Brian Cataquet (tobeeecat)

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Posted By: David Vargha

Leon -- This guy needs to be called out! I made the mistake of purchasing a raw card from this self-promoter extraordinaire and master of the "Cap Lock" style of auction writing . . . I won the card from him on eBay and it was altered, so I asked him for a refund.


Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:45 AM


This card came back from SGC as having been altered by color being added. Please advise what I need to do to get a refund -- thanks! - David



Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:44:39 -0400


I AM AN EXPERT AND THE CARD ISN'T ALTERED!!

Well, I am waiting to get the card back from SGC. "Experts" aren't perfect whether they work for a grading company or if they don't. I never ran it under a black light, but I will when it returns. On the slim chance that you did miss this one, how would you want to handle the return?

David



Wednesday, August 16, 2006 6:31 PM



Brian -- Attached are the two scans of the card (front and back) from SGC. There is only one tiny area on part of a crease that is colored, but the card is definitely altered as it shows up under a black light. Now I realize that this likely happened years before you ever even acquired it, so I am not accusing you of anything in any way. All I am asking for is a refund of the price paid. Please let me know the best way to accomplish this. Thanks.

David Vargha



8/21/06 (via eBay):

Hellloooo!!!!!!!! Answer my e-mails or . . . ?


Almost immediately:

RETURN THE CARD AND DO NOT BID IN ANY MORE OF MY AUCTIONS!!

Well, I did send him back the card per his instructions USPS insured with delivery confirmation for my protection. Here is the status of the delivery:


Label/Receipt Number: 0304 1560 0006 9423 1619
Status: Unclaimed

Your item was returned to the sender on October 11, 2006 because it was not claimed by the addressee.

I telephoned this rip-off artist and he didn't return my call either. I have spoken with several collectors who have similar horror stories. I am only posting this here as a warning after exhausting all efforts to legitimately handle this between Brian and me. Thanks for listening to my venting.

(Title Edited)


DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: t206king

thanks for the heads up

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Posted By: John S

David,

I am sorry to hear that your situation was handled in this manner. I have had nothing but positive dealings with Brian in the past (but was always a bit leary of his feedback). However, I will think twice about bidding on his items in the future. It always amazes me that sellers will allow their reputations to damaged rather than losing a sale. You even gave him an out by stating that the alteration was performed in the distant past and not by him. Will SGC grade the card as authentic?

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Posted By: Brian

Thanks David for sharing. Too many people have bad experiences on ebay or the BST board here and never speak up...

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Posted By: Bob Pomilla

Like John, I too have had positive experiences with this dealer. However, after this, I won't deal with him further. Sorry about your experience, David, but appreciate the heads-up.

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I've bid on many of his auctions and he's seen my last bid.

It's amazing to me what poor business skills some people have. Not only is it poor customer service, but all you have to do is look at David's feedback and purchase history to understand that you just lost an excellent customer forever.

"Expert" indeed.

-Al

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Posted By: kyle lentine

I have only delt with him a very few times, a while back. He took a long time to respond by email and resposes were usually one or two words, when more than one or two words were needed for a proper response.
Sorry to hear that happen.
Just out of curiousity, how much did you pay for the card

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I've won a couple of auctions from him with no hassles. I often wondered why I won the auctions with lower than expected bidding. This could be the reason why.

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Posted By: leon

I have no problem bringing issues with individuals to the board. You can't remain anonymous in any posts in these threads though. regards

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Posted By: David Vargha

John: I think that they would if they were asked to.

Kyle: About $250

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

positive and negative experiences with him. More positive than negative slightly. He's definitely computer challenged. He doesn't do his auctions justice with either photos or with descriptions and he's definitely difficult. I recently won 3 auctions from him on the same day minutes apart and he sends me 3 separate emails with 3 separate postage and handling charges totalling $14+ for basically 15-20 non-sport tobacco cards. Nothing bulky, etc. I email him asking to combine shipping and he drops it WAAAAAYYY down to $10.00. Not jazzed about that. That said, I did win some really nice non-sports A&G lots from him a few months back that went for a song. He's a former David Festberg (where the crap is he now........) protege I think. That would explain a LOT.........

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I had the same problem when I won multiple auctions from him quite a while back....It took him forever to finally reply to me with a combined invoice, but everything worked out in the end. Sorry to hear about this latest problem.

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Posted By: CATAQUET

Dave, there is no way i can give you a refund when you had the card in your possession for over two months and then you decide to return it because of a third party opinion. also, card is exchanging hands with 3 parties (who knows who). Most dealers do not give refunds when a buyer holds the cards for Two months. From my experience its usually a 7-10 day return policy, not over two months. Sorry.

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

that response, my friends, speaks volumes.

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Posted By: Anonymous

--

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Posted By: Seth B.

- Edited - No point in stating the obvious.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

It's a freaking $250 card - give Dave a refund. I sold someone a mostly raw set for over 3K and the kid decided he didn't want it after receiving it. I agreed to an immediate refund. Life is short, you know?

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Posted By: cataquet

DAVID, I'll tell you what i am going to do. I am going to refund your $250.00 and i want you to keep the card. E mail me your address to my email address. Does that satisfy you. I hope it does.

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Posted By: JimB

Catequet,
You are not only losing one customer with a response like that. Act in your own self-interest and refund him the money.
JimB

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Posted By: Frank Evanov

Thanks for the heads-up David. I will not bid on anything from this guy.

Frank

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Posted By: steve f

Do a hundred things right and noone remembers, do one thing wrong and noone forgets. I'd bought from you in the past and was pleased. Glad you're doing the decent thing and now realize that sending out for grading can take damn near a month at times. Good karma for you.

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Posted By: Paul

Most stated return policies are not long enough for a buyer to send a raw card to grading, & recieve it back in time to return it. I'm not a seller, but will be someday. I would give atleast a 30 day return policy to allow for grading, but in reality I would do just about anything/anytime within reason to make things right. Also, I would give refunds on graded cards. David I hope it all works out ok. I know from this board that your one of the good guys in the hobby.

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Posted By: joseph

I won some low value cards and everything went ok except he' s slow to email you. Brian has received my last bid if this going to be his attitude on a bogus deal. Two months is a long time but if he doesn't stand behind his product, then he is just a scam artist.

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Posted By: bigfish

David,
sorry you had such a bad shake on this 250 dollar card!!! Your money should have been returned no questions asked. I will shy away from his auctions and thanks for the heads up.

That myspace link is outrageous. The back drop is classic.

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Posted By: leon

I have dealt with Brian C several times. He's a little brash but not a scammer. He does cards for a living. He did report me to ebay as a non paying bidder one time, on about a $30 card, after I emailed him saying I spaced it and was a few days late on payment. I told him that he really should contact buyers first in case of an honest oversight. He did apologize but not sure he understood what I was really saying. I think his (hi Brian if you are reading) customer service and bedside manner could use some work. For the record when I sell a raw card I give 90 days to get it graded...and of course guarantee all to be good.....unless otherwise stated. Many sellers lose money by their reputation.

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Posted By: Anonymous

the first myspace.com baseball ad...

http://www.myspace.com/tobeeecat

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

"Many sellers lose money by their reputation."

Exactly.

In an arena where sales are made through an internet medium, in a hobby dominated by word of mouth, reputation is everything (for a seller OR a buyer). And when you sell a card to someone - particularly someone who's name is all over the hobby message boards and is obviously well-liked and respected - you'd think it would be a no-brainer to do the right thing, and not wait until it's splashed all over the boards.

Do the right thing immediately, right off the bat, and you've got a customer for life. Wait for your error to become public, and you're stuck doing damage control. It's the same in any business, but particularly so in such a small hobby niche.

We're all bidding on the same items from the same sellers all day long, using the same grading companies and then sharing our experiences on the message boards. Your actions define you, in more ways than one.

-Al

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Posted By: Judd Hamlin

more than I needed... and could use some eye bleach and mental floss to get those images out of my mind. The photos are a bit subtle tho...
Where is Festberg these days anyway?

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Posted By: T206Collector

It was my T206 O'Hara (St. Louis) and I got a great deal on it because it was not graded and because the scan was lousy and because the auction was not written particularly, well, professionally. When I made that purchase, the only reason I did it was because I work in the same city as he lives and if I had an issue, I could always file in small claims court. But I also understood that caveat emptor might apply.

I definitely agree with the concept of keeping up customer relations as a seller for purposes of generating goodwill and all, but I think it is a little much to fully expect a refund on a card that SGC returns as color added two months after the sale.

At some point, the buyer has to accept at least some of the risk of the sale.

In this case, I would have refunded the money, no questions asked. But I would not have been particularly happy with the buyer's tone in his e-mails. I would have preferred he discuss potential solutions to make both parties happy -- perhaps a refund of some of the sale price -- especially given the fact that two months passed before the card was returned.

Finally, if you buy a raw card on ebay, you should not assume that it will grade. Quite the contrary. If you buy a raw card on ebay worth more than $50, you have to ask yourself why the seller didn't spend the $8 to have it graded. Sure, there are plenty of legit high value raw cards out there, but still, that is a big red flag for me. Especially, when you are buying a raw card for less than top dollar from a questionable seller. You are just inviting trouble.

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Posted By: Steve M.

not at all what I expected based on his ebay persona.

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Posted By: peter ullman

that myspace ad is hilarious...mr mint jr! i've dealt w/tobeecat a few times...the outcome was always positive...but the process was tedious and he told me not to bid on any more of his auctions when i complained about not combining shipping! but yes...a handsome fellow! I'm not gay by the way!

pete in mn

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Posted By: Jason L

I tell ya what, life is too short to deal with mean-spirited people, and lots of other people have cards that I could buy...perhaps I will write to him and request to be banned, so I don't accidentally happen upon one of his auctions and make the mistake of bidding!

Thanks for the heads-up, David

Jason L

edited to add:
Pete in mn, not that there's anything wrong with that!

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Posted By: John Harrell

He has stuff up for auction now on Evilbay and I was tempted to bid until I looked at some feedback and now heard from the board. Based on his self-promotion, sounds like he's cut from the Alan Hager cloth.

John

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Posted By: Tim Newcomb

This one brings up a bunch of thoughts so I'll just list them. I'm trying both to call it as I see it, and to be fair to all sides.

1. I always cringe when Tobeeecat lists something I am interested in because of the pain of reading his auction copy and emails. He is obnoxious and lacks class. His feedback is terrible for good reason. That said, I'll bid if I want the item and will often get it for a half-decent price. I've never had any issues with the shipping or the items. They are no more overgraded than most ebay items are.

2. Given tobeee's stated desire to be a "player," it makes no sense to refuse to refund the money for this card and keep a buyer happy-- especially given the danger that the disgruntled buyer will come on this board and call him a nasty name (which I DO think should have been edited from the message title) which will then bring a bunch of other people out of the woodwork and pile on by making fun of the guy's education, appearance, computer skills, and overall emulation of Mr. Mint.

3. I'm no defender of tobeeecat's actions, and I have nothing whatsoever against David V., but as a principle I have to agree with T206 that it's unreasonable to expect a refund after two months on a subtly altered card that won't grade.
--On a card that's not authentic, yes, absolutely.
--On a card that's so obviously altered that the seller could not have missed it, and should have mentioned it-- that card you send back right away for a refund and don't try to grade.

But in this day and age, I don't think you can expect to grab a rare card like that for a low ungraded price, send it in hoping to increase its value by 50-100%, discover it can't be graded, and demand your money back months later. That is putting an unreasonable burden on a seller.

To me the fact that a knowledgeable buyer himself felt it was gradeable absolves the seller from the responsibility of knowing it was altered. If a buyer is willing to commit to saying he sees an alteration himself, he deserves an immediate refund. If he has to rely on a professional third-party opinion to decide, he doesn't, because the alteration was therefore too subtle for the seller to be expected to know. Hence the logic of the typical 7-day refund limit.

The other side of this equation: if a seller tries to slab a card and it doesn't grade, this should be disclosed to prospective buyers.

But to me this is the risk you take buying ungraded cards on the net -- Not unless the seller stated specifically that the card was unaltered and would receive a numerical grade.

The card can be graded "AU" by SGC or GAI. That, to me, is all the buyer can expect in this situation.

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I disagree with Tim and T206 here.

To me, it looks like David didn't wait months to ask for the refund - he asked immediately. He was told by the seller (after some arguing and ignoring at least one email) that he could return the card for a refund. All that happened in late August, if you look at the dates.

David may have waited a bit to return the card, but the seller should have taken it back anyway. He knew it was coming back, told David to send it, and then refused it when it finally arrived. Considering that David sent the seller scans of the card back in August, he could have easily opened the package and compared the card to the scan, in an effort to make sure nothing more was done to the card during that extra time.

And I most definitely don't think of recoloring as a subtle alteration. Regardless of whether or not it takes a grading company to detect it, recoloring is typically an alteration that was made for purposes of deception. That's precisely what grading companies are for, and a buyer shouldn't be penalized for missing the alteration.

-Al

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Posted By: John J. Grillo

I agree with Al and David. This is a "no-brainer" in my opinion. The Seller, whether or not they have a return policy, should not be selling altered cards unless advertised as such. The buyer is entitled to a refund--whether they waited one week or two weeks is irrelevant. The Seller agreed to the refund, the buyer shipped the card, and the seller refused the package from USPS. It's a shame the buyer had to go through all this stress and only a post on this public forum made the seller change his tune.

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

This is not the first thread about Brian and his poor history, it is reflected in his feedback. If you bid on anyone with a feedback as low as his it is always a buyer beware because I seriously doubt whether the seller is going to change. It is the sellers loss because he is not getting top dollar for what he is selling.

everytime Brian has came on this board he has never written anything that changes the fact he is a poor business man.

Lee

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

This is going to rehash an old topic -

How long should a seller be bound for a return on goods?

What if the seller provided a 30 day return policy? Is this sufficient?

What if the seller gave 30 days no questions asked or 60 days for people that can provide a grading service flip that indicates an alteration?

What happens if you buy a card that is advertised as ExMt from the seller but it comes back VG from the grading service?

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Posted By: John J. Grillo

Fred...What you have written above seems absolutely fair in my opinion.

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Posted By: T206Collector

My only point is that if the seller does not specify in his listing how long should he can be bound for a return on goods, then you should not assume that there is a return policy at all and you should ask questions first before placing a bid. After that, you are relying on your own expectation for a return policy which may or may not be shared by the seller and which may or may not be objectively reasonable.

I do want to respond to this one:

"What happens if you buy a card that is advertised as ExMt from the seller but it comes back VG from the grading service?"

Oftentimes raw cards are sold raw for a reason -- they look ExMt, but have spider wrinkles. You have to factor this into your bidding on a raw card. You do not deserve a refund unless the seller guarantees that it will grade what he says it will -- which no one ever does precisely because they know they are grading more liberally than, say, SGC.

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Posted By: Rhys

The first few times I dealt with Brian, it was bad. Once I learned what type of a seller he was though, it wasn't too horrible. You just have to remember a few things. He doesn't take paypal, he WILL file a non-paying bidder complaint with ebay afer 7 days 0 hours and 1 minute have passed since the auction ended, but you also WILL get the card or memorabilia for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the price it will go for from another dealer. I have probably done over 50 buys from him on ebay over the last 5-7 years. Each time I have been more than happy with the product once it arrived, you just have to know what to expect if you are going to go down that road.

Rhys

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Posted By: CATAQUET

David, i recieved your email with your address and a money order for $250.00 was mailed to you on 10/12. Again, keep the card i dont want it. I hope this relieves your anxiety and you can sleep better @ night. Happy Collecting to all.

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Posted By: Eric PUgh

This tobyidiot is a complete and total moron. To the point of humor.

I have dealt with Vargha and he is TOTAL class and integrity. Toby - read what people say on these boards, examine how you treat people and business, and then just do the opposite of your instincts for the rest of your life.

It sucks to deal with buttholes like toby - thanks Vargha for the heads up as I will note never to buy from this clown.

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Posted By: BcD

He sells cards for a living!!!!!!!!!! He really has no idea what he is doing and is more like a flea market vendor. I have had seven negatives ( duplicates from two people) in 6000 feedbacks and he was one of them. I'll never buy again either from him either. He need to get his GED!

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Posted By: Cobby33

NOBODY on this Board has perfect grammar, spelling, etc. In fact, nobody I've ever met (or read) possesses this quality. Sadly, though I teach a Legal Writing class, I'm far from perfect as well.
I cringe when I see poor grammar, spelling, syntax, etc., but there are as many people with special needs out there, as there are lazy people who don't want to take the time to be intelligible, so maybe we should ease up a little on that.

Edited to add: I'll refrain from pointing out the subject/verb disagreement (or simply a typo) in a previous posting on this topic...

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Posted By: Shooty

I've always had good luck with Brian's auctions. This doesn't excuse him from not taking care of other people, of course. When I liquidated some cards to raise cash for an expensive Negro league card I had a chance to buy, I got great returns on the cards I had bought from his auctions. I think with a little time, he could be making those returns himself. Here's hoping.

--Chad

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Not concerning this partcular dispute, I think authenticity should be guaranteed for life-- with the caviat that if a buyer takes four years to return a 1969T Willie Mays he shouldn't be suprised if the seller rememebers neither the card nor the buyer. For a four year wait on a 69T Mays, the buyer should keep the the receipt and a convincing argument he is returning the same card.

For condition, the return period can reasonably be much shorter, even a week, as any collector can make a reasonable judgment of the condition. When he receives it, the buyer can inspect the card, judge if the condition matches the advertised description and decide whether or not to keep it. If the buyer and the seller agree on grade, what's to argue? ... Now, if there was a seller's guarantee that the card would professionally grade at a certain grade, that would be different.

For alteration, which sort of falls between grade and authenticty, the period should be in between, much closer to grading. While a seller should refund for undescribed alterations, it's fair for a seller to be paranoid about what did or did not happen to card since the five years he sold it.

It should be noted that most arguments are settled beforehand when the authenticity/return period is stated as part of the sales description. Stating the terms saves problems for both the buyer and the seller. While my ideal guarantee is that authenticity is guaranteed until infitity, if an eBay seller states the buyer has a finite time to get it authenticated by a grader I have no argument with their policy.

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Posted By: barrysloate

If a collector buys a raw card intending to get it graded, I think it should be done as quickly as possible. That way if a dispute does arise it can be taken care of in a reasonable and timely manner. I've had collectors complain about cards that came back altered or with some problem and then admitted they waited a month or two before they sent them in. I think buyer and seller need to work together on this issue.

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Posted By: Jason L

Lots of opinions here on this, and all seem reasonable, but from my own experience, I think that with the proliferation and accessibility of professional grading, you are better off entertaining a healthy dose of skepticism about the product if you buy raw.

I don't know about others, but there is no way in heck that I can reliably receive a card, ship it off to PSA immediately, pay for quick service, and hope to get it back in time to comply with a seller's return policy. It's just not going to happen and that is one of my limitations that I have accepted - life is just too busy. So now if I buy raw, I am prepared to live with the consequences. Lesson learned. Raw Mantle came back trimmed. thinking about it now, why would any good-looking Mantle be raw? duh.

At any rate, buy graded, check feedback, check seller's history of items sold, don't assume a return policy, check for reasonable shipping costs, make sure seller accepts your form of payment, close your eyes and click.

one thing to count on as home equity withdrawals continue to drive escalating hobby prices - the more money involved, the more incentive exists to cheat...sad, but it really brings out the hacks

Sorry for the long rambling...just recently stung, so I can relate to David's irritation

Jason L

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Posted By: davidcycleback

One thing to do is to become knowledgeable and experienced and be able to judge the
card yourself. One may not be able send all one's cards to PSA or SGC, but one can
can learn to judge grade, make a decent opinion on authenticity and see obvious signs
of alteration.

Obviously, making sound choices about who to buy raw cards from is, well, sound.
And there's a difference between buying a raw 1974 Kelloggs Willie Stargell from
a stranger on eBay and a raw 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth. Just as there's a difference
between sending a total stranger $20 via PayPal and sending a stranger $125,000 via
PayPal (see other thread about T206 Honus Wagner where seller accepts PayPal only).