Reasons for Negative Marks:
Please note: Where possible, I have provided links from the negative
reports to the feedback listing for the reporter.
Adrienne Gale
I sent her the check on the 4th. She never emailed to say it got there.
It cleared my bank on the 12th. She never emailed to say it cleared,
or that she was shipping the boots. I wrote repeatedly, she never
responded. She said she mailed them on the 20th. They finally arrived
after you wrote her, with a postmark of the 26th, 6 days after she claimed
to have sent them. I could have walked to her house and back in the time
the deal took. I've swapped many times and never had it take so long
or had someone ignore my emails. Maybe I'm just impatient, but it
seems excessive to me! - Katie
Hartsell
I sent Adrienne some money for yarn, $145.00 to be exact, which she received on July 3rd, and said she would send the yarn out on July 6th, and ever since then she seems to be stalling about when I should receive the package. Irene Conklin 7/23/01 She did receive her package in early August, but says she still owes her 2 skeins as of 10/19/01 "Service is excuses and very, very slow." Irene Conklin
Adrienne Gale accepted my money order, told me she mailed the day she got money orders and then proceeded not to mail. She wrote to tell me the yarn had been sent and I waited 5 days for delivery.....I emailed her and she then told me it came back to her with the label off, but she had included her name and addy on the inside of the box so the post office returned it to her, and she was going to get it in the mail "tomorow or the next day" ..........then I didn't get it again and emailed her, and "you must have been reading my mind" again, because this time her brother's baby died 2 weeks prior and she was all sidetracked, but the yarn would be in the mail "tomorrow or by Saturday for sure." No yarn again, so this time I wrote to Janet <you> and she suggested the postal authorities, whom I called and then I did what they told me to do, which is write her a letter saying I was going to file an official complaint with them and they would persue it for me. THAT got me the yarn I had paid for. -- I would never deal with her again and will watch for her to pop up under another name on the list. She has a definite way of writing. Carly Hammer 8/20/01
Adrienne's side. She did have a severe personal setback when her nephew died. She apologizes for the delay to Carly and Irene, but was not trying to cheat them. For some, sorrow over a baby's death doesn't impact their ability to get things done ... for her, it did. Just as she began to recover from losing her nephew, she lost a dear friend in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. While this may not excuse the delays, it does explain somewhat.
Barbara Drewette Barbara initiated a trade with a U.S. member for a magazine at a reasonable price. Barbara, a Canadian citizen, purchased a money order for $5.00 US, which she then sent to the U.S. user. When the U.S. user attempted to cash the money order at her bank (after having the post office refuse it), the bank determined that it was $5.00 Can, not U.S., and thus gave her only $3.50. After several messages back and forth, they turned to me for help. Ultimately, the U.S. user sent Barbara two money orders: one for the $3.50 US that she'd cashed the original for, and another for an additional $1.50 US just to preserve her reputation as a fair person. I saw the receipt from Barbara's M.O., and personally mailed the other two to her. Throughout my attempts to mediate the problem, Barbara was hostile, accusatory and uncooperative. Even after she'd received all of her money back (less the minimal fee for obtaining the M.O. in the first place), she continued to send hostile notes to the U.S. user. When that user contacted me, forwarding the one in which Barbara said "I'm glad you got stung", I reopened communications with Barbara to ask her to cease and to let the whole thing drop. She responded with an accusatory letter to me, telling me how rude I am, and other generally hostile comments. While I've no idea whether she is otherwise a good trading partner, please be aware that if any glitches arise, she is unlikely to work problems out gracefully, and may continue to harass you after it’s done. 8/00 …When Babara’s behavior was referred to on the KnitList(without identifying her by name), I received several emails from people asking if the person to whom I referred was Barbara, and saying that they’d had equally unpleasant experiences:
“[Y]ou are not the only person who was lambasted.I am surprised my monitor did not burst into flames!She is one hateful person and people should be warned.”“She reduced me to tears one day.” 9/00
Bubbe Henderson
In October 1999, offered the XRX Shawls book for trade.
Bubbe agreed to trade for "the highly sought after Alice Starmore Scottish
book, which is out of print, rare, and in high demand. (On ebay,
it usually sells for upward of $100)." Bubbe and _ agreed that __
would have to wait some time for this book, as it was packed away, in some
inaccessible spot in the garage. ___ sent the XRX book and
Bubbe emailed to say she received it and wrote of her intentions to find
and send the AS book. __ wrote reminders to her once or twice a month,
just to make sure she did not forget. "She replied in Nov and in
Dec that she was planning to find it, that her daughter was coming to help
her, etc. In January of this year, Bubbe stopped replying to my emails.
I queried the Knitlist, in case she had had a personal emergency (which
is of course a legitimate excuse), mentioning that she and I had agreed
to trade, I was trying to follow up on it. "Several knitlist members emailed
me, and a few people said they had had not-optimal trades with her.
The consensus, insofar as I could tell, was that she was slow to send but
eventually good to her word. So I waited - it was now three months
after we had agreed to trade - and Bubbe did write back to me shortly thereafter.
She apologized for her long silence and said that her computer system had
sufferred a meltdown, that she had lost my address in the meantime.
She said she had found the book and was mailing it after she returned from
a trip to NY at the end of January.
Around the end of February, Bubbe emailed me to say it had finally shipped
via Priority mail with delivery confirmation. I guess it is obvious
by now that I never rec'd the book. I waited several weeks and then wrote
to tell her the book did not arrive. I asked for the delivery confirmation
number. (The PO will tell you when the number was entered into
the database - meaning they had accepted the package and it was on its
way. After it is delivered, they will tell you when and where the package
was mailed.) Of course, a fake number will show as never being accepted,
or
being delivered to a wrong location.
She did not reply at all, not even to say that she did not have the
DC number. I wrote again, just in case she had missed the email, again
reiterating that I did not receive the book and that I did wish to know
the delivery confirmation number. Since Bubbe is clearly online and
clearly not responding to my emails, I must be truthful to myself and admit
that I no longer expect to receive the book from her. So now there
is no reason for me to keep silent. I am patient - but a half year
for a trade is, in my opinion, too long a time period." 4 /00
See also Margaret Henderson
Carole
Thimidis/Bonnie Evans
At Bonnie's request, Carole gave her advance notice of one of her sales.
Carole was selling 1kilo cones of Forsell Pure new wool the aran weight
regularly $62.95 SRP for $20.00 to clear stock...she chose the Hunter green
and a cone of cotton, which Carole says was clearly stated in the ad to
have been shop soiled and therefore it was going at $5.00 because of the
dust on the top. Carole worked out a trade with Bonnie It did not
go well. Bonnie says that Carole told her that she'd find out the
shipping charge and let her know before shippiing. Carole says she
did not say this, but said that she'd put the bill for shipping in with
the yarn. Either way, Carole shipped before informing Bonnie of the
price. Evidently Bonnie was unaware that Carole was in Canada (though
her email sig line includes that info), and that the shipping charge would
be substantially higher than Bonnie had any reason to expect.
Carole used an old Tide Laundry Detergent box for
shipping. Carole says that she does this often, as the boxes are
very sturdy. She says that she always cleans them well before using
them. Bonnie says that when the package arrived, the two cones of
yarn had been shipped in a box, with the dregs of the detergent still in
it. Now, Bonnie says that the yarn had not been wrapped in plastic
sufficiently to protect it from the detergent, which got all over the yarn,
and ruined it, but Carole says that there was no detergent in the box,
that one cone was wrapped in its original plastic wrapper, and the other
she wrapped in shipping paper. She also questions the claim that a bit
of detergent could "ruin" washable yarn.
Either way, Bonnie objected to the condition of
the yarn, (which she also said was dirty) Carole, having already paid shipping
one way, said she'd accept the return only if Bonnie paid the return shipping
(of approximately $13.00 US).Evidently, some harsh emails flew back and
forth, finally Carole says that she told Bonnie to keep the yarn, give
it away or do whatever she chose. That as far as she was concerned she
acted in good faith but at that point was going to wipe out the order
as an uncollectible bad debt and that she didn't want to hear from Bonnie
again. Carole also says that she told Bonnie that she would not say anything
about the problems, but when Bonnie reported her side to me, Carole responded
promptly upon returning from holiday, and so her side is here as well.
Ultimately, Bonnie was able to work out with the P.O. to reject the package,
which was thus returned to Carole, who says that there is no detergent
whatsoever on the yarn. 9/00
"This woman has been hateful to me for the last time......she sends DIRTY yarns.....so dirty I threw it away. It looked to be way beyond shop dust. I had to send her THREE checks before she finally said she received payment. I won't trade with her again. The reason I don't want my name listed is because she can become quite hateful and nasty and I cannot deal with any more added stress in my life right now. I have way too much rightnow. I rarely, if ever, criticize anyone. It just isn't my way." Name withheld by request (as of this date, reporter's rating is 9/9) 7/2/01
Charlotte Weiner, Deerfield Beach, Florida. Charlotte was involved in a deal for needles. After three months and many emails, she finally returned the needles that she'd not paid for. reported by Faye Krause
Christiane Britton
On Jan. 8, Debbi Y. sent her
a check for some items she was selling, and she wrote on the 27th
that she'd received it and would be mailing my package that weekend (which
would have been the 30th). Subsequent e-mails to her got no response
2/00
Update: Debbi finally did get her items. However, she reports
that has been in contact with others who are still waiting. 7/00
Designing Customs(virkhaus@kalnet.net)
I reluctantly report that "Designing Customs", virkhaus@kalnet.net,
promised to buy two Meg Swansen tapes I listed, asked for the postage which
I gave the same day, and never sent payment. I wrote after 2 1/2 weeks
that would have to cancel the sale and list on ebay if they weren't going
to
pay, and I received no response. Linda
Wish 5/6/01
Diane Cintron (or &knitchat4
for knitlist chat on ICQ) (dandee on ICQ)
" This happened when she first found out she was going to have a baby,
on 26 of Sept. 1999 - she has since delivered and the baby is a couple
of months old!" In a trade for needles - a pair of US # 8 16"
cir's - Crystal Palace, she was supposed to send a pair same size/length
in Addi Turbo to Dawn (callyico@intercome.net). Diane also asked
Dawn to purchase the latest issue of FCEK for her, and promised to send
the money it cost. Dawn sent the needles, magazine and in a
friendly gesture sent 4 or 5 skeins of LB micro spun in different colors
and some cute buttons - items to help knit for the baby. Though she
did acknowlege receiving the needles, magazine and yarn, Dawn has never
received my needles or the money. She sent several emails - and either
got excuses, or, most times, no answer. Later, after Dawn contacted
Jennifer Tocker to inform her of this bad trade, since Diane was to become
moderator of &knitchat4, Diane emailed that she would send again
- two months later, Diane resumed ignoring Dawn when she emails.
6/6/00
Ellen Upp -- Laura reports that she had manos listed for $8 per skein, but insisted on sending by UPS which is very slow to me and costs more... I prefer post office, so her cost for $8 yarn and shipping was more than the $10.95/skein here at patternworks [15 min. away] and she quoted me a book that patternworks had in catalog also at higher price. didn't feel it was reasonable and halted. BUT a close friend says she's had great swaps.
Gloriamarie Amalfitano: Hazel says that she took over three weeks to mail the check for yarn that she bought through the swap list; the last ten days of this lapse was because she was out of town, and the first two weeks was because she was handling a series of crises related to the trip. However, she did not write to her swap partner to explain any of this until after she'd returned, and the problem had been reported. (00)
Hazel Blumberg-McKee: Gloriamarie
says that her description of her yarn was very misleading. With a
multicolored yarn, she indicated that the pink shade predominated and was
a very bright pink, but the recipient found that the brown shade predominated,
and the pink was a soft almost mauvey color. Hazel described the
yarn as very bright and distictinve; the recipient found it to be subtle
and not bright at all. (00)
Irene Conklin aka Posy55@aol.com
"I had an odd experience with Irene Conklin aka Posy55@aol.com.
She is selling a large number of books and I contacted her about one of
them. I received several e-mails from her telling me that the book
was mine and instructions to send a money order and then two days later
she sent a message telling me that the book was sold to someone else and
not to send a money order.
At the very best case scenario, she is clearly a disorganized seller.
Given that she is requesting money orders which afford the buyer no security
at all, I thought that people might want to be warned about this seller."
[Alison Hori ahori@midsouth.rr.com]
6/oo
Jan Ambrose-Button -- advertises in Machine Knitters Resource with a California address, though she's moved to Alaska. She's hard to reach, and slow to send the product ordered 7/00
Jill @ jillmrn "Jill had alpaca on sale and I was first bidder. she first told me I was lucky to get the alpaca because now she was getting a lot of offers. then she asked to renege "because a friend wanted". I bid and tried to buy at least 4 or 5 other items and she never sold or sent or followed up. and I have copies of at least 8 emails requesting info and her answers syaing she'd get back to me and it never happened!" (00)
Jo McKnight (L'Etoile du Nord)
Jo in Minnesota (L'etoile du Nord at josiem@tekstar.com) is a VERY
hostile person. If you do not follow all her instructions exactly
as she expects, you get a LONG letter lecturing you on why someone else
got the yarn, and all of your failings. I had asked if some yarn
was yet available, expecting a "yes" or "no" reply. Once she said
it was there, I offered a check, because it is difficult for me to get
Money Orders, and confirmed the basic sales price before I sent mailing
and so on, and got a lengthy letter telling me that even if it had been
available she would not send the yarn to me as I did not send a zip code,
that she only takes money orders because she doesn't want to wait for cheques
to clear, and on and on! Not at all the usual quality of communication
from members of the list. Margo
Lynn Hablutzel 9/8/01
Jo's Response
I sent my letter posting the yarns last night around midnight,
I said money order preferred, and did ask for a zip. Not once did
she offer her mailing info, even with her last letter asking me to
send her a total amount due. How could I? She wrote that letter
this morning about 8:30. In the meantime, I got a letter at 7:10
am from Nina Saulic, telling me she would take the yarn, asked for
a total amount, gave me her mailing address and I did send her that
info. I wrote and told her I would require a money order for
this .She responded at 11 am with a confirmation that she would send a
money order. I then confirmed with her and let Margo know that it
was sold. I don't have time to wheedle info out of people and I always
try to be caring and considerate in my dealings with people.
I have had many
sales on your list and not One, not one negative feedback.
It saddens me that this would be my first. I will be far more
cautious in my dealings next time
(if there is one!)
While it is important for sellers to do right, I think a letter
to buyers wouldn't hurt,telling them they need to be clear, they
need to respect the sellers wishes
(money order vs. check), and accomplish the sale with two letters
rather than half a dozen.
List Mom Comments
This is a prime example of folks responding in extremes. I agree
that Jo should have given Margo more time to negotiate, but I understand
Jo's frustration that Margo didn't give a zip code or address earlier so
that Jo could calculate postage. While buyers ought to try to meet
the seller's payment choice, sellers should expect to have offers to pay
in ways that they haven't listed. If you only take one method, post
that with your offers, and include the remark that no exceptions will be
made.
Joanne Heidenberger, at Aras Knitting
Studio 2/00
once Round Lake Beach, Illinois.
now Lake Villa, Illinois
Judy Sumner reports: "Michelle Plumb and I both sent a book (the same one it turns out) to Joanne Heidenberger of the knitlist. She had agreed to pay me $20 for the book (Knitted Masterpieces) and Michelle $15. After several weeks had gone by with no money arriving, I wrote to her and told her that I was going to report her to the Listmoms. She wrote back a very snotty E-mail and sent me a money order for $15. She has never paid Michelle." Joanne's E-mail address is aras@iwc.net.
Joanne reports that she sent cashier's checks to both parties ages ago, and that she only wrote a "snotogram" after receiving several. She is investigating with the bank to be sure that the checks were cashed.
on 8.19.99, Brenda Zuk (brenda@needlebeetle.com) in Milton, Ontario, Canada reports: "I stupidly sent [Joanne Heidenberger of Aras Knitting Studio] patterns on the recommendation of another designer (also a knitlister). I was told that Joanne Heidenberger could be trusted and would make good on her payment to me. I sent the patterns June 19/99 and they have been received quite some time ago. However, I have yet to be paid $124 US for the goods.
"Instead I have been receiving stories from Joanne about a lost money order, returned money order etc. And the designer who recommended Joanne Heidenberger to me is also having the same difficulties collecting payment and receiving similar stories from Joanne about lost money orders. I also know of another vendor who is having trouble as well.
As of 6/25/01, Brenda has not been paid.
Because Brenda was writing on her own behalf and hadn't asked permission to use the other designers' names in her letter, nor had she told them she was writing about her experience, she preferred not to disclose their names.
See also Wooly Toad / Kriket@woolytoad.com, below
I did a trade with Jude Pilote (my lil'ol'lady-see bottom at Nan's Ewesfull Place -) in order to get the equivalent of $25 worth of felting needles. They have never come, despite the fact that she received my lady and repeated emails have yielded no felting needles. I am not happy with this and thought you should know. Nancy Weiler 8/28/01 - resolved
Jude's response: We had a death in the family..& things have
been hard. I hope that Nancy will forgive my lack of Communication.
I was unable to get my shipment of felting needles...so I could not send
them to her. I ordered & paid for 400 felting needles &
they still have not arrived. I have not received a response
from my supplier...so I m hoping eventually I WILL GET THEM.
But as I have kept Nancy waiting for so long it I thought it would
be better if I just paid for the "My lil'ol' lady". I have sent Nancy
a money order plus the Diz & a threading hook. If my felting needles
do arrive I will send you some Free of Charge. 8/31/01
Kathleen Szerekeres
she ordered $22.00 worth of Family Circle Knitting Mags from
me, which I promptly sent, and she never sent the money, nor respond to
any of my emails. She then changed her email addy she had on the
list and I cannot get in touch with her any longer. She completey
took the product and did not pay one cent. This has been over 6 weeks
and counting. 8/20/01 Carly
Hammer
Anne Grimaldi was caught by Katharine's email address change, and started to arrange a deal with her. Luckily for Anne, she doesn't send goods until she's received the payment ... Katherine "ordered" a bunch of stuff from the swap list, then never sent payment and didn't respond to emails.. (no loss to the other party, who didn't send anything as she'd not rec'd payment). Anne has referred us to eBay's feedback pages. See also, reports from other sites below 7/31/00
Kriket see below
Linda Spector -
I purchased a knitting machine from her, when it arrived I discovered
that it had rust that wasn't mentioned and there was a broken part that
was NOT due to shipping. No huge deal. She was apologetic, but did not
offer to send the cost of the repair (I asked).
She gave the "elderly lady" excuse. - Deborah
Shanahan
Linda Wish / Laura Anderson -- semi-negative - delayed reporting:.. as Laura remembers, Linda "seriously skimped-didn't send colors I asked for, or quality, and didn't send priority, and etc.. I got courage up and wrote and finally about 6 weeks later got another skimpy skein.... my impression then, was that it was lucky that I got the final yarn, but I would question her closely or not deal again. "not fair value." However, Linda recalls it very differently. She says: "This was the most disagreeable trade I've ever made ..... I can't remember what I got from her, but she wanted 'any natural fiber' in return. Then it turned out she meant only 'wool' when she said 'natural fiber', no plant fibers. I told her I didn't knit much with wool and had very little. Then it turned out that she wanted only 'natural dyes' 'natural fiber' - well I sent her what I had, since I didn't use much wool anyway, and it was a generous amount whether you considered retail/retail or ebay/ebay or whatever measure. I did send her another skein when she still complained and I really thought for that I should have been sainted since I didn't tell her what a difficult person she was! I would never ever trade with her again." 7/00 Update: This negative remark prompted several emails reporting good dealings. Indeed, most sing Laura's praises, and indicate that she is "more than fair" and "generous."
Linda Wish
She has been posting yarn for sale. I contacted her about yarn I was
interested in. She emailed me that she's promised it to someone from an
ebay auction. I said fine. Then she emailed me that it was available. I
paypaled her the money. She received the money then emailed that it wasn't
available again and said she couldn't return my money because she'd paid
fees on it thru pay pal (highly suspect - it doesn' t work like that).
She tried to bait and switch for something else. I asked for my money back.
She did eventually return the money. 8/19/01 Janine
Palley
I bought a color changer that was "in the original box" she is
a dealer so I expected she knew her stuff. There were parts missing and
the main item was rusty. She played innocent about the parts and said that
rust was normal. I posted to a machine knitting
list to ask for opinions -- without using any names -- and used a quote
from the correspondence about the sale. One of the listers wrote me privately
and said she knew (from the writing syntax) who I was writing about and
also had had problems with her.
All I wanted was compensation for the difference in the price I would
have paid for an article in nice condition and what I would have paid for
one in poor condition. After a while she stopped answering my emails. Deborah
Shannahan
Margaret
M. Henderson (See also
Bubbe Henderson)
4/01
Margaret has suddenly stopped responding to emails from people with
whom she has outstanding trades. Among the complaints have been:
"I have emailed Margaret Henderson several times about my missing packages
totalling over $50 and she does not respond. What should I do ?
Eve Ng, the Big Apple Knitting Guild President, is having the same problem
but she swapped through another list." Sue
Goldman 4/23/01
"I too, have been trying to finish a deal started with m.m. henderson as of January 21th. Money was sent 2/3rd, wait, question sent to her 3/1st, "mail lost""tracing package", now its 4/25th.... no package, check cleared bank 3/12....no email, no nothing....." Mary Rutigliano 4/25/01 (still uncompleted 8-20-01)
" FiberBuy and Trade are filing Internet Fraud forms. What a nightmare. She makes number 8, 9 or 10 I can't even remember. She also goes under the email name of bubbe so check that one and see if she is on this list under that." Janet Lynn 4/24/01
" I have a knitswap transaction that is rapidly going sour. I purchased some books (three - 2 of the Vogue on the Go and one Nicky Epstein hats) from M.M. Henderson. Sent her the required money order back in January, in the 22nd. To date, no books have arrived. She had been emailing up to mid-March saying there had been problems with the PO - something about package sent with no postage, then returned, then not being sent, then sent again and somehow lost and being rerouted back to her (that was in mid-March). So, I have been sending her an e-mail once a week for the past month, querying about what's happened. No response from MM." 4/23/01 Judy Garren
"I'm having a problem with a swap that dates back to February 9th. I ordered from Maggie Henderson a set of Elizabeth Zimmerman "knitting around" videos. I sent my check to her at M. Henderson, 2131 Sandra Drive, Riverside, Ca. 92509-1512. She has corresponded with me over the months after receiving my check and claims that first she mailed the tapes, which were then sent back to her for lack of postage (this is in mid-february). She claims to have re-mailed the tapes on March 9th, only to report on the 15th that the post office had lost the tapes, then found them. She got them back from the post office on the 27th of March and told me on April 5th that they were "on the way" to me again.
I have emailed her twice in the last two weeks asking for the status and she doesn't answer. I told her in one of the messages that I would accept a refund (it came to over $80 with postage). The tapes are not here and I don't know what to do. At this point, I'd just like my money back." Judy Donovan 4/25/01
Add me to the list of folks who have not heard from MM Henderson. Had
one very easy transaction with her--I bought Rinsel-Brown's Gansey book
from her a few months back. But the most recent spin-off transaction has
been a dud. First I didn't hear. THen she said it had gone astray in the
mail. Most recently that it had been mailed again. Don't know what is going
on but I am not in as irritated a state as some other folks because I could
not even get her to tell me how much money to send so I never sent out
the check. So no check, but no Spin-Offs either. A wash in my book, but
more of the same, no?"
Laurie Osborne 4/26/01
"I sent M. M. Henderson <sc_ss@yahoo.com payment for the Knitting Goddess book and 3 Spin-Off magazines totalling $28.02 with postage and delivery confirmation. The items never arrived and she is not responding to my email inquiries about it." 4/12/01 Brenda Stultz
I, along with many others, had a bad trade with M.M.Henderson (Maggie Henderson). I sent her money in February for 2 books, which I never received. She quit answering my email requests altogether, and Paypal was no help in getting my money back, either. 8/23/01 Janet Kallstrom
Mary Virkhaus
she takes forever to pay (when buying) and forever to ship (when
selling) Eventually things work out, but isn't enjoyable. Deborah
Shannahan
Nadine/Kathy Thompson
(please read both sides of the story, and note that no money changed hands
at any time)
She offered Rowan books, and invited counter offers for her prices.
I sent her numerous emails including counteroffers and ended up offering
her the $40 she requested for #2. On May 14th, she post the same
magazine for sale on Ebay. I know this because I emailed the Ebay
seller a question and it was she who responded and told me her reserve
was $50. She also agreed to sell me the Colour Book for $10.
When I emailed her saying that I had agreed to pay the price she posted
for #2 on knitswap, she admitted that she backed out of the sale and was
now selling it on Ebay. She also stated that due to a "family situation"
she was backing out of selling the Color Book. She did agree initially
to sell me #6 for $30 and is still offering to sell it to me for $30.
She wanted to charge me $2 for insurance for a $30 item. This seller has
backed out of two of the three items she posted for sale on this list and
the knitting-for-sale list, even though I met her price on #2 and she sent
me an email agreeing to a price on the Color book. - Kathy
Thompson 6/01
Nadine's response: I am very
sorry about this. First of all, Kathy Thompson swamped me with
e-mails. I NEVER, repeat NEVER, agreed to sell her one of the Rowan
books she wanted. I had this particular book up for several days. Her offer
to meet my price came after I placed the item on ebay. This was after
repeated messages to sell her the books at way below cost because she was
in medical school and it's "so expensive."
As for the other book, Kaffe's Colour Book. I told her it was a family matter and it is. It is now in 7 pieces due the fact that visiting small relative got his hands on it.
I am happy to sell her the first book she asked for, Rowan #6. I even informed her privately before I relisted the books. I offered her an option of paying for some of the books by the installment plan. She never responded to that.
Frankly, I have sold on this list for months and have lots of satisfied
customers. I can give you references if you like. Several people in this
Rowan sale made me reasonable lower offers, which I accepted and they now
have their books. I submit that Ms. Thompson is not the most reasonable
person to deal with since I attempted to state my case clearly and
she never seemed to listen to what I was saying. I am still holding
Rowan #6 for her at the agreed upon price of $30.00
plus shipping via bookl rate and insurance=$33.00.
I wish to report a very unsatisfactory situation. Long ago, at the beginning of April, I think. I posted some cotton. Pamela Howell of Atlanta answered. I lowered the price from $60 to $40. She asked about colors. I sent her swatches. She agreed to purchase. I waited and ....no money order like she promised. Two weeks later, I inquired about the money order. She reponded with profuse apologies and asked about some books I'd posted. She wanted them too. Said she was sending the money order. It's two weeks at least and nothing. I e-mailed her Monday, got a very unsatisfactory response, something about how much did she owe me. I told her was unemployed, so I would like to be paid. I heard nothing more from her. Tonight I sent her a note and said the deal was off. I think I bent over backwards. Dealing with her has been very frustrating. - Nadine Stewart 5/8/01
I have been having difficulty with Pamela Howell. I should never
have done business with her,
as I had a similar problem with her last October (2000) and should
have refused to do business with her. She seems to have more excuses
than I can believe. Anyway, she agreed up front (May 31st) to send
payment within 7 days and now accuses me of zealously watching for payment.
One month later and no payment doesn't seem too zealous to me.
I am still giving her the benefit of the doubt and will wait two more days
for payment, which is $110 cash, so she says. She paid cash last
time too and I don't like this kind of a thing because of it getting stolen
in the mail. It is not a good thing to do, IMO.- Catherine
Conrad 6/28/01 The money finally came. (29 days after
transaction was agreed upon and not the seven days we had agreed on.)
Reasha She posted a book on the KnitSwap list at a stated price, then when a list member sought to buy it for that price, quoted one almost 10 times as high, and invited the member to bid for it. 8/00
Wooly Toad or Kriket@woolytoad.com
"I responded to a swap notice on March 12th & sent money for a book. I still haven't received the book and 'kriket' doesn't respond to any of my e-mail requests for information. I understand that she had some sort of family emergency. However, I placed my order and paid my money quite a while before the emergency and still haven't received anything from her, nor have I had an explanation from her." Laurie Kynaston 4/16/01
I have paid for $128.00 worth of Galway yarn, and have not received it. Over a month ago, she said that DHL returned it to her as undeliverable, something wrong with my address. I gave her the correct address again, but still have not received it. Cheryl Zylla 6/01
Almost two months ago I sent payment for GOL which was $15 to cover cost plus shipping. As of yet I have not received the book. Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated as repeated attempts to contact them have not been successful. Quite a bit of dissatisfaction has been expressed by many others in different lists. I recognized that she has had problems but I am afraid lack of communication will significantly influence any future internet transactions. -Nancy A. Weiler 5/2/01
I am one of the people still trying to get my order from 'Kriket". As of July 1, 2001 I have not had any response from her or him since I sent a check on March 2, 2001. The check was cashed.
The latest posting from "Kriket" on Knitswap was dated June 23, 2001
says that she has orders held up by DHL. This is not true -
I have called DHL explained the situation and their records do show an
account with Joanne Heidenberger, but it has not been used and there are
no shipments
being held in her name. DHL does delivery without signatures,
and they also leave notes about how to pick up shipments if delivery is
not possible. That leaves only incorrect addresses on all orders,
which would seem to be extremely unlikely.
Also, "Kriket" states she will respond to each person in the next few days. It has been a week and I still have no mail from her. She does not want anyone to bother her with mail which does present a problem. -- Janice Trapkin 7/1/01
"Kriket@woolytoad.com has had my money since the middle of February
and I have not received the merchandise, nor have I had a personal communication
from her since February 17. I've accepted the fact that I'm never
going to see my money or my order, but given the number of good trades
I've had, I'm certainly going to stay on the list. I understand she/they
have had and are
still having problems, but they could have had someone else go through
their records and try to at least respond to those of us who trusted them
and, so far, have just been kicked in the butt." Marsha
Kostman 7/11/01 NOTE: Joanne says that
she shipped the goods via DHL and has a receipt for their having been left
on the porch.
"Kriket sent a post to the Socknitters list March 15, listing a fanny
pack with 2 skeins of yarn for $20. I don't remember the additional
charge for shipping (it is on my work computer). I corresponded with
her about color choice, and sent a check. The check cleared my bank
March 26, but I did not receive any notification from her that it had
been received, not any information that it had been shipped. I e-mailed
her twice after, asking for information, but have not received a response.
The e-mails did not come back with a bad address notification, there wasn't
an answer. I am still waiting. At an earlier time, I ordered
Ott Light bulbs and a Ott Light lamp. The lamp arrived, but the bulbs
didn't. When I called, she blamed DHL and sent the package right
away. " Mary Hunt 7/11/01
I placed an order for an Ott Floor Lamp which included shipping and
a bulb. The order was placed on March 24th with a promise to pay
by Money Order on March 31st, which I did. My Money Order has been
deposited, but I have yet to hear anything from Kriket. I have read
all the excuses,
which I understand most are not factual. I have sent a certified
letter and when one email was requested, I sent that. The certified
letter came back with "moved-no forwarding address". When someone
moves, especially someone who is not trying to hide, they leave a forwarding
address at the
post office. We have been scammed. And I resent being chastised
for not being patient. Wooly Toad, Kriket and Tom, have lied to us
and not acted responsibly nor in good faith. Helen Pope, although
pleading their case for them, is obviously not acting in our best interests.
I refuse to be
treated this way and have filed complaints of mail fraud, and with
the Attorney General. All I want is what I ordered and agreed upon,
and paid for. Kriket's own email to the list, was demanding and lame.
We have all waited far too long. I only read the list now to see
what the latest complaints are. What a shame, and a negative thing
for our list. Joy 7/16/01
Helen's Response -- While I have pleaded their case in the form of reporting what I know, and advising the list of Kriket's health and other situations, I have also been vigorously lobbying on the list members' behalf, urging her to ship or refund the money. I have only reported what I've been told, and at the beginning, her delays didn't seem unreasonable in view of the circumstances (cancer treatments, illness, death in the family, being forced to move when the building was sold and the new owner didn't honor the lease...). I have offered on many occasions to help her with shipping, though it's not my business.... I've done so not for her, but for the members of the list.
I feel that I have been lied to several times and mostly ignored by this person. It is unfair that my chack was cashed on April 4th, and I still (July 17th) have not received the merchandise, the money, or any apology. Tracy Aichele 7/17/01
Kriket@woolytoad.com has had my money since the middle of February and I have not received the merchandise, nor have I had a personal communication from her since February 17. I've accepted the fact that I'm never going to see my money or my order, but given the number of good trades I've had, I'm certainly going to stay on the list. I understand she/they have had and are still having problems, but they could have had someone else go through their records and try to at least respond to those of us who trusted them and, so far, have just been kicked in the butt. Marsha Kostman 7/18/01
WARNINGS from other Venues (sqaure exchnages, round robins, and the like)
Ann Branndenburg -- committed
to buy a set of needles that were very popular. The seller (Catherine
Wingate) told her several times that others were interested, and gave
her an opportunity to back out when it was discovered that a shop sold
them for less. Ann said she wanted to buy from Catherine. Catherine
turned down several offers for the needles, having promised them to Ann.
Various excuses were given for Ann's failure to send the check, until som
six weeks later, Ann stopped responding to emails. Ultimately, Catherine
gave up on Ann, and offered the needles for sale again, at a reduced price.
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Kathleen Szekeres (kszekeres@solar.stanford.edu)
I have received this report about Kathleen, and have been unable to
get her comments or side of the story. Since she has declined to
respond to my emails, I am posting this one sided report.:
"On 8/19 she was sent yarn and to date 10/17/00 I have not seen one
cent. Until the first week of Sep she would respond to emails. "i
had to pay the rent" or "i'll put a MO in the mail on friday"
Now emails go un answered." K.
Fredette
Kathleen has emailed me to tell me she wanted my items on a few occasions,
but never
sent the money after repeated emails. I will ignore all future
"deals". - Melanie 7/2/01
Donna Schragel is alleged to still owe her mitten buddy mittens (?)
Nathan Friedman -- delivery problems:
November (?) 2000
The package I sent him was returned, though it has since been delivered
by an alternate method.
Mr. Friedman did not include his apartment number in the address information he sent me. UPS returned the package; their website and a subsequent phone call indicated a) an apartment number was necessary for delivery, and b) they had somehow obtained a customer request to hold the package for pickup, but no one every picked it up.
Mr. Friedman insisted the apartment wasn't necessary and that UPS was not telling the truth, as how could they have obtained a signature for pickup if they didn't know which apartment to leave the note on?
I re-sent the package through the Post Office, and asked Mr. Friedman to reimburse me for the P.O. costs after I discussed the matter with UPS and they refused a refund. Mr. Friedman refused, insisting that UPS was lying. I then asked Mr. Friedman to contact UPS on my behalf, since my contact with UPS failed to obtain a refund from them. Perhaps he will have better results.
Shaunet Olssen -- is sometimes late
(by months) with her payments. You may want to get money up front
(per Carol Hyman of New York)
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