Eric, when you have time to reply, perhaps you could also let us know why you find it necessary to rename your accounts (e.g. "egjeric" becoming "edward3co" becoming "lesney12345")?
Thanks for the info. I find a rare model for reasonable price. Saw the seller is lesney12345 from Rotterdam. Just check the forum and find the info. Thanks Idris.
Eric, when you have time to reply, perhaps you could also let us know why you find it necessary to rename your accounts (e.g. "egjeric" becoming "edward3co" becoming "lesney12345")?
Thanks for the info. I find a rare model for reasonable price. Saw the seller is lesney12345 from Rotterdam. Just check the forum and find the info. Thanks Idris.
My pleasure. I like to think of VBD as being a bit Reithian, whose purpose is to inform, educate, and entertain. As Joe (Tinman) has told us time and time again, the only way to beat the fakers is for collectors to be properly informed, and it is gratifying to read that the Forum has achieved that in this instance.
I'm sorry to say that the only way to avoid Eric's models is not to buy from The Netherlands. Even then, that's not infallible, since he sometime sells using an address in America, plus there are now so many of his models in circulation that some at least some of them must be returning to the market via the original purchasers (or their heirs). Caveat emptor I'm afraid.
Just remember, if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is!
Dear Sirs and Gentlemen,
Dear Ladies,
Dear collectors,
By browsing Ebay, checking the market and the prices in order to get ready to sell a part of my collection of a few thousand Lesneys, I found some auctions from one seller - to good to be true, very rare regular wheels in collectable condition at affordable prices ... not to many, just ten offers of this seller ....
Checking - others buyed with this seller rare regular wheels at good prices, fine!
Checking - very good 100% feedback since 2014
Checking - fotos, description, and finaly: bidding ....
Looking closer, closer, trying to find other offers, compareable ... nothing--- strange ...
Looking closer to the photos - ha! a broken roof pillar - not mentioned in the description of the model!!!
Looking closer - Ha! One model was definitly opened, the rivets so small, smaller than the wholes in the baseplate: not one of those I made a bid, but ...!
Looking closer - some strange marks on the axles: so it might be that the axels resp. the wheels has been changed!!! ARGH!
So I canceled my bids on models of my interest:
Iso Griffo, regular wheels with silver hubs, WHITE INTERIOR: EUR 35,- - axles with marks
Volkswagen 1300 Salon, regular wheels with silver hubs - in BRONZE! - EUR 75,-
VW 1600 TL regular wheels with silver hubs in PURPLE - EUR 62,- - broken roof pillar!
Lamborghini Miura regular wheels with silver hubs in gold with cream interior: EUR 62,-
I tried to get information about the seller: Lesney12345 - and found your thread! I was not here for too long!
Thank you all so much for all your work in this forum, for your knowledge and - very important - your humor!
What a tragic that we can not do anything against "Eric the Honk"! I would love to visit him in his office or at home or inform his family, his parents, his collegues and his boss how he generate money and what he realy earns ... or should I write: deserve? Sorry, my english lacks practice ...
Thank you for the above post, Andreas.
I see the role of the Forum as being to inform, educate, and entertain (just like the BBC) and, in your case, we have obviously succeeded. I am enormously pleased (and more than a little proud) that through our efforts we have managed to save a fellow collector from wasting his money with Eric. I'm sure I speak for all the contributors to this thread when I write that we are extremely grateful to you for taking the trouble to put your thanks in writing.
I understand that English is not everyone's first language, so my policy is that our overseas Members may post in any European language provided that it is accompanied by an English-language translation via e.g. Google Translate.
Ich verstehe, dass Englisch nicht jedermanns Muttersprache ist. Daher ist es meine Politik, dass unsere Mitglieder in Übersee in jeder europäischen Sprache schreiben dürfen, sofern es von einer englischsprachigen Übersetzung beigefügt ist z.b. durch Google Übersetzer.
Idris wrote:I am enormously pleased (and more than a little proud) that through our efforts we have managed to save a fellow collector from wasting his money with Eric. I'm sure I speak for all the contributors to this thread when I write that we are extremely grateful to you for taking the trouble to put your thanks in writing.
One of the posts I'll eventually publish on my blog touches on this subject, stating that altering a model with intent to deceive is one of the most uncool things a person can do. eBay seems rather indifferent to its users peddling fraudulent models...has anyone had luck in getting fakes removed and/or having a faker face consequences? I can only hope so.
It is gratifying to know that the diligence of this board has exposed the shysters and empowered the collecting community with knowledge.
Glad the forum was able to help Andreas.
That gold Triumph was a very frustrating experience for the amount of time I spent. If I'd have realised who I was dealing with from the outset it would have been dismissed out of hand. The positive was the expertise of the forum members who exposed it for what it was and hammered another nail into his coffin.
"What one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever." ---Mary Jo Putney
