I will go ahead and explain the situation to the community in detail since OP hasn’t been clear on what is fact and what is opinion. And then I’m going to be done and OP will not occupy any more of my time. OP contacted me when I was traveling and I wanted him to know that his concern was heard, I understood the problem and I would get back to him about it because I couldn’t open the pictures, or rather I don’t open pictures on my device that I travel with. I had suggested at that time, without seeing any pictures that the foreign material he described sounded like filter material. I followed up with the situation at the end of my travels without the need for him to inquire. I reviewed the pictures and there was a couple of things that didn’t settle with me very well. Red flags if you will. I will lay out my thought process on this:
- This was a brand new customer and he ordered a sizable amount of gear without so much as an introduction, total word count for the order: “Hey, Looking for” = 3 and that was it besides the list.
- Upon receiving instructions response was 1 word: “Sent”
- Sent another email to confirm, tell him when to expect tracking. No response
- sent tracking, no response. Now at that point I only thought it was weird. Normally when I have a brand new customer with a sizable order they are looking for discounts, samples, or any other bang for their buck. In addition most get nervous about ordering from a new vendor ask questions about when it will go out, will it have tracking, when will they get the tracking etc. My response to his initial question was merely payment instructions, nothing else. I provided all the other information to him after he paid and it was clear that he wasn’t worried about it. This will come into play later. But by itself it means nothing. Some people just don’t want to write a lot.
- The next email I received started like this: “Hey man, Got Everything, See attached photos. Almost all of the vials have some form of particulate in them.” That is where I was traveling but I remembered thinking he was awfully nonchalant about it. Maybe he doesn’t type very well, maybe he doesn’t like to talk, maybe…well the point is his style wasn’t my concern, the claim had all my attention.
- When I returned I examined about 400 different vials that were full and about 100 that were new. All I found were scratches on the glass. But I didn’t want to discount his claim, I wanted to hear him out, look at everything and then make a decision.
- My next email I explained that I had reviewed the pics, and looked at some stock and asked him what solution he thought would be amicable. (Because at this time I’m not liking the direction this is going. I can see the writing on the wall, where I have these pics but I don’t know if they even belong to me, I don’t know if he’s tampered with them, and I have no way of asking these things to him without flaming him. I certainly wouldn’t want to be asked if I did something that I didn’t, I would assume it was an accusation too!) So I merely asked for a pic of all 10 vials and how many were open. I also asked how many had debris in them. My thought was that an honest response would be 2 or 3 or maybe 6 but I knew a response with an agenda would be a response of all 10. Which was the exact reply that I got.
- His response was that all 10 had some kind of debris in them. He answered my question about a solution, in fact please allow me to quote him “I’m hoping you can replace it. If you want photographic evidence of me destroying the contaminated gear, I’ll do it. I’m definitely not trying to rip you off”. I’m pretty good at spotting behavior and offering to send me a pic of destroyed vials pretty much sealed his intentions in my mind. So for the first time ever I wanted to see for myself. And I wrote this as my response, this is the email in its entirety.
No, I wouldn’t want that. I suggested that an explanation for fibers in a vial is usually from the filter membranes, let’s be clear on that please, I don’t want any confusion or suggestion that I knowingly send gear with foreign objects in it, nothing could be further from the truth. I’m always willing to hear you out, look at it for myself, and then come to a conclusion much as you have done. Nothing wrong with that, right? Can you to send them to a third, neutral party please. How many of them are open? I’m definitely not trying to rip you off either. I’m very concerned at this point, if there’s an issue I want to identify it, find the root cause, and then take steps to prevent it. I can’t tell much by your photos, I’m sure they make sense to you but anytime you look at a photo you are looking at a 2 dimensional display and we need that 3D to ascertain what is going on. I’m always happy to replace them of course, since this is your first order with me you may or may not know but I do just about anything for my customers to make them happy. Nobody wants gear they don’t trust. Do you need a postage label? Are you able to print it?
From there he starts to waffle a bit, and the statement that really bothered me was, when referencing the recipient of the gear: “I’ve never had to send anything out before?” In fact allow me to post the entire email without time/name so that he can’t say I took it out of context:
-BEGINNING OF EMAIL
“I haven’t opened anything except the vacuum seal bag. Caps are on all vials.
I’m not sure who the third party would be as I’ve never had to send anything out before? I can print labels, yes.
I hope you’re not getting the wrong impression here. I’m totally about working this out with you. I see your following and I don’t doubt your commitment and quality.”
-END OF EMAIL
I sent him the label and that was when it went south, he said he wasn’t comfortable doing it asked for a partial refund and then would send it back if he got his replacements. He was concerned that I would have the gear and the coin, which admittedly, ruffled me. I pointed out that when he sent his coin the first time I had his coin and his gear and he wasn’t concerned about that. In fact this is what leads me back to my point in #4. He was so casual about sending a big chunk of change without so much as a single question but now he’s afraid that I’m going to run off with his money? I’ve worked tirelessly over the last year to create a sense of comfort and confidence in myself and my gear. I am meticulous about what I put out and about how I treat people. I continually say that you can judge a person, not by their mistakes, but by how they respond to their mistakes. I didn’t accuse him of anything. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. maybe he was right! Maybe something went terribly wrong, and I was willing to listen to that despite at all the mounting evidence and empirical evidence that he was wrong. The last thing to determine it was to look at the vials. I wasn’t going to send them off for independent analysis, I was merely going to look at them! If there was anything in there, and I couldn’t determine what it was, I was going to send it off for analysis because I wouldn’t sleep until I could determine what had happened. That was my reaction, I was willing to admit a mistake and take ownership if I felt like I had made one. Not blow up, accuse him of lying or worse, not even respond to him like other sources choose to do.
He never emailed me back. SST was his next step, and he’s certainly in his own right to do it, but it is still inconclusive. At this time, based on what I know, what I’ve read, and what I’ve experienced, I feel confident concluding that the OP ordered gear with the intention of crying wolf and getting either a refund or replacement and that he has successfully done this in the past. When presented with the unusual curveball of returning the gear to have it looked at, he knew his bluff was called and the line to gain was not made. His excuse of worrying I would have the gear and the coin holds no credibility based on his previous actions.
As I look back at the whole thing I try to think of anything I could have done differently. The answer is not that I’m aware of. We, as sources, deal with many scammers and cheats. We normally deal with them quietly and they go away, sometimes happy, sometimes not. But I have found, in dealing with them, that I shouldn’t assume they are lying, to listen to what they have to say, treat them with respect, ask them what they think should be done, and come to a conclusion based on the evidence, not on a hunch or predetermined set of ambiguous rules.
When things like this are posted people will respond in a variety of different ways, some will empower the poster, others will only make him mad. You can point at the picture and say there’s debris in there and another person will say how can you know it’s a SF vial, or how do you know it hasn’t been tampered with, etc etc. the point is, nobody was given the opportunity to confirm nor deny the accusation because that opportunity to do so was refused, so we will never know. I’m the first to admit that there is always a chance that some kind of foreign material can make it into gear. While every step possible is taken to mitigate this risk, it is still a possibility for every source, however remote. I take these things very seriously and approach them like I do all my transactions, with open eyes and honesty. People that have worked with me know I take care of the people first, everything else will fall into line. But I will not be taken advantage of. All he had to do was drop them in a box, instead choosing to keep what he claims as not usable. If it was not usable then he stood nothing to lose. If I would have run off with his coin and the gear he wouldn’t be out anything, based on his claim.
I have nothing bad to say about the OP, he makes his choices and I make mine. I wish it could have ended differently but it was not to be.
I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors sir @“cyrptogod”