Nominating Top City Comics 12 12

[Buzzetta]

15 minutes ago, KCOComics said:

 

I get it. 

I think of it like this. You have a seller who screwed up. The probation list is intended to resolve and discuss that issue. Make sure things are set right.  Probation is the consequence. 

But when the probation discussion becomes a mob attack, it becomes counterproductive. Top City thinks, "well, I'm never doing business there again, so screw them all" 

I'm disappointed by this. I was really disappointed by Rick Star as well. And I think @Polonsky has been more than fair and reasonable.  I don't defend Top City's behavior and I think probation is a slam dunk. 

I'm against personal attacks and confrontational messages. He's been walking a tight rope with how he does business and everything hit the fan at once.  That makes him a bad business man and someone you may not want to buy from, not necessarily a bad person. 

He's got to make this right, that's on him and my hope is he will. 

 

For full disclosure, I don't know Top City. Never bought him from. I've discussed a few trade deals but nothing materialized.  

 

 

Thing is, I made mention of PayPal'ing him the money instead of a check because back in 2014 when I was laid up with that arm injury and surgery for screws and plates to rebuild my elbow and everything else, I could not do anything. Except for PT sessions, I was to remain in bed as any bump or movement could cause the loss of use of my arm until it healed further.

I could, however, play on my phone all day.  Oh, the comics and art I bought, the deals I made and the money I sent.  I know that he has the ability to send the money should he choose because I have been there.  I had a brace around my arm from shoulder to wrist and had it propped up in front of me during non - PT sessions.  Going to the bathroom was hard but going to PayPal and sending money was easy. 

Sending money to buy stuff was easy. 

If he was inclined, he would send the guys their money. 

 

 

[jimjum12]

2 hours ago, Funnybooks said:

As a business owner, own your mistakes without blame or casting yourself as the victim...sometimes you should consider taking a loss financially since it seems you're willing to take a loss personally with your reputation?

The reputation, over the years, is worth WAY more than a few hundred. There have been several times I've swallowed a loss in the name of customer service. Take the loss like a man and then rise from the ashes.,, and learn   GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[jimjum12]

Lesson #1 

Comic Collectors, for the most part, have money for comics because they are NOT stupid. Trying to bum-rush, steamroll, or snowjob them rarely ends well. 

Lesson # 2

Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a valid excuse for falling behind. 

 

GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[thehumantorch]

4 hours ago, BuscemasAvengers said:

As for Adrian not knowing that I was taking this back to the Boards community: my last IG message to him.

When was this sent?

[skypinkblu]

49 minutes ago, jimjum12 said:

The reputation, over the years, is worth WAY more than a few hundred. There have been several times I've swallowed a loss in the name of customer service. Take the loss like a man and then rise from the ashes.,, and learn   GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

@Top City Comics

I'm going to totally agree with Jim, although I was tempted to cross out "man";) and write person, but I'm not;)

We have all made mistakes. I've made mistakes for sure,  but I do my best to fix them. 

A few hundred $$ is not worth your reputation. Being understanding of how the other person feels means a lot.

The number of mistakes here shows that you are in dangerous territory and you need to step back. 

Take a look at  what you are doing, and what you CAN accomplish without being so stressed right now.

 

ASM #300 9.0 is not a difficult book to find, I'm not a bronze collector and even I know that. Maybe finding one at the exact price point you want it for is more difficult, but you MADE an error, you sold a book that you guaranteed to someone else. I'd have sent Tim the 9.4 in a split second, no discussion and I would have done it when I was living paycheck to paycheck...because I would not have been able to sleep at night otherwise. You need to fix that error and the onus is on YOU, not Tim. It was your error. If Tim gains a bit, well, it will make up for the stress you caused HIM.

I'm pretty calm and I would have been extraordinarily upset if I opened that box and found out that you never told me you "accidentally sold" the book and didn't include it. 

If  Polonsky doesn't get his "Check" by Wednesday, Paypal him and stop payment on the check.

It's hard to face loses, have a child to feed, be in an accident and have things go wrong, but when you are stressed, if you don't keep up with the problems, you just make more and more mistakes.

Fix this stuff, get back to square one and as Jim says, "you will rise from the ashes". Doing the right thing means a lot here.

I suggested putting up a few books for auction a few days ago, someone else made the same suggestion. Yes you might lose a bit, but you will gain a lot more if you keep your good name.

These boards are very very forgiving. Fix the mistakes and I'm sure many people will welcome you back as the good boarder you were.

But if you continue to cast blame on those who were the victims (and very patient victims) of your errors, you will find selling here a much more  difficult path.

Edited March 1, 2021 by skypinkblu

[Patriot6]

Too bad he can't be a paid lobbyist for excuses. His debts would evaporate in minutes.

[Point Five]

28 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

ASM #300 9.0 is not a difficult book to find, I'm not a bronze collector and even I know that. Maybe finding one at the exact price point you want it for is more difficult, but you MADE an error, you sold a book that you guaranteed to someone else. I'd have sent Tim the 9.4 in a split second, no discussion and I would have done it when I was living paycheck to paycheck...because I would not have been able to sleep at night otherwise. You need to fix that error and the onus is on YOU, not Tim. It was your error. If Tim gains a bit, well, it will make up for the stress you caused HIM.

Yeah, I had the same reaction; I was surprised when it was revealed what book it was. I can appreciate that both parties tried to explore other solutions with PCH trades etc, but since that didn't pan out it seems like it would be fairly easy to replace the book. There are other copies on ebay, likely on dealer sites as well. Top City could send BuscemasAvengers a link to a copy and offer to send f&f Paypal for that amount. That's a solution that could take hours, not days or weeks.

 

[BuscemasAvengers]

1 hour ago, thehumantorch said:

When was this sent?

Friday (02/26) @ 10:23am.

[thehumantorch]

14 minutes ago, BuscemasAvengers said:

Friday (02/26) @ 10:23am.

Thanks.

[Number 6]

41 minutes ago, Point Five said:

Yeah, I had the same reaction; I was surprised when it was revealed what book it was. I can appreciate that both parties tried to explore other solutions with PCH trades etc, but since that didn't pan out it seems like it would be fairly easy to replace the book. There are other copies on ebay, likely on dealer sites as well. Top City could send BuscemasAvengers a link to a copy and offer to send f&f Paypal for that amount. That's a solution that could take hours, not days or weeks.

 

I thought something similar to Sharon when I read Top City trying spin an accusation that Buscemas was trying to “extort” an extra $300 out of him (which I found shameful) but I thought to myself:  what’s wrong with offering him that 9.4?

Ok, the 9.4 is “worth” $300 more than than the book Buscemas sent, but what are we really talking about here? Top City is a dealer and if he’s doing his job right he’s got substantially less actual cash than FMV tied up in the book. So how much that $300 “extra” is just theoretical profit that will be realized on the flip?

Buscemas fulfilled everything on his end of the deal and has been trying to find an alternate solution. This situation is no fault of his. He acted in good faith. 
 

Top City is the one that “forgot” to include the 2nd book, accidentally sold it, is too cash strapped to offer a cash refund on the agreed value.  As Sharon suggested, while it wouldn’t be a normal solution offered, in this particular situation with a trade where trust is so crucial, why not as a show of good faith, offer the 9.4 free and clear to make things right?

But I already know why:  because there’s no profit in it. Top City is only going to offer and agree to “solutions” that give him a margin so he can flip for a profit in the future.  Cash refunds?  Offer a book at cost?  Those are all going to get shot down. 
 

And while a replacement 9.0 should be easy as others have pointed out, the challenge is going to be finding a copy that Top City can pick up at below FMV so he can flip it to Buscemas with some meat on the bone. And considering how tight money is for him and how many irons he’s got in the fire, what are the chances that’s going to happen any time soon?
 

F&F PayPaling Buscemas the money to buy a replacement 9.0?  There’s no way that’s going to happen. There’s no profit in it. 

[thehumantorch]

7 hours ago, Top City Comics said:

 I legitimately forgot...I obviously didn't think he was going to forget about it.

And just for the record this is my first time seeing any of this since before I got blocked on the 15th.

I checked back in on this thread early last week & there was nothing new under the sun....

I don't spend my days hanging on the boards, I get on to respond to messages mostly.

I had no idea Tim had nominated me, as I was communicating with him on Instagram since the week I was barred from here for using "offensive language", tho I think that's just about who complained about it to the mods, & not the actual language itself, because there has been a lot worse things said in this thread than what I got banned for, but I digress...

I offered Tim numerous solutions to forgetting to add the 2nd book into the deal (and wouldn't I have "forgotten" the $2k book instead of the $700 value book if I was trying to swindle him???)

I have done huge trades with Tim in the past, which is why it shocked me that he went straight to being rude & arrogant and threatening to nominate me, like I did this on purpose or something...I literally mailed him $4k-$5k of books on word alone in our very first transaction a couple years back, and have dealt with him multiple times since then...which is why I was more than a little shocked that he did this while I was trying to work out a solution with him....

I offered numerous solutions to him, including replacing the book with a copy of THE EXACT SAME BOOK IN THE EXACT SAME GRADE...but it wasn't going to be fast enough, so that was out...then I offered numerous replacement books in the same price range that he rejected...then I offered a 9.4 copy of the same book, which is obviously more expensive (ASM 300 is the book in question), and Tim thought it would be fair if I gave him that book instead of the 9.0....without making up any of the difference via cash or another small book....which I obviously did not agree to.

He then wanted my ASM 361 9.8 as a replacement, and apparently he thought that should be straight across too, as he balked when I brought up making up the difference in price of the 2 books...which I think is more than fair.  He said no, and then he asked me to come up with a list of PCH that were of similar value...to which I replied "I'll get you a list"...along with reassuring him that I simply forgot, and I was doing what I could to rectify the situation.

I thought we were going to settle this with a horror book like he said....but instead he decided to quit replying to me on Instagram and come do this instead....so in reality, I feel that he is the one who has been unreasonable and unwilling to come to terms on a solution to this problem, instead wanting to come here & pile on while I'm already dealing with something that I'm trying to make right...but didn't actually break any of the rules to get nominated...I think he saw I was down & decided to kick me one good time in the ribs when he had the chance....but I never once acted rudely or flippant towards him about this matter, only trying to come up with solutions...ALL of which were shot down...and he decided to bring it here instead of just resolving the issue with me personally....just after asking me to get him a list of horror books to "solve" the problem.  But I don't think he wanted to actually "solve it" unless he was getting the upper hand on me value-wise in some way, and decided to come here with it because I was opposed to his extortion.

So now all of you get to be a part of it too...super!!

Guess I should've just given the man his extra $300 in value as ransom money to keep him appeased?

Is there some rule here on the boards about extortion/blackmail, or no?  Asking for a friend...

All that aside...I may have bitten off more than I could chew in the last couple months...and I may have had a pretty bad string of horrible luck on top of it...and maybe my whole house of cards did fall over on top of me a little bit...to the tune of a car wreck, ER visit, business shutdown, car totaled, arm broken, pile up of debt, pile up of work to play catch-up on with one arm...computer deciding to go kaput...and now my name being dragged thru the mud by every Tom, , & Harry that wants to chime in from their keyboards....but I'm not making excuses....I screwed up by ever allowing it to get personal with Lee & making him feel all this was necessary.  I didn't like the way he handled things in the PM's or the way he talked to me and I didn't like how he came and did this just out of spite, but I shouldn't have let my temper get the best of me the day this all went down (Feb 15th I believe?).  I was pretty angry and frustrated that I was having to spend the time to do this after already agreeing to refund him, but it's on me for not having it done sooner, and it's 100% on me for not just swallowing my pride and letting it go.

Before they barred me that day I believe I did say something along those lines trying to take ownership of my part in this...and I did reach out to Lee on Instagram to apologize and get his full address, which I still did not have...(tho I have since cleaned out the office and found the slightly illegible yellow slip of paper that Lee sent with the check that led to all of this).  Lee accepted my apology, but after seeing some of the things he's posted about me in the last week, I believe that may have been tongue-in-cheek.

Even though I feel like he disrespected me and ran my name thru the mud just to vent about me calling him a hypocrite in the PM (which directly led to him nominating me), I didn't refund him by his demanded time, so it's on me to suck it up and deal with the repercussions.

The fact that Tim brought this here was just piling on.  I was doing what I could to offer him every solution I could think of and he never had any ideas nor was he willing to compromise or even discuss most of the ideas I came to the table with...and for him to arbitrarily come here with this is beyond petty.  If I had refused to answer his messages or refused to try & fix the problem then I could understand it...but I was literally in the middle of rounding up a list & pictures of PCH books of similar value to offer him (per his request) when he decided to tuck tail & run over here to get his posse of text-message tough guys. (Yes, I'm talking to anyone who insulted me or felt the need to chime in on this before I even knew it was going on or had the chance to respond or defend myself)....I literally get on here to answer messages for 30 seconds from my phone throughout the day....I don't "hang out" here like a lot of you guys....or follow threads to keep up on the latest gossip, or get off on bashing someone who isn't even aware it's taking place.

I mean...with all these tags & calls for me to respond to Tim's complaint...and posts about me "hiding" from this when I didn't even know it was happening...why did absolutely no one drop me a message to let me know this going on?  I guess it's easier to bash and poke-fun that I'm "hiding out" (from what, exactly, idk...a $700 book that I've already been working with him on replacing??), but it's pretty shallow and disturbing that you would rather carry on for days about me than just letting me know what's going on.  I've been a member here for 9 years...I've done business with several of you...I have donated items to your charity sales...I vouch for anyone I've done business with here.  Are none of you my actual friend enough to shoot me one simple PM if you want to hear from me on this topic so badly???

Or how bout maaaaaaaybe Tim could've let me know he was doing this instead of giving me the silent treatment and allowing me to still send him pictures of the damn books he requested yesterday???  You'd think maybe he could've let me know since I obviously was still under the impression that we were solving this dilemma with a similar-valued PCH book (again, by his request)....but it seems like he was more interested in talking bad about me here while leaving me in the dark that he had decided to back out of the solution that we were working towards....which seems like maybe the biggest "female dog" move that anyone has pulled throughout this entire debacle.

I spent an hour reading every word of every comment and every post that I missed in the last few days, and while I'm not shirking any of the responsibility for getting myself into this by having too many irons in the fire or getting in a bit over my head, most of the comments these over the last couple days were unproductive and unnecessary...especially without involving me and just taking Tim's word that I was being unreasonable, which just wasn't true.

And to those of you who insinuated that I might be intentionally deceiving people or forgot Tim's book on purpose, you can definitely get bent.  And whoever pulled my ebay neutral comment about not taking returns can also sit & spin.  You found one neutral comment out of 2300 and want to post that one eh?  That guy left feedback without even talking to me....all he had to do was open the return....all my listings were set to "free returns/seller pays" at the time....and if you're not aware....ebay literally forces the returns for you if refuse.

I may be guilty of taking on too much or biting off more than I can chew and getting in a car wreck and trying to dig out of all of this mess with one arm and no vehicle, and not planning things perfectly, and being an forgetful insufficiently_thoughtful_person with too much on his plate, but I'm no damn scammer.  I have never stolen from anyone in my life, and I'm not about to start over a $700 book OR a $1500 check...and that's not changing whether the big bad peanut gallery prognosticators claim it to be true or not. 

I know it isn't easy when everyone is piling on but please, take a breath, step back, and look at this post and situation rationally and without emotion.

Polonsky didn't start this thread because he's a jerk.  You failed to ship as promised, you failed to tell him you hadn't shipped, you continued to delay, you spent his money before the transaction was successfully completed, and you gave him multiple excuses.  Yes, he forgot to provide you with his address but that's a minor hiccup and something that's easily resolved with a quick pm message.  You made a series of mistakes and he felt he had to start this thread.  Please accept that you and you alone created this situation and he has a very legitimate reason to complain.

Tim didn't jump into this thread because he's a jerk.  You sold a book you'd promised to him, you failed to ship him a book as promised, and you failed to tell him you hadn't shipped it.  Seriously, this is a series of mistakes that are hard to fathom and very concerning.  You 100% created this mess.  That you guys don't agree on a replacement book doesn't matter.  He'd doesn't value the offered replacement books the same as your and he'd rather get a refund.   Ransom?  Really?  And you don't see the irony that you're upset he didn't tell you he was gonna post in this thread when you failed to communicate with both of your customers?  And once he saw this thread can you blame him for getting even more upset and posting here?   Please accept that he has a very legitimate reason to complain.

Your post has a bit of admission of making mistakes but it's mostly excuses and anger directed towards your customers and towards other posters in this thread.  Attacking two customers who have done nothing wrong does not reflect well on you.  Attacking boardies who support them, as we would support you if someone let you down in a transaction, does not reflect well on you.

[speedcake]

7 hours ago, Top City Comics said:

 I legitimately forgot...I obviously didn't think he was going to forget about it.

And just for the record this is my first time seeing any of this since before I got blocked on the 15th.

I checked back in on this thread early last week & there was nothing new under the sun....

I don't spend my days hanging on the boards, I get on to respond to messages mostly.

I had no idea Tim had nominated me, as I was communicating with him on Instagram since the week I was barred from here for using "offensive language", tho I think that's just about who complained about it to the mods, & not the actual language itself, because there has been a lot worse things said in this thread than what I got banned for, but I digress...

I offered Tim numerous solutions to forgetting to add the 2nd book into the deal (and wouldn't I have "forgotten" the $2k book instead of the $700 value book if I was trying to swindle him???)

I have done huge trades with Tim in the past, which is why it shocked me that he went straight to being rude & arrogant and threatening to nominate me, like I did this on purpose or something...I literally mailed him $4k-$5k of books on word alone in our very first transaction a couple years back, and have dealt with him multiple times since then...which is why I was more than a little shocked that he did this while I was trying to work out a solution with him....

I offered numerous solutions to him, including replacing the book with a copy of THE EXACT SAME BOOK IN THE EXACT SAME GRADE...but it wasn't going to be fast enough, so that was out...then I offered numerous replacement books in the same price range that he rejected...then I offered a 9.4 copy of the same book, which is obviously more expensive (ASM 300 is the book in question), and Tim thought it would be fair if I gave him that book instead of the 9.0....without making up any of the difference via cash or another small book....which I obviously did not agree to.

He then wanted my ASM 361 9.8 as a replacement, and apparently he thought that should be straight across too, as he balked when I brought up making up the difference in price of the 2 books...which I think is more than fair.  He said no, and then he asked me to come up with a list of PCH that were of similar value...to which I replied "I'll get you a list"...along with reassuring him that I simply forgot, and I was doing what I could to rectify the situation.

I thought we were going to settle this with a horror book like he said....but instead he decided to quit replying to me on Instagram and come do this instead....so in reality, I feel that he is the one who has been unreasonable and unwilling to come to terms on a solution to this problem, instead wanting to come here & pile on while I'm already dealing with something that I'm trying to make right...but didn't actually break any of the rules to get nominated...I think he saw I was down & decided to kick me one good time in the ribs when he had the chance....but I never once acted rudely or flippant towards him about this matter, only trying to come up with solutions...ALL of which were shot down...and he decided to bring it here instead of just resolving the issue with me personally....just after asking me to get him a list of horror books to "solve" the problem.  But I don't think he wanted to actually "solve it" unless he was getting the upper hand on me value-wise in some way, and decided to come here with it because I was opposed to his extortion.

So now all of you get to be a part of it too...super!!

Guess I should've just given the man his extra $300 in value as ransom money to keep him appeased?

Is there some rule here on the boards about extortion/blackmail, or no?  Asking for a friend...

All that aside...I may have bitten off more than I could chew in the last couple months...and I may have had a pretty bad string of horrible luck on top of it...and maybe my whole house of cards did fall over on top of me a little bit...to the tune of a car wreck, ER visit, business shutdown, car totaled, arm broken, pile up of debt, pile up of work to play catch-up on with one arm...computer deciding to go kaput...and now my name being dragged thru the mud by every Tom, , & Harry that wants to chime in from their keyboards....but I'm not making excuses....I screwed up by ever allowing it to get personal with Lee & making him feel all this was necessary.  I didn't like the way he handled things in the PM's or the way he talked to me and I didn't like how he came and did this just out of spite, but I shouldn't have let my temper get the best of me the day this all went down (Feb 15th I believe?).  I was pretty angry and frustrated that I was having to spend the time to do this after already agreeing to refund him, but it's on me for not having it done sooner, and it's 100% on me for not just swallowing my pride and letting it go.

Before they barred me that day I believe I did say something along those lines trying to take ownership of my part in this...and I did reach out to Lee on Instagram to apologize and get his full address, which I still did not have...(tho I have since cleaned out the office and found the slightly illegible yellow slip of paper that Lee sent with the check that led to all of this).  Lee accepted my apology, but after seeing some of the things he's posted about me in the last week, I believe that may have been tongue-in-cheek.

Even though I feel like he disrespected me and ran my name thru the mud just to vent about me calling him a hypocrite in the PM (which directly led to him nominating me), I didn't refund him by his demanded time, so it's on me to suck it up and deal with the repercussions.

The fact that Tim brought this here was just piling on.  I was doing what I could to offer him every solution I could think of and he never had any ideas nor was he willing to compromise or even discuss most of the ideas I came to the table with...and for him to arbitrarily come here with this is beyond petty.  If I had refused to answer his messages or refused to try & fix the problem then I could understand it...but I was literally in the middle of rounding up a list & pictures of PCH books of similar value to offer him (per his request) when he decided to tuck tail & run over here to get his posse of text-message tough guys. (Yes, I'm talking to anyone who insulted me or felt the need to chime in on this before I even knew it was going on or had the chance to respond or defend myself)....I literally get on here to answer messages for 30 seconds from my phone throughout the day....I don't "hang out" here like a lot of you guys....or follow threads to keep up on the latest gossip, or get off on bashing someone who isn't even aware it's taking place.

I mean...with all these tags & calls for me to respond to Tim's complaint...and posts about me "hiding" from this when I didn't even know it was happening...why did absolutely no one drop me a message to let me know this going on?  I guess it's easier to bash and poke-fun that I'm "hiding out" (from what, exactly, idk...a $700 book that I've already been working with him on replacing??), but it's pretty shallow and disturbing that you would rather carry on for days about me than just letting me know what's going on.  I've been a member here for 9 years...I've done business with several of you...I have donated items to your charity sales...I vouch for anyone I've done business with here.  Are none of you my actual friend enough to shoot me one simple PM if you want to hear from me on this topic so badly???

Or how bout maaaaaaaybe Tim could've let me know he was doing this instead of giving me the silent treatment and allowing me to still send him pictures of the damn books he requested yesterday???  You'd think maybe he could've let me know since I obviously was still under the impression that we were solving this dilemma with a similar-valued PCH book (again, by his request)....but it seems like he was more interested in talking bad about me here while leaving me in the dark that he had decided to back out of the solution that we were working towards....which seems like maybe the biggest "female dog" move that anyone has pulled throughout this entire debacle.

I spent an hour reading every word of every comment and every post that I missed in the last few days, and while I'm not shirking any of the responsibility for getting myself into this by having too many irons in the fire or getting in a bit over my head, most of the comments these over the last couple days were unproductive and unnecessary...especially without involving me and just taking Tim's word that I was being unreasonable, which just wasn't true.

And to those of you who insinuated that I might be intentionally deceiving people or forgot Tim's book on purpose, you can definitely get bent.  And whoever pulled my ebay neutral comment about not taking returns can also sit & spin.  You found one neutral comment out of 2300 and want to post that one eh?  That guy left feedback without even talking to me....all he had to do was open the return....all my listings were set to "free returns/seller pays" at the time....and if you're not aware....ebay literally forces the returns for you if refuse.

I may be guilty of taking on too much or biting off more than I can chew and getting in a car wreck and trying to dig out of all of this mess with one arm and no vehicle, and not planning things perfectly, and being an forgetful insufficiently_thoughtful_person with too much on his plate, but I'm no damn scammer.  I have never stolen from anyone in my life, and I'm not about to start over a $700 book OR a $1500 check...and that's not changing whether the big bad peanut gallery prognosticators claim it to be true or not. 

You were better off continuing to stay silent while hopefully working on a resolution than posting any of this. What an unfortunate rant. 

I think everyone here can relate to having serious issues that hamper us in our daily lives, both personal and business. I think everyone here has likely made mistakes and had to learn lessons the hard way. That you think no one here has any empathy or sympathy, that everyone is just dragging your name through the mud or here to kick you around, is nonsense. Just stop it.

You clearly have too many balls in the air if refunding the relatively small amounts of money being discussed in the thread is this much of a burden on you. That, too, is understandable as everyone is human. It happens.

I checked your ebay feed. You've got great books listed there. Get some of them sold and make things right with the people on this forum who trusted you enough to engage in dealing with you.

That's it. Don't talk about it, don't cry about it, don't make more excuses about it.

Get some of the books in your possession sold as quickly as possible and settle your debts here.

If you cannot, won't, or just plain don't do that then I think you deserve more than just the probation list.

I hope you get things worked out. You HAVE been around a long time and I can see that a mountain of crud coming down on you at once has made life tough.

But life is tough, and it ain't anybody else's problem. That's the deal. That's life.

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by speedcake

[ThothAmon]

8 hours ago, Top City Comics said:

 I legitimately forgot...I obviously didn't think he was going to forget about it.

And just for the record this is my first time seeing any of this since before I got blocked on the 15th.

I checked back in on this thread early last week & there was nothing new under the sun....

I don't spend my days hanging on the boards, I get on to respond to messages mostly.

I had no idea Tim had nominated me, as I was communicating with him on Instagram since the week I was barred from here for using "offensive language", tho I think that's just about who complained about it to the mods, & not the actual language itself, because there has been a lot worse things said in this thread than what I got banned for, but I digress...

I offered Tim numerous solutions to forgetting to add the 2nd book into the deal (and wouldn't I have "forgotten" the $2k book instead of the $700 value book if I was trying to swindle him???)

I have done huge trades with Tim in the past, which is why it shocked me that he went straight to being rude & arrogant and threatening to nominate me, like I did this on purpose or something...I literally mailed him $4k-$5k of books on word alone in our very first transaction a couple years back, and have dealt with him multiple times since then...which is why I was more than a little shocked that he did this while I was trying to work out a solution with him....

I offered numerous solutions to him, including replacing the book with a copy of THE EXACT SAME BOOK IN THE EXACT SAME GRADE...but it wasn't going to be fast enough, so that was out...then I offered numerous replacement books in the same price range that he rejected...then I offered a 9.4 copy of the same book, which is obviously more expensive (ASM 300 is the book in question), and Tim thought it would be fair if I gave him that book instead of the 9.0....without making up any of the difference via cash or another small book....which I obviously did not agree to.

He then wanted my ASM 361 9.8 as a replacement, and apparently he thought that should be straight across too, as he balked when I brought up making up the difference in price of the 2 books...which I think is more than fair.  He said no, and then he asked me to come up with a list of PCH that were of similar value...to which I replied "I'll get you a list"...along with reassuring him that I simply forgot, and I was doing what I could to rectify the situation.

I thought we were going to settle this with a horror book like he said....but instead he decided to quit replying to me on Instagram and come do this instead....so in reality, I feel that he is the one who has been unreasonable and unwilling to come to terms on a solution to this problem, instead wanting to come here & pile on while I'm already dealing with something that I'm trying to make right...but didn't actually break any of the rules to get nominated...I think he saw I was down & decided to kick me one good time in the ribs when he had the chance....but I never once acted rudely or flippant towards him about this matter, only trying to come up with solutions...ALL of which were shot down...and he decided to bring it here instead of just resolving the issue with me personally....just after asking me to get him a list of horror books to "solve" the problem.  But I don't think he wanted to actually "solve it" unless he was getting the upper hand on me value-wise in some way, and decided to come here with it because I was opposed to his extortion.

So now all of you get to be a part of it too...super!!

Guess I should've just given the man his extra $300 in value as ransom money to keep him appeased?

Is there some rule here on the boards about extortion/blackmail, or no?  Asking for a friend...

All that aside...I may have bitten off more than I could chew in the last couple months...and I may have had a pretty bad string of horrible luck on top of it...and maybe my whole house of cards did fall over on top of me a little bit...to the tune of a car wreck, ER visit, business shutdown, car totaled, arm broken, pile up of debt, pile up of work to play catch-up on with one arm...computer deciding to go kaput...and now my name being dragged thru the mud by every Tom, , & Harry that wants to chime in from their keyboards....but I'm not making excuses....I screwed up by ever allowing it to get personal with Lee & making him feel all this was necessary.  I didn't like the way he handled things in the PM's or the way he talked to me and I didn't like how he came and did this just out of spite, but I shouldn't have let my temper get the best of me the day this all went down (Feb 15th I believe?).  I was pretty angry and frustrated that I was having to spend the time to do this after already agreeing to refund him, but it's on me for not having it done sooner, and it's 100% on me for not just swallowing my pride and letting it go.

Before they barred me that day I believe I did say something along those lines trying to take ownership of my part in this...and I did reach out to Lee on Instagram to apologize and get his full address, which I still did not have...(tho I have since cleaned out the office and found the slightly illegible yellow slip of paper that Lee sent with the check that led to all of this).  Lee accepted my apology, but after seeing some of the things he's posted about me in the last week, I believe that may have been tongue-in-cheek.

Even though I feel like he disrespected me and ran my name thru the mud just to vent about me calling him a hypocrite in the PM (which directly led to him nominating me), I didn't refund him by his demanded time, so it's on me to suck it up and deal with the repercussions.

The fact that Tim brought this here was just piling on.  I was doing what I could to offer him every solution I could think of and he never had any ideas nor was he willing to compromise or even discuss most of the ideas I came to the table with...and for him to arbitrarily come here with this is beyond petty.  If I had refused to answer his messages or refused to try & fix the problem then I could understand it...but I was literally in the middle of rounding up a list & pictures of PCH books of similar value to offer him (per his request) when he decided to tuck tail & run over here to get his posse of text-message tough guys. (Yes, I'm talking to anyone who insulted me or felt the need to chime in on this before I even knew it was going on or had the chance to respond or defend myself)....I literally get on here to answer messages for 30 seconds from my phone throughout the day....I don't "hang out" here like a lot of you guys....or follow threads to keep up on the latest gossip, or get off on bashing someone who isn't even aware it's taking place.

I mean...with all these tags & calls for me to respond to Tim's complaint...and posts about me "hiding" from this when I didn't even know it was happening...why did absolutely no one drop me a message to let me know this going on?  I guess it's easier to bash and poke-fun that I'm "hiding out" (from what, exactly, idk...a $700 book that I've already been working with him on replacing??), but it's pretty shallow and disturbing that you would rather carry on for days about me than just letting me know what's going on.  I've been a member here for 9 years...I've done business with several of you...I have donated items to your charity sales...I vouch for anyone I've done business with here.  Are none of you my actual friend enough to shoot me one simple PM if you want to hear from me on this topic so badly???

Or how bout maaaaaaaybe Tim could've let me know he was doing this instead of giving me the silent treatment and allowing me to still send him pictures of the damn books he requested yesterday???  You'd think maybe he could've let me know since I obviously was still under the impression that we were solving this dilemma with a similar-valued PCH book (again, by his request)....but it seems like he was more interested in talking bad about me here while leaving me in the dark that he had decided to back out of the solution that we were working towards....which seems like maybe the biggest "female dog" move that anyone has pulled throughout this entire debacle.

I spent an hour reading every word of every comment and every post that I missed in the last few days, and while I'm not shirking any of the responsibility for getting myself into this by having too many irons in the fire or getting in a bit over my head, most of the comments these over the last couple days were unproductive and unnecessary...especially without involving me and just taking Tim's word that I was being unreasonable, which just wasn't true.

And to those of you who insinuated that I might be intentionally deceiving people or forgot Tim's book on purpose, you can definitely get bent.  And whoever pulled my ebay neutral comment about not taking returns can also sit & spin.  You found one neutral comment out of 2300 and want to post that one eh?  That guy left feedback without even talking to me....all he had to do was open the return....all my listings were set to "free returns/seller pays" at the time....and if you're not aware....ebay literally forces the returns for you if refuse.

I may be guilty of taking on too much or biting off more than I can chew and getting in a car wreck and trying to dig out of all of this mess with one arm and no vehicle, and not planning things perfectly, and being an forgetful insufficiently_thoughtful_person with too much on his plate, but I'm no damn scammer.  I have never stolen from anyone in my life, and I'm not about to start over a $700 book OR a $1500 check...and that's not changing whether the big bad peanut gallery prognosticators claim it to be true or not. 

B o r i n g.  

[Buzzetta]

23 minutes ago, speedcake said:

 

But life is tough, and it ain't anybody else's problem. That's the deal. That's life.

 

 

 

[wombat]

I believe it was stated at some point that a value for each of the books was established as part of the negotiations for the trade. So refund the value you agreed to.  What's the problem? 

Edited March 1, 2021 by wombat

[Number 6]

33 minutes ago, wombat said:

I believe it was stated at some point that a value for each of the books was established as part of the negotiations for the trade. So refund the value you agreed to.  What's the problem? 

BuscemasAvengers already suggested that but Top City shot that idea down. 
 

I suspect the reason “why” is because the FMV that was agreed upon was for the purpose of the trade.  The books that Top City traded away were, I would guess, books that he had acquired at wholesale price.  Trading them for similar FMV books still gives him about the same profit margins on the books he received. 
 

If he gives a cash refund for the agreed FMV of the book in question, that takes away the profit margin on the book that he received in trade for it. I suspect that’s why he flatly turned it down. 
 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Number 6

[jsilverjanet]

35 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

BuscemasAvengers already suggested that but Top City shot that idea down. 
 

I suspect the reason “why” is because the FMV that was agreed upon was for the purpose of the trade.  The books that Top City traded away were, I would guess, books that he had acquired at wholesale price.  Trading them for similar FMV books still gives him about the same profit margins on the books he received. 
 

If he gives a cash refund for the agreed FMV of the book in question, that takes away the profit margin on the book that he received in trade for it. I suspect that’s why he flatly turned it down. 
 

 

Would returning the books also be a fair solution? 

[Number 6]

Just now, jsilverjanet said:

Would returning the books also be a fair solution? 

Yes, it would. 
 

Problem is, BusemasAvengers wants to keep the book he did receive and it seems for Top City it’s all-or-nothing, he doesn’t want to return just one book.  They either completely undo the trade and Buscemas has to give up the book he wants to keep...or they figure something else out. 
 

Which is where we’re at now. 

[Bird]

For the purposes of the PL I think we need a way for Top City to resolve the situation and I am not sure that we have that right now for BuscemasAvengers.  I am not sure, maybe it was here at some point but it seems neither has offered a practical solution. We got a no to send everything back, a no to buy the book and put it in the trade, and talk about sending a 9.4 in place of the 9.0 (that seems unreasonable to me). There is no movement towards a common resolution...BA isn't into sending the one book back and TC isn't buying a replacement

Edited March 1, 2021 by Bird

[wombat]

1 minute ago, Bird said:

For the purposes of the PL I think we need a way for Top City to resolve the situation and I am not sure that we have that right now for BuscemasAvengers.  I am not sure, maybe it was here at some point but it seems neither has offered a practical solution. We got a no to send everything back, a no to buy the book and put it in the trade, and talk about sending a 9.4 in place of the 9.0 (that seems unreasonable to me). There is no movement towards a common resolution...BA isn't into sending the one book back and TC isn't buying a replacement

But I think there is a way. Send a similar book. Its up to Top City to acquire that book and send it. If he doesn't that is on him.