal since I doubt he was able to cover his costs for the work he's
done.

Joe Bernard

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Aug 4, 2011, 6:47:40 PM8/4/11
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Y'all are clearly nicer than me. I can live with that.
 
Joe "you kids get off my lawn" Bernard
Fairfield, CA.

islaysteve

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Aug 4, 2011, 8:27:25 PM8/4/11
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Grant, First of all, this is incredibly kind and generous of you.  i just wanted to address the last comment about your call to the 'WDC police".  If by that you mean the Washington DC police, I believe that the ad was placed in Virginia.  I can't find the original CL post, but it was one of the counties like Prince William or Loudon.  If I were pursuing this, I would look up that PD and call; ask them if they have a stolen bicycle unit or an officer assigned, then speak to them.  Might get better results, just a suggestion.  Good luck in getting to the bottom of this. Steve

Geoff

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Aug 4, 2011, 9:07:17 PM8/4/11
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Dave,

I agree; this is definitely "Rivendell Reader" material.  =)

Geoff

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Aug 4, 2011, 9:25:33 PM8/4/11
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Grant,

Just a few comments-

1)  Words can't adequately express just what an amazingly kind and decent thing it is that you're doing here.

2)  I hope that everything works out well for both the seller and the woman who gave her Betty to compensate the man for his work when she couldn't pay.

3)  One very tiny point taken for your Harry Potter movie spoiler.  LOL

Kudos to you, Grant!  

Scotty

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Aug 4, 2011, 9:31:32 PM8/4/11
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This is a great story. Given the nature of the situation, someone giving up their bike over financial difficulty, I would not be disapointed if she was kept anonymous. I am sure i dont even have to say it but it may be pretty embarrasing to her. It is a touching story of generousity and I hope you keep us posted on how this all pans out.

Leslie

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Aug 4, 2011, 10:21:40 PM8/4/11
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On Thursday, August 4, 2011 9:25:33 PM UTC-4, Geoff wrote:
Grant,
3)  One very tiny point taken for your Harry Potter movie spoiler.  LOL
Kudos to you, Grant!  

Does that mean that Rivendell is now the 5th house at Hogwarts?

Can Rivendell be given points back, then?

(Is it bad that I'm mixing the two??)


: )

PATRICK MOORE

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Aug 4, 2011, 10:35:17 PM8/4/11
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Bravo for this and kudos to both buyer and G.

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Philip Williamson

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Aug 5, 2011, 3:02:08 AM8/5/11
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There's a Harry Potter movie?

Philip
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