Tomega's encounter with Comic Keys..... 4 4

[COI]

Tomega, hope you don't mind. I felt your story needed a seperate thread so that it wouldn't get lost in the 640 pages of babbling on the other thread.

 

I was the one who negatived him, I posted some info in the beginning of this thread but it was barely noticed .

 

I noticed, and I was(and still am) waiting to hear your story. Actually, I've been wating the couple of months since you said you were going to buy from him. I came on today about 45 mintues ago, and there were 200+ posts on this thread since I last looked yesterday. I'm not interested in whatever garbage is going on right now, and only came to this thread to skim for your story. Please post it, on a seperate thread if necessary.

 

Ah, someone remembered. Well, here it goes - it is a long one. I won two auctions from the scam artist back in October for X-men 28 and 5. It was not a lot of money and, until then, I had been undecided as to whether the rumors were true about comic-keys. So I took a chance. I won the first auction on 10/18 and second the next day. I never heard from him until 10/23. The thief apologized for the "radio silence" and told me he had computer problems as well as he recently moved. I responded and told him I would like to pick the books up, if possible. I sent 5 emails initially before the scam artist contacted me. I requested to pick the books up. The scam artist did not respond. Finally, the scam artist responded on 10/30 and claimed to have problems with email. The cowardly, thieving scam artist stated that he would mail the books out on Saturday 11/1. Of course, I did not receive the books. I waited another 11 days (and many emails) before I initiated a complaint to Square Trade and Paypal. This is what the sewer scum was waiting for - he immediately issued a reversal of charges but it was held in limbo because he sent me the wrong amount. I am sure the scu_mbag scam artist was waiting for me to go away but I did not. He requested a mediator from Square Trade and I accepted. I stated my case - I want the books and will accept picking them or having them mailed to me. He continued to give everyone the run around and I sent this message to the mediator:

 

1. I want written confirmation that the 2 comics are unrestored.

2. I will then re-issue payment.

3. The X-men 28 in 9.6 and X-men 5 in 9.0 will be sent via United States post office priority insured mail with signature confirmation - as per our original agreement.

 

Paypal then sent me this email:

 

Our investigation has determined that the seller is at fault, and as a result we have attempted to recover your funds. $841.94 USD has been credited to your account. This is the maximum amount we were able to recover. Please allow up to 5 days for this adjustment to be reflected in your account.

 

 

After that email , the piece of garbage scam artist stopped responding for two weeks. Even the mediator contacted me and told me that Mr. Comic-scam artist stopped responding to her.

 

He finally responded that he feels the deal was no longer a transaction. Again, I made the same requests as above. Now that the limp d|[!@#%^&^] was backed into a corner so he told the mediator the books are no longer available because he sold them to someone else - even though we were in direct, mediated negotiations.

This piece of flotsam never intended to complete the transaction because he knew that I could detect restoration and/or that I was going to overnight this to CGC.

 

Last week I left him negative feedback. Here it is ( I hope you are reading this you bottom feeding scam artist) :

 

 

Did not complete transaction, bad communications, looks like the rumors are true Seller comic-keys

 

Beware, will not complete transaction if you can check for restoration.AVOID. Seller comic-keys

 

 

 

Sent Paypal for win, CANCELS paypal for win, then negs ME for not sending book?? Seller comic-keys

 

Sent paypal for book, then cancelled paypal, then negs me for not sending book?? Seller comic-keys )

 

So , anybody care to tell me how you can cancel a payment through Paypal? Of course, YOU CAN"T. You can start a complaint process but you cannot cancel a payment. He is a truly pathetic thief and liar. Now he is trying to get the negatives removed but it is not going to happen. I won an auction, I paid, he did not deliver. Bottom line.

 

But it has not ended yet. He now initiated a complaint process to have the negative feedback removed. Here is his colorful "interpretation" :

 

I would like the feedback left for me for this transaction to be removed.

Buyer says that merchandise not received.

No payment received, did not send merchandise.

 

Further Details About the Problem:

This was a well documented Square Trade Case (Please search my past Square Trade case activity). This is the fellow that SENT payment (Paypal), wanted to MEET to transact the books (pick them up in person), and while I was trying to schedule for him to meet in person CANCELLED HIS PAYPAL PAYMENT. The, he complained to Square Trade that I would not send the books, even though payment was NEVER reissued. After he invalidated his payment, I offered the books elsewhere and considered his win null and void and the deal vacated. He complained to Square Trade (it's in the records...all the details that I won't bore you with here, please read the prior case history), and we got nowhere. NOW, he has not only negatived me for not completing the deal (after he rescinded payment) but left as one of his negatives something to the effect of my selling restored books...what does that have to do with this...he received NOTHING from me because he didn't PAY for the books). PLEASE help me on this remova

Richard Koos's requested solutions:

There is nothing to do. He cancelled payment!!! I didn't send books on a cancelled payment and I don't in any way shape or form deserve either the comments made or negative given. There WAS NO TRANSACTION

 

So here was some of my response :

 

I am not willing to discuss this matter of feedback removal at all.

This is part of a two part complaint: case 129293163 & 639293163. This is basically what I sent in my other message. -I never rescinded payment. -I never received what I paid for. - I repeatedly asked seller to verify authenticity of items. - Paypal forced seller to refund full payment.. He states above that in the feedback that I left for him that I stated he sells restored books - I absolutely never specifically stated he sells restored books. I know exactly what I wrote and since his feedback is private, you cannot see what it says. However, I can view it through my feedback and here is what I wrote : Beware, will not complete transaction if you can check for restoration.AVOID. Here is the link: http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedbackMemberLeft&memberId=tomega&items=25 Bottom line - I paid for auction items and the seller never shipped them, that is the reason for the negative feedback ( which he left for me as well.) You should be aware that this seller has been controversial for years and there is some question to his identity and the authenticity of what he sells. I have been involved with the comic business for years. It has been alleged that comic-keys is really a person named Daniel Dupcak or at least affiliated with him. I could show you the endless internet postings and police reports but I will point you to the most recent article: http://www.collect.com/interest/article.asp?Pub=BG&id=9997 This is from a well respected publisher in the collectibles field. This article is not only on the internet but in a newspaper that reaches tens if not hundreds of thousands of readers. This seller is definitely bad news and I implore you, as Square Trade, to seriously investigate the identity of this seller. Feedback is not everything so I suggest you read this article. I am not some kid who sells $5 comic books, I am a high end collector who is known by many legitimate companies who would be happy to vouch for my integrity and person. I seriously doubt you could find anybody who would do the same for Mr. Koos/Daniel Dupcak. I will vehemently fight any effort to remove my well deserved feedback for comic-keys and I am considering legal action for breach of contract. I would be happy to provide you with all emails from him and the SquareTrade mediator ( from cases 703330063 & 993330063) Thank you, Tom Kelly

 

Now I am sure he will come up with his own imaginative course of events but I have saved every email and correspondence with Square Trade. I really gave him the benefit of the doubt and he proved what a piece of cr@p he truly is - a liar, a thief, and a con artist. He has already has started lying in his auctions stating I cancelled payment. LIAR LIAR LIAR. I especially enjoy the part in my response to Square Trade pointing to the article about him in CBG.

[Rickdogg]

[greggy]

[COI]

I just wanted to add that he uses very similar stall tactics with others when CGC is mentioned. I remember being very eager to pay for the Avengers 1 I bought from him so that I could get it off to CGC for walk-thru. In that first email, I remember asking him about his opinions on CGC and why he chose not to utilize their services. I also didn't hear a word from him for several days. And the wait for my second copy which was guaranteed to be "unrestored" was just a huge string of excuses. It seems that his ability to stall, and write very convincing and articulate emails is what has carried him so far, and kept the negatives away. Unlike Tomega, I didn't have the luxury of understanding, or being warned about his M.O, so I could not deal with the situation as effectivley, nor did I get a chance to leave a negative. Not that my one negative would have mattered anyway, since he only gets negged in retaliation when he dosen't recieve his merchandise. Poor guy.

[LordRahl]

You're right AK. Between his stalling tactics and the fact that he gives refunds for books that do come back PLODs as well as the fact that most people that buy from him have no idea of his m.o. keeps his negs to a minimum. You and I have both bought books from him that came back restored and neither of us negged him. In your case you were unaware of the whole story and in my case by the time the book came back from CGC the 3 month feedback window had passed. He also gave me a refund so negging him would have been tenuous at best.

[BachelorOfComix]

I'd love to hear more of these stories/testimonials from people buying books from comic-keys only to find out later that they are restored. FF mentioned that he has heard from collectors who have been burnt. I think dr banner bought an X-Men from him. There was a guy on the Ebay comics chat board who bought some restored GLs from comic-keys. I urge you lurkers & forum members out there reading this to step forward & tell us of your own personal experiences with this seller. Good or Bad.

[COI]

In your case you were unaware of the whole story and in my case by the time the book came back from CGC the 3 month feedback window had passed.

 

Actually, I was all set to neg him but I was waiting to get my 4K back first. Convieniently, by the time I got the second book back from CGC and got my refund back, my 3 month window also closed. I guess in all this time he's managed to master the art of stalling.

 

P.S: When I bought from him, he had NO negs on his record at all.

[AlexH]

Bravo. Good job Tomega.

[sborock]

Please send CBG letters about these kind of things to the attention of Maggie Thompson or John Jackson Miller. It will help alert the community and maybe even force ebay to police their site better. Also, it may help with any ongoing investigation that MIGHT be happening among law enforcement agencies.

[Aces]

For Tomega!

[OldGuy]

it may help with any ongoing investigation that MIGHT be happening among law enforcement agencies.

 

One can dream.

[sterlingcomics]

There was a guy on the Ebay comics chat board who bought some restored GLs from comic-keys.

 

Do you have a link? Do we have a comprehensive "victim" list?

[chrisco37]

Can anbody that actually rec'd books from him verify that the sending address was/is the same as the Rosemary Dupcak address posted in the other thread? (not an invitation to post either address).

 

Chris

[BachelorOfComix]

There was a guy on the Ebay comics chat board who bought some restored GLs from comic-keys.

 

Do you have a link? Do we have a comprehensive "victim" list?

 

Restored GL Thread

 

As for a victim list, FF might have one.

[drbanner]

Can anbody that actually rec'd books from him verify that the sending address was/is the same as the Rosemary Dupcak address posted in the other thread? (not an invitation to post either address).

 

Chris

 

Not exactly...but I can confirm that comic-keys won some books from me in '01 that were sent to a "Richard Koos" at the Floral Park address listed in the other thread.

 

And here's one of the books (the other was Avengers 58), wonder how it looks these days? Since it's a black-covered book, if one were to trim an infintesimal strip off the right edge and say, color touch those tiny spine stresses, this might look like a solid "NM/MT 9.8"!!

 

[lou_fine]

I'd love to hear more of these stories/testimonials from people buying books from comic-keys only to find out later that they are restored. FF mentioned that he has heard from collectors who have been burnt. I think dr banner bought an X-Men from him. There was a guy on the Ebay comics chat board who bought some restored GLs from comic-keys. I urge you lurkers & forum members out there reading this to step forward & tell us of your own personal experiences with this seller. Good or Bad.

 

 

The following is my story with respect to my past dealings with Danny boy. I guess it shows that he can be beaten at his own game if you are patient and careful enough. Please skip to the next post if you have read this story already since it is a copy and paste from a previous thread:

 

 

Hate to admit it, but I was also one of those collectors who was taken in by Fantazia and their so-called Eastern Colour File copies back at the beginning of the 90's. Only thing I can say about it is that although it was a very long and dragged out frustrating experience, it was also a very enjoyable experience. Enjoyable in the sense that it was always hilarious to talk to Danny and listen to another one of his imaginative stories and also enjoyable in the sense of finally being able to beat him in the end. Actually, I miss talking to Danny and hearing stories as to why he couldn't talk to you on the phone anymore and that you would have to call him back another day. Some of his stories included a water pipe breaking in his storage room with water leaking all over his books, his brand new car in the process of being towed away in front of his shop, sexual emergency related stories, etc.

 

My story started with me purchasing a NM/Mint Eastern File copy of Amazing Spider Man #1 for $4,000 back in the early 90's based upon an ad in the CBG. Needless to say, what I got in the mail was nowhere close to being a NM/M copy. It was more closer to a Fine book. Hard for me to tell, since I generally collect high grade books. Called up Danny and voiced my concerns since $4K was a lot of money for me at the time. Danny, as usual, was very nice on the telephone and offered to exchanged a super high grade EC File copy of AF#15 for all of my troubles which was worth a lot more money. Sent back my Spidey #1 and true to his words, received a copy of Fantasy #15 in the mail. Only trouble was the AF #15 was in even worse condition than the Spidey #1. Called up Danny again to listen to some more of his amazing stories and he offered me an early GA Cap (either #1 or #3) for all of my troubles. Having learned my lesson, I declined and asked Danny for a full refund instead. He agreed and said that he would forward it to me once I sent him back the AF #15. After doing this, what I received in the mail was not my refund cheque, but the original Spidey #1 which I had already sent back to him. To make a long story short, ended up phoning Danny over the next several months to listened to more of his amazing stories without ever getting my money back. Whenever I needed a good laugh, I would give him a call to see what kind of story he would come up with.

 

Summer eventually came and it was time for the SD Con. Packed up my bags for SD including the EC File copy of Spidey #1. First day there, I took my book to the CBG booth and asked Maggie Thompson for her professional opinion on the book and whether it was the "best existing copy in the world" as claimed by Danny. I related some of my hilarious experiences with Danny and asked how somebody like this was not only allowed to advertised in CBG, but also given CBG Customer Service Awards for several years in a row. Maggie stated that she thought Fantazia was no longer allowed to advertised in CBG. I opened the display copies on her table and pointed out the current ads from Fantazia with their CBG awards. She said she would get in contact with the advertising dept. once she got back. To my complete surprise and shock, the usual weekly Fantazia ads were gone from the pages of CBG within a few weeks after the convention.

 

A month after the convention, I received a phone call from Danny who was very cordial and more than willing to refund my money in full. I strunged him along for a few weeks talking about my postage fees, long distance charges, etc. Eventually, he agreed to reimburse me in full (inc. most or all of my fees) as long as I returned the book to him. I refused Danny and told him that he had to return my money to me first in the form of a certtified cheque. After more phone calls from Danny, he finally agreed to send me the money in the mail. When I received the cheque in the mail, I was tempted to keep the book or to write EC File Copy in felt pen on the front cover. After several desparate calls from Danny, I decided to take the high road and returned the book to Danny after a couple of months. Never did send back a favorable response to CBG which Danny was requesting as a condition of the refund. Never did see another Fantazia ad in the pages of CBG again. Am I bad or not?

 

One more twist to the story. Approx. a year later, I received a letter in the mail from the Office of Lane Evans (Senator or Governor of Illinois) requesting info from customers who had prior dealings with Danny. Gave them a phone call and they expressed extreme interest in my story and requested that I forward them a written statement. Took me a while, but I came up with several pages in my statement which I forwarded to their office. Does anybody know the result of this congressional investigation into the dealings of Danny Dupchak and Fantazia?

 

Although most collectors lost out on their dealings with Fantazia, I guess I was lucky to break even with him. I ended up getting all of my money back and my frustrations in the beginning were more than offset by his amazingly hilarious stories in addition to getting the upper hand on him in the end. I still missed his stories since he's actually quite a nice guy to talk to on the phone. I still smiled whenever I think about him. In fact, I can't stop laughing as I am typing this.

 

Am I doubly bad or do I deserve a star for my bad treatment of Danny in the end?

 

 

 

[GoodyRickles]

I was Bidding on a TTA #36 That was a PLOD 9.4 with a Married Cover, OVER a Year Ago. He (Comic-Keys) "SNIPED" me in the Last Minute, somewhere Just over $100 (Not sure what he Auctioned it at, My Guess 9.8 Unrestored).... He also (I remember because I got some of the Seller's other FF's) Bought/Won a FF# 39 that was probably a decent 9.0 about two Years ago in some Auctions I was involved with... about 60 Days later he had it up as a 9.6 or 9.8 (Think 9.8).

[supapimp]

Can anbody that actually rec'd books from him verify that the sending address was/is the same as the Rosemary Dupcak address posted in the other thread? (not an invitation to post either address).

 

Chris

 

EXCELLENT thread! the address listed in floral park is the address that i sent payment to when i won under my eBay id "thehurtingman". when i bought from him back in 01, no stall tatics where used, but i was polite in my email and sent my MO out right away. of course he left positive feedback after i did it first. the insufficiently_thoughtful_person is a crook and a dumbarse, and yeah danny boy, that was me who reported you to eBay for falsely stating you're a TITANIUM POWER SELLER. you should be NARU'd, but i'll still have my last laugh when you're going to prison not jail for breaking your 3 year probation that you're currently on from getting busted in 02 for you KNOW what.

[comicartfan]

Please send CBG letters about these kind of things to the attention of Maggie Thompson or John Jackson Miller. It will help alert the community and maybe even force ebay to police their site better. Also, it may help with any ongoing investigation that MIGHT be happening among law enforcement agencies.

 

What about filing a complaint with the post office ? - They do have their own investation postal officers and will jump all over this. If he uses US MAIL to commit fraud, then mail fraud will put the scare into him...

[drice6900]

Please send CBG letters about these kind of things to the attention of Maggie Thompson or John Jackson Miller. It will help alert the community and maybe even force ebay to police their site better. Also, it may help with any ongoing investigation that MIGHT be happening among law enforcement agencies.

 

What about filing a complaint with the post office ? - They do have their own investation postal officers and will jump all over this. If he uses US MAIL to commit fraud, then mail fraud will put the scare into him...

 

Darth?