[ROVERNET - UK] Re: Adventures in Rover land Part 2

[Geoff Kirkpatrick]

No, he's definitely American.  I'm always astounded by people who do
business this way, and I've known a few in different fields.  Sometimes
the most amazing thing is, they manage to avoid even being arrested for,
never mind convicted of, any kind of crime.  This guy listed his cars
through one of those auction dropoff companies, where you give them your
stuff to sell on ebay and they take care of all the details.  That way he
managed to piggyback on their good feedback record and distance himself
from any direct retaliation from ebay.  They are partly culpable, I think,
having allowed him to list his cars through them without their having ever
even seen them, but they have been tarred by his actions and may end up
closing.

Lessons of the story?  1. Paying someone a few hundred bucks to inspect a
high-dollar car purchase on ebay is money well spent.  A good friend of
mine had a similar experience bringing a Lancia over from France, and has
always had an inspection done since then.  2. Be especially careful buying
things which are listed by these "auction dropoff" businesses.  I've had
mostly very good experiences using ebay, but several of the less favorable
ones have involved these kinds of companies.  People seem to use them to
misrepresent items for sale, and distance themselves from the
consequences.


> Is this Harold  the German? or a different unsavory Harold? Being in the
> 
> Classic Car Business for 30 years in Ft Lauderdale, I have seen hundreds
> 
> of"specialists" of all shades come and go. Worst of all was William Von
> Hove 
> of Exclusive Impex.I think he went through 3 corporate identities
> without 
> leaving town. In 1989, his company bought the back page ads of
> Thoroughbred 
> and Classic Cars.so, you can't judge by appearance.

"This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him."
- William Lyon Phelps

Geoff Kirkpatrick, 382 Riverside Avenue, Ben Lomond, CA 95005, USA


	
		
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