Forum Member Dilemma

[tiger8mush]

Allow member to come clean in this thread, and then reinstate fully. If he's a good boy then all will be forgotten by the weekend

[Leon]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

Allow member to come clean in this thread, and then reinstate fully. If he's a good boy then all will be forgotten by the weekend

I don't know about all being forgotten but I have made this offer to the buyer. If he does, I would lean towards reinstatement. If not, I am leaning the other way....but the jury is still out.

and a 1941 Wheaties card of DiMaggio, 5 x 7...never seen another or even from the set. But a respected board member has some...not sure if he has Joe D...

[Exhibitman]

Yes; broken window policing theory.

[egri]

Leon, I don't envy you having to make these decisions. Thank you for taking on this load so that we can have a place to discuss our hobby.

About the name, to me, the severity of the mistake matters. If his name was Tim, but he typed Tom, or he flip flopped his first and last names, maybe he's just a bad typist, or he misread the form. But if he gave his name as Mickey Mouse, well, that's different.

For the buyer's remorse, I think a suspension from the BST is in order, and if he becomes a repeat offender, ban him from the site.

[mrreality68]

Leon

As others said we trust you and I agree I would not want to have to make that decision myself but since the forum votes and most agree with the ban it is more a group decision.
OR if you feel on the fence then ban that person for a period of time and then let them back in after time served

[irishdenny]

I look at these situations in many different ways...
The following reply would be one of them!

I believe in sincerity... or lack there of!
Forgiveness with the opportunity to rejoin the community
is at Leon's discretion...

Forgiveness through banishment is also Mr Leon's weight to bare...

He's been doing this fir quite some time now!

"And He is very Very VerY Good at it!!!"

[hcv123]

To me it comes down to facts and intent.

1) Name - facts sound clear - he didn't use his name - intent? Was there an intent to deceive - based on the fact that he didn't (deceive) anyone and did put his name in at some point this seems like good reason for a second chance on the boards with a public apology (as decided).

2) BST transaction - Are the facts clear? Did he admit to knowing there was no crack and just had buyers remorse? If so, I would support a time-limited (3 month, 6 month?) ban from the BST. If it's not clear that it was buyers remorse and could have been an honest mistake then I think the decision as made stands.

[nwobhm]

Reinstate with no BST for 90 days.

[Vintagedeputy]

Some people use a fake name in profiles because they simply don't want to be found. I know of a buyer that uses a different name on facebook because he's a high school principal and is afraid of the kids finding him. Different strokes for different folks.

As for the tape, my eyes play tricks on me sometimes I find, as I get older. We don't all have 20/20.

I'd give him a strike 3.

[Leon]

It should be interesting. The buyer has said he might come on this thread.

FYI, here is what is asked for at registration, as you all know.

1. Username -
2. First & Last name -
3. Daytime ph# (might be called for verification) -




.

[DeanH3]

Tough spot Leon. I don't like dishonesty one bit. But I don't like it when I over-react. I'm not insinuating an over-reaction on your part, but I've done it myself before. I favor the idea of re-instatement with a lengthy BST ban. Like Andrew mentioned, that will show if the member is here strictly for BST privileges or the overall comradery of the community.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Hope you all have your popcorn ready!

I am the member being discussed here.

The site registration. Yup, I totally entered fake info. Guilty. When I first heard of this site (mentioned in a reddit comment), I wanted simply to check it out, and when prompted to enter a bunch of personal info (as so many websites do these days), I entered the first thing that came to mind - a portmanteau of two Mets players from my youth.

I added my real name to my signature/avatar/whatever-it's-called probably sometime last year. I have no problem sharing any info with Leon or anyone else at this point, as I now know that this is not some spammy website that wants to sell my data, but a community of real people, many of whom have met each other in person. Had I thought to retroactively change it in the system, and had I known it was possible (I'm not sure if it is), I would have. I fully accept it if Leon and/or others come to view this as a form of irredeemable deception. I certainly regret it, if for no other reason than that it will have caused some in here to doubt my integrity.

The returned card. Not guilty by reason of being a moron.

Some background: the member who was selling this card, whom I'll call "Dave" (not their real name) and I have done B/S/T deals prior to the one being discussed, and have had what I have viewed as great relationship, talking cards generally and such. He even referred to me another member when I asked him about some cards, and I later ended up purchasing some from this other member. (This is relevant to what I write later on.)

The transaction: Yes, as unlikely it seems many responding to this thread will believe, I truly thought was a crack in the slab. I have attached more pictures to show how it looked from other angles. I feel incredibly stupid knowing how we got to this point, but that it what I'm guilty of.

Had I simply had buyer's remorse (I didn't, as the card itself was nicer than in the pictures Dave had sent me, and it was a HOFer at a fair price), I would have simply told him so, and with confidence that he would have gladly accepted it back.

So, I took these photos (within minutes of opening the package) and send them to Dave, asking him what he wants to do. He acknowledged the perceived slab damage when I sent him the photos, and apologized. He asked me to send it back so that he could make a USPS insurance claim. I immediately shipped it back to him (about one week ago) and sent him the tracking number.

I woke up Monday to find that Leon had banned my account, and had no idea why. Dave had not contacted me when he received the card back. Had he done so, I would have gladly accepted the card back and paid the shipping. When Leon explained to me the reasons for the account ban, I contacted Dave again and he had this to say:

"I almost had sent the claim off to the post office too but wanted to snap one last pic before I did...glad I did."

I wrote back to him that, despite his being apparently convinced that I intentionally "faked" a damaged slab (it would never have occurred to me to do that, nor do I understand what it is I would have been trying to accomplish by doing so), I find notable the fact that that he also, with the card in hard, thought it was damaged until the very last second before mailing it out. (And Dave has been in the hobby for decades, as opposed to me, who never handled a slabbed card until early 2020!)

As far as my reputation, I have done deals on here with everyone listed in my signature, and I am confident that not one of them will have a single bad thing to say about me.

That's about all for now I suppose. Whatever Leon and/or the group decides, I have enjoyed being a part of this community and I wish you all the best.

Matthew (my real name)

[Leon]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

Allow member to come clean in this thread, and then reinstate fully. If he's a good boy then all will be forgotten by the weekend

Break out the popcorn! Reinstatement isn't guaranteed though.
.

[drcy]

People deserve second chances. I'd give him a second chance, though with conditions.

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by Leon

Break out the popcorn! Reinstatement isn't guaranteed though.

[iwantitiwinit]

Never mind, I edited out my comment because it made no sense.