WOW, we have some real cut throat snakes in this hobby! (long)

[JF]

Havent been real active in pinball since my last couple of moves but now that Im on my last tour before retirement I've started to get back into the swing of things again. With the constant scanning of Craig's List, I managed to stumble on a decent deal on two pins in New Hampshire...a Johnny Mnemonic and a Jumping Jack, which were at a small thrift shop in Concord.

The owner wanted to move them quickly, as they took up to much room in his shop and told me if I took them both he would make me a deal. At this point I was working the deal sight unseen and taking him at his word that they both worked and were in good condition. He made me a great deal on the two pins and had me send him a $100 non-refundable deposit to hold them until Saturday since I was coming from Maine to get them on the weekend. Deal completed Tuesday night and he marks them sold awaiting a Saturday pickup.

In the meantime a fellow pinball enthusiast strolls by the shop after reading the Craig's List ad and proceeds to look at the JN. The man tells him its sold and Im picking both of the pins up tomorrow. The guys persists to take a closer look, just in case I didntt show up, letting him know he would be interested. As this ass wipe goes through the machine lifting the playfield, taking out the balls, going through the boards, etc., he tries to convince the owner that the machine is dirty and Im not going to want it. The man again tells him politely to check back with him on Sunday but he was pretty sure it would be gone since he had my non-refundable deposit in hand. Well, apparently that wasnt good enough, as the guy then offered him full price for both pins if he would sell them to him now. Again he was told no, they are sold and with that the guy finally left.

As if it wasn't bad enough that the scum bag tried to get the man to go back on his word and buy them out from under me, he jacked with a connector so the game wouldnt boot up properly. The owner felt terrible and apologized saying he should have never let the guy look at it assuring me the game worked 100% as his grandkids had been playing it all week before. I told him it was no big deal and he was looking out for his business incase I didnt show, but it was frustrating to see this behavior from another collector. I assured him I would find the problem and get the game up and running properly again, and the snake of collector probably did it in hopes I would walk away from the deal. He again apologized and knocked off another $100 on an already great deal for my troubles.

Great to see an honest man come through on a legit CL deal without buckling under the pressure of a scum bag that's unfortunately taking part in our great pinball hobby.

Sorry for the long rant, but this greedy behavior from fellow pinheads really pisses me off! Thanks for listening and hope you have a great pinball day!

Jim

[ScottinSGFNY]

Saw those and I think there was also a Star Trek. I called , he said
all were sold, I moved on. Great deal - did you get the Star Trek too?

ScottinSGFNY

[JF]

I called on the Star Trek but it was already sold...at $200 Im sure it didnt last long. The other two hadnt posted to CL yet and must have been hanging out in cyber space somewhere. The owner told me about the other two and offered a deal on both, so I bought them sight unseen.

[Chris Hibler]

I'm glad the owner was a man of integrity and that it worked out for
you. It's nice to run across a man of his word, even in the face of
temptation.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

[JF]

Thanks Chris, and agreed...he said he was a christian and a man of his word and Im glad he didnt compromise his values over more money. Doing the right thing always comes back around to you later in life.

[Spanishsilver]

I know the scumbag who probably did that I have had a few run ins with
that individual. Glad to see you got those machines. I have had some
pretty good luck on CL fortunately. Way to go JF. You aren't the person
I sold the Joker poker too are you. If so how's it going.


--
Spanishsilver
This USENET post sent from http://rgparchive.com

[MrMongo]

Good ending to a good story. Glad to see that in the end, it all worked
out. (Kudos to the seller!)


--
MrMongo

[RandyV]

I'm with Chris on this one. Kudos to the seller for honoring your deal. As I was reading I thought for sure you were going to say the seller caved, sold the games to the other guy and gave you back your $100. Congrats on getting your games.

[JF]

Sorry, wasnt me on the Joker Poker...sounds like the guy makes his rounds in the pinball realm if its the same guy you had run ins with. Just curious, does this guy post stuff in NH for sale on CL too?

Jim

[JF]

On Sunday, March 17, 2013 1:02:10 PM UTC-4, RandyV wrote:
> I'm with Chris on this one. Kudos to the seller for honoring your deal. As I was reading I thought for sure you were going to say the seller caved, sold the games to the other guy and gave you back your $100. Congrats on getting your games.

Thanks Randy, seller was an awesome guy! Named his price and said to send him a check to hold...I accepted without hesitation and he honored his deal to the end. Im sure his business will prosper due to his character.

[TheKorn]

JF <five...@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:d2171374-b2d2-472a...@googlegroups.com:

> Thanks Randy, seller was an awesome guy! Named his price and said to
> send him a check to hold...I accepted without hesitation and he
> honored his deal to the end. Im sure his business will prosper due to
> his character.

Why aren't you naming him / his shop? Being known as a guy who keeps his word is a
GOOD thing.

--
Have a home video that's trapped on your camera? Want to share it on the web or on
DVD?

http://www.webwidevideo.com/

[Spanishsilver]

Yup he sure does. Pm me and I will fill you in.

[JF]

On Sunday, March 17, 2013 1:39:51 PM UTC-4, The...@TheKorn.net wrote:
> JF

Good point Korn...his name is Wayne Thibodeau and his shop is located at 84 South State St. in Concord NH. Unfortunately I dont remember the name of the thrift shop.

Jim

[Spanishsilver]

That funny. I sold a machine to a Jerry thibedau. Great guy he was from
Weare NH.

[G]

I called on the ST as well but was gone. I asked and he said it sold as advertised for $200. Decent deal. He asked if I wanted the other two. So I must have spoken to him before Jim.

[ldnayman]

I'd do the same thing, if it were a good enough deal.

Really...who wouldn't?

You see a game you want, you make an offer.

Seriously...you'd do the same thing. All of you. Some deal that has
nothing to do with me really isn't a concern. We are talking about a
thrift shop here.

[Joe Jet]

You would pull a connector to make the game appear broken?

[ldnayman]

Ah I didn't read that far. These rants are always more or less the
same.

Who knows if that shit even happened anyway.

[BUY...@aol.com]

well we see who is a scumbag in here ,

[american...@hotmail.com]

Should have tried to get the scumbag's CONtact info and called him and said you were from the thrift shop and the deal fell through and would he like to buy them as is? If he said yes, no doubt he would then low ball but just agree and wait for him and have a "sensitivity session" with him or just leave and have him waste a trip.

[kismetnumber1]

"Seriously...you'd do the same thing. All of you. Some deal that has
nothing to do with me really isn't a concern. We are talking about a

thrift shop here." - Idnayman


Ha - yeah - the scumbag is apparent! I've called on some CL deals and when told they were sold I never felt the need to counter-offer or explain what a "low price" they were selling for in order to screw the guy who got lucky. I get lucky too sometimes. You'd like to think it all comes around. Obviously, if you can't see a problem with that kind a behavior then you don't realize you're a dick.

[bakas...@yahoo.com]

Pinball seems to have a fair share of shady people involved. I would
not doubt a lot of us here have had similar things happen.

I had a line on a TZ in the Bay Area about a year ago for 2k. Owner
said it was mine, and I was on the way with a friend. Seller calls an
hour later saying he sold it to a guy who wanted it for his son,
because he was dying of cancer.

2 days later, there is the game on a local re-sellers CL ad.

Having the game bought from under me bummed me out, but you have to be
pretty low to lie about having a dying son to score a game.

Karma is a B#$h, and that person will get what is coming to em sooner
or later.

Brian

[jamesalv...@gmail.com]

Nothing like Roofie-ing a pin to get it at a good price!

[wayout440]

americannleaguer;2057165 Wrote:
> just leave and have him waste a trip.

How does this make you better than someone else?
Put you in a bowl with the rest of the scum.


--
wayout440

[Kyle Wren]

In article <f65683e1-108e-4a83...@googlegroups.com>, JF says...

I spent a lot of time between about 1997 up until maybe 2005 or so at the coin
op auctions that were near me. I got a lot of great deals but it taught me very
early on that nice and decent folks are pretty much the exception instead of the
rule in this hobby. Sad to say. For every nice guy that you will meet and get to
be friends with or maybe see at show and such there are several more around like
your new friend. Reaching in and damaging a game was pretty commonplace at the
auctions, I have even busted people with their arm shoulder-deep in a game I had
already bought trying to get at a manual or a spare parts bag that had
(thankfully) settled too far down for him to be able to reach quickly.

Kudos for the shop owner for sticking to the deal, but too bad he couldn't have
just asked the guy to keep his hands off the sold merchandise. Hopefully that
was a learning experience for him going forward.

>Havent been real active in pinball since my last couple of moves but now t=
>hat Im on my last tour before retirement I've started to get back into the =
>swing of things again. With the constant scanning of Craig's List, I mana=
>ged to stumble on a decent deal on two pins in New Hampshire...a Johnny Mne=
>monic and a Jumping Jack, which were at a small thrift shop in Concord.=20
>
>The owner wanted to move them quickly, as they took up to much room in his =
>shop and told me if I took them both he would make me a deal. At this poin=
>t I was working the deal sight unseen and taking him at his word that they =
>both worked and were in good condition. He made me a great deal on the two=
> pins and had me send him a $100 non-refundable deposit to hold them until =
>Saturday since I was coming from Maine to get them on the weekend. Deal co=
>mpleted Tuesday night and he marks them sold awaiting a Saturday pickup. =
>=20
>
>In the meantime a fellow pinball enthusiast strolls by the shop after readi=
>ng the Craig's List ad and proceeds to look at the JN. The man tells him i=
>ts sold and Im picking both of the pins up tomorrow. The guys persists to =
>take a closer look, just in case I didntt show up, letting him know he woul=
>d be interested. As this ass wipe goes through the machine lifting the pla=
>yfield, taking out the balls, going through the boards, etc., he tries to c=
>onvince the owner that the machine is dirty and Im not going to want it. T=
>he man again tells him politely to check back with him on Sunday but he was=
> pretty sure it would be gone since he had my non-refundable deposit in han=
>d. Well, apparently that wasnt good enough, as the guy then offered him fu=
>ll price for both pins if he would sell them to him now. Again he was told=

> no, they are sold and with that the guy finally left.
>

>As if it wasn't bad enough that the scum bag tried to get the man to go bac=
>k on his word and buy them out from under me, he jacked with a connector so=
> the game wouldnt boot up properly. The owner felt terrible and apologized=
> saying he should have never let the guy look at it assuring me the game wo=
>rked 100% as his grandkids had been playing it all week before. I told him=
> it was no big deal and he was looking out for his business incase I didnt =
>show, but it was frustrating to see this behavior from another collector. =
>I assured him I would find the problem and get the game up and running prop=
>erly again, and the snake of collector probably did it in hopes I would wal=
>k away from the deal. He again apologized and knocked off another $100 on =
>an already great deal for my troubles. =20
>
>Great to see an honest man come through on a legit CL deal without buckling=
> under the pressure of a scum bag that's unfortunately taking part in our g=
>reat pinball hobby.=20
>
>Sorry for the long rant, but this greedy behavior from fellow pinheads real=
>ly pisses me off! Thanks for listening and hope you have a great pinball d=
>ay!
>
>Jim=20
>
>
>
>=20
>


--
- Kyle
CARGPB #27