TOM GOOTEE

If he is in a different state than you are, it would seem that he is guilty of wire fraud and mail fraud; both are Federal offenses. You, at minimum, can sue him in small claims court.

Contact your local Police Department to seek their assistance. They "should" be able to file the report and get in touch with the Police in his area. Suing in small claims court is an option BUT - if he says he doesn't have the money to pay back, all you can get is a judgement against any property which STILL won't "guarantee" any money coming back. You're a victim of crime and rarely are victims rightfully compensated. You could also call your state Attorney General's office to seek their advice. IF HE IS IN LEGITIMATE business, contact the State Attorney General in HIS state. You can look up most States governments online with links to all major offices - Attorney Generals being one of them. There is a form to fill in to e-mail to them. It "may" take some time, so be patient. I've done this myself, it took like 3 weeks to get a reply which came back not by E-Mail, but by regular mail.

L.

An addendum to the above............ all are based on details given. It was not my intention to jump to the conclusion of the party mentioned being automatically guilty - by stating the OP was a victim of a crime. "IF" the details given ARE true, then he would be a victim. The party mentioned - alleged to have taken the money is innocent til proven guilty. While we tend to lend support to those "appearing" victimized, we tend to jump to conclusions of those doing wrong. Maybe there is a legitimate reason and he can't get back to you for some reason. IT "is" possible. Still, since all attempts at contact have went unanswered, the avenues mentioned, are best incorporated. The police in his jurisdiction can let you know the story or maybe get him to reply.

My apologies for "assuming" the alleged party guilty by the statements made without verifiable proof.

Hopefully, this case will work out in the best interest for both parties and no one guilty of anything other than slow response.

L.

My memory seems to be playing tricks on me, I recall his name well. Wasn't this guy a major contributor to this or ""some" groups at one time? Wasn't he - shall we say - in the "positive" light at some time? I understand when you don't get an item paid for, we all want to jump and say RIPPED OFF. But - on occasion, there has been valid reasons and with some effort, usually taken care of in quick order once the problem found out.

Maybe the dude is in bad health and has no one to cover for him. I've seen cases in other groups too where cash has been sent for items and a long time passed - nothing received and like the OP here, raised a question about the transaction. It came across where the dude involved was generally a good guy and never did that before - they found something was wrong. So, there "could" be extenuating circumstances. Still, the police can check in to it and let you know.

I can tell you, with the business I run on the side - if someone sent me a payment for an item and I were to end up in a hospital for a while, I know I would "try" to get the item shipped out but I couldn't guarantee it. I do have one person I could trust to take care of my affairs, but they live 40 miles away and it would be some time before they could probably do it. The two people closest to me, don't have a clue about my business. BUT - see, we all live like there is never anything going to happen - so, naturally - we don't plan for events such as that.

If the guy is "really" ripping you off, that is one thing - but check into it first........... You've got your options laid out. Good luck.

L.

"Major" might be a stretch, but is is a Usenet user.

Tom Gootee often treats his business like a hobby. so the "effort" part is often lacking on his part.

If you have patience, it is possible to get some usable stuff from him. If you are in a hurry, look for another vendor.

The first part may be true; the latter certainly is . His is a 1-man operation.

Yup.

Also true. Tom's intentions are gernerally good but his execution is often quite poor.

That can't be said about this vendor.

Poor health or family circumstances are still a possibility, but past is prologue (consider Occam's Razor).

I hope Tom reads that.

Re: Tom: See "1-man operation" (above).

This is spam. This very same gripe has been posted multiple times by the OP, going back several years. As I recall, Mr. Gootee has long since squared with the OP, citing problems with the OP's email as the cause of the mix-up. It is the OP who should be chastised in this case, because of his repeated slandering of Gootee. He seems to post this gripe on a semi-annual schedule.

Cheers!!

No fraud is involved.

After you ordered, I told you that there would be a delay for redesign. You said OK.

I have offered you a refund. You said no.

Either wait or take the refund. Posting messagess like this is totally uncalled-for.

Regarding your not being able to reach me: I have told you that I am not usually available by phone. And YOU trashed my email by sending over 2 GB of emails, making it impossible for me to read your (or any) messages, during the time in question. I permanently lost several weeks'-worth of emails, because of you, which no doubt cost me thousands of dollars, and alienated other customers.

- Tom Gootee

Man, that sucks........... I see the person (allegedly - Mr. Gotee) apparently has again replied - so is that also being retransmitted by some means? OR is Mr. Gotee replying to this mess yet again? If the dude already settled, why not drop it? IF this is a "settled" case, then the OP is in turn apparently at fault for "harassment" - to continously keep sending this stuff.

That is why I said in my follow up - all is not always as it appears............ Sometimes, you just never know.

L.

So why is this being recirculated? This is like the 3rd time I've seen it.

L.

Tom,

You are a liar, and a criminal.

Why do you have my money since may, 2006? Why did I send you the money? Why did you pick up the money at Western Union? Where is the curve tracer?

I have al of our emails, I can prove you never told me I will have to wait for months for the curve tracer. You gave me 4 different shipping dates for the curve tracer.

You are a crook, and you are lying again. You are using my money for 4 months. I had to put some pressure on you to get an answer to my emails.

Just like I told you, I have all of our emails, I can prove all my claims.

Gyula

I think you are full of shit. PLONK.