roygbiv

Hi guys and girls, firstly I'm not wanting to appear as I'm trampling over trodden ground here, but just want to offer an update on an experience I had with a seller on here which caused me to pretty much stop using the forum nearly 3 years ago, but lately I've started to stir and quietly make my way back.

Anyhow, I had a bad experience with a seller named Matt / RSPKT / raeinn (his new username) back in early 2014, I bought the Toe Boxset from him for $300 using PayPal, I never received any shipping info or tracking at the time which I was promised, needless to say, the boxset never turned up and I ended up purchasing from elsewhere after waiting months upon months, which went smoothly with another seller through Discogs (seth33), to-date I'm still out of pocket, I have obviously come to terms many moons ago that I will likely NEVER see any of that $300 ever again.

Just wanted to update as I had seen he'd changed his username sometime over the past few years and wanted to give people a heads up (See Page 90-91 for original posts).

Quick update, people may be interested in knowing that my situation with RSPKT is still on going, now 12 months since the original purchase, sent further e-mails last year and also in the new year with again NO response, still $300 out of pocket with no light at the end of the tunnel (Page 90-91 for original post).

Matt,

As far as I'm concerned I've said everything I needed to say regarding this issue and the refund via e-mail not just over the last few days but months, you know what the cost was and how much money is owed, it is now up to you to come to some sort of resolution, I have told you that I'm not willing to accept bit part payments and would want it paid in full via paypal, I have even said that if I have to wait while you get your affairs in order I'm willing to do that, which I think is fair but you must update me on the situation and keep me in the loop, I'm on the other side of the world here and unfortunately I don't have the ability to read minds.

In regards to your posts above, I don't think there is any need for the language and cursing, you may be a stand up guy but I can only go off first impression and with the way this entire thing has been handled on your behalf it does not look good or professional, I've been civil and fair in my comments only stating facts which I have backed up, yes I'm frustrated about this but I'm not losing my temper or swearing.

I'm not on any kind of personal vendetta against you, as far as I'm concerned as I've previously stated my review is fair and precise, I have not fabricated any of the situation or blown it out of proportion, I'm just an extremely disappointed customer who wants closure with this on going issue.

Cheers,

Phil

This is bullshit. We were just discussing this the other day before you posted this. YOU have not responded since. I even gave you my telephone number so you could contact me directly! DO NOT post that information on this public website... and don't lie about me not doing my best to keep in contact with you.

Matt,

I'm not wanting to start a shouting match or spat with you here, but facts are facts between me sending e-mail after e-mail asking questions and just looking for a general update it has usually taking you a month or in most cases even longer to get back to me.

May I also point out that another cause of my frustration was that I could see you were using the VC on usually a daily basis posting in various topics, which as you can imagine had left me feeling ignored, I even tried to PM you on here, but again no response.

Can I also point out that I can not believe you have the cheek to call me out in the above post for not answering an e-mail which is only a day old!

Yes you e-mailed me the day of this review, I will admit that, regarding sorting out some sort of refund, but even then that was the first e-mail I had received from you since June/July when I received a 1 liner saying you had been ill with flu.

Also can I highlight that you have stated to me that you are now selling other items to cover my refund, all you had to do was write me a brief e-mail explaining this and that would of sufficed and probably put my mind at ease for a while longer, but NO the first I knew about this was when I woke up yesterday to find that you were selling "another copy" of the Toe Boxset on Discogs, needless to say I was shocked at this and as far as I was concerned my patience had finally ran out.

Surely people can see, including you Matt, why my frustration had finally boiled over and I felt that this review had to be written?

Cheers,

Phil

Hi guys,

I'am currently dealing with Matt over e-mail since I posted this review, yes I can confirm that he has given me a direct phone number to call him but I personally don't see where that would get us plus I'm in the UK and only use a mobile so I don't want to be looking at bills for international call rates, I'm beyond frustrated at this now.

But saying that, the review and everything I've wrote is factual and has a documented time line, I felt I needed to go into detail and provide substantial proof as people would probably find the whole situation hard to believe, I personally think I've been patient enough and lenient with Matt over the last 8 month's, but as far as I'm concerned it has now reached a point were I felt in the dark and needed to vent my growing frustration and get some sort of closure on this, and I felt that the only way I would succeed in that was to write that review knowing Matt is an active user on these forums.

Cheers,

Phil

User: rspkt on Discogs & on Vinyl Collective

Name: Matt V

Item Bought: Toe Boxset ($300)

I had previously posted about my dealing with Matt (rspkt) a few months ago, due to his lack of communication regarding me not receiving the item which I ordered and paid for in February of this year so now nearly 8 months ago, when we agreed to go ahead with this deal Matt came back to me with a quote for Tracked & Insured shipping for $68.85 (Below quoted from out Discogs Message)

“Ok, so I got your shipping quote. Looks like it's a little better than I expected but it's still not cheap. The best option for both of us is Express International Mail which includes tracking and also $200 insurance included (which covers the entire cost of this item which is great) at $68.85. Main reason it's so expensive (sorta) is because this is a rather heavy box set. It's kind of equivalent to shipping about 6-8 records or so in terms of weight comparison. Based on that is why I think it's a pretty good deal."

 

​By March 19th I had contacted Matt to say that I had still not received the box set, Matt at first was helpful and stated that he actually had another copy of the Boxset and would ship this one off for me and that I should let him know as and when I receive it.

​On April 1st Matt then e-mailed me to say that the ORIGINAL package had arrived back to him and that he wanted to confirm my shipping address, which I did (please keep in mind I receive various packages from around the world on a weekly basis to the same address to include items from Canada, US, China, Japan and Australia with NO issues).

Now after that last correspondence is when things started to go quiet on Matt's side, from April 09th - May 20th I had sent Matt 5 e-mails asking for help and assistance and I had still not received any items or even a delivery note through the door, Matt eventually answered on May 21st stating:

I got your contact. I'm working so I'll try and respond when I have free time. Apologies for the delay.

- Matt 

 

After that e-mail on May 21st I again had no reply to any e-mail until June 29th, with Matt e-mailing me with the below (Please note the second paragraph which contradicts what Matt had originally told me regarding shipping):

Philip,

Apologies for not responding. I've been attempting to figure out the best solution for this very odd problem.

Currently, I have inquired with USPS multiple times and cannot track the package due to there being no tracking information and also because it's international there is little they can do to locate and/or refund the cost to me. This also means I cannot recover the package either.

I cannot in good faith issue a full refund since I cannot file any insurance claim or know what happened to this package because it was shipped internationally. I have never had any packages lost in my past experience and it does seem strange to me that such an expensive item goes missing. I'm NOT trying to accuse you of anything, just rather saying that it is quite abnormal to my past experience and really leaves me with little options with the loss.

I know this isn't what you want to hear but I'm not sure what to do. I do not like saying that I can't offer a full refund because all I want is both of us to be satisfied and obviously this situation is going to leave us at odds. I'm open to continued discussion with you so hopefully we can come to some mutually agreeable resolution.

- Matt

 

My response to this at the time was as follows:

Hi Matt,

Thank you for the reply, I understand your concern and also as a seller/buyer myself I do understand the predicament, it’s just strange considering I receive goods from EU, US, Japan and further afield on a daily basis without incident using the same paypal address as to how a package can just go missing.

Since the purchase was made and the time gone by obviously I’m at a loss, if I was in anyway a scammer of some sort I would have made a claim via paypal well before the 44 day grace period but in good faith I waited it out so we could deal with this one on one.

Since the item was a no show I have since procured a copy of the boxset (No. 106/207) also through Discogs from the US, please see attached copies of the Discogs order/payment made to seller Seth33.

Could we not come to some agreement on maybe something like a 50/50 split on a refund?

Cheers,

Phil

 

Note that I had grown so tired of waiting I had procured the Boxset from another Discogs seller (With no issues) I had even tried to come to some agreement so we both weren't at a complete loss.

Matt responded with the following (Please note the second paragraph, he is also mentioning the fact that I had put a negative review up on VC regarding him):

Philip,

 

I understand you've gotten records from various countries without issue. The same has been true for me as well but I've also experienced items being lost in the mail before, both domestically and internationally. Even with tracking it seems these items can be misplaced from time to time. I have a literally flawless feedback record on eBay, Discogs, VC, etc. so I don't think it's fair to claim I'm a scammer via VC's "terrible traders/buyers/sellers" thread which I just noticed this morning. That's pretty harsh.

 

 

 

I shipped out the set with the shipping method we both agreed upon which unfortunately didn't include tracking or anything since you didn't request it. In retrospect, I should have required it. It's hard for me to be responsible for what happens to the package in transit since that is entirely out of my control. I would imagine you'd understand this. You can't really take that kind of comment back once it's been said and now I look like the bad guy regardless of it being my fault or not. Doesn't really seem fair since I did everything I was asked and because of a shipping error that's out of my control, you're making other people believe I'm a scammer when I did everything by the book as I have with every other sale I've made and flawless feedback for.

How am I supposed to go forward? Even with a partial refund, you're still making me look like the bad guy here because of your comments.

- Matt

​After that e-mail I then responded with the below quoting what we had agreed on regarding tacked and insured shipping:

Hi Matt,

 

I felt I needed to post that in the forum due to the lack of communication, I had tried and tried in various means to contact you but with no reply (except for a 1 liner saying you’re busy at work) and I was seeing that you were posting usually daily on the VC forum which as you can imagine from my point of view was annoying and almost felt as though I was been purposely ignored, I have since deleted the forum post which I hope is to your satisfaction.

The shipping method we both agreed on was as quoted by yourself inclusive of tracking/insurance, see below from our correspondence via Discogs dated 03rd February 2014:

“Ok, so I got your shipping quote. Looks like it's a little better than I expected but it's still not cheap. The best option for both of us is Express International Mail which includes tracking and also $200 insurance included (which covers the entire cost of this item which is great) at $68.85. Main reason it's so expensive (sorta) is because this is a rather heavy box set. It's kind of equivalent to shipping about 6-8 records or so in terms of weight comparison. Based on that is why I think it's a pretty good deal.

Either way, I have the box set bubble wrapped and packed very securely so if you're interested please let me know and we can get the ball rolling on this. In fact, if you want to place the order directly through me via PayPal, you'd be saving me about $20 in Discogs sale fees and the order would still be covered under PayPal's protection programs on top of the insurance that it would carry as well. Let me know!
- Matt”

Due to the above there was even an instance in the below e-mail trail where I asked you for a tracking number (29th March 2014) which you did not reply to, so going from the above and the $68 I paid for P&P as far as I was aware we were both covered?

Cheers,
 

Phil

Since that last e-mail which was sent on June 06th communication with Matt has once again dried up with no real response or solution to these issues, as it stands I'm currently $300 out of pocket with no end in site.

Sorry for the length of this but I felt it was needed due to the length of time this has been dragging on and the constant back tracking regarding tracked and insured shipping.

I got the Boxset that was out around Christmas time with all the re-issues in, amazing set.

Nice! Those are Zensor 5, right? How are you liking them?

Yeh fine for what I need at the moment and thats not a put down in anyway they are actually really good speakers.

10) Notorious B.I.G - Ready To Die

09) Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Airplane Over The Sea

08) Deftones - White Pony

07) Plastic Ono Band - S/T

06) Prince - S/T

05) People Under The Stairs - O.S.T

04) A Winged Victory For The Sullen - S/T

03) Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

02) Queens Of The Stone age - Songs For The Deaf 

01) Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children

Always seem to be the ones I go back to.

Just had a clean up of mine and a move around of some Boxsets that I'd finally found space for!

Depends who and what the record is really, wouldn't do it for everything I bought.

Te' - 'Collection'

Had a good on this year at Sound It Out Records....

Pretty much all of my BOC Collection:

OP Twoism EP (Music70)

OP Hi-Score EP Including printed insert

3 x Aquarius 7" all including the colour by numbers insert and braille stickers

OP Music Has The Right To Children LP (SKAM/WARP) including braille sticker

Music Has The Right To Children Cassette (Beat Records Japanese Promo)

Music Has The Right To Children (Test Press/White Label)

Music Has The Right To Children 10" Promo (/200)

Peel Sessions EP

OP In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country EP (Sky Blue Vinyl)

In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country EP (Test Press/White Label)

OP Geogaddi Promo 180 Gram (Given out at the Warp Party)

OP Geogaddi 3x LP and promo BOC kaleidoscope 

Geogaddi Test Press WARPLP101

Geogaddi Cassette (Beat Records Japanese Promo)

OP The Campfire Headphase LP

OP Trans Canada Highway EP (White Vinyl)

Trans Canada Highway EP Test Press

-------/------/------/XXXXXX/------/------ (RSD 2014 Promo)

OP Tomorrows Harvest LP

Tomorrows Harvest LP Test Press

I also have all the 2013 Reissues.

I mean as little offense as possible - 

 

But why in the world would someone keep this, knowing one sold for over $5000 on eBay. I don't understand. Just completely absurd.

Just to clear up the myths surrounding this, it was never bought or sold from ebay, I dealt privately outside of ebay for the copy I have which is from NYC, the $5000 is a load of bull, I paid $700 which is a lot of money but as a Hardcore BOC fan and also collector it was something I wanted/needed, the guy who sold it was sick of non payers and people just bidding for bidding sake so we came to a deal on the price outside of ebay and the rest is history, it's great having a piece which is an instant conversation starter which has an excellent story as well as mystery behind it

Finally got my vintage technics components fully setup after a small restoration and some servicing, all tied together nicely with my Funk Firm Little Superdeck, next on my list is some new speakers, I currently have Dali Zensor 7's with a natural wood finish (Doing a decent job to be honest) but I want to get something vintage.

Technics ST-7300 Tuner

Technics RS-615US Tape Deck

Technics SU-7700 Amp

In terms of carts, what would you recommend? I've got it home and I'm liking how it's sounding with the Ortofon Blue 2M.

Welcome to the Pink club, like the sound?

Love it, tested it out before purchase and against the VPI Classic 1 it was the clear winner, one very happy camper!

My new baby..... Funk Firm Little Superdeck

Ok been out today and listened to both the Funk LSD and the VPI Classic, listened to both with my own music I took with me which was a mix of, Massive Attack, Charles Bradley, Ray Charles, Mount Carmel and Neutral Milk Hotel..... and the winner which is now sat in it new home was *drum roll*

Fixed it up with an Ortofon Blue 2M, also this table is supposed to be £1400, I nabbed it for £1100, amazing deal!! Over the moon with it For value for money at the high end price range I couldn't knock it, highly recommended... the F5 Tone arm is fantastic!

.. Anyone on here have any experience with these, I'm looking at moving my current setup into the office and buy a new setup for my listening room I want to maintain a vintage look but buy new so this appeals to me, any feedback would be much appreciated

Other decks I'm also looking at are:

Well Tempered Labs Versalex Turntable with LTD Tonearm

VPI Classic 1 (30th Anniversary)

Pro-ject 2 Experience Classic

Up for order over on the bomp store right now....

http://www.bompstore.com/servlet/Detail?no=15524

...... Also the Clear Vinyl variant (/500) is up for order.

http://www.bompstore.com/servlet/Detail?no=15527

Just picked these 3 up over the last week which are going to be part of my second setup in my office, still waiting on a second tape deck identical to the one in the picture and the Technics ST-7300 Tuner and my new TT should he here by the end of the week which is Thorens TD 240-2, i'll put some more pictures up once everything is here.

They are:

Technics RS-631 Tape Deck

Technics SH-8020 EQ 

Technics SU-7700 Integrated Amp

I'm rocking a Technics SU-7700 in my second system, great amp, very underrated, built like a tank! Can usually pick one up in excellent condition well within your price range with money left over to get the tuner or one of the many models of tape decks to go with it.