A little while ago I had a 70cm repeater for sale - MSR2000. Nice solid unit with manuals, spares and the duplexer. I posted it on the net and got quite a few replies. One of them happened to be John's. He offered to trade his Icom 6m transceiver (with a rare FM board), MFJ TNC and Astatic mike. I told him that I was unable to to trade with him as I was already working out a trade with a fellow in New Jersey. He (John) was all over me like a wet t-shirt telling me
how great it would be to have this unit in Northern B.C. for the hams to play with it there, yadda, yadda, yadda. He would email me three or four times a day trying to see if I had completed the transaction with the Jersey ham. Fortunately, for John, the deal fell through and I told John that the repeater is his and started making plans to make the exchange. I told him that I would prefer if we both sent our packages collect at the same time.
Well, a couple of days before I sent my package out, John mentioned that he has to go to a hospital for two weeks for some surgery (that was around Oct.1, 2003). I told him I was going to send the package regardless and was hoping he would do the same.
Two weeks went by....nothing. One more week went by....nothing. I emailed John to see if he was back and if everything went ok at the hospital. Couple of days later he replied saying that he was too weak and will pick up the packages at the depot in a few days.Two weeks went by.....nothing. I emailed him again.....no reply. Then I hopped on the net to see if there has been a problem in dealings with this individual. To my horror I found a few people on the QTH.COM forum that either got ripped off or received damaged goods, etc.
Boy, did this ever leave a sour taste in my mouth.
That same day I called the depot, where John was supposed to pick up the packages I sent him. They informed me that the packages are
still there and that John was aware of it as he has visited that depot to send some stuff out. I was also told that if he doesn't pick up the packages until a certain day, they will be sent to me at my cost plus the cost of sending them up
there in the first place (that's about $230 Canadian). I was able to get John's phone number.... I called a few times to no avail as his answering machine was picking up my calls at the very first ring.
So I emailed him again......nothing until a few days later when he emailed back apologizing for not getting to me sooner and that he will get it all done within a couple of days. That was 2 weeks ago. I just called the depot and they
informed me the packages are on their way back and as such, I am $230 in the hole.
Advice for anyone who is considering any sort of a deal with this man.....BE AWARE. Make sure that before you send anything to this guy, get your money (or whatever you're trading) first. Make sure you don't send anything to this guy
collect because you will be on the hook for shipping it up there and back again if he doesn't pick it up.
I will pay the $230 but at least I will have the repeater back. Seeing how others have been ripped off by this guy, I think it's worth it.
Now that I have vented....does anyone want to buy or trade for a MSR2000 UHF repeater?
