[CR]Dealings with various shady characters

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PY-10)

In-Reply-To: <20021105172900.16349.46725.Mailman@phred.org>
References: <20021105172900.16349.46725.Mailman@phred.org>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine@mindspring.com>
Subject: [CR]Dealings with various shady characters
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 14:23:19 -0800

Many of us have been misled at some point - some with more dire consequences than others. I was lucky, and didn't suffer much monetary loss. I just wasted some time on a René Herse owners newsgroup that was the invention of Brian Todd - he invented almost all the members and the info. And I get e-mails from Ken Denny under various aliases, usually calling me less than flattering names. And I lost a $ 75 or so downpayment on a frame (see below).

Most of us buy bikes that we cannot inspect in person (with very expensive items, buying a cheap plane ticket may not be a bad idea, though!) A few things I found useful:

- Be suspicious of hotmail, yahoo and similar free addresses. Anybody can set up any number of these under any name. Of course, this does not mean that everybody using a free e-mail address is a crook - far from it. It just means that whoever appears to write may not be the actual writer.

- Ask for a phone No. If somebody claims they are from France or New York, the area code should be correct. This is not so easy to fake, although I am sure Messrs. Todd and Denny will find a solution to that problem.

- Be knowledgable about what you intend to buy. For most bikes. there are reputable "experts" - for example, before buying a Thanet, I was put in touch with Mr. Hilary Stone, who provided very valuable info. This allowed me to get out of a deal that would have left me with a fake bike. Most of us know each other. If Brian Todd claims again that he is the sole importer for Alex Singers on this continent (he did a couple of years back!), I can just pick up the phone and ask the Singer shop about that. However, remember that many experts gets lots of requests. See whether you can do something for them - like buying one of their books, or something like that. Unfortunately, it is up to you to figure out who the "reputable" experts are. After all, Mr. Denny is an expert, too, but his e-mails suggest he does not have your best interest in mind when recommending not to buy an item.

- If you come across a "secret source," be suspicious. Most likely, the "experts" would know about the source if it is reputable (it's a small world). That is not to say that you cannot find an Herse at your local consignment shop. But if somebody claims they have found a treasure trove of long-lost Confente bikes and are offering one of them to you at a better-than-normal rate, be suspicious.

I am more than a bit annoyed by the machinations of Mr. Todd and others, because it reflects badly on all of us who do some brokering of bikes. How can you be sure that Jan Heine is reputable when Brian Todd is not? For example, I immediately suspected that Mr. Mark Lawrence was another one of Mr. Brian Todd's aliases. In fact, it appears Mr. Lawrence really exists... I apologize to him.

Finally, most of us do this as a hobby. The little money that can be made usually does not cover our time invested. Mostly, it is fun to help Mr. Norman Taylor to sell off his remaining stocks to appreciative buyers, or to try and secure the survival of the Alex Singer shop by drumming up some business.

Jan Heine, Seattle (I ride, therefore I am?)