imjoesnuffy
I just break stuff!
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2005
Evidently I am a sucker who fell off the turnip truck, and I was born last night. It is painful for me to admit what a pure dumb@$$ I was with this whole deal. Hindsight is 20/20. If you get nothing from this thread, learn how not to get taken like I did.
Anyone know a Robert Paslawski from Canada? Uses the name robpas on the gnttype board. His email is roughcut@cogeco.ca
He posted a set of Brand new, never been installed, "ceramic coated Kenne Bell Hot Air Headers" on the other board. He originally wanted $950 for them. Then lowered his price to $700. He told me that they were his brother's who died and they had never been installed on any car. That they had been in a closet for the past 4 yrs. Sob, sob, boo hoo. Telling me how he really needs the money going thru a hard time blah, blah. blah. He only had one post at the time on that board. I told him I didn't feel secure buying them from him with only one post. I told him to put them up on ebay and I would consider it.
Well he puts them up on ebay, he has a feedback rating over 100 with 100% positive. I call him back and tell him I will take them at the end of the auction, he gives me the same sob story about needing the money sooner rather than later. He cancels the auction, I paypal him $729. I get the headers about two weeks later, but never really got a chance to go over them closely. The package arrived, they were what was in the pics, nice, shiney, pretty, dreams of going faster running around in my head.
Well I ended up putting the install on them on the back burner, was still busy modifying my Hot Air car, with several other projects. Got them late August toasted my crankshaft early October.
I decided to go with an 87 setup, so I am in the process of selling off the Hot Air performance products. For those of you that don't know, performance Hot Air items are extremely hard to come by. Just try finding a 3" DP for a hot air car, let alone headers.
I pull them out of the box a couple weeks ago, to dust them off, to sell them. What do I see? Old gasket material in the gaps on the collector flange??? Wait a second, is that media in the gap between the pipe and the flange from being media blasted??? Is that a small rusted crack on the collector??? Sonofa....
Immediately I email Robert. I try to find his # on my caller ID. Try finding his email that I had already deleted. Email him again. Contact Paypal, resolution center, useless because it had been over 45 days. PMs had already been deleted. I contacted my county attorney, can't/won't do anything because I don't have enough information on him, and he is not in the US. I am up the creek and you know which creek that is, nevermind the paddle.
Well in my haste I didn't research Kenne Bell Hot Air Headers. Didn't bother looking for pics of them. As you all know Kenne Bell items are hard to come by. With the price he was asking, I assumed they were legit, well we all know what happens when we assume. Come to find out they are Hooker Headers, yes they are ceramic coated, but they have been used, media blasted and then ceramic coated. Are they useable? Absolutely, are they worth $700 plus shipping. Not even close. You can buy new ceramic coated headers from Summit for $669. These are probably worth $400, maybe.
This was one of the first purchases from any member on any board and this was the result. I am relatively new to the TR community. Still learning more than I know about these cars. I have communicated with a few great people within this community and I won't let this one incident tarnish my image of TR owners.
Lessons learned here:
1. Know who you are dealing with. Check the feedback forum before purchasing. Don't purchase from someone with only a few posts.
2. Know what you are supposed to be buying, or think you are buying. Do lots of research on it before you start looking or shopping around. Know what it is supposed to look like! Use the advanced search functions.
3. Ask questions about everything.
4. If using an outside trusted party, i.e. (ahum)Ebay, stick with it, don't let them talk you into buying outside of the auction.
5. No matter how sad the story, don't go against your gut feeling, or your better judgement. I am a bit of a softy, I have seen poverty in the truest sense of the word in many countries throughout the world. Don't fall for it. Thats what cost me.
6. As soon as the item arrives, go over it with a fine tooth comb.
7. Keep all contact information on the buyer.
8. The saying still holds true, "A fool and his many are soon parted." I was the fool, learn from my mistake. I certainly won't make it again.
I am in the military, values are very important to me. We are defined by our values and beliefs. To me Integrity is one of the most important. Doing the right thing even if you know you can get away without doing it right. I thought the same thing of Robert Paslawski, but I was clearly wrong. Some day Karma will come around to him, it always does. Buyers beware. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer in tracking him down.
Thanks in advance,
John
Anyone know a Robert Paslawski from Canada? Uses the name robpas on the gnttype board. His email is roughcut@cogeco.ca
He posted a set of Brand new, never been installed, "ceramic coated Kenne Bell Hot Air Headers" on the other board. He originally wanted $950 for them. Then lowered his price to $700. He told me that they were his brother's who died and they had never been installed on any car. That they had been in a closet for the past 4 yrs. Sob, sob, boo hoo. Telling me how he really needs the money going thru a hard time blah, blah. blah. He only had one post at the time on that board. I told him I didn't feel secure buying them from him with only one post. I told him to put them up on ebay and I would consider it.
Well he puts them up on ebay, he has a feedback rating over 100 with 100% positive. I call him back and tell him I will take them at the end of the auction, he gives me the same sob story about needing the money sooner rather than later. He cancels the auction, I paypal him $729. I get the headers about two weeks later, but never really got a chance to go over them closely. The package arrived, they were what was in the pics, nice, shiney, pretty, dreams of going faster running around in my head.
Well I ended up putting the install on them on the back burner, was still busy modifying my Hot Air car, with several other projects. Got them late August toasted my crankshaft early October.
I decided to go with an 87 setup, so I am in the process of selling off the Hot Air performance products. For those of you that don't know, performance Hot Air items are extremely hard to come by. Just try finding a 3" DP for a hot air car, let alone headers.
I pull them out of the box a couple weeks ago, to dust them off, to sell them. What do I see? Old gasket material in the gaps on the collector flange??? Wait a second, is that media in the gap between the pipe and the flange from being media blasted??? Is that a small rusted crack on the collector??? Sonofa....
Immediately I email Robert. I try to find his # on my caller ID. Try finding his email that I had already deleted. Email him again. Contact Paypal, resolution center, useless because it had been over 45 days. PMs had already been deleted. I contacted my county attorney, can't/won't do anything because I don't have enough information on him, and he is not in the US. I am up the creek and you know which creek that is, nevermind the paddle.
Well in my haste I didn't research Kenne Bell Hot Air Headers. Didn't bother looking for pics of them. As you all know Kenne Bell items are hard to come by. With the price he was asking, I assumed they were legit, well we all know what happens when we assume. Come to find out they are Hooker Headers, yes they are ceramic coated, but they have been used, media blasted and then ceramic coated. Are they useable? Absolutely, are they worth $700 plus shipping. Not even close. You can buy new ceramic coated headers from Summit for $669. These are probably worth $400, maybe.
This was one of the first purchases from any member on any board and this was the result. I am relatively new to the TR community. Still learning more than I know about these cars. I have communicated with a few great people within this community and I won't let this one incident tarnish my image of TR owners.
Lessons learned here:
1. Know who you are dealing with. Check the feedback forum before purchasing. Don't purchase from someone with only a few posts.
2. Know what you are supposed to be buying, or think you are buying. Do lots of research on it before you start looking or shopping around. Know what it is supposed to look like! Use the advanced search functions.
3. Ask questions about everything.
4. If using an outside trusted party, i.e. (ahum)Ebay, stick with it, don't let them talk you into buying outside of the auction.
5. No matter how sad the story, don't go against your gut feeling, or your better judgement. I am a bit of a softy, I have seen poverty in the truest sense of the word in many countries throughout the world. Don't fall for it. Thats what cost me.
6. As soon as the item arrives, go over it with a fine tooth comb.
7. Keep all contact information on the buyer.
8. The saying still holds true, "A fool and his many are soon parted." I was the fool, learn from my mistake. I certainly won't make it again.
I am in the military, values are very important to me. We are defined by our values and beliefs. To me Integrity is one of the most important. Doing the right thing even if you know you can get away without doing it right. I thought the same thing of Robert Paslawski, but I was clearly wrong. Some day Karma will come around to him, it always does. Buyers beware. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer in tracking him down.
Thanks in advance,
John
