QTH.COM Swap Chat

There is some justice in this world, but sometimes very slow in coming. A famous amateur scam artist from California (name withheld) was found dead of unknown causes in Southern California last year. For awhile he owned a ham radio store in the Sacramento Area (not the Radio Place, who were good legitimate guys) and he did the following:
1. Took gear in on consignment, then sold it, and told the owner it had been ripped off.
2. Took gear in for repair, repaired it, then sold it to someone else and told the owner that it had been stolen from the store.
3. Took money from other hams for stuff that he didn't even have, and of course never delivered.
4. Listed stuff on Ebay auctions, and collected the money, but never shipped the items sold.
5. Bought electronic inventories from other businesses, and sold the merchandise, but never paid the original owner as he had agreed.
6. Talked elderly people into "investing" their life savings in his business for a promised "huge" return, and then burned them for their money.
7. His "repairs" were equally bad. For instance I inspected a tape recorder he had repaired, and found rubber bands instead of the proper drive belts. Radios with improper transistors installed. Uncounable cold solder joints, etc.
8. He also scammed his employees, getting them to work for free (in one case for 40 hours a week, for an entire year) on the promise of giving them items from a huge non-existant shipment of ham gear, he claimed was coming from Japan.

After the Ebay scam, he had his legs broken (he claimed the wind had slammed the car door on his legs), but one wonders.

Then he was found dead in his apartment in Southern California. When a QST went out about his death, most of the hams in California laughed about it and traded stories of some of his most famous ripoffs.

Since he can no longer pull his numbers on other hams, I have withheld his name in respect for his parents and children. However, I am sure there are hundreds of West Coast hams who know exactly who I am talking about.

C'mon Inquiring minds want to know. Who was this "person?"

Why bother posting it? Half truths are meaningless.

Could be any of of a hundred people. Southern California has a lot of hams, most good, some bad.

If you wished to respect his family, you should not have posted anything.

Good Old Karma

Well what goes around comes around my XYL always says, depends on yer belief, just for laughs ..

I wonder what happened what he had to cross the river rip off the coins to pay the Man operating the boat

Thats one religion.

Ghost ever seen that movie Ghost maybe the Dark Creatures hauled him away .

India belief , Maybe the Dude will come back in the next life as a Fly

Sci Fi : He turned into a Maggot .

Christain Belief : the Guy in the White Throne will have a chat at the end of this age you can only speculate.

Imagine away...

we dont do credit here, so we seldom get ripped off by paypal or any other disreputable vendor or hamfest seller. besides, I always get a call sign and a phone # before I buy, and I check the equipment out before I leave the store or hamfest, as far as buying over the internet, forget it. a lot of websites are safe to deal with, and some are not. how can you know the difference? you wont until you get burned. I was burned real bad once by a ham up in vermont on ebay. after all the hassle was over with, I was stuck with a junk radio I paid a premium price for, a raging temper, and a firm resolve to never buy anything over the internet ever again. so unless I know you, or can meet you at YOUR home to see the stuff, or can get your call and phone # at a hamfest, I AM NOT BUYING YOUR JUNK !!!!!!!!!! (ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS EXCEPTED, THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE)

Fred:

I AM NOT BUYING YOUR JUNK !!!!!!!!!!

Gee... Who is "YOUR"? Every reader of the message? Are all sellers cheaters? Are all Internet sellers are just like the guy on eBay?

Anyone that buys ham gear from anywhere (vendors, manufacturers, Internet, hamfests, individuals in their own shack, whatever...) can get burned once in a while. (Remember the Yaesu FT-100? Hundreds of new ones sold that were defective.)

So deal with it. Ninety-nine percent of licensed hams are honest people wanting to enjoy the hobby.

(ANTIQUE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS EXCEPTED, THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE)

Huh? Do this mean that all people who are not members AWA are dishonest bums willing to sell junk? Does this mean that all others, not AWA members, are BAD PEOPLE?

Confusing...

K4ICL

Let me say to you and all hams : fool me once and shame on you, fool me twice and shame on me. Yes, this is a tired old cliche, but it works for me. When I sell a piece of equipment I include a qsl card so there is no mistake where the radio came from. The ham who bought something from me knows exactly how to get in touch with me. That way if he or she is dissatisfied with me or the rig we can cancel the deal, they return the rig, and I cheerfully refund the money. This is the way all deals should work.
When you get burned for as much money as I did, it takes a long time for a person to trust anybody as much as YOU seem to. Money comes hard to me, I wasnt born to family wealth, and I dont do the credit thing. So every dollar I spend has to be planned ahead, scrimping and saving, and dreaming on it until I have the CASH to pay for it. Small wonder I'm so bitter about a bad deal.
Yes, I make a distinction between AWA members and the rest of the ham community. Unless I am mistaken, we still live in a free country, and I can order my life, think my thoughts, do my business, without seeking permission from anybody else, ever. I do agree with you that more than 90% of the hams worldwide are good honest people who I wouldnt hesitate to invite to dinner or let them operate my station. But - over the internet - how can you tell if a ham is part of that 90% plus "honest people" ? You just cant. A callsign without a face or voice, you must admit you a incurring a substantial risk every time you buy something. To date, every purchase i've made from an AWA member has been a satisfying experience and the parts,tubes, or radios have performed exactly as described. So I think that I am entirely correct in stating that AWA members are good people to deal with. Is this opinion ok with you ? I've also dealt with the people at hro, the ham station, communication concepts, mfj, and vis over the recent, and not so recent past, and been satisfied with their products. So I'm not the ogre or idiot you assume me to be. You may take what risks you wish with your money, but forgive me if I take the policy " trust but verify". It is the safe thing to do.
bye & 73's from the "Heart of Dixie"
fred

Fred:

I think most would be in agreement with just about everything you said in your last posting. Thanks for taking the time to expand on your previous posting.

As for my self, I tend to be a little less cautious than you in some regards. I do verify ID and even go so far to learn what I can from the Internet. Sometimes what others post about a the other guy's previous deal helps with knowing the other trader's reputation and that, too, is useful. I have met a lot of good hams by selling, buying and trading on the Internet as well as hamfests and that is the good side. I met but two flakes and one out and out dishonest person. He failed to pay as promised and, in the process, gave up his honor forever, all for a lousy $72.00. Score so far: Good guys 143, Crooks and Flakes, 3.

'nough said.

K4ICL

Sometimes, when I get on my soapbox, I am not entirely clear in expressing myself the first time I open my mouth. I enjoy amateur radio very much and when some jerk reduces the fun I get a little irate. I've just gotten online with a lot of help from my friend Richard, WB4BYQ and discovered that online chat about ham radio is fun and enlightening. But I must be careful about my grouchy side, because I do tend to stir up some people now and then if I'm speaking my mind. On the local 2 meter simplex freq. we talk about a lot of stuff that isn't appropiate on the repeaters and everybody has their own soapbox handy. Ripoff artists at hamfests is the favorite subject, with licence restructuring next, and of course awarding the "DFO" award of the month to a deserving candidate ( I got one for calling a net on the wrong repeater one time, embarassing ! ). But we must get the word out that extreme care is needed when buying anything over the internet or from somebody you don't know. Caveat Emptor ( buyer beware ) is the rule and we all get rudely reminded of this when we forget about it. Sometimes I daydream about that fellow up in vermont, maybe mounting an so-239 in an appropiate place and hooking him up to my sb-200 to see if he radiates well enough to get a special WAS, but this is only a dream. Picturing this in your mind ought to get a chuckle or two.


As you say, nough said !
73's friend from
Fred- ka2hlw

Fred:

Its been a long time since I had such a good laugh. Thanks for making my day.

AL