Forum Member Dilemma

[Leon]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Hope you all have your popcorn ready!

I am the member being discussed here.

The site registration. Yup, I totally entered fake info. Guilty. When I first heard of this site (mentioned in a reddit comment), I wanted simply to check it out, and when prompted to enter a bunch of personal info (as so many websites do these days), I entered the first thing that came to mind - a portmanteau of two Mets players from my youth.

I added my real name to my signature/avatar/whatever-it's-called probably sometime last year. I have no problem sharing any info with Leon or anyone else at this point, as I now know that this is not some spammy website that wants to sell my data, but a community of real people, many of whom have met each other in person. Had I thought to retroactively change it in the system, and had I known it was possible (I'm not sure if it is), I would have. I fully accept it if Leon and/or others come to view this as a form of irredeemable deception. I certainly regret it, if for no other reason than that it will have caused some in here to doubt my integrity.

The returned card. Not guilty by reason of being a moron.

Some background: the member who was selling this card, whom I'll call "Dave" (not their real name) and I have done B/S/T deals prior to the one being discussed, and have had what I have viewed as great relationship, talking cards generally and such. He even referred to me another member when I asked him about some cards, and I later ended up purchasing some from this other member. (This is relevant to what I write later on.)

The transaction: Yes, as unlikely it seems many responding to this thread will believe, I truly thought was a crack in the slab. I have attached more pictures to show how it looked from other angles. I feel incredibly stupid knowing how we got to this point, but that it what I'm guilty of.

Had I simply had buyer's remorse (I didn't, as the card itself was nicer than in the pictures Dave had sent me, and it was a HOFer at a fair price), I would have simply told him so, and with confidence that he would have gladly accepted it back.

So, I took these photos (within minutes of opening the package) and send them to Dave, asking him what he wants to do. He acknowledged the perceived slab damage when I sent him the photos, and apologized. He asked me to send it back so that he could make a USPS insurance claim. I immediately shipped it back to him (about one week ago) and sent him the tracking number.

I woke up Monday to find that Leon had banned my account, and had no idea why. Dave had not contacted me when he received the card back. Had he done so, I would have gladly accepted the card back and paid the shipping. When Leon explained to me the reasons for the account ban, I contacted Dave again and he had this to say:

"I almost had sent the claim off to the post office too but wanted to snap one last pic before I did...glad I did."

I wrote back to him that, despite his being apparently convinced that I intentionally "faked" a damaged slab (it would never have occurred to me to do that, nor do I understand what it is I would have been trying to accomplish by doing so), I find notable the fact that that he also, with the card in hard, thought it was damaged until the very last second before mailing it out. (And Dave has been in the hobby for decades, as opposed to me, who never handled a slabbed card until early 2020!)

As far as my reputation, I have done deals on here with everyone listed in my signature, and I am confident that not one of them will have a single bad thing to say about me.

That's about all for now I suppose. Whatever Leon and/or the group decides, I have enjoyed being a part of this community and I wish you all the best.

Matthew (my real name)

and what was actually said...

Hi Matthew
Been a busy day. Sorry. Here is the photo of the crack you sent me...and the after picture. It was not loose, it was not cracked. It was a piece of packing tape that peeled right off.

I almost had sent the claim off to the post office too but wanted to snap one last pic before I did...glad I did.

Bad optic.
__________________________________________________ ____________
and the response

Hi "Dave",

Wow. I was sure it was a crack in the slab. It felt like one and looked like one from every angle. I wanted the card and was extremely disappointed at finding that it had evidently been damaged.

If you think I deliberately did that to mislead you, I don't know what to tell you. I don't know why, based on our previous exchanges, why you would immediately assume the worst about me.

It's quite unfortunate that instead of contacting me (I gladly would have taken the card back), you complained to Leon, and I guess he's going to ignore my message to him about what the heck happened.

Matthew
__________________________________________________ ____________


So that was a little spin imo.....not the end of the world but not what the seller said...
And for the record I never, ever ignore messages. Sometimes I need to find a few things out before I pm back..

Lastly, Matthew will get an infraction for the phony registration and we can move on. Happy collecting!


...LL