🚀 go-pugleaf

I'm posting this because I have a serious problem that I'm not completely
sure how to resolve.

Several weeks ago I posted to comp.sys.next.marketplace looking for used
NeXT laser printers in the $1,000 range.  Out of a number of respondents,
I chose a person who seemed the most trustworthy.  My criteria were:

1.  I had briefly met him.
2.  He had been a regular net poster in the c.s.n.* hierarchy for some
    time. (if you follow c.s.n.* you have seen this person)
3.  He is a NeXT developer and CEO of a small development company.

We sent the check on October 9. On the 14th he said he had received
the check and would ship the printer out via UPS (which UPS tells me
shouldn't take more than 3 days).  The check was received on a
wednesday.  We waited.  Through the end of that week, and into the
next week.  By the following thursday (the 22nd, 8 days after the
check was received) we sent out some e-mail.  The next monday (the
26th) we received a reply saying that the intermediate carrier for UPS
had accidentally held the package, and that he would fed-ex it out
2-day the next day.

On Thursday, after our package did not arrive from federal express, we
sent off another e-mail message asking what was up.  We received a
reply on friday (10/30) saying he had decided to not send it federal
express because it was prohibitively expensive, and that he had driven
the package to the UPS depot and shipped it.  He did not tell us what
day he had shipped it, or when we could expect it (the implication was
that it had been shipped early in the week)

All during this series of transactions we kept requesting information
from him such as what the UPS office was that he shipped it from, the
UPS tracking number, what day it was shipped, etc.  All of these
requests fell on deaf ears.

On saturday we sent a message saying that it was most urgent that he
get in contact with us, at any time via telephone, and said that we
would take further action in this matter if we did not hear from him
by the following tuesday morning (11/3)

Now, We have no idea where our package is , where our money is, or
where the CEO of said company is.  He has an unlisted residence phone
number, his business phone number lies completely unanswered all of
the times I've tried, and net sources inform me that he has
fundamentally dropped out of the NeXT community.

I'd like to believe that this was all a big misunderstanding.  But the
fact remains that we are no closer to having a printer, and are out
$1,000 with little idea of how to retrieve either the printer or the
money.  This is also stalling my personal business goals, which
potentially costs me even more.

I think my only course of action at this point is a legal one, but I'm
not completely sure how to go about pursuing it.  I also don't know if
I'm jumping a bit ahead of the game or not.  I'm not sure if there is
some sort of accountability associated with having a UUCP connection,
or whether the fact that he does business in the state would allow me
to have help in pursuing this matter.

Any suggestions, anecdotes comments or sympathies can be directed to:
lamont@abstractsoft.com






-- 
Sean T. Lamont                           |   "Don't oppress me, It's
zeno@genetics.washington.edu             |    'computer of color!' "
lamont@abstractsoft.com                  |_______________________________
Abstract Software