Damien Johnson where are you you owe a number of us models

Snowwolflair · September 30, 2015, 10:47:31 PM

As he had not replied to numerous emails and as far as eBay and Paypal's terms of business are concerned the non delivery of an item, and no communication by their member, combined with the non returning of funds is fraud and is to be reported to the police as theft, Yes.

JasonBz · September 30, 2015, 10:53:28 PM

I dont think there is any need to go down this route.
Though changing the title of the thread to state it is being dealt with properly may be a good idea

Snowwolflair · September 30, 2015, 10:58:09 PM

Good idea

JasonBz · September 30, 2015, 11:06:39 PM

Now if you could just knock a few letters out of the title it would fit the board (at least for me) a bit better!

only needs a slight edit

Snowwolflair · September 30, 2015, 11:11:21 PM

I promise to do this when the model arrives, along with a full review and photographs.

DarthBadger · October 16, 2015, 10:01:59 AM

Years ago I had a similar issue buying a trike.

Paid £2000 deposit, months passed, finally the "builder" declared bankruptcy, small claims eventually got me about £120 back after costs!!!

Caveat Emptor!

mokjumbo · December 11, 2015, 08:16:18 PM

Anyone got any further news on this?

Snowwolflair · December 11, 2015, 08:29:46 PM

Still waiting, although I have had an email a few months ago promising action!

NOE 544R · December 11, 2015, 09:38:35 PM

Think eBay may have suspended his account

That's the message I got when looking up the account...

Personally I'd contact eBay....

Hope all gets resolved quickly

fergy1 · December 11, 2015, 10:13:50 PM

The last update that I had was in July which said

QuoteOnly the primer coat has been added so far, due to holidays and weather (heat is not good for painting). I will be aiming to complete this very soon for you and will get some pictures sent as well.

Unfortunately I have heard no more since, despite sending e-mails requesting photos and then later a refund.

Snowwolflair · December 11, 2015, 10:19:12 PM

The last I had from him was

From: Damien Johnson [mailto:twommlocomotives@me.com]
Sent: 30 September 2015 15:57
To: David Calderwood
Subject: Re: Non delivery of Dukedog with DCC and many other models

David,

I am still building these and it had been a big struggle with demand.

There have also been design issues I'm trying to resolve as I would hate to deliver a poor product.

I have also had to overcome personal issues and redundancy and starting a new job next week 5th October, I shall update you as soon as things are moving on again. And I do hope to complete these very soon.

Best regards

Damien

njee20 · December 12, 2015, 10:10:42 AM

So he's at best incompetent and disorganised, and at worst a complete scam artist. The whole eBay name change thing is a massive alarm bell for me. If you're genuinely struggling with demand you don't keep selling under a different name so you can't be tracked as easily.

Snowwolflair · December 12, 2015, 10:16:54 AM

Remember EBay may have forced the name change by closing his original account!

Its my belief that he just took on far more than he could cope with.

Lets see if he can recover the situation, as if he can deliver what he promised its worth while having.

queensquare · December 12, 2015, 10:57:11 AM

Damian approached several experienced loco builders in the 2mm scale Association, myself included, a number of years ago when he first announced he was going to start producing kits. We all advised him on the best way to go about it, essentially using the techniques developed within the Association over the last fifty years. He went on to ignore most of the advice given and produce a couple of un-buildable kits. This was a great shame as the range of kite initially promised, including a number of MR prototypes looked very interesting.

I suspect he went on to offer ready built locos as nobody was buying/ able to build his kits. I think he is now finding out why hence the problems and delays.

I don't think he is dishonest but there are certainly problems. I build locos professionally and have been asked a couple of times if I would build one of his kits - I've always said no.

Jerry

njee20 · December 12, 2015, 12:40:13 PM

Quote from: Snowwolflair on December 12, 2015, 10:16:54 AM
Remember EBay may have forced the name change by closing his original account!

Its my belief that he just took on far more than he could cope with.

Lets see if he can recover the situation, as if he can deliver what he promised its worth while having.

eBay don't randomly close accounts down (and his current one is no longer active, suggesting he/they have deleted 2 accounts), no smoke without fire and that.

Personally I'm sharpening my pitchfork and readying my torch.

I'd also be looking at going via small claims right now were that me. He's had months to remedy the situation. An email saying "I'm starting a new job on the 5th October" is absurd, 3 months on and no communication whatsoever.

One likes to think the best of people, particularly with a common interest and that, and this reminds me of a very similar situation on a cycling forum I frequent, but when do you stop with the "giving him a chance"?