If anyone is thinking of buying gear from a US amateur please be very
careful.
About three months ago I put a message in the group to say that I was
looking for a G3SEK tetrode board. Ian was out of stock as was Toms
Tubes. A US amateur emailed me to say that he had a kit which was
surplus to his requirements and offered it to me for $150.00. He didn't
have a Paypal account and I don't like Western Union so I arranged for a
friend in the USA to send him a USD postal order by recorded delivery.
It all checked out. His address is the same as qrz.com and his callsign
quite well known, the emails were friendly. He gave me his cell number.
A Google search brings up several references to him.
He received the postal order on 16 August and acknowledged it by email
to me. But as of today I have still not received the boards. On four
seperate occasions by email or when I have called him he has promised
that they will be mailed "tomorrow" and made the excuse he has been busy
and I shouldn't worry. For the past month he has ignored my emails.
Half of me (the warm hearted half that believes in ham spirit) thinks
this is all OK, that the boards will arrive eventually and there is a
reasonable explanation. The other half of me is getting twitchy.
Repeated promises and excuses. Surely it doesn't take over ten weeks to
mail a packet? It has also been very frustrating because I have a
project ready to install the boards in.
If any of this is ringing any bells and you have a similar story please
contact me so we can compare notes. If any of you are thinking of buying
something from a US amateur, please email me off-board before parting
with your cash.
In the meantime I'm taking advice and looking at ways I might either get
my boards or my money back. But it's not easy when the transaction is in
the USA and I'm in the UK. I'd welcome any suggestions or advice.
Regards
Paul G4DCV
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