Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => For Sale & Trade => Topic started by: poor_nigel on October 18, 2004, 08:26:36 AM
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This is not the type of matter I enjoy engaging in, but it is one that I feel must be addressed. Most members of this club have probably read about the split of Moody Straps into Moody Leathers and Italia Leather Straps. I do not want to get into Michael?s and Allison?s personal business, so I will just stick to how I was treated by Michael.
I ordered an all suede, 54? single piece custom strap from Michael before the split. Well over a month ago. I was charged $185 and $8 more for shipping. I also wanted Alembic logos stamped into it, so that was extra. During the whole process, the only time Michael would ever contact me was when he wanted money from me. Once he would get the money sent, I would receive no further responses from him on any questions I sent in. Since Moody Straps had a good reputation here, I felt they were just busy and I would be taken care of.
Note that Michael charged $50 in fees for the Alembic logos. I was having a hard time with my PalPay account (Someone in Asia was trying to hack into it), and I ended up sending Michael the payment from two different accounts, requesting him to refuse payment I had previously sent on the security risk one. I received no response, so he ended up collecting $100 for the Alembic fees. A matter he has not addressed to this very day.
I knew the company name had changed, and thought that had to do with why Michael was too busy to contact me back on anything. I was shocked when I read Valentino?s posting of Moody?s split. I immediately e-mailed all parties concerned, freaked out, as can be expected. I called Allison and got her answering machine, and then got an e-mail response from her within five minutes requesting my phone number so she could call me.
After discussing the matter with Allison, she gave me Michael?s cell phone number and I called him up very upset. He played the concerned seller and agreed to refund my money on the strap. I have dealt with many Michaels in my life, and figured he was just leading me on and I would never see a cent from him. This was confirmed a week later when I contacted him again, because I had received nothing from him. He stated that he had changed his mind and was going to finish the strap, instead. I told him he was no longer authorized to do the order, as only Allison was authorized to use the Alembic logo on her straps now. That was early last week. I have of course heard nothing further from him on any of this.
As I write this today, it is a fact that Italia Leather Straps? owner Michael Salerno has lied, conned, and cheated me out of $293 for a single strap order. Therefore, I am posting this warning concerning doing business with this disreputable person/company.
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You should be able to recover money paid through credit cards or paypal through their fraud protection systems, especially since nothing at all was delivered. Other than that, I don't understand why Michael would try to form a company if he has no intention of delivering any products.
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Get a written dispute into your credit card company(s) ASAP fully detailing the transactions and the fact that you have no product. You should get your $$ back.
Good luck and thanks for the warning.
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Sorry, duplicate post.
(Message edited by kmh364 on October 20, 2004)
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Sorry to hear about your problem(s), Tom. I dealt with Michael earlier this year. While he totally screwed up my order, he did make it right. I had ordered three 4 straps in various color combos (via email in writing) and he got everything right except for that they were delivered as 2.5 straps. Well, he gave me three options to make this right and I chose keeping the straps I already had and getting three more of the right width straps, all for a HUGE discount. I have 8 guitars now, and the straps are awesome (and the price was right), so I'm not complaining. I guess the split-up has affected Michael in a negative way.
BTW, I've already contacted Alison about getting LONGER tails for my three Alembic/Moody straps (I bought those too, LOL!), and she was very helpful. She's definitely prettier than Michael as well (I know...I'm going to HELL, LOL!).
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Well, the mail person dropped off Michael?s strap, to my surprise. When things go right, integrity is not a factor that needs to be addressed, usually. It is when things go wrong that you find out what level of integrity individuals possess. Michael showed a definite lack of integrity by accepting no responsibility for any of his questionable actions, lying to me, patronizing me to placate me, and in the end sending me the most poorly made strap I have seen, out side of a children?s Sunday school crafts class. Plus, he used the Alembic stamp without authorization and kept the second payment of fees. Right from the start, Allison accepted all responsibilities in this matter and told me she would remake the strap for me at no charge. The strap was bought from Moody, she is Moody the company, and she was instantly ready to back it all up. I told her to go ahead and made the strap and I would handle getting a refund from Michael, as best I could. I sent Allison pictures of the strap and she is to estimate its value and I will pay her that amount. I do not want something for nothing, or to come out ahead on anything. I just want what I paid for and what is fair. I never use credit cards, so no route for recovery there. I closed all my PayPal accounts, as eBay owns PayPal and I find both places no help at all when anything goes wrong. PayPal will be little help in the recovery of funds here. They charge a deductible of $25 per transaction, and there were three transactions. By sending me any piece of leather, he has stalled an already ?make it as hard to collect? system into an almost impossible to work system for getting back anything at all. Time is money, and I have wasted a couple of hundred dollars in time on this already. What Allison says the strap he made me is worth, I will pay her. For the money he just kept, I have paid for the right to call him a thief in public, as it is the truth. Allison will need to have her lawyer collect. But that is getting into her business, and Michael's unauthorized use of the Alembic stamps are Alembic's business now. The one thing he did right on this strap was the pressing of the Alembic logo on the tobacco colored side. It looks great! If you are thinking about ordering a suede strap from Allison with an Alembic logo stamped into it, it looks great on the tobacco, but not so good on the curry colored suede - which seems very inferior in quality to begin with. Did I get a strap made from the scraps drawer? Hey Kevin. Not paying attention to what customers order seems to be a trademark of Michael. I do not like squared corners on the ends of straps, so I specifically ordered rounded ?U? shaped ones. I got square corners. I specifically stated not to make a cut up the strap button hole, but to just make the holes the same size as the Schaller Strap Locks he sells fits. He cut the holes too small and cut a slit up the center. I specifically asked he use tobacco colored thread, so he used curry colored thread. The strap was to be reversible, with an Alembic logo stamped into one side, then the strap turn over and a logo stamped at the opposite end, at the same height. I specifically asked him if he understood what I wanted on this. He flipped the strap over and stamped the second logo at the same end of the strap. This is actually a simple strap order. No rocket science here, just someone who got the money and then just did what they do on all other straps made. He even got the length wrong by a whole inch. If you got awesome quality in your straps, Kevin, I am thinking Michael took the order, but they were made by Allison. I compare the quality of what I received to be as low or lower than the quality he instills in his One-Strap company's products. At $39, no one is going to get ripped to badly there. This is where Michael belongs, not in the high-end strap making market. That is Allison's forte. This is what I paid $293 for: Note: I apologize for the poor quality this camera does on close-ups.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/13537.jpg)
Hard to see, but that is a glitch on the side of the strap where the edge was crushed up and will not go back down.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/13538.jpg)
There is an awful center join of pieces with crooked sticking on both sides, crooked stictching down the side of the strap, and another side glitch where the edge was crushed and ruined.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/13539.jpg)
This edge was sloppily cut and stitched. It looks much worse in person. All these look worse in person. Poor camera, sorry.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/13540.jpg)
The suede on this end is filth, cut exactly as I told him not to do, and the stitching very poorly done. This also shows the too small of button hole with the slit up them. The grime on the suede will have to be cleaned by a pro, as it does not brush out.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/13541.jpg)
Sorry, yet another poor shot. This strap is supposed to be reversible, but the workmanship on this side it totally unacceptable. Ugly crooked stitching across a poor glued join, with glue that oozed out of the seam and into the suede. A very large and noticible lump that lies right across the top ridge of my shoulder for some added uncomfort. This is not a $39 One-Strap. This was a couple of hundred dollar custom strap. Would I show this strap to anyone and let them know how much was paid for it? Too many people already belive me an idiot. I don't need excessive examples hanging around to provide the needed support on their assumptions to elicit a proof of such. For the money paid to this person of little talent, this is simply not acceptable quality for even a standard $79 strap. I will do one more posting to this thread when I get the proper strap from Allison. I sent her full-sized pictures of this strap and she was shocked. I am not running a personal grudge against Michael here. There is no forward movent in such matters. I feel he burned me good and stole from me. Best to learn from mistakes and move on. Therefore, this is all a warning to other to be aware of all this before you do business with him and possibly get burned, too. Hopefully on the last post, I will have my proper strap and it will be great, Allison is paid and kicking out lots of strap orders, and Michael just fades away, handyman, con artist, and thief that he is (I paid for that right!). Perfect! Note: This strap was taken out of the box it came in for pictures. It was not bent, twisted or any physical action, except to unroll it for picture taking. (Message edited by poor_nigel on October 20, 2004)
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Holy Sh*t! You weren't kidding. You should take more pictures of that piece of crappola and post them on every music related site you can find. I wouldn't have been as charitable as you. I'd definitely want my money back! Even if that thing was perfect, no way in Hell is it worth nearly $300! At least contact the BBB and let them know via offiial complaint. I don't know if you have proxy recourse under Cali. law RE: a small claims lawsuit...I ain't no lawyer, LOL! But it might be worth finding out anyway.
At least you have Allison to make it right. Not only is she a pleasure to look at, she's a pleasure to deal with. She actually seems to care about the family business and knows what customer service means.
Good Luck and please let us all know how you make out. I'd be interested in seeing the pix of what the properly-constructed strap looks like.
BTW, Is Alembic OK with Moody's using their logo on an unofficial product? While I had no intentions of using my non-Alembic Moodys straps with my Alembic (Hence the three Alembic/Moody's straps I own...they were bought specifically for the Alembic ONLY...and were bought before I knew Moody's existed), but it never occured to me to ask for Alembic's logo. Even if I wanted it, I assumed that they couldn't/wouldn't because that (in my mind, anyway) would take business away from Alembic. Hell, I bought on price...If Alembic offered the colors/combo's that Moody's did for the same or less than the regular Mooody's prices, I'd have bought those instead.
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Actually, I bet Allison would love to trade you her good strap for the piece of excrement that Michael sent you. It may help her in any suit she brings to show how he is shipping products in a way that could damage her good name.
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Moody Leathers is authorized to put the Alembic logo on any strap asked for. That is why the Alembic fees were charged and paid. It is cheaper to buy the straps Allison makes for Alembic, which Alembic then sells through their store, but if you don't like the regular straps and want one made just the way you want it, you can get it made with an Alembic logo or two stamped into it. You should contact Allison concerning this for more information.
I will be filling out all the proper papers to file a complaint against the owner and business of Italia Leather Straps through the CA BBB. Someone is collecting the needs things and sending them to me. Without Allison to back up Michael's disreputable actions, I do not believe he will be in business much longer, at least not in the high-end strap market. Maybe he will do OK with his One-Straps. As for Allison, she is now the only person I will order straps from and her solid professionalism should bring her great success in the end.
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Sorry I missed your post Bob. Good idea. I will offer it to her. It might possibly be wanted for proof of unauthorized use of the Alembic logos on it, also.
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Uh oh Boys and Girls, I am on the run from the law!
Defamatory statements re Michael Salarno
Mr. Shaw:
My office has been flooded with people on the internet sending me postings
that you have placed on the internet regarding Mr. Salerno's business
relationship with he his former business partner. I have commenced the
filing of a lawsuit in Monterey County Superior Court regarding your
defamatory statements. Some of the people who read your post accusing my
client of fraud are from Monterey County California, thus a cause of action
arises right here.
I am at this time going to give you one chance to do the right thing and
discontinue this hostile behaivor. I would expect that you agree to post
full retractions of any such statement made within twenty-four hours of the
receipt of this e-mail. If you not desire to take this course of action, I
will be deciding the alternate course of action on my own.
Consider this your only warning in this matter.
Shawn C. Mills
Attorney for Michael Salarno
montereydefender@hotmail.com (mailto:montereydefender@hotmail.com)
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Ha, ha, ha . . . That was a good one! A lawyer with a Hotmail account, who threatens people by e-mail, no less. I thought lawyers used signed documents via registered mail, like my lawyer does?! Unfortunately for Michael, I looked up this real lawyer in Monterey and send him a copy of this and a response, plus all the contact information of Michael's. This guy just keep digging the hole deeper and deeper and deeper . . .
I still cannot get over anyone who would be dumb enough to use a Hotmail account and then a real lawyer in his area that can sue the pants off him for for using his professional name to make threats via e-mail. I have to admit I am not so upset right now, as the entertainment value of this is too great! Dang that legal funny talk is hard to grasp! It is almost as if this were written by a high school graduate! Certainly not by someone with a four year degree, law school, and then compentent enough to pass the California bar exam. I gues His Hotmail secretary/paralegal was out, so it could not be proofed first.
(Message edited by poor_nigel on October 21, 2004)
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Only the finest legal representatives use Hotmail?.
Sigh...
Now I'm gonna get sued, too...
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Wow!
Amazing!
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Thomas:
Being a California lawyer myself, I easily looked up Shawn Mills in the bar records. There is indeed a Shawn Mills, admitted in 1997, practicing in Monterey. Are you saying that you contacted the REAL Shawn Mills and he didn't know about this?
Also very questionable is the closing phrase:
If you not desire to take this course of action, I will be deciding the alternate course of action on my own.
Aside from the bad grammar, I doubt a real lawyer would ever put this in writing. Such a decision is strictly the client's. Of course the lawyer may give advice and make suggestions, but the decision to sue or not is ultimately the client's.
Bill, the guitar one.
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Hey Bill. I went back to Mr. Mills site and started investigating it. In my travels, he has a page and it does list the above Hotmail address as the contact point. Oh well, leave it to Michael to rip someone off and then bring in a lawyer to shut up the victim. I think I will pop over to my lawyer's office and see if this gets her all excited or not. If she screams and runs from the room, maybe I will worry a touch. Otherwise, Michael and his lawyer can just go away! As long as what I say is the truth, I do not fear anyone.
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This is the shopping board, though, right? Shouldn't someone be offering me a medium scale S1 bass in good shape right about now?
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Well, that threat hardly made it out of the gate before it collasped and died. It seems Michael's lawyer is a criminal lawyer, go figure.
(Message edited by poor_nigel on October 22, 2004)
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Hey Nigel...
So you're saying that an actual 'real' lawyer couldn't compose two well-written paragraphs.
I wouldn't say this looks like it was written by a high school graduate...because while in high school, my writing skills were way beyond the 'dribble' written in this email. I would say it looks like it was written by someone struggling to get through high school.
Mikey/
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Hey Mikey. I was being nice. I got some e-mails from him and he seems very unprofessional, unknowledgeable, and all intimidation. I will not let such a person get to me. On all possible counts of defamation, I can substantiate them to be true. I have every receipt of payment made, and every e-mail sent and received, including some very strange ones from Mr. Mills that I am sure a lawyer would not want to be brought into a courtroom, for any reason.
Truth (formerly called justification): You will not be liable if the defamatory statement is true. The plaintiff is not required to prove that your statement was untrue to establish his or her claim, as the law assumes that defamatory statements are untrue. This means that you, the defendant, bear the burden of proving that the statement was true.
I am done trying to deal with Michael. He can keep digging if he wants. I am looking forward to the strap Allison is making and will post pics of it for comparison of what I should have received in the first place. As much trouble as Michael has been in this whole affair, is how helpful she has been. Now, back to sanity for me.
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Holy Insult to Injury! The idiot at Italia straps just sent me the following:
Dear Valued Italia Straps Customer,
Please take a moment to visit our beautiful, newly redesigned website and online store at www.italiastraps.com (http://www.italiastraps.com)
Don't forget that Italia Straps is a great place to find a holiday gift for the musician in your life, or for yourself! Gift
certificates are even available if you are having trouble deciding...
As always, we sincerely appreciate your business.
Thank You,
The Staff at Italia Straps
Michael forgot to mention that it is a great place to get ripped off and pick up some decidedly inferior products, too. He also sent a copy of this to the e-mail address that was attached to the PayPal account that sent him the second payment of Alembic fees, which he just pocketed and has never acknowledged or refunded. Not only is he a thief, but he is stupid to boot!
Note: Alembic did not receive a penny of either payment he received.
If the person he thinks owns the account he blatantly stole money from and I are valued customers, I guess his business is about to be flushed. Hmmm, that seems appropriate. I am thinking he would be better off working for his lawyer, who specializes in defending wife beaters, drunken drivers, and minor criminals (This is taken from his advertising on his Web site). What a pair.
Note: The strap Allison made is finished and she is just waiting for the dies from Alembic to stamp the logos with. Pictures will be posted when it arrives.
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Like they say, You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. In this case, it's by the lawyer they retain.
Hopefully the strap you receive from Allison will be the happy ending to this story.
Mikey/
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(Message edited by valvil on November 03, 2004)
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My, what a lovely way to introduce yourself, by painting a longtime and well-liked member as a crybaby and a perv!
I'll have to remember that. It might be a good way to rid myself of those pesky incisors.
This is not the type of matter I enjoy engaging in, but it is one that I feel must be addressed. Most members of this club have probably read about the split of Moody Straps into Moody Leathers and Italia Leather Straps. I do not want to get into Michael?s and Allison?s personal business, so I will just stick to how I was treated by Michael.
He got burned by a vendor that took his time delivering an item that significantly differed from the customer's order, and which cost more than the initially agreed-upon cost. What's not to understand?
May I assume we're speaking with the Fox News Radio disc jockey?
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Gregg Bluesmann8008
Having a legal background myself.
Might we assume from this that you are not an attorney? I am, and I am very aware that there are two sides to every story. I have no personal knowledge about Poor Nigel's strap problem, only what I have read on this site. I know that the pictures of the strap that were posted look pretty abysmal for an expensive custom strap. I certainly wouldn't accept such shoddy merchandise. I also know that use of the Alembic trademark can only be lawfully accomplished with Alembic's permission and that such permission was not given to Michael. Finally, in my opinion your post is not really appropriate for this site. Your attack is nothing more than aspersions and character assasination. Completely uncalled for. In that regard, you have achieved less than success. The only character that your post calls into question is your own.
Bill, tgo
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Hey Bill, I am going to have to disagree with you on this person having a legal background. From a previous post I did: including some very strange ones (e-mails) from Mr. Mills that I am sure a lawyer would not want to be brought into a courtroom, for any reason. The above post used several of the strange things listed in Mr. Mill's e-mails sent to me. This is either Michael (fed what to say here by Mills) or his unethical lawyer (Probably so) posting here. Either way, what an idiotic thing for a lawyer to do!!! I was wondering when Michael or Mills would show up and defend themselves. Michael did on other sites, disguised as someone else. I always posted under the name of Poor Nigel, and left my real contact information in the posts, so others would know I was real and could contact me, including Michael and his lawyer.
Oh my goodness! I posted a thank you to someone on a naughty BBS!!! I must steal from people, lie continuously, run around pretending to be someone else, have the ethics of a someone who purposely defends scums who do some of the worst acts committed in this country for money, and of course must be a communist! Well, I am socialistic by nature. Is that close enough?
My eBay feedback record? Hey buddies, it stands for itself. There are a lot of con artists on eBay, and I do give negative feedback when someone rips me off, and without regard for them giving the same in return. I also use my real identities there, too. Poor Nigel and real contact information. Why would anyone think collecting anime and cartoon collectables would be a bad thing? Something that would show I was a bad person??? Why would anyone list my feedback record, which clearly shows I received only one negative point, and from someone who took my money, sold the item to someone else, and then refused to give my money back. Hey, neat view! Thanks for the new trick. Here is the proper link to my feedback:
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback (http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback)
I will certainly stand behind every action I have committed in my whole life and will atone for all wrongs committed. Will either of you two? The only real question here is, why am I defending myself to someone of such low ethics and morals? You two are such a matched pair. Bill, this is definitely one of the people that give your profession its bad rep. Nuff said. Dang, that phrase was coined by comic book artist, Stan Lee. I must a slime, as only bad people read comics!
Uh oh! I just noticed that this person referred to me as TK Shaw. Give me a break! As any Alembic staff or club member I have contacted via e-mail can attest to, I sign my e-mails TK Shaw. There is only one obscure post on the club where I used TK Shaw (unnoticeably listed at the bottom of a picture), and you cannot get that information from eBay. All references to me on all the places this person has been to refer to me as either Thomas K Shaw or tshaw, not TK Shaw. Note: I do not 'sign' my e-mails as T. K. Shaw, but TK Shaw. Gee, who ever posted the fun one above, has obviously received e-mails from me! Does this guy ever win a case?
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Opps, forgot to mention that the strap is done and will be shipped today. Pictures coming soon!
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I love how bluesmann8008 says Can we go back to talking about Alembics now?, considering the fact that this is his very first post on this site and he has not contributed to one conversation about Alembics...so what talk of Alembics is it that he wants to get back to?
Mikey/
(Message edited by pookeymp on November 03, 2004)
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Any halfwit can clearly see that Greg is not interested at all about Alembic's products.It's just character assasination for whatever reason.Just another case of somebody trying to make another feel guilty for and trying to cover up they're own wrong doing.Had to say something after following this thread,Greg's single post to this forum and poor nigel's many informative contributions to this club since I became a member.
Can't wait to see the strap you receive that has been crafted properly.There's nothing like good ol'honesty and integrity.
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Sorry to hear about this experience.
Now I too would like to offer my opinion. I don't want to sling anymore mud around, but what the heck.
Bluesmann8008: You may have a law background, but I am in the credit industry, and you sir are walking on thin ice in regards to your statement about poor nigels credit worthiness. Someone who does not use credit cards does not translate into no credit, as you have asserted. Poor Nigel could have a credit score well above 800 and you would have indeed made a false written statement about his credit. (I now many wealthy, credit worthy people, who do not use credit cards.) A credit industry standard, is that you only report the facts, anything else could cause big troubles for you. Any person stating negative information about another person's credit worthiness without being accurate could cause problems. Here's how:
Let's say I want to sell poor nigel a bass guitar. Now I look at your statement, that indicates he has no credit. And I choose not to sell to him based on that decision. You could be accountable for adversely affecting poor nigel's outcome in this situation by falsley making such claims.
By the way bluesmann8008, what type of Olympic do you play?
I thought so.
No offense to real Alembic brothers and sisters. You know how you are.
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My above statement would hold water if in fact bluesmann is somehow related to this matter...ie the attorney of Michael Salarno or Michael himself.
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Tom/Poor Nigel:
I didn't mean to imply that I thought Bluesmann8008 has a legal background. I was merely quoting his posting. So back off! Any more of these disparaging comments about me and I'll have my friend pretend to be a nuetral party and post a comment here revealing links to proof that you once didn't do your homework in 2nd grade, that you tore the tag off your mattress, and how in 1979 you crossed the street without looking both ways. So you don't want to mess with me. I watched five of my kid's karate classes when he was 6 years old.
Bill, tgo
P.S. Tongue firmly planted in cheek
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Tom (PNigel): F 'em if they can't take a joke! I don't know what any of that crap has to do with the fact that you entered into a good faith deal and you got screwed. I know your whole raison d'etre with regards to this whole ordeal was to try and make sure that other Club members don't get screwed by the same guy. It is certainly appreciated, at least by myself. Hopefully Allison will make it right. It certainly sucks that you had to endure this nonsense and I hope it all ends well. Please post pix when you get the correct strap so we can all see what we're missing and drool.
Cheers and Good Luck,
Kevin
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I once washed my hair and only rinsed once.
And I took a speed bump at 25mph instead of the posted 10.
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Small time, Hollis. You ever rip the tags off of a mattress? Cross a street when the Don't Walk sign was flashing? Go in through the Out door? Come on, step up and do something truely dastardly! Don't finish your veggies tonight, and then eat dessert anyway!
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I once went up the 'down' escalator....
I didn't keep my arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times...
My seat back and tray table were not in the upright and locked position...
I'm a real badass.
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I admit it - I was running with scissors.
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Stop it, you guyz are killing me! I am truly in the mood to laugh today, as I got great news from my mother's doctor that the technician that read her sonogram greatly exaggerated the seriousness of her conditioned. We were going through intense worry, and she was terrified of having to have the arteries in her neck scraped out - sounds wonderful! Her condition turned out to be so serious that he does not want to see her again for a full year, so it is party time around here! Yep, I am also a momma's boy - oh the shame! Oh, and we ate Chinese food last night with a fork - sorry.
Yo Bill, you had me going there for a couple of seconds, and then I just started laughing and had a great time reading the posts here. If nothing else, this thread has been of entertainment value. The subject matter is distasteful, but we need to know who is going to treat us right and who is going to give us too little for our hard earned currency. There are a lot of good places on the Internet to visit and buy from, but ya got to be aware of the few pits out there, too.
Just for fun, here is one of the e-mail Mr. Mills sent to me:
Subject: Re: Gibberish
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 21:03:57 -0700
From: Shawn Mills, Attorney at Law
To: tshaw@maine.rr.com (mailto:tshaw@maine.rr.com)
MovieMart
... Reply to this message. Date: 00:05:18 on Thursday, January 01, 2004
Name: Poor-Nigel
(tshaw@maine.rr.com (mailto:tshaw@maine.rr.com)) Subject: nm - Thanks Jack aaa. Reply to this message.
...
> xxxmoviemart/posts/03-12-31/3454.shtml - 9k -
Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages
I can pull up your orders if you like.....
http://www.Monterey-Defender.com (http://www.Monterey-Defender.com)
************************************************
He was accusing me of buying porn from MovieMart. Funny, MovieMart does not sell porn? He is a strange bird and very hard to believe a lawyer acts this way. Anyway, it matches what Bluesmann8008 listed, so it is pretty obvious who this person is. I have several of these e-mails, but this stuff is not really worth going into. Forget them. Time to get back to fun stuff on here. I think I'll whip out my trusty Olympic and just pick and grin!
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Tom:
Glad to here your mom is doing well. I know how stressful it can be as our parents age. My dad, who will turn 81 next week, was diagnosd with Alzheimers a few months ago. Knock on wood he is doing very well so far, but it has caused great stress on my mom, my brothers, and I as we try to deal with various issues as they arise, though we are spread out all over the country, coast to coast.
By the way, I checked out Mr. Mills' a little. He is a relatively inexperienced lawyer - admitted 10/97 - who appears to have gone to law school later in life. He went to a school that, I believe, is not accredited by the American Bar Association, only by the Californina Bar. He also appears to do run-of-the-mill criminal defense. I have never run into him professionally, though I have done almost exclusively criminal defense all over the state for 17+ years. Being a criminal defense attorney, I certainly wouldn't start throwing around threats of a civil suit. Just like, as a guitar player, I'm not about to give a keyboard player advice on how to play. Don't worry about the Bluesmann post. We all still love ya.
Bill, tgo
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Tom,
That's good news about your Mom.
I've been going through some very similar stuff with mine. She's been in and out of the hospital three times in the last two weeks. The good news is that she hasn't had another stroke, and her heart seems to be doing okay.
Bill,
I'm sorry to hear about your father. These are trying times indeed.
I guess we can all use a little levity these days...
Here's to good days ahead.
Hollis
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very hard to believe a lawyer acts this way.
In my view, this perspective was valid before we were cranking them out by the thousands, like Twinkies. There are more of his ilk floating out there...guess you don't watch daytime TV much?
Fingers are crossed for the families of all,
KFS
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just because you stayed at a Holiday Day Inn Express doesn't make you a Lawyer
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Nigel..
Not to make light of your situation. But this is most entertaining reading about your plight.
Unfortunately, there are alot of rubberheads infecting the general population. Good luck !
Best of luck to your mother, I'm waiting word of a simlar situation with mine.
Moviemart doesnt have porn ? Thanks for the tip !
Ok..come on people..fess up..who hasn't walked out of the john without washing your hands ?
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Ok...ok...I may walk out the john without washing my hands sometimes, but I do make sure to always wipe my hands on my pants.
Mikey/
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Then you're absolved Mikey !
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And your pants are dissolved (and the remnants mailed to moviemart)
Mike
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I never said MovieMart doesn't 'have' porn, they don't sell it, though. What they do have there is the best collection of links to codexs I need for watching my 'perv-o' 'cartoons' on. I have 2,400 CDs of Anime downloaded from mIRC, and I had to keep getting all the different codexs to play them all. Since I installed Service Pack 2 to my XP machine, I lost a couple and will have to probably go back there to get more. OK, OK, I may have grabbed a racy movie or two, while I was there . . .
Hey Gare, this has been entertaining, and I am sure it got a smile or two out of the two people and one company that lost on this deal. Nothing like a little good humor to help make a bad situation tolerable.
Considering that my mother seems about ten years younger after the news, I don't think this whole situation here is much of anything to worry about. I hope the same thing happen for Mikey and Hollis, too. When all things are considered, family is what matters most. Thank you all for your kind words and support.
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Allison's strap arrived yesterday evening. As soon as I opened the box, I knew it was everything the other strap should have been. Plus, she obviously paid attention to what I wanted. Here is a comparison of the two.
Size
Allison's is within a 1/16th of an inch of length stated, and has a uniform width of four inches along the main body of the strap.
Michael's is one inch longer than size ordered and has a width along the main body that varies from four inches to 4 3/16ths.
Note: Length was measured from center of strap hole to center of strap hole.
Suede Quality
The quality of suede used on both sides of Allison's reminds me of an expensive pair of pig skin soccer shoes I used to own. Definitely top quality. The core layer is the same thickness as the outer layers and she used black, so it is easy to see it is multilayered.
The tobacco colored side of Michael's strap is top quality, though not as plush as used on Allison's. The curry colored side is of questionable quality. The core layer is noticeably thicker than the outer layers. I would say that he did not use the fine Italian leather I stated in the order, but a cheaper, lower grade. The strap is not close to being as supple as the strap made by Allison
Stitching
Allison's stitching is as if a computer-controlled machine did it. I am more than a little impressed with how immaculate all the stitching is on her strap. Best I have ever seen.
Michael?s stitching is awful, at best. Nuff said.
Embossed Logos
Allison?s were pressed nicely and were carefully placed in the correct positions on the strap. If they were pressed a bit harder, they would be great.
Michael?s were pressed better, but were pressed on the same end and were pressed much higher. One to where it almost sits at the edge of the top of my shoulder when the strap is on. Eight inches higher than where it should have been pressed. Therefore, even though he did a better job pressing the logos, they just do not look good where they are.
Note: There is no ?perfect? when embossing the logo on suede, as it is a rough surface and the ?hairs? of the suede will tend to try and stand back up over time. You cannot see these from a distance, at all. They were put there for my enjoyment, not others.
Joins
Note: Allison explained to me that the strap could not be made as a ?single piece? strap, as the strap is longer than the length of leather you can get (pigs just aren?t that long). I wish Michael would have conveyed this to me during the order process, or even afterwards.
Allison?s joins are close enough to flawless that the word can be used to describe them. Very nicely done, and they even add to the attractiveness of the strap.
Michael?s joins were awful. Again, nuff said.
Custom Ends
Allison?s are very well done, especially considering she did them by hand. They are as I asked for and the stitching follows them perfectly. Impressive job.
Michael ignored what I asked for and obviously used the template. So they should have come out better looking. However, Allison?s still came out better looking and Michael?s stitch at the ends is again, awful.
Customer Service
Allison paid close attention to detail, got back to me very quickly on every contact, and was obviously concerned that she wanted me to be a satisfied customer. She stepped in when her business partner did me wrong and made good on it, as it was done under the name of Moody. I will definitely do business with her again, for any and all leather goods I need.
Michael ? Do I even need to type anything here?!
Allison?s strap came in with no damage on it. Pristine, to say the least. Michael?s strap was damaged in several places by careless methods used and lack of craftsmanship. Allison?s strap is worth $250, and I will be ordering a couple more of these from her next summer, for my other basses. I would honestly value Michael?s at around $50, but why would anyone want it even at that price. It is embarrassing the lack of quality he instilled into that strap. I tried to be fair on this comparison. Am I biased? Oh yes, but I feel I was as honest as I could be.
My friend with the good digital camera that takes decent close-ups is away this weekend. Pictures will be posted Monday night, or Tuesday. I think people will be impressed, but I know pictures will not capture the richness of this strap, like you see and feel when holding it in your hand.
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Tom/PNigel:
There's only one thing wrong with your new strap...you didn't get Allison to wrap helself up in it and take pix like she did on her site! LOL! That's a shame because, after all, God gave her more than talent, LOL! J/K.
Enjoy your strap and take plenty of pix. I bought six straps from Moody's and I got the three from Alembic but I'm still looking to buy some more from her. Might as well take advantage of the loyalty discount.
Cheers,
Kevin
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Well, we thought we were going to get some great pictures today, as it was cold, windy, but the sun was nice and bright. The results were exactly the opposite as with photographing Michael's strap. His actually looked better in the pictures than in person, while Allison does not show its real beauty. Here are the best of the bunch we took.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14023.jpg)
Non-Logo End.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14026.jpg)
I think I screwed up by not putting it on a flat surface, plus I put the Schallers on it, as I had to try it out last night - Well ya!!! It is on the hood of a dirty (Ahhhh!!!!), curved Dodge minivan.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14029.jpg)
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14033.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14034.jpg)
Wow, these are hidious pix. The join is done in opposite directions on each side, so it is actually done in an 'X' shape. It is not as pronounced as it looks in the right-side picture, which is the lighter colored side.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14037.jpg)
This picture was supposed to show how straight the edges are, but you can see the layering, instead. You can tell the strap is supple, as it is trying to bend with the curve of the hood.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14040.jpg)
The stitching is this uniform all around the strap. Impressive! These edges are typical, except the little bumps where the joins are. The logo is readable close up. The farther away you get, the more it fades out, which is what I wanted.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/14043.jpg)
This side looks white in these pix. It is harder to see the logo on this side. Care was really taken to place them right - get them the right height, centered, and straight/angled correctly = none. The stitching looks like it might be messed up, but it is just the fuzz of the suede and bad photography. I guess I won't be a photographing people's products for a living in this life time . . .
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All's well that ends well ?
As he fades into the distance with his finely made custom strapage, none the worse for his harrowing experience...
Nice strap..please keep us informed on 'the other guy'..for entertainment purposes.
Oh..if the need arises, I can send you my 'get out of jail free' card.
G