Lame TDPRI brother

[hippietim]

Some of you may recall back last year when my Fender Pro Junior went up in smoke. I took it to a local tech who said it was toast and I didn't purchase it new so I had no warranty.

So someone here on the TDPRI said he was interested in it for the chassis and speaker (which was a Celestion Vintage 10). We agreed on a price. The problem is that this TDPRI'r was down on his luck financially (so he claimed). I said no problem and shipped it to him anyhow since I wasn't in dire need of the cash and he was a longtime board member so I figured it'd be cool. So he sends me a message thanking me for trusting him and all. He even says that he will not do anything with it until he has paid for it - that way if I want it back or find another buyer then it's just shipping charges to worry about.

Many months go by. The seasons change.

I sent him a PM over a month ago to ask what had become of the amp remnants. I specifically did NOT ask for money. He replies that he did do something with it. He used it as the platform to build an 18-watt Marshall clone. He thanks me again for sending it sans payment. Apparently he got a part time job and was able to make some money. He asks where to send the payment. I replied the same day with my address and my Paypal account.

Well, it's been a month and no response at all. Not even a courtesy message or letter to say he can't pay.

What a lame experience. Fortunately, I can say that of the many hundreds of transactions I've done on-line this is only one of two that went bad. I've done dozens of transactions with other TDPRI members that all worked out great.

Obviously I'm not expecting to see the money or anything. I just wanted to vent.

[sneakyjapan]

well Tim... good guys don`t always finish last... sometimes but not always. Must be tough not posting the name of the other party involved and I`d wager more than one of us is wondering who it is. Nevermind... I don`t know precisely what situation said member is in financially... I only know I couldn`t sleep very well at night in his / her position. What goes around comes around...OK that was my last cliche... guess I`ve been lucky, all my on-line transactions have been a pleasure.
Just don`t go postal on us eh.

[Michael R]

Hey Tim how much are you asking for it ? I'd defintely be interested in an 18w Marshall clone 8).

Bummer though when you go out of your way for someone and they burn you... but I still have to agree with SJ's post, I've been burned a few times and it was on deals like that (fronting gear). Hopefully the guy will see this and try to do the right thing.

[DADGAD]

That's what worries me about selling stuff in forums. Does the buyer pay first? Does the seller ship first? Perhaps a trusted middleman is what is needed in such transactions.

Hopefully the brother will do the right thing.

[telefreak]

That's what I'd do. I know it's not a nice thing to do to them, but neither is what he's done to you.

[kickz28]

Have you tried contacting him again? Perhaps he has a valid reason for the lack of payment/communication.

If he does end up not paying, perhaps, although not very nice, it would be a good idea to post who it is for other people not to get burned.

Its really sad though. I've had nothing but luck dealing with members of this forum, even though I've only been a member for about 4 months.

[hippietim]

Only two things tick me off here:

1) He said he wasn't going to do anything with it until he paid for it but he did in fact turn it into an 18-watt Marshall clone - I am very certain that the parts he was going to need to make this were more than what he agreed to pay me. I didn't ask him to do hold off on using it for something, he volunteered to hold off. I thought that was a very cool thing at the time. He didn't honor his word. That's lame.

2) He didn't have the courtesy to contact me at any time through any of this at all. Not even "hey thanks, I turned it into a cool combo". Not even "hey sorry I went back on my word but I couldn't resist". Not even "hey I know I said I'd pay you a couple times but I'm still broke". Nothing. Nada.

I was simply not raised in this manner so I don't understand this sort of behavior.

I have tried contacting him again. No response. He certainly could have a valid reason for not contacting me recently. Some sort of hardship or tragedy would certainly be a more than valid reason for not contacting me recently. However, that does not explain not contacting me along the way while he was working on it - he posted here plenty of times during this time period.

The thing that sucks most is that it is very unlikely that I'll do this sort of thing again with most of you. Like the old saying:

Fool me once,
Shame on you,
Fool me twice,
Shame on me.

There are a few folks here I'd trust in a heartbeat but the rest of you are probably SOL despite the fact that it's very likely that you would come through and honor your word.

[aln413]

that sux man !!maybe he'll read this post and make good !!!

[Pierce]

with the link to the thread..

[TDPRI]

Email me his username and email. I'll deal with him from my end.

Paul Green

[Scotland]

Originally Posted by webmaster

Email me his username and email. I'll deal with him from my end.

Paul Green

Now that's what I call action !! Well done Paul.

[trag-o-caster]

Yea Paul!!!

Sick 'em!!!

[JDO]

i'll fess up guys. it's me that tim's talking about. i haven't had a chance to get to this board in some time. i'm in the process of moving and trying to find an apartment. i've already sent a private message to tim (before seeing this thread). after i sent tim a message, i tried to get caught up on the amp board (where i spend most of my time) and then started searching to see if tim had posted something like this.

everything tim said was true (except the speaker part). i asked about the remains right as i had resigned from my job. i told him i was looking and didn't expect it to be that long and asked him if he could hold the amp. he ended up sending it (i guess to get it out of the way since he wasn't using it). that said a lot to me about his character - very respectable. i told him as soon as i got a job i would send him some money for it. i recently got a part time job and got pretty busy around the house. in the last week i finally got a full time job after close to 9 months out of work.

when i'm wrong i don't have a problem admitting it. and i was clearly wrong here. i simply got busy and lost track of time. i've sent my appologies to tim and can just ask that he forgive my boneheadedness. and i don't blame him at all for being upset. if the roles were reversed, i would have been upset too. and i probably wouldn't have been nice enough to not put a name in the post. whatever the rest of you guys think of me, that's up to you. the only person right now i care about is tim. he's the one i wronged. and since this is over the i-net and he'll never get a chance to actually get to know me and know that this is not my character, i won't be surprised if he doesn't.

so i'll say it again, i was wrong. tim i do ask for your forgiveness in this. i lost track of time and didn't make this a priority. completely my fault. i'm sorry.

[trag-o-caster]

Both of you guys are VERY BIG MEN! You both have done the right thing in the way that this was handled. I admire both of you and Paul as well for getting ready to go to bat. I'm so glad that it didn't come to that.

JDO - Thank you very much for stepping up and admitting guilt to all of us, and I think that I speak for all of us when I say that your reputation amongst us brethren (and sisteren - is that a word?) will NOT be tarnished due to your honesty.

Now, you kids run along and play nicely now!

[hippietim]

What a great morning! First, I got a package from USPS Express mail from Ishabashi. Then I go to check my e-mail and I see a Paypal payment for a Pro Jr! Then I see there are some thoughtful PM's waiting for me from JDO!

All this before 11:00 am.

JDO, regarding the speaker what was I wrong about? I know there was a Celestion Vintage 10 in it when it went up in smoke but now that you called that out I'm left wondering about what speaker (if any) was in it when I sent it to you.

As far as all of this goes, I want to be clear - I was just bummed about the lack 'o communication. JDO stepped up and made it good as far as I'm concerned. It's water under the bridge.

[JDO]

glad to know a few things.

1 - you had a good morning.

2 - i could somehow be a part of it after i was such an idiot.

3 - you forgive me for being an idiot.

about the speaker, i checked my PM's from you. i have one saved that says that you had a speaker from a princeton you could put in the amp and i told you i would take it speakerless to help save on the cost. that's what i was refering to. i thought i had read it as you saying you had sent me a celestion speaker with the amp. i just got the cab, chassis and blown parts.

anyway, thanks again for forgiving bad judgement on my part. i do appreciate it.

Originally Posted by hippietim

What a great morning! First, I got a package from USPS Express mail from Ishabashi. Then I go to check my e-mail and I see a Paypal payment for a Pro Jr! Then I see there are some thoughtful PM's waiting for me from JDO!

All this before 11:00 am.

JDO, regarding the speaker what was I wrong about? I know there was a Celestion Vintage 10 in it when it went up in smoke but now that you called that out I'm left wondering about what speaker (if any) was in it when I sent it to you.

As far as all of this goes, I want to be clear - I was just bummed about the lack 'o communication. JDO stepped up and made it good as far as I'm concerned. It's water under the bridge.

[JDO]

thanks. i appreciate that. it's easy to tarnish an rep and real hard to clean it up. i was actually worried about posting my response but thought it was the right thing to do.

and i'm not too sure about sisteren :)

Originally Posted by trag-o-caster

Both of you guys are VERY BIG MEN! You both have done the right thing in the way that this was handled. I admire both of you and Paul as well for getting ready to go to bat. I'm so glad that it didn't come to that.

JDO - Thank you very much for stepping up and admitting guilt to all of us, and I think that I speak for all of us when I say that your reputation amongst us brethren (and sisteren - is that a word?) will NOT be tarnished due to your honesty.

Now, you kids run along and play nicely now!

[Caper]

I tip my hat to both gentleman.

[Colo Springs E]

.....I'd do business with you any time. And with Tim as well. Glad to see a happy ending.

"All's well that end's well..."

-Eric

[Matt Hesley]

8) 8)

WOW!

I hadn't checked this thread in a few days. You guys are toooo cool. Way to go!

Matt

[trag-o-caster]

Just a simple misunderstanding, that's all. I'd like to think that the way it was handled, and the way that these gentlemen sorted it out would be typical of the average Telecaster player eh? We're just a bunch of non-B.S. kinda guys, and no B.S. happened here.

God bless, gentlemen!

[PraiseCaster]

No flame war.

No insult's.

No one dumped from the site.

No disturbing Paul from his record collection.

No :evil: Tim.

No JDO.


Hmmmmm?

OK, time for a group hug! Everyone, gather around your monitor and hug!

All joking aside, that's why I like this site.