joemojave
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 133
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Post by joemojave on Jan 2, 2010 5:18:41 GMT -5
Hi guys,
This thread is giving me a huge guilt trip, and rightly so. I feel as if I have ripped a few people of even though that was not my intention, but I will definitely make good any promises that I made.
First of all, I have no idea who the other guy you were talking about is. I have never had any involvement on this forum prior to a couple months ago when I started posting.
I go on the Internet by Joe Mojave or a couple other pseudonyms because I dislike putting personal information out there, but I feel like I owe it to people here to give (limited) information about myself. My name is Julian, I am 17 and I live in Torrance, CA, but I spend most of my vacation time rock hounding in Lake Isabella, CA, where my grandma owns a house. Internet coverage in lake Isabella is spotty at best, and most weekends I don't even try connecting to the Internet while I am up here.
Any packages that I have neglected to send are entirely my fault, but not in an attempt to swindle anyone. If I totally neglect to send a package, that is due to disorganization and as soon as I become alerted I try to make up for it by sending a bigger box, better materials, refunding extra money, etc. Sometimes I am also a little late sending a package, which is usually due to procrastination or rarely I will have a legitimate reason such as being injured.
Also, I guess I should explain what I am doing on this board because I fall somewhere between the average user and a merchant. Basically, I have a personal rule that all of my hobbies must fund themselves, to keep myself from spending to much money or time on a single hobby. One of the ways that I try to fund my rockoholicism is selling my "extras" here. Therefore, I think that any criticism of me in the good-bad-ugly section is perfectly fair, not only in the interest of protecting other members but also as a "review", just as full fledged Internet vendors are reviewed publicly.
I know that my track record on this forum is so far less than stellar, but I fully intend to make up for all the trouble I have caused and to restore myself to good standing. In the future, I will not accept payment for packages until I have shipped them and emailed confirmation numbers to recipients.
I encourage anyone who feels like I slighted them to please email me or post in this thread, I will definitely make up for it however I can.
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Jan 2, 2010 9:02:51 GMT -5
Way to go Joe ( Julian) I didn't give up on ya! I understand procrastination! And spotty internet access - I think we can all understand that! Supporting your hobby - now that's a good idea so keep at it, you will get better at it, I'm sure! BTW pic of unknown yellow rock is on the rock id forum as well as email I sent. Donnie
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chromenut
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2009
Posts: 1,971
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Post by chromenut on Jan 2, 2010 9:55:24 GMT -5
Just for that I vote Joe "Vendor of the Week"! Glad to hear you're all right Joe.
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bobh
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2009
Posts: 55
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Post by bobh on Jan 2, 2010 12:30:55 GMT -5
What Julian says rings true with me. I early posted critical comments and noted I fiiled a claim with paypal and received a refund (after six weeks of waiting). I had a sense that Julian is disorganized but not dishonest. We had several email exchanges, and each time he apologized and promised to send the package right away. His responses were prompt -- it was the follow-through that was the problem. I'm glad to see him posting an explanation, and I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt.
Bob
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Post by NatureNut on Jan 2, 2010 12:37:36 GMT -5
Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but Joe has listed his birthday in his profile as 03/15/1981. That would make him 29 years old.
Guys, I'm sorry, but we need to be more realistic about this, something is fishy here.
Joe, your marketing practices do not indicate someone who was just selling their extra rock. The way you do business, heavy promotion followed by slow shipping and poor communication, not to mention being less than forthcoming, evasive, and/or possibly misrepresenting who you are and what your intentions are, do not indicate that you are interested in developing a trustworthy reputation.
Call me crazy, but something's not right here.
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bobh
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2009
Posts: 55
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Post by bobh on Jan 2, 2010 12:44:28 GMT -5
I noticed the age discrepancy and chalked it up to immaturity rather than anything else. I think suspicion is in order, but I would still like to see us give Julian a chance and an opportunity to prove himself. If he really is 17, that may explain a lot of this. That said, there are red flags, and I can certainly understand why someone would choose not to do business with this person.
Bob
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Jan 2, 2010 13:21:21 GMT -5
Perhaps if Joe let everyone know by his birth date that he was only 17 people would figure he was too young, inexperienced and ignorant for anyone to want to do business with him, that he could not possible know anything about rock hounding at such a young age! I could be wrong and if so, shame on me. But I would rather give someone the benefit of the doubt in case he really is trying to establish himself. After all, I was young once too (actually still am in many ways)! Donnie
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Post by deb193redux on Jan 2, 2010 13:25:44 GMT -5
Its simple. If he is sorry, he just never sells anything here again - ever!
The purpose of RTH is not to provide a marketplace - that is a small afterthought. By this account, he came here not for RTH - but to make his bobby pay. He came here in basic disrespect of RTH.
If he wants to stay for RTH interaction, fine. But it is not incumbent on him to sell stuff if he stays. New members falsely assume that listings in the buy-sell-swap section are somehow vetted.
Glad to hear assurances that problems were not intentional fraud, but how does that add up to blessing this guys continued use of RTH as a place to sell? True regret and decency would voluntarily stop selling. get a website and sell there. Don't cloak yourself in the integrity of RTH.
I for one intend to post a "buyer beware" warning in any offering I see this guy post.
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Post by Bejewelme on Jan 2, 2010 16:13:34 GMT -5
On New year's Day I received an email from Julian stating that he sent me my box and it was returned to him with my address ruined by the post office, he reported that he intends to mail me a box with more material to make up for the troubles. I can give people the benefit of doubt and certainly if I receive the package I will let everyone know. Julian if you are in fact 17 it is the perfect age to get a good head start in life by making things right and always conducting yourself with positive business practices. Just make things right hun and I think everyone can move on.
Amber
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Post by NatureNut on Jan 2, 2010 16:40:51 GMT -5
Yep, make things right Hon.
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NorthShore-Rocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,004
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Post by NorthShore-Rocks on Jan 2, 2010 17:59:16 GMT -5
Joe... you can start by updating your profile to represent truthfully. Hopefully, if you are really 17, I'm just gonna chalk this up to a great big lesson for a talented young person.
Make things right with the members you entered agreements with and start the healing process. Only a renewed commitment for doing what's right on a consistent basis and accountability over time will help. It's the kind of thing that only time can heal. You don't often get second chances in life with your reputation, but your youth may just give you a huge Mulligan! I'll give you some props just for addressing the issue!
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 2, 2010 18:02:16 GMT -5
my 2cents I'm with Daniel when you start out lying from day one with the age thing when and where will it stop -- like i said before anyone can make up a name and a cover story and keep coming back and using rth to rip people off every few months because they know it worked before because we trust other members here not like most web sites --- he has more then one account here already as you can see with the diff names could have ten more for all we know --- i for one wouldn't buy from this person no matter what he has id do without -- and its just not you ether we have fare weather members who just come around when there looking to unload stuff here -- when you read a post in the buy/sell section check past sign ins when they come around every 6 to 8 months and start advertising what they have to sell that should tell you also that there here just to make a buck from our sites name there not here to make friends and contribute and thats what this site is for to spread our knowledge and help each other to get better at this hobby -- the buying and selling part of the forum is the smallest part of why we are all here --- so keep watching out for yourselves and do alittle homework before you buy or make trades -- we have more then a handful of good members here that sell rock and or supplies i would suggest you stick with them and there good track record we all know who they are and if you don't theres no problem with asking who they are or posting what you are looking for I'm sure someone will point you at the known good guys -=- I'm gonna start a thread with members in good standing that sell rock or equipment and sticky it in buy sell or trade section for anyone old or new members to reference I'm gonna lock it and anyone who has any help for me with site Addy's or members i forgot can pm me and ill add them to the list
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Post by Toad on Jan 2, 2010 18:18:41 GMT -5
The age discrepancy bothers me too.
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joemojave
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 133
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Post by joemojave on Jan 3, 2010 5:37:35 GMT -5
A lot of people seem to be bothered by my lying about my age, but that is one thing that I will not apologies for, and in fact I had a lot of trepidation about saying my real age on the Internet at all. One reason certainly is that I would like to have my opinions respected, but IME younger people on the Internet can still gain respect. The main reason that I hide my name, age, and other information is ID theft, which is actually a huge problem for people under 18. I am sure that most of you who have children would not want your childs personal info spread all over the web. Forums are especially dangerous because anyone on the internet who wants to find out who "joemojave" is can search it and find my name, age, and probably address if they search around the forum a little bit. I really hate to deceive people, but using your real information on an open forum is plain imprudent in my opinion.
As far as my reputation goes, I know I would not trust myself if I were in yourguy's position, but I do plan to continue selling and eventually I am sure I will become a respected member of the forum. Somebody was of the opinion that if I were sorry, I would not continue to sell rocks on the forum because the selling section was an afterthought and not the main focus of the board. To that I will respond that for many people, including me, a large part of the hobby is selling and trading their finds. Personally, I would not be able to afford gas to get to my favorite rock destinations if I did not sell my finds. As I said before, in the future I plan to accept payment only after I have shipped packages out, and I fail to see how that could bring anything negative to the community. Also, I would like to point out that if I were a scammer I would have ditched this account already and started selling under another pseudonym.
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jan 3, 2010 11:22:04 GMT -5
I purchased some Rainbow Ridge from Julian and received it as stated, really nice stuff. As he mention, if he were a scammer, he would have simply ditched his account and not responded to any of this. He's guilty of being slow, but nothing more, and if you look around, we do in fact have members here that are more than 100 years old. (honest) forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?action=viewprofile&user=puppie96 lol |
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bobh
having dreams about rocks
Member since September 2009
Posts: 55
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Post by bobh on Jan 3, 2010 13:56:54 GMT -5
Julian, if you want to continue selling the first step is to do right by the people you have burned. And although I was willing to give you the benefit of doubt and assume immaturity explains your lying about age, your new explanation is unconvincing as surely you know you have the option of not revealing your age on this forum. Much more convincing than anything you say will be postings from people you have taken money from that you are meeting your commitments.
Bikerrandy, I'm glad you received what you paid for, but for many others the problem is not Julian's slowness. They got nothing but repeated assurances and excuses from Julian.
Bob
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NDK
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on Jan 3, 2010 21:51:29 GMT -5
I was going to say exactly what Randy said - I think the age thing is splitting hairs. I've seen people on several different forums with weird ages in their profile.
As Julian said, it's out there for all to see, so why make it easy on them?
I ordered a box of rootbeer agate, and got exactly what I ordered. My box took a few days longer to arrive, but I blame it on the PO, as Julian let me know when it was sent, and the post mark confirmed the info he gave me.
Now with that being said, I don't feel age is any excuse. As far as I'm concerned, excuses are like a$$ holes - everyone has one and they all stink.
Learn from your mistakes. Chalk it up as experience, make good on the deals you've made, and put it behind you. But always remember, someone is ALWAYS watching.
Some people seem to be willing to give you a 2nd chance, and I don't care if you continue selling. Don't F it up this time!
That's my :2cents: worth...
Nate
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joemojave
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since October 2009
Posts: 133
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Post by joemojave on Jan 4, 2010 0:33:35 GMT -5
I just realised that I have yet to apologies (publicly) to bejewelme, who is the only person who has not received their package yet. As she said, it has been at least a month or two since she ordered her package and I know that I would be pretty PO'ed if I were her. I am very sorry for the delay and I hope that what I do send will make up for it.
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Post by Toad on Jan 4, 2010 8:55:37 GMT -5
A lot of people seem to be bothered by my lying about my age, but that is one thing that I will not apologies for, and in fact I had a lot of trepidation about saying my real age on the Internet at all. One reason certainly is that I would like to have my opinions respected, but IME younger people on the Internet can still gain respect. So you're going to make an assumption about the folks on this forum that they won't respect your opinion based on your age. That's selling us short. And lying is not a way to gain respect. I don't know how old most of the people are on this forum - and don't care. I respect them (or not) because of what they say, do, and contribute. How much do you think respect won through deception is worth? |
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steelandstone
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2008
Posts: 500
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Post by steelandstone on Jan 4, 2010 11:08:27 GMT -5
How much do you think respect won through deception is worth? Very good point Toad, And you; unintentionally callous I find that hard to believe ;D As for selling stuff on here, I personally waited a rather long time before I tried to sell anything as I am very cautious myself of some one with 3 posts and already trying to sell stuff. |
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