[Harlequin011]

Nice work Wooly.

I'm glad that someone on this board could put up with this guy. I'd love to hear this story.


Good score this guy had me so P'O'd that I turned this deal down and didn't bid again. The guy said I was a deadbeat and never would commit to this many chips.

They look really nice, let me know if you would like to trade some Saharas for these. I would be happy to deal with you.

[mizuchaud]

I'd love to hear the story too, because it'd be interesting to see if it was all worth it for 3000 nice chips.........
and I sent you a PM.
Nice pron

[Lucky Louie]

Nice job! They came out great. I'm just afraid someone is going to use the regular rooter stuff one of these days... That was a great tip from Old Cycles.

[develvjd-]

This is the most impressive transformation I've seen in quite some time...

I bet it felt good to see these bad boys coming out like this. Congrats and +rep for the pics!

[dammitjim]

please tell the story

[mizuchaud]

Holy moly what a deal, if the story isn't TOO BAD...........
I gotta say, those colors are really something nice after the oil.

Purdy

[Dwight87]

You've turned those into some nice jewels! I take it that solution doesn't affect the hotstamp at all?

[Wooly1]

Hotstamps are 100% fine... I was leary to start so I tested small groups to start.. first did 2 chips.. then 10.. then about 50... then 500 lol! If you followed Cycles he made an update on his with a warning that soaking for more than something like 24 hours will make it so you can brush the hotstamp right off... I personally never soaked any of mine more than 12! I feel like a proud papa after reading all of your comments thanks all...

[Wooly1]

Harlequin.... lets talk! I am def up for some trading!

Anyhoo…. Onto the story!!!
I had originally read Harlequins post about deal gone badly..
(see http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/auction-links/25431-bad-no-deal-ebay.html for more info) and then later I ran across Aces post about the same auction and had just the night before seen them on Ebay and was really interested. (Aces post - http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/auction-links/25566-3000-grand-casino-tourney-chips.html)

I was a little saddened when I read that these were the same chips that H had posted about (I had failed to make the connection originally)! So I went back and read every post in both threads again and then pondered on the whole thing a bit. I decided that there had to be a way to make a bid on these and at the same time protect myself from any scam and work a deal where I had the upper hand in the whole mess! I must also admit that reading H’s post about the whole deal really inspired me to try and work a deal on these. I thought someone who would appreciate them more than the seller had to own these.

As such I decided on a game plan and started emailing the person selling these! I have to say it took about 15 emails back and forth to clarify everything I wanted and make sure he knew exactly what my expectations were and how we had to execute the deal if I was the “winning bidder”!!!!! The seller’s communications skills are horrible and most of the emails were just restating the same things I had said and asked about in the very first email. I ended up having to get pretty creative and learned to say the same things 4 or 5 different ways so he didn’t think I was being a jerk or more likely he didn’t think I thought he was stupid! lol

When the final night came for bidding I watched and no bids were placed so I bet his entry bid price and won. I immediately emailed him asking him for a final price and sent him my address! It took him a good 24 hours or so before he emailed me back on the final costs (which I already knew of course) and then about 2 days later he sent me an invoice and said I could pay it anytime if I wanted to! I knew from reading H’s post that he was just going to throw em in a bag and ship away! So what I did was this… I asked that the chips be placed in small sandwich bags in a stack and then tape wrapped around them so they stayed in a stack! Then I asked he place a group of them in a smaller sized box and then place the smaller boxes in a big box for shipping. He came pretty close to doing just that. The chips were all bagged pretty decent, put in one of 4 boxes with shipping peanuts, and then all placed in a large box with more peanuts for shipping.

I also had got him to agree that since they were an expensive item that he would have an easier time selling them if he would agree to ship them COD to me if I won. I also got him to agree to ship it through UPS. The reason I did this is this… if its COD he has all the risk upfront and if I don’t receive the chips obviously I don’t have to pay for them. Also I was leery of what I might get once I opened the boxes. So I already knew that on a COD item through UPS you have to pay for the shipment before you can open it but once you open it if it’s not what you thought you were getting or it was busted up or whatever then you could just call UPS right back, the truck would come back to your house, hand you your check back, take the item and off they go!

So all in all I felt pretty protected. There definitely was a time during the whole thing I never thought I would see these chips as after I won the bid, didn’t accept his generous offer to pay “early” I didn’t hear from him for about a week. As such I had decided that it was all a scam, he didn’t really have the chips and that was that! He had told me twice already that they would ship the next day and never did! As an odd little side note the second time he told me he was going to ship them the next day I was thinking, ya right!

I got up and check my email that morning and low and behold I had an email from UPS saying an item had been shipped to me and the company had asked me to be notified. I thought wow he shipped the chips. I logged onto UPS to track the item and it was coming from Cali not from Tennessee and it weighed 2 lbs…. hmm I thought how can 3000 10g chips come in at 2 lbs they should be about 70lbs or so! Well a few days later it showed up and it was my retro bowling shirt from FTP that I had bought with points! I had visions of this little box showing up that weighed 2lbs and the UPS guy asking me for my check for the 3000 chips! lol Anyway 8 days or so later he finally emailed me back after one of my inquiries as to the status and he said they ship in the morning… sure enough I got a tracking number from UPS with good info (aka shipped out of Tenn. and a weight of 77lbs) and about 4 days later they showed up!

I honestly can tell you it was def worth the extra hassle for me... I am just pleased as can be! So now you know the rest of the story…. Not to bad ehhhhh?

[Dwight87]

Congrats on a nice score Wooly. I can tell there was a lot of anxious moments for you but in the end, it all worked out. I'll be sharing a similar story in the near future....