Dallas, TX
I would just like to share my recent purchasing experience through CL with a gentleman who kept his word despite all the phone calls, emails and texts he received offering him much more money and/or other promises. We’ve all read of; or heard of; or been a victim of a potential sale gone bad because of one or both parties not being honest with each other or perhaps a third party gets involved and a bidding war commences. Well, I’m here to tell you that there still are genuine folk who honor and respect a man’s word in business transactions.
Wednesday June 13, 2012 after hitting refresh every 3 mins on craigslist an ad popped up for a pin that I was interested in and the price was right. Immediately I call and of course, had to leave a voice message. Next, I texted my interest, then followed up by emailing the ad. Thirty minutes passed and no response back. I called again and spoke with the granddaughter of the seller and she stated there have been other buyers interested, but were low balling the seller’s price. I told her the price was right and would like to talk with the seller personally to ask some questions about the machine. She told me he would call me back in a couple of hours.
After two anxious hours of waiting I received the call from the buyer and a deal was made for me to come pick up the machine on Monday June 18th for his original price. He accepted and I was excited. The next day I called the buyer back just to reassure him of my interest and to ask a few more questions. By Sunday, I got everything all lined up and ready to head out on Monday morning.
Monday, I arrive at the sellers location and he lets me give the machine a good look over. Yes it’s working like he said, however there is a lot not working. Several microswitches, optical switches, GI and various other lamps are not working. I look in the back box and there is some battery corrosion and burnt GI connections. The playfield is dirty, but Novus 2 can fix that. Everything else about the machine is nice. DMD and cabinet all look great, just the legs are little rusty looking. Time to go pay the man.
I walk into his office and thank him for selling his machine to me, then I start to count the money out to him. One hundred, two hundred, three hundred….etc. I arrive at the price we agreed on and then I tell him, “For keeping your word and not selling the machine to someone else, despite all the additional offers you received….” I drop another hundred on the stack.
Now my friends, this gentleman acknowledged what I just done, but graciously refused the extra hundred. I told him how much I appreciated a man’s word and encouraged him to keep the extra money. But he still wouldn’t accept it and thanked me generously for the act. It made me feel so good inside to know that there are still decent people that help make this world we live in a much better place. We shook hands and had a few laughs and off I went to bring my new pin home.
