Wasn’t someone just on C&F Uilleann looking for a 1/2 set?
And my Roberts are still for sale and cheaper too
Uiileannfinlander: Can you email me privately re the set you have for sale, as I am still after a set to get me started. Pictures would be nice.
Regarding this guy mentioned at the top of the post and his auction, I would give him and his pipes a serious bodyswerve and for the following reasons:
- He offered them to me the day before he put them up for auction on Ebay, but mentioned nothing about them going for auction the next day. You don’t suddenly awake the next day, do you, forget all previous negotiations and suddenly “discover” Ebay?
- He introduced the now customary and imaginary “friend” into the equation, on whose behalf he was purporting to be selling them. That set the alarm bells ringing loudly at HQ here, as the introduction of the imaginary “friend” at the outset always acts as an insulating pre-cursor to all subsequent unscrupulous activity, which usually follows very quickly thereafter; the rationale being, “Don’t blame it on me. It’s not my fault. Blame it on my ‘friend’.” We get it all the time in football over here and it’s usually the low-life street touts who start off sales pictches that way in English football. I’ve become immune to it over the years and it melts no ice with me.
- He stated that his “friend” had bought them from Charles Roberts when new, ie back in 1994 and that they cost “well over £2,000” then. This was said with some authority by the “friend’s selling agent.”
- I happen to know someone with a Charles Roberts set, purchased at or about the same time and I am reliably advised that the cost new and directly from Mr Roberts was actually at or below £1,000IR at the date of said manufacture; so he is certainly lying there. Please note the currency here and that Irish Punts was Mr Roberts’ sales currency at the time.
- When I next made contact with him, he stated that the set had already been put onto Ebay for auction. He had clearly done this, as stated, without reference to the slightly earlier offer to me and without telling me that he was either going to limit the time he would give me to consider my position, nor that he was going to auction them imminently and without prior notice. In my experience, I believe it is good practice to be honest and up front with people and tell them that the item is being offered, or is about to be offered elsewhere and imminently, in the event that you (or I) are not interested and that a “ballpark” time frame should be left open for consideration of said offer. Nothing of the sort happened in this instance and, standing alone, that would have me smelling more rats than the Pied Piper of Hamelyn (no pun intended).
- If you thought that was bad, then read on. When I next contacted him, to advance discussions concerning his earlier offer, he did state that the set was now up on Ebay (unbeknown to me), but that he had, meanwhile, agreed to sell “the practice bag” from the advertised set (see Ebay picture) separately “to someone from New York state”. No mention of this appears on the Ebay particulars and no prior mention of this was ever made to me.
- I am not sure as to accuracy with delivery prices, either.
This guy’s overall lack of candour at any stage leaves a very bad taste and I would never advise doing business with someone in such circumstances. His behaviour is akin to that of one of our cheap used car salesmen, who’ll say the first thing that comes into their head, if it sounds good at the time. Selling bits off the set, which was advertised to both myself and the Ebay fraternity at large and without stating so in advance to potential buyers, certainly stinks and I don’t need to expand here upon my reasons for so saying.
We have a phrase in the part of England where I come from to describe a person like this; “Jibber”. And I certainly think this guy is a jibber of the highest order. He’s certainly not a straight member.
If anyone has ideas of going after this set, I would certainly weigh the above evidence before doing so, which I can of course support with emails from the said jibber. And let it certainly be the very clearest of “buyer beware” cases this year. Indeed, one wonders just how many bits of the original pipes that case will contain upon the buyer eventually opening it.
This mysical purveyor of and super-agent for uilleann pipes did not say whether he was acting upon a “commission basis” for his ‘friend’, nor did he mention the name of the illusory ‘friend’. None of the parts of his story seemed to hold together properly and I get the feeling that, if someone ends up dealing with this guy, the pipes might not, either.
You know from experience that if someone’s story doesn’t stack up, or if you have suspicions about any part of it, then there’s usually a reason for that and I simply felt obliged to put my own experiences of this guy and his ‘friend’s set’ before anyone considering taking the plunge and dealing with him. Without a single doubt, it is certainly the most unusual and disjointed story I’ve ever heard of to do with a sale of uilleann pipes. If anyone knows anything of this guy through prior dealings, it may also assist others as to whether they want to transact with him for his ‘friend’s set.’
Meanwhile, I am still in the market for a decent set to start me off. Jibbers need not apply.
Mulosse, I offered them to you, It took you some time to get back to me. I had them on uilleann pipe obsession with ppiictures as well as on her for sale. I did not offer them exclusively to you. I was given them to sell. In the old country I have a few names for you and the way you assume how right you are.
I obviously wanted to sell them for the best price but after receiving your e-mail and the tone you took with me I entertained two other offers that I received from e-bay buyers. I wanted them to go to someone Irish if possible and that happened, I sold them to someone in Tyrone, I now have the practice bag still as she did not need it and I am selling that separately.
Not everyone in the world is trying to screw people and if you woke up and realised that you are not the center of the universe and the world is not goig to stand still for you, you may see that
I have sold over $100000 worth of stuff on ebay and have very positive feedback.
I am also Irish, Killarney, Co Kerry, and would not take advantage of anyone as I am catholic and will not benefit from cheating or lying.
The person who offered to buy the practice bag is actually a member on this site-Chanterdan-from upstate New York.
Oh no we don’t.