NEED HELP FINDING MISSING Richie Rich Diamonds #5 CGC 9.8

[timfinz]

Richie Rich Diamonds #5 CGC 9.8 Certification #0951961002

I originally purchased this book along with 10 others from XX Comics (not the real name of the Comic dealer) on November 22, 2009. This particular book was never shipped.

I moved out of province at the exact time that the actual shipment was made and the books went into storage unopened for almost three years!

In October of 2012 I opened the package for the first time and reviewed the contents and noticed that the book in question was not there.

I notified XX Comics immediately of my discovery however they could only tell me that their records indicated that 11 books shipped but could not officially confirm this. I was not happy with the response but unfortunately had no other recourse.

Eight months later this exact book showed up on the Heritage Auction site. I contacted Heritage and the book was removed from the auction pending a police investigation. Barry was kind enough to remove the book from the auction however I was informed that it was from the estate of a fellow board member who at recently passed away.

I do not for a minute believe that the book was stolen. But I can tell you I bought and paid for it but never received it and that it was sold unintentionally sold to another person other than myself from XX Comics.

My dilemma was that I did not feel that it was fair to burden the family with this unfortunate matter at their time of grief so I regretfully allowed the auction to proceed knowing full well that I was not in a position to bid for this book and pay for it (a second time). The book was sold at the September 8, 2013 Internet Auction.

HA Internet Auction 09.08.13 RR Diamonds #5 CGC 9.8 Certification #0951961002

I am a collector not a dealer. I am not wealthy but thankfully I am not unfortunate. If the person who purchased the book would be so kind as to PM me I would appreciate the opportunity to converse.

Sincerely,

Tim

[joecgcmaniac]

So you didn't check the shipment for almost three years after you bought the books?

[timfinz]

I moved out of province. All of my belongings went into storage for three years including the shipment of comic books. I just never really thought about digging through the storage locker to find the package. When I bought the house I am currently living in I emptied the storage locker and that was when I made the discovery. Sounds hokey but it's the truth. (Sounds like the kind of thing Judge Judy would say if it doesn't make sense then it's not true)

But that's what happened.

[timfinz]

[worldsbestcomics]

The dealer who failed to ship it to you owes you an apology and a full refund if a replacement comic is not available.

 

I think you realize that you are responsible for checking on your packages in a reasonable amount of time and so you bear some of the responsibility for the mistake. If the dealer had been promptly notified of his error, he might have been able to correct it before accidentally selling the book to another customer.

 

This is not a matter for the police because no crime is involved unless the seller fraudulently sold the book to multiple parties. This clearly appears to be a terrible mistake under the facts you present.

 

The subsequent buyer(s) are not at fault. The person who bought the book from Heritage would be the the lawful owner under US law.

[miraclemet]

You'd have to play very nice with Worldwide and hope they would be willing to check their records and see a subsequent sale of the same book.

 

Otherwise I dont see how you convince them that they didnt deliver on a book that you purchased so long ago.

 

Nearly 3 years is a looooooong time to open a case with a seller for problems with an order.

 

If they can find a record of selling the book a second time then you have a shot at getting the $125 refund, if they dont have a record of the second sale I think this is a lost cause due to the length of time between the transaction and the issue you are raising.

[timfinz]

Here is a copy of the last e-mail received from WW Comics.

 

 

From: Stephen

To: "Tim"

Subject: RE: Richie Rich Diamonds #5 CGC 9.8 Certification #0951961002

Date: June-22-13 8:23:02 AM

Hi Tim,

I talked to Barry Sandoval yesterday and looked at our database to see what we sold XXXXXXX and we

never sold him any Richie Rich titles, just Little Dot and Little Lotta. Plus, we began selling to him in

2010, so no chance we sent him the Richie Rich Diamond #5 either accidentally or sold it to him. I

explained the situation to Barry, that the book was never sold by me to XXXXXXX. He confirmed the

book has our price sticker on it. He said he is going to ask the XXXX family if they mind giving the

book to you as it may have been a stolen item. He is not sure how they will react to it, but will let us

know.

Stephen

WorldWide Comics

 

 

I have repeatedly inquired if they had somehow unknowingly sold it to someone other than the person identified with the book. I received no response and have had no further communication.

 

 

[Maccai3]

i think this could be the one that got away from you, 3 years is too long to expect a comic store to be able to help you in a manner that they could possibly have done nearer the time...unfortunate and they are mostly to blame but i wouldn't expect anyone who has since bought the book to give it up without any compensation (i'm not implying that you are expecting that)

[timfinz]

Thanks Maccai3, I am not expecting anyone to give it up without compensation.

 

I understand that the amount of time that has lapsed from the time of purchase to the time of discovery is lengthy but I thought WW Comics would have been able to provide me with answers. I had approached them long before the book showed up on HA. I found that they were not very responsive and that maybe they felt there was no obligation to try and help me because of the amount of time involved?

 

What would you do? It is (or at least was) my book after all!

[Maccai3]

i would try to track transactions, find out which previous owners bought it from where...maybe then the store will have no choice but to give you a refund if the evidence shows their fault, then you could offer the current owner the money for the book

[rjpb]

Not getting a $125 book listed on the invoice sucks.

 

Not realizing you didn't get $125 book listed on an invoice until 3 years later still sucks, but there's not much you can do without corroboration from the seller that it was accidentally shipped or sold to someone else. As far as losses go, it could be worse.

 

 

[Bronty]

They've been pretty busy having moved.

 

I think there is definitely a (pretty low) threshold as to the effort you can realistically/fairly expect a dealer to put in for a missing $125 book from three years ago, but I would have tried calling them.

 

Even now I think your best bet is to just pick up the phone.

[timfinz]

i would try to track transactions, find out which previous owners bought it from where...maybe then the store will have no choice but to give you a refund if the evidence shows their fault, then you could offer the current owner the money for the book

That's the problem. I haven't been able to keep a conversation going with WW Comics. I have sent e-mails requesting more information but get no responses. They claim to have sent the book to me and tell me it was "weight verified". I have not been able to get them to verify if it was sold to someone other than the person who has since passed away. Here is another of the e-mails:

 

From: Stephen [mailto:stephen@wwcomics.com]

Sent: June-13-13 9:58 PM

To: 'Tim'

Subject: RE: Richie Rich Diamonds #5 CGC 9.8 Certification #0951961002

 

Tim,

 

I verified that this copy was the one we owned and sold to you, but I am not sure what happened to the book. If I remember, you were not sure it was in the package we sent you, but we confirmed that there were 11 books shipped (due to the weight of the package) and we did not have the book in our inventory any longer. Is there any chance someone had taken it from you? The reason I ask, is that only if I tell Lon Allen or Barry Sandoval at Heritage that this book was stolen, will they be able to cancel it as an auction and will they look into straightening things out, but I am not up to date on what happened, so let me know before I contact them tomorrow.

 

Stephen

WorldWide Comics

 

[Bronty]

Again, I would pick up the phone and try to get more help.

 

When push comes to shove though, I think you just waited too long. I don't think its fair to expect WW to remember what happened three years ago

[timfinz]

Not getting a $125 book listed on the invoice sucks.

 

Not realizing you didn't get $125 book listed on an invoice until 3 years later still sucks, but there's not much you can do without corroboration from the seller that it was accidentally shipped or sold to someone else. As far as losses go, it could be worse.

 

Thanks rjpb. I don't think I'm going to give up on it just yet. I know that the time lapse is somewhat of an issue but if WW Comics was able to verify selling the book to me three (now four) years ago then I think they would be able to check their data base and confirm if they have sold the same book to someone else too? It's just a matter of getting them to respond!

[timfinz]

Again, I would pick up the phone and try to get more help.

 

When push comes to shove though, I think you just waited too long. I don't think its fair to expect WW to remember what happened three years ago

Thanks for your comments Bronty. Unfortunately in this day and age of computers it should be quite easy to remember or at least determine what happened three years ago. After all as I mentioned previously they were able to verify selling the book to me!

[asteroid-comix]

Not getting a $125 book listed on the invoice sucks.

 

Not realizing you didn't get $125 book listed on an invoice until 3 years later still sucks, but there's not much you can do without corroboration from the seller that it was accidentally shipped or sold to someone else. As far as losses go, it could be worse.

 

Thanks rjpb. I don't think I'm going to give up on it just yet. I know that the time lapse is somewhat of an issue but if WW Comics was able to verify selling the book to me three (now four) years ago then I think they would be able to check their data base and confirm if they have sold the same book to someone else too? It's just a matter of getting them to respond!

 

Maybe the response that you received from Stephen in June is the only one that is available. Perhaps, they truly thought that the book was shipped to you and that's where the book ends in their inventory. Theft and mispacking can all happen. The amount of time between purchase and now makes it hard to investigate. Not to question the value to you, but I'm guessing a $125 isn't going to raise a lot of interest either. I think it's pretty strong that Stephen was going to call HA for you.

[asteroid-comix]

Again, I would pick up the phone and try to get more help.

 

When push comes to shove though, I think you just waited too long. I don't think its fair to expect WW to remember what happened three years ago

Thanks for your comments Bronty. Unfortunately in this day and age of computers it should be quite easy to remember or at least determine what happened three years ago. After all as I mentioned previously they were able to verify selling the book to me!

 

The point that they should may be true, but that's not been my observations at cons. Aside from Bob Storms who always seems to be updating his inventory on that laptop he carries, I've not seen a lot of technology used with inventory managment by dealers. The most common system seems to be chicken scratch on note pads.

 

Assume best intent.

[timfinz]

Yes you are correct with regard to mispackaging or perhaps being sold or shipped to someone else unintentionally.

 

Stephen did indeed contact HA and the book was withdrawn from the auction however that is kind of where the trail ended. I am not trying to point fingers or blame anyone I was just hoping that maybe I would be able to find out where the book is now (since it was sold at the HA Sunday internet auction)

 

I was disappointed that I did contact WW Comics and advise them of the missing book, find it come up for auction and then not be able to do anything about it. It's just frustrating and this thread gave me the opportunity to vent a little??

[Pirate]

is it friday already?