Ok. I think I have stayed silent too long on this.
First of all, let me say right now I am not taking sides. Don't even try to get me in the middle of this!
Second, I will say that certain member's actions & words on here are vicious, vile, hateful, reprehensible, disrespectful, vulgar, tasteless & show a lack of class. This thread has gone WAY TOO FAR in bashing a certain individual for trying to warn of a bad experience with a buyer, with the good & honest intention that nobody else get burned or feelings hurt by dealing with said person. Instead, this individual has been mercilessly attacked & literally fed to the lions!
To Robert Seger: Look, I think everybody knows here about recent threads that have gotten out of control & turned into wars & attacks on certain members. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! There has GOT to be certain rules made & existing rules altered, & some harsh penalties in the future for breaking the rules. More than just permanently banning members from the site. The threat of possibly being permanently banned is NOT working, if it was then more people would be thinking of this as they post these type of comments.
I can't tell you how many times over the past year how disgusted I have been at the conduct of certain members here! To the point where I am VERY tempted to close my account, & never return. I totally agree with Streakers above with his statements "Those of you who've had nothing positive to say should be ashamed.
THIS behavior should NOT be the way this group is EVER portrayed." I can HONESTLY say this is one group of people I am starting to think I want no part of anymore. It just never ceases to amaze me how nasty & vicious some people can be, & you can't even be respected for having your own opinion without a huge war starting.
Now to the matter at hand.
It occurs to me in matters like this, there is NEVER a truly innocent side. There is the victim's side, the other person being accused, & somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
I don't believe for one minute Fred Nelson, compactelectra, set out to deceive anybody here with this Ebay listing. Fred Nelson is one of the founding members of the VCCC & Vacuumland, with a superb reputation, highly respected in the vacuum collecting community, with poise & class. And notice how whenever there is any fighting or nasty threads going on, Fred is nowhere to be found contributing to it. He holds his head high & does not stoop down to the low levels some members on Vacuumland will go in their comments.
To me, this Kirby DOES look exactly as described in the listing - that it was found New In Box & used a couple of times very lightly & not for cleaning. The proof in that is right on the brushroll bristles....there is NO dirt, wearing of the bristles, or any paint scrapes on the wood itself if it HAD been used for cleaning. As for the originality of the brushroll, it is very possible Fred may have been deceived by the seller when he originally bought this years ago on Ebay. Another possibility is that perhaps the bearings were bad & it required replacement....after all, if it truly IS a NIB cleaner, bearings can & do go bad on vacuums when they just sit unused for years or decades. Furthermore, the condition of the tools & the lack of any tarnish on the metal body of the cleaner also leads one to believe this has hardly seen any use. As for the location from where the Kirby was shipped from? Well, it is entirely possible Fred forgot to update his location when he made the Ebay listing. I highly doubt this was intentional, as he had just moved. Furthermore, Fred has stated in a LOT of his different listings in the past he is a collector, & most collectors here know what his Ebay username is. The fact he stated here he is now living in Palm Springs when he was alerting members to the Ebay listing in my mind shows honesty was in his intentions all along. People can & DO make minor mistakes. So the man made a small error, cut him some slack!
As for Bill Edstrom, a007kirbyman, not returning the cleaner? Well, first off, he DID respond here, saying that this is an incredibly busy time of year for him. I think it behooves us all to hear HIS side of the story as well. It is very common to hear of shipping damage on items purchased thru the mail, regardless of whether purchased thru Ebay or another means. I don't believe Bill Edstrom would set out to deceive or cheat someone in this manner. His professional dealings as a Kirby dealer with a retail store, Ebay business, & his postings as a Vacuumland member, in intentions of helping other members with any information, knowledge or repair advice related to Kirby vacuums, is remarkable. I do personally think Bill has shown strong character & professionalism in his comments & postings, character that quite frankly is hardly seen anymore in dealing with business owners in a retail environment.
Having said that, there HAS to be a reason why the cleaner has not been returned. We do not know EVERYTHING that has been instructed thru Ebay for both seller & buyer to do. What we do know here is that Fred Nelson has refunded Bill's money, & is dissatisfied with not receiving the Kirby back. In my opinion, since this is supposedly a New In Box cleaner, but that was found on Ebay....well, there is good reason why some people refer to Ebay as "Fleabay". I do think it's entirely possible Fred Nelson may have been deceived years ago by the Ebay seller he bought this from....this Kirby "may" have been made to look New In Box, when it was only restored, in a attempt to get more money for the cleaner & deceive the buyer. Since the cleaner has only been used a couple of times, & Fred is not a professional repairman, it is possible that once Bill Edstrom got said Kirby in his possession that he discovered mechanical defects from improper workmanship & restoration techniques. I stated above that I do believe this Kirby is New In Box, & it's condition reflects that, & I believe it, BUT unless we have seen this Kirby up close in person to examine it, as well as see a complete paper trail of this Kirby's history, it is still a distinct possibility this Kirby was made to look New In Box when it was only indeed restored, & improperly done. The other possibility here is that there has been indeed shipping damage, & Bill Edstrom decided that he wanted to keep this Kirby, & has enough parts to do the repairs properly & set it right. Perhaps it is the case that Bill didn't want to accept a full refund, only a partial refund, & there has been a error thru Ebay regarding this?? I have to think that Bill's intention here may be to reach out to Fred & negotiate a settlement privately or somehow do it thru Ebay, & set things right. Or alternatively, he intends to return the cleaner & hasn't had the chance to do so, because as he said this is a busy time of year for him.
Bottom line here? I think everyone here has been WAY too hasty in judging either party here. And really, truth be told, it is really none of our business for that matter! The ONLY REASON why this story is here is because Fred chose to put it out here. We need to all step back, be apologetic to ANYONE we have judged to be in the wrong, & let Fred & Bill resolve this matter in private. And if they so choose to let us know what settlement they reached, that is up to them to disclose that....or not.
To those members with the negative comments & attacks, you should be ashamed of yourselves for such conduct, particularly on a public forum that is supposed to be made up of mature adults! Especially when we have adolescents here that are junior members that are learning how to be be men & women, & what character & values are supposed to be, & how to conduct themselves properly in any aspect of society.
Now, let's please kindly move on & be more positive & contributory in our postings.
Rob