BTR Pinkus - Resolved

[rwartell]

I got a PM from Pinkus on May 9th, telling me he was interested in my Pillars of the Earth board game and that he had some Ogres I may be interested in. We negotiated a deal and came to an agreement of the following:

Here's our whole string of PMs:

Sent: Sun May 09, 2010 6:51 pm
by Pinkus
Hello,

I'm interested in your Pillars of the Earth Boardgame. I have the following Ogres that I could trade you. They are assembled and still bare plastic. I figure retail for retail is good for me, if you wanted to just pick out stuff from what I have that would be best.

6 bulls
4 ironguts
24 gnoblars
10 or so trappers with no bases

I think that's all I have.

Eric

Sent: Sun May 09, 2010 7:49 pm
by rwartell
I'm happy to trade the board game to you, but I'll want to consider shipping as part of the trade since it will cost me significantly more to ship the board game to you than it will for you to ship the models to me. Also, I'd be considering retail based on the battalion box for everything other than the trappers (I assume that's where you got your models?) So what I was thinking would be:

My:
Pillars of the Earth - $48
Shipping - $10 (USPS Priority Mail)
Total - $58

Your:
10 trappers with no bases - $30 (dropped $2 for the lack of bases)
4 ironguts - $24
Shipping - $4 (that's a guess but it sounds about right?)
Total - $58

Let me know what you think. If you wanna understand the price of the ironguts, I break down the batallion box like this:

Full retail of battalion box pieces:
Bulls - $40
Ironguts - $40
Leadbelchers - $40
Gnoblars - $30
Total - $150
Cost of Battallion - $90
Cost of Ironguts from Battalion - ($90/$150) * 40 = .6 * 40 = $24

Sorry if this is way too much detail but I'm a math nerd and I don't want you to think I'm trying to screw you over, just what I think is fair. Look forward to hearing from you.
-Richard

Sent: Tue May 11, 2010 3:12 am
by Pinkus
Math major here too, so it all looks good. I actualy got the stuff via trades not a battalion, but we can trade for battalion prices just fine. The trade sounds good, I'm late for work so I'll message you again tonight

Sent: Tue May 11, 2010 3:24 am
by rwartell
Great, here's my address for confirmation on the trade. Once you send yours I'll get the game shipped your way in the next day or two.

Richard Wartell
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Thu May 13, 2010 6:01 pm
by rwartell
Still waiting for your address.
-Richard

Sent: Mon May 17, 2010 4:07 am
by Pinkus
My computer broke, couldnt get on, sorry.

Trade sounds good.

Eric Weidus
[Admin edit]
Cleveland, OH [Admin edit]

Sent: Mon May 17, 2010 4:19 am
by rwartell
Ha, I know how it is, I literally just built a computer on Thursday of last week. I'll ship out the game in the next few days, I'll notify you of DC# once I have it.
-Richard

Sent: Thu May 20, 2010 1:56 pm
by rwartell
Sorry about the delay, I totally forgot to message you yesterday. I shipped the board game yesterday:

DC# 03100480000076806069

Let me know when it shows up and you ship my stuff . Should be there tomorrow I think.
-Richard

Sent: Sun May 23, 2010 2:24 am
by rwartell
Hey, just checking in. The DC# says the game got delivered. Did it show up?
-Richard

Sent: Sun May 23, 2010 5:32 am
by Pinkus
Finally got my computer back up and running. Yeah the box came yesterday and everything looks good and it looks like everything is still there. You should be getting your package tue/wen.

Sent: Thu May 27, 2010 7:08 pm
by rwartell
Haven't gotten my items from you yet. Do you have a DC# I can check?
-Richard

Sent: Sun May 30, 2010 4:12 pm
by rwartell
Lack of response and the fact that I haven't gotten anything yet is a bit scary. If I haven't heard from you by Wednesday I'll be filing a bad trader claim.
-Richard

Sent: Wed Jun 02, 2010 5:27 am
by Pinkus
I whole heartedly apologize. I had every intention of sending these out last week, but I got notice from work that I could get a few extra days off so I extended my trip out of town and in the melee' that was me packing, I completely forgot to send out all my BTown items. I am home now and have the day off. I'm just waiting for the post office to open up to send them. I 100% guarantee that these guys will go out priority mail today ASAP.

Sent: Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:30 pm
by rwartell
Alright, so it should be showing up tomorrow? Thanks for letting me know.
-Richard

Sent: Fri Jun 04, 2010 4:04 am
by Pinkus
My receipt says expected delivery date of June 4th.

Sent: Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:45 pm
by rwartell
Your package showed up today and I am more than a little mad. After making me wait an extra week and a half, you sent me the wrong item. You sent me a dwarf army book, which I have no use for, instead of the 4 ironguts and 10 trappers you were supposed to send me. If you look back in our messages you will see your mistake. Please let me know how you plan to rectify this situation.

Sent: Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:08 am
by Pinkus
*edit*, I put the wrong names on my two packages. Well this sucks more than a little bit. If you have paypal I can send you $10 for you to ship the book to the right owner if that's okay with you?

Sent: Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:18 am
by Pinkus
I messaged the guy who got your ogres, I'm waiting back for his reply. I don't know what else to do. I've never made this mistake and obviously its ticked you off to no end. I can't change any of this mistake over night, so all I ask is for a little patience on your part and to help me rectify my mistake. Its an honest mistake that I'm sure has happened before, not to me though.

Sending the book costs around $5 priority mail, if I send you $11 that should cover the paypal fee and give you $5 as a thank you and I'm sorry.

That sound like a good solution?

Sent: Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:21 am
by rwartell
That sounds fine assuming he does the same, my email for paypal is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:30 pm
by rwartell
Any word from the other guy? Let me know what his address is once he agrees. Hopefully he's not decided he wants the OK stuff for himself.
-Richard

Sent: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:48 pm
by rwartell
Any word from the other guy?

Sent: Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:06 pm
by Pinkus
He got the box. I just need to get his paypal info.

Sent: Sat Jun 12, 2010 11:39 am
by rwartell
It's now been another 5 days since I last heard from you. Still waiting on the other guy?

I just want to have this resolved and I thought it was necessary to get what was happening out there since it's seeming more and more fishy. From everything I can find, Pinkus is usually a stand up trader, with only one mark on his record for a not so good trade.

[rwartell]

I meant to add that the pile of things that have "gone wrong" on his end, waiting 6 days now just for him to get the other guys paypal address, and added with the fact that he conveniently got back in to town to ship my stuff the day that I threatened to file a bad trader claim if I hadn't heard from him by all adds up to something fishy going on.y

As of right now I've sent him a pm letting him know that I posted this bad trade claim and I haven't heard back yet.

[starslayer]

I can help. I have your box- unopened. I think its your Ogres.(dont know for sure- its unopened) I received the same story as you (and beleive it)- he mixed up the boxes/addresses.
You have my Dwarf book (if it is new & current). PM me your address. I can ship it out Monday or tuesday, depending on my schedule. Do you still have the book?

Ive sent Pinkus some messages too. I really dont think its any kind of scam. I think he is having computer trouble, is busy,etc.

PM me & lets get this resolved.

Thanks!

[MagickalMemories]

Interesting.
I'm not going to do anything with this thread (close, remove, etc) right now.
I would ask, though, that everyone NOT involved steer clear, please.

Looks like a simple mistake (barring the delay in contact) that can get sorted easily (though, pinkus will still need to rectify things with these guys, re: shipping fees), then we can close the thread.

Thanks, guys.

Eric

[rwartell]

As of right now, starslayer and I are going to ship each other the items. So we should at least have our items by the end of the week.

I'll post if I hear from Pinkus or there are any new developments.

[Pinkus]

I've sent money to him to cover his shipping plus some. I'm on a backup computer that I try to avoid. It just is a bad month for me in general with computers/vacations and such. It happens.

I don't know how the names got switched on my packages, but that happens to. Oh well. I guess my only mistake I made was not putting a higher priority on these things since they were such small trades.

In short this is how it all went down.

We accepted the trade together.
My computer broke.
A week later I get my old computer from my attic finally up and running in place of my good comp.
I meant to ship it Wednesday of Memorial week, but got 2 extra days off and spent an extended weekend at a State Park. I got home and saw and sent the boxes out.
He messages me about receiving the wrong package.
I get a hold of the other guy and see I sent the 2 packages to the wrong spot.
I tell both I'll cover shipping and give $5 extra for their time.
That was 5-6 days ago. I get on today to pay them both, which I don't have star's paypal, so that still needs to be done and see this thread.

I'm a little put off, I know things went bad to worse, but I was hoping for some patience and understanding, specially considering 2 weeks isn't all that bad. Star didn't seem to mind and actually felt bad for me. I guess to each their own.

Everything should be good to go as long as they ship their stuff out to each other and star sends me his paypal.
3 weeks late. I've had worse, but I know it should have been sooner.

[Pinkus]

If anyone learns anything about me from this, is that I have no problem waiting a week to send out my end of the bargain. It just isn't a possible some times to get everything packed and sent the next day. In this case, several things went wrong to push that 3 into 3, which really was only 2 weeks, but I made a shipping error.

If you absolutely can't wait a week, maybe 2 to get my stuff then don't trade with me. Its ridiculous to start to threaten bad trader reports after 10 days over 4 ogres.

[MagickalMemories]

If anyone learns anything about me from this, is that I have no problem waiting a week to send out my end of the bargain. It just isn't a possible some times to get everything packed and sent the next day. In this case, several things went wrong to push that 3 into 3, which really was only 2 weeks, but I made a shipping error.

If you absolutely can't wait a week, maybe 2 to get my stuff then don't trade with me. Its ridiculous to start to threaten bad trader reports after 10 days over 4 ogres.

When I saw the report on you, one of the first things I did (which I always do) is checked your references.
Obviously, you know how good they are.
I fully believed you'd make good on the issue, one way or another.

That Starslayer was the other individual involved made things even better for you, as he's a very "up & up" kind of guy. Even if you fell off of the face of the Earth, SS would've done his part to ensure that both got what they were supposed to.

I'm also glad to see you posting in the thread. Too often, even when making right on the deal, people ignore BTR's filed on them. That never looks good. So, it's good that you're taking the bull by the horns.

In regards to the above quote, I agree (mostly).
The amount of time involved really wasn't overly long.
You should understand, though, as an experienced trader, that not everyone online is honest. The OP doesn't know you and -even with your ref's- has no guarantee that you aren't screwing him over. Even with the computer issue you mentioned to him... it COULD HAVE been a delaying tactic. We've seen those, too.

So, while it's not a long time to wait, I do think it's a bit misguided of you to automatically presume that he should wait that long with no contact without warning in advance.
For example, you said, "If you absolutely can't wait a week, maybe 2 to get my stuff then don't trade with me." That's a perfectly valid p.o.v. for trading. If you don't make that known up front, though, it's not really fair to expect your trade partners to adhere to it. KWIM?

3 weeks late. I've had worse, but I know it should have been sooner.

I liked seeing that. I like the admissions of both, "Hey! Not my first time screwing up" and "Damn. I should've done better." That's experience talking.

Eric

[rwartell]

First of all, there's nothing wrong with shipping at that speed as long as you are up front about it. However, you told me to expect something on one date and then fell of the face of the earth for a week. When I don't hear from someone for a week and he already has my part of a trade, I start to worry, as I think everyone would.

I don't think it's unreasonable for me to expect communication from the person you are trading with. In my mind, if I had two people who I'd messed up their trades, I'd be on here every day trying to get it resolved quickly and amicably. After 6 days of not hearing from you and sending you multiple messages, I assumed something was wrong and took the next step. The same applies to the first time I messaged you saying I was going to post a bad trader claim. I hadn't heard from you in a week.

As of right now, Pinkus has sent me money via paypal and I've shipped starslayer's item to him. The DC# is:

0310 0480 0000 7682 0300

I believe starslayer plans to ship early this week so hopefully this whole thing can be taken down by the end of the week.

[Pinkus]

I understand the not messaging you, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was just hoping for a little patience on your part. A good trader on these forums deserve more than a week of time when life happens, specially when dealing with $30 worth of junk. If I'd screw you, I'd go for a painted army, not an average board game.

By the way, some of the cards you sent with the game were chewed up by what I hope was a dog. It stills playable, but if you're going to be strict, make sure you keep those standards for yourself. If you would have told me there was damage, but it doesn't really affect the game, I probably would still have traded, but its never fun opening a board game only to see components damaged.

I hope your ogres reach you in good condition and that in a week or so we can all be happy with this trade.

[Pinkus]

In future trades I'll give my phone # out. I do usually, guess I didn't think this trade didn't need it, being so small.

[starslayer]

I look at it this way- simple, honest mistake. Im giving you a good reference for this trade. I hope RWARTELL does also.

Ive had some problems of my own, that I wont bore you with, but the Ogres go out tomorrow. (my day off).

For the record, I certainly do NOT think this was any type of scam or dishonesty. Just some bad luck. Pinkus is a good trader. Rwartell just got worried with the lack of communication.

Cut the guy a break, when you get the Ogres, post a good ref.

Thanks all.

[rwartell]

I'm happy to leave a good ref once all this is resolved. It's obvious that there's no kind of scam going on, I just wasn't sure to begin with. I'm sure by the weekend this will all be sorted out and done with.

[Pinkus]

I'm sure you already believe me, but I did want to get those guys out to you that Wednesday. But try packing for a vacation with wife and 2 year old aggro. Its not easy

[rwartell]

Haha, I'm sure it's pretty rough. We're all good man, as soon as the stuff gets here and starslayer gets his we can all leave good refs.
-Richard