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Potential Comic Art Fans Scam Alert
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Started by AnkurJ,

199 posts in this topic

kav

kav

Posted
Posted

If clipped coupon does not affect grade ask dealer if he'll trade your clipped for his non clipped.

Since they're the same.

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Mighty Hal

Mighty Hal

Posted
Posted

My wife works in the medical field. She says some pharmacists do have patients, especially if they work in one of the specialties (heavy duty chemo meds, special blood-thinning agents, and so on). I'm not certain what all is involved beyond blood studies and the adjustment of meds, but she tells me even the patients refer to themselves as the pharmacist's patient.

 

I'm pleased that CAF exists, and glad that Bill is celebrated for it. I'm appreciative that Ankur brought a bad apple into the light, even if his motives weren't entirely altruistic. The rest of it seems like so much noise.

 

 

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BCarter27

BCarter27

Posted
Posted
My concern is always with protecting the site and it's membership. If that means closing down both parties galleries until the dust settles then that's what has to happen. I never once used the word delete or ban in relation to his account. I said I shut down his gallery. At that point in the conversation between he and I, I didn't feel I needed to extend him any further courtesy of an explanation.

 

Hi Bill,

 

Thanks for the clarifying post. I imagine it goes a long way towards calming anyone's fears about possible reactionary policies - however imagined they might be.

 

Perhaps a slight revision to the wording in your boilerplate reply to a situation like this... that the gallery "shut down" is only temporary until the dispute is resolved, but is not a permanent ban on the affected parties' accounts. I think it is quite easy to read "shut down" as a permanent exile, particularly in a moment of stress on the scam victim's part.

 

If your emails in disputes already include such language, please ignore the above.

 

Since your amazing site is one of the three major hubs of the OA community (the others being this forum and the Comic-Art L group), nobody wants to get locked out of there unduly! :-)

 

Thanks again for CAF!

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Brian Peck

Brian Peck

Posted
Posted
Turns out I do have an account on here. Haven't used it in 8 years. Thanks to Chris for posting my original reply. I figured it was better for me to personally clarify a few things mentioned in the thread.

 

First, contrary to what Ankur said, his account was not closed at the same time as the seller, it was closed 12 hours later. The reason was because he stated CAF should have responsibility for his deal going wrong. The moment he stated that, I was forced to take the position that he's forgotten the rules of the site and poses a risk to the site and to other members by not knowing or caring for CAF's position on transactions between members. As I mentioned earlier, typically I turn off both parties galleries from the start and that's because the person who feels they were wronged state up front that they feel CAF is somehow culpable for the deal (happens 9/10 times), but with Ankur it didn't happen until long after the fact. My concern is always with protecting the site and it's membership. If that means closing down both parties galleries until the dust settles then that's what has to happen. I never once used the word delete or ban in relation to his account. I said I shut down his gallery. At that point in the conversation between he and I, I didn't feel I needed to extend him any further courtesy of an explanation.

 

Next, I'm not sure what someone was talking about regarding selling user information. Obviously that is not something we'd ever do even if it meant LARGE sums of money.

 

Regarding the suggestion of having a safe section on CAF to buy or sell art. We already have that. Our Dealer search has over 72,000 pieces of art for sale right now, and our Premium Member Classifieds has around 8,000 pieces of artwork. I consider the Classifieds a safe place to conduct purchases because any person willing to pay for a premium membership to gain access to this section on CAF typically is going to handle sales as one would expect. They certainly are not going to be someone trying to scam anyone since a scammer is not going to shell out cash for a premium membership. In this case Ankur struck a deal with a person on CAF whom he knew had not had their gallery for more than a month and they were not a premium member. Two red flags to start, and then they accept a low offer on the art. As far as having a system to show who is a good seller or not, we do not have a feature like that as of today but we do show a person's ebay handle when they provide it in their profile, in part so another member can see their feedback for situations like this.

 

Regarding getting back to things related to the seller all I can disclose is that their name is Julie Johnston. After Ankur's original email I had a few emails with her where I told her I had shut off her gallery, and I requested she send me proof from Square that she refunded the money to him in order for me to consider turning her gallery back on, and she did admit to needing to refund the money so it was clear that something had happened. These emails with her was going on hours before the emails that led to my having to shut down his gallery. When the responsibility remark came up I was chafed to say the least, and had to follow policy at that point. I would add so that he's aware of it, that if a formal request was made by his credit card company I'd gladly hand over the data I have on file for her.

 

At any rate, I've nothing more to add to this conversation unless someone has any other questions about our site's Ts and Cs. If people don't appreciate the policies we have in place they don't need to use or visit CAF.

 

I have been following this thread but have held off commenting until Bill himself was able to weigh in. I know both Bill and Ankur and have had good dealings with both. Bill has been providing a great service for the comic art community for 11 years (damn has it been that long). Its a meeting place to post and view artwork but also offers a way to network with fellow collectors which can lead to buying and selling of artwork.

Bill has always been upfront about what CAF offers and it is not like ebay. I have been fortunate and have not had any bad deals from any CAF member, but all of us must be careful in our deals. Unfortunately, many fail to read terms of conditions which includes Ankur. Similar issues have occurred since the CAF started and some have been made public. So I would be surprised if Ankur had not heard of them and know how Bill have handled them in the past. Once Ankur accused CAF of being responsible for the transaction he went too far and I support Bill's response.

When I sell art on CAF I use the classified/comic art shop, I wish more used it which means being a Premium member. I have always supported Bill and CAF, I love all the extras the Premium membership provides (would do it even if there was not extras). If you sell art on CAF you should be a Premium Member, you are using the exposure provided by CAF (ranked 58,394 World Wide which is pretty damn high traffic). If I purchase art from a Premium member I do think it adds a sense of security (no promises) but since I am a Premium Member it goes both ways.

I hope Ankur is able to resolve his issue with the seller and get back his money. I also hope he will return to the CAF, I enjoy seeing the artwork he posts and interacting with him.

 

 

 

 

 

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Bill Cox

Bill Cox

Posted
Posted

CAF is actually 13 years old in a few weeks.

 

Regarding a standard written policy on how to handle these kinds of situations there isn't one. The only written rule is that we're not part of your transaction, we're not responsible for you to have a successful transaction, and so on. How we react when we get involved with a situation like this varies by the situation. In this case I didn't know the seller and they were new, so I shut off their gallery. I will shut off the gallery of anyone who says we're responsible for their transaction to go well. A month ago I had a member (no gallery, member for many years) claim they didn't get a commission that an artist on CAF did for them, that was commissioned through CAF, that they were told was done and would be shipped but hadn't arrived weeks later. Rather than shut the artist's gallery off I sent them an email letting them know I got a complaint and that I hoped they would take care of it because when they look bad, it makes us look bad. The situation was resolved and everyone was happy. The bottom line is every situation is unique, and while we're not responsible for a member to have a successful transaction, there can be many different ways of handling the situation. In the end you hope that everyone walks away satisfied with the outcome.

 

Dealing with these situations is the absolute least favorite thing I do on CAF, and fortunately they practically never happen.

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Brian Peck

Brian Peck

Posted
Posted
CAF is actually 13 years old in a few weeks.

 

Regarding a standard written policy on how to handle these kinds of situations there isn't one. The only written rule is that we're not part of your transaction, we're not responsible for you to have a successful transaction, and so on. How we react when we get involved with a situation like this varies by the situation. In this case I didn't know the seller and they were new, so I shut off their gallery. I will shut off the gallery of anyone who says we're responsible for their transaction to go well. A month ago I had a member (no gallery, member for many years) claim they didn't get a commission that an artist on CAF did for them, that was commissioned through CAF, that they were told was done and would be shipped but hadn't arrived weeks later. Rather than shut the artist's gallery off I sent them an email letting them know I got a complaint and that I hoped they would take care of it because when they look bad, it makes us look bad. The situation was resolved and everyone was happy. The bottom line is every situation is unique, and while we're not responsible for a member to have a successful transaction, there can be many different ways of handling the situation. In the end you hope that everyone walks away satisfied with the outcome.

 

Dealing with these situations is the absolute least favorite thing I do on CAF, and fortunately they practically never happen.

 

 

 

Damn I am getting old was think it started in 2004.

 

 

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malvin

malvin

Posted
Posted

Man 13 years. I remember when it first started I resisted signing up and I was content with the 5 pages the Lowry allowed. I finally signed up of course and was the 614th member. I could have been a member much earlier! :)

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comix4fun

comix4fun

Posted
Posted
Man 13 years. I remember when it first started I resisted signing up and I was content with the 5 pages the Lowry allowed. I finally signed up of course and was the 614th member. I could have been a member much earlier! :)

 

 

I resisted too, as I had my own website for my artwork (NERD ALERT), but CAF slowly and seductively drew me in....

 

I gave in in April 2004. Not sure what number that makes me.

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DeadpoolJr.

DeadpoolJr.

Posted
Posted
Just a bit before me at 47,500... I am a johnny come lately having joined in 2010.

 

John B.

I'm 89,824, and I joined in 12'. I think its pretty impressive tat in just those two years membership nearly doubled. Its probably over 100k at this point.
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cloud cloddie

cloud cloddie

Posted
Posted
Just a bit before me at 47,500... I am a johnny come lately having joined in 2010.

 

John B.

I'm 89,824, and I joined in 12'. I think its pretty impressive tat in just those two years membership nearly doubled. Its probably over 100k at this point.

 

I joined in December and I'm 109659. So yes.

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Brian Peck

Brian Peck

Posted
Posted
Just a bit before me at 47,500... I am a johnny come lately having joined in 2010.

 

John B.

I'm 89,824, and I joined in 12'. I think its pretty impressive tat in just those two years membership nearly doubled. Its probably over 100k at this point.

 

I joined in December and I'm 109659. So yes.

 

 

Damn, over 100,000 people have joined since I became CAF member #74 in early 2003.

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