Review of MaccFaelain / Brian Banoczi of NM

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:00 pm

I bought a pair of inexpensive knees with shins from Maccfaelain on May 4, 2009:
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... t=#1371588

On May 6, 2009, I mailed him a $45 money order in payment.

On May 11, 2009, he PMed me and wrote "I got your money order for the knees, but I accidently sold them to someone else. I am really sorry and I will be sending you a full refund tomorrow." I was irritated, but stuff happens. I PMed my address again so he would know where to send the refund.

On May 16, 2009, I PMed him and wrote, "Please advise when and if my refund was mailed out."

On May 18, 2009, he PMed me and wrote "Sorry, I am mailing today."

On May 21, 2009, I PMed him and wrote, "I still have received no refund. When did you mail it?"

I have received no response. The message has gone to my sentbox. I believe that means it has been reviewed by Maccfaelain???

His phone number is unlisted.

I have received no refund to date. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. I'll update this if it does.

Edit: It didn't.

I found him on Facebook and messaged him on May 23:

"Hi! I still have not received the refund you have promised me since you sold my purchase to someone else. That someone else also indicates you took his money and he has not received his armour either. I hope to resolve this issue informally asap. If you have spent my money and do not have the ability to pay me back, let me know and we will work out some sort of payment plan. Thanks"

He responded shortly thereafter from his mobile:
"Sorry, I have a money order ready for you. It will go out first thing Monday morning. Once again sorry for the delay.
Brian"

Jess

Laz · Post by **Laz** » Sat May 23, 2009 4:00 pm

Jess,

I feel your pain. I was the one who he supposedly accidentally sold the legs to along with the arms. I hadn't seen where you had called dibs on the legs and am sorry you have gone through this.

On the other hand, I also sent payment for the arms and legs for a total of $145 and have not heard anything from him. I too have also sent messages asking if he received my money order I sent him from Denver. There is no way it should have taken this long to receive it. I also have not received the armor I purchased.

If I don't hear anything by Monday I will contact my Knight who is in the Outlands and His Majesty King Malgywn of who's house I am related.

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Sat May 23, 2009 4:11 pm

I don't care that you got the legs (I already have 2 sets.). I just hope you get your stuff!

The refund did not arrive today.

Maybe he was decapitated in a horrible motorcycle crash.

white mountain armoury · Sat May 23, 2009 4:41 pm

Jess wrote:
Maybe he was decapitated in a horrible motorcycle crash.

Thats unpleasant.

Vitus von Atzinger · Post by **Vitus von Atzinger** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:49 pm

(Removed for lack of sensitivity.)

Heath B fraychef · Post by **Heath B fraychef** » Sat May 23, 2009 8:04 pm

and people wonder why we get touchy when buying from people with low post numbers.
when we do get burned it is "usually" by someone new to the forums.

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Sat May 23, 2009 8:42 pm

He has a facebook account. I messaged him there too.

Woodstock · Post by **Woodstock** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:03 pm

Hope it works out in your favor.

Not sure if it would help, but may I suggest you contact the place where you bought your money order(s) and ask for proof that the money order was cashed. Forward that proof along with any written communication (as well as what you recall from any phone calls) to the law enforcement / D.A. local to him as soon as possible.

It may not be high dollar, but theft is theft, fraud is fraud. If this is typical for him the authorities may already have a case in the works against him, if not... them knocking on his door may help him find his way to the post office.

Links that may help:

New Mexico D.A.

Albuquerque Police Dept.

US Postal Inspectors

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:40 pm

I had a busy couple of weeks. I am working on getting my EMT licence. I had a return to sender with your money order. I just checked my mail Thursday and discovered your money order. I sent you a message on facebook as well. Hopefully this will resolve this issue. I doubt this required a whole thread dedicated to it. Whatever makes you all feel better though.

Brian

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:47 pm

And I have sent a PM to Laz

Brian

Vitus von Atzinger · Post by **Vitus von Atzinger** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:17 pm

When you make good this thread will magically disappear.

Laz · Post by **Laz** » Sun May 24, 2009 12:21 am

Thank you for getting back in touch with me. I agree with Adam from White Mountain that Jess' comment about decapitation was a bit excessive. Especially over 45 dollars.

I look forward to my package in the mail, though Monday is a holiday (memorial day) so I will be expecting some early the following week.

Good luck on your EMT licensing. And good luck with your new bike. I am looking forward to getting a bike in the next couple of weeks to battle these raising gas prices.

Laz

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Sun May 24, 2009 1:30 am

Thank you Laz. I wish everyone else that has received their items from me would speak up.

I am disturbed at the reactions. It's no surprise to me though. Thus the other reason for selling my kit and getting out of the SCA for good. truly a negative experience for me.

Lastly, this could have been given more patience before smattering my name, thank you very much.

Brian

glad when all my crap is gone

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Sun May 24, 2009 1:34 am

Nice comment about the decapitation. What a pleasant person you are. I wonder if the moterators of this list care enough to erase that one.

Brian

The Iron Dwarf · Post by **The Iron Dwarf** » Sun May 24, 2009 4:31 am

I would suspect that where ever you go people who do not receive items they paid for or a refund or replies to emails they can get a little less than pleasant.
things will look better when the items and refund turn up.
the comment may or may not have been called for but I can understand the reason for it.

I expect the moderators here care about users here not being ripped off as well and feel that this thread will inform others of what has happened and how you resolve it.

I expect the two posters here will say when they receive what they are entitled to and that they are happy with the result ( or not as the case may be )

ragates · Post by **ragates** » Sun May 24, 2009 5:28 am

I know this is easy for me to say since I got the stainless helm that I ordered but... I think a little more patience could be afforded someone before such threats of calling the DA and Law enforcement as well as wishes of decapitation and just the smearing of someone's name. I doubt Maccfaelain is trying to rip anyone off or I wouldn't have received my helm priced at $300. BTW, that was a really nice helm Maccfaelain. Thank you.

I understand the anxiousness to receive what's due to you. I felt that way while I was waiting. Not everyone checks their mail box or email every day.

I just wanted to throw this response in here to show that Maccfaelain is getting these items out even if they aren't arriving as fast as expected. The timing for my helm was very reasonable for a private party transaction.

- Alex

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:33 am

Thank you Alex.

Brian

Oh and BTW, Vitus your screeching tire comment with fingers crossed was beyond rude. And your suppose to be a moterator here. Oh well. $45 and people wish for my death. Wow

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:59 am

Maccfaelain wrote:I had a busy couple of weeks. I am working on getting my EMT licence. I had a return to sender with your money order. I just checked my mail Thursday and discovered your money order. I sent you a message on facebook as well. Hopefully this will resolve this issue. I doubt this required a whole thread dedicated to it. Whatever makes you all feel better though.

Brian

I wasn't wishing you were decapitated. (Then I'd never get my refund.

)

I just know on your thread you got a new fast bike, and no one had heard from you... The first thing I do when I get a new bike seems to be to drop it. I'm glad that is not the case for you.

But look, I just want you to send me back the small sum of money you took from me so I never, ever have to think about you again. I don't believe for a second you sent my refund on the Monday the 18th, that it was marked return to sender, and back in your mailbox by Thursday. Just send the money back to me. Hell, send it certified mail if you like. I'd love to sign for it. Send it back and we never have to communicate with or have anyhting to do with each other again.

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Sun May 24, 2009 9:10 am

Oh so now I am to be called a liar. wonderful. Yea, it won't be until Tuesday that your refund goes back in the mail. Being the Monday is holiday. And you can back peddle all you want your actions and words are still uncalled for. Have a nice day.

Brian

Vitus von Atzinger · Post by **Vitus von Atzinger** » Sun May 24, 2009 10:32 am

I erased that comment because it was inappropriately harsh. It was meant to be a joke, but it wasn't funny.
I assumed that you were a non reenactor scammer- they cruise boards all over the place taking photos from the web and selling stuff that doesn't exist. I thought you were one of those people; you are not.
I'm sorry for assuming the worst. My bad.

Woodstock · Post by **Woodstock** » Sun May 24, 2009 4:22 pm

As someone who has been on both sides of a bad transaction. The only advice I can give you is to let your deeds speak for themselves. Ship the items/refunds and the buyers will post that the deal is square. If you would like it settled quicker post pictures of the receipts, tracking numbers, money orders, etc. once the shipping takes place and wash your hands of the mess.

Likewise, if you feel that you've been wrongly accused of lying and can easily clear your name by providing evidence then do so.

Just like you I fell on my arse (regardless of the reasons/excuses) with a transaction here some time back. Look at the nice warm fuzzy reception I was given. Had I communicated better it would not have gone supernova.

Is this the buyers fault? Not so in my case, it was my fault plain and simple 100%... and I thought at the time that I had a damned good excuse. Still I was proverbially burned at the stake here even though I had previous good experiences as a seller with much higher dollar items.

People here have been taken advantage of on more than one occasion buying from old and new members alike. Your "newness" had nothing to do with it, your lack of communication is what made this post happen and you completion of the transaction is what will make it go away (as said by Vitus). We are an odd bunch who look out for each other even if we disagree more often than not.

As for the SCA. This is not an SCA board. We have people from all backgrounds and affiliations here. Some are SCA, some other various living history groups and some are simply interested in armour.

Everyone here has had good and bad experiences in their pursuits and I am sorry that your was cut short by the people in your area that shared your interests. Don't let a few bad apples ruin it for you. Search out other groups and maybe you will find what you were originally looking for.

Hrolfr · Post by **Hrolfr** » Mon May 25, 2009 6:49 am

Not that I have a dog in this fight, but.....

Maccfaelain, you have been posting here for 2 weeks (low post count and your date of start is shown) and have 16 posts, all on 2 threads.

If you search for names of some armorers and /or merchants you will see there is some that have done some truely despicable things to people here's money.

Like TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars.

$45 bucks might seem like a piddly amount, but how would you feel if the tables were reversed, you being on for several years and someone new seemingly stiff you for the cash you sent.

Just sayin'

Yeah, I was ripped off a couple times, the one that still pisses me off is Gallon. It was only $80, but ......

The Iron Dwarf · Post by **The Iron Dwarf** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:17 am

I seen elsewhere on this forum in the last week one of the regulars posting a set of rules for dealing with customer complaints, dont remember which thread it was on and dont have time to look but if the seller here had followed them this thread would have been in praise of him.

as it is the seller agreed to a sale and payment was sent, the items were sold to another person, the seller stated the refund would be sent on the 12th and again on the 18th that may or may not be true, personally I would doubt it after it was not sent on the 12th, another buyer had not recieved goods paid for.
the posts by the seller look like he thinks he should be praised for having firstly being in breach of an agreement, secondly having lied about sending the refund on the 12th and possibly about the 18th as well.
I dont think the seller has much to complain about here but the buyers do have.

if the seller treats others in his future dealings the same then he will no doubt be blaming them and changing his interests again.

I think the SCA may be happier that he left than he is about leaving and all this could have been avoided by saying sorry and refunding promptly as well as sending out the items to the other buyer.

there may be a lot of happy customers but on average a happy customer tells one other person but an unhappy customer tells 20.

I hope someone posts the rules I mentioned in the first sentence as some sellers would benefit from it.

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Mon May 25, 2009 8:24 am

The fact remains that this situation was due to a slight mix up. And only a little delay. I'm sorry my whole life doesn't revolve around the SCA. And I also realize that there are others here in different groups, but MY armor was being sold to the likes. I had said, I am working on my EMT licence which has it's own brand of complications. I'm not happy that I am being bad mouthed and having horrible thing invoked upon me over something rather small.

And BTW, I had been a member of AA for several years before. Bought that Viking occular helm and my chainmail here. I hadn't used my account in a while so I guess it was deleted. My only hope now is that once these transactions are complete is my account and this BS thread will be removed.

I am no theif or a liar. I confronted this issue as soon as I became aware of it. I have positive feedback from others. Only one person has a problem and it's over something small.

I will continue to defend myself on this issue.

Brian

The Iron Dwarf · Post by **The Iron Dwarf** » Mon May 25, 2009 9:47 am

I am no theif or a liar

so are you saying that you sent the refund on both the 12th and the 18th or are you saying that Jess lied about you saying that.

Only one person has a problem and it's over something small.

I thought it was 2 people though one of them will be happy when the items arrives early this week.

yes it was over a slight mix up of selling something you had already agreed to sell to another and the still not arrived refund sent on the 12th or the mysteriously returned to sender one from the 18th.

yes a certain comment on here could have been uncalled for but that is another matter.

if you are leaving this place because the community here looks after each other by passing on both good and bad comments about trades they have done in order to prevent more people from falling victim to some of the scams around ( and by that I am not implying that you are a scammer ), I have seen scams that have had hundreds of known victims in a day and many more unknown ones and letting people know fast that something may be wrong can prevent a lot more victims.
personally I would rather look out for my friends than do nothing and later hear they had the same problems.
I have helped those ripped of on ebay via their forums, have done a bit of baiting on 419eater, have helped a friend when after listing his first item on ebay and it did not sell he found he could not log in ( I found he had half a million uk pounds worth of electronics listed under his name with payment by western union, he and his wife had thousands taken from their credit cards ) he wanted to leave the problem till he got back from a holiday 2 weeks later but I made him contact ebay to freeze the account and his cc company because otherwise he would have been deep in the brown stuff when he got back.
but I guess you are against people helping each other

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:24 am

It's not the motives it's the methods. The matter will be resolved by end of this week.

Brian

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Mon May 25, 2009 12:17 pm

Hi,

This is quite kind IMO:

Hi! I still have not received the refund you have promised me since you sold my purchase to someone else. That someone else also indicates you took his money and he has not received his armour either. I hope to resolve this issue informally asap. If you have spent my money and do not have the ability to pay me back, let me know and we will work out some sort of payment plan. Thanks

This is very nice IMO. Essentially it's a no-interest loan, for an extended but possibly long term, with no pre-interview, purely a blind "gift loan".

Problems do happen. So far this has been handled OK by both sides, with some minor room for improvement.

I look forward to a happy ending to this issue.

With respect,

-Aaron

Agnarr · Post by **Agnarr** » Mon May 25, 2009 2:51 pm

Jess, you have got some bad luck buying stuff on here. You don't deserve to keep getting shat on, so i hope you get this resolved.

freiman the minstrel · Mon May 25, 2009 4:48 pm

Maccfaelain wrote:I am no theif or a liar.

Brian

Brian,

Nobody believes you are a theif or a liar. We do believe that you need to send Jess her money.

Sometimes stuff happens, virtually everybody that is reading this thread is thinking about a time they did something that somebody could complain about.

Heaven knows that I have done a lot of stuff. I once had a guy shout across the grocery store "Hey, Where's my money!?!"

And, I am pretty sure that if you send Jess the money, you won't have any more problems with her.

If you fail to do that, she wont go away.

f

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Tue May 26, 2009 12:38 pm

Jess, your refund is in the mail. I sent it priority mail and it contains a money order in the amount of $50. A little extra for all the trouble.

Brian

Jakel · Post by **Jakel** » Tue May 26, 2009 1:26 pm

This is why I like paypal, though I understand it's not as friendly to the sellers. I'd gladly pay the small premium for the piece of mind.

Maccfaelain · Post by **Maccfaelain** » Wed May 27, 2009 4:46 pm

I have been so distracted by this thread that I have forgotten my own thread entirely. ALL items that have been purchased from me by AA member has been shipped. And Jess will have her refund for my screw up there. Sorry. Allow me to confirm everyone has received their items and then I am out of here. Everything else I had for sell will be sold locally. Thank you to those that bought my armor.

with his head still ON straight,

Brian

Jess · Post by **Jess** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:20 pm

Brian, today I received your $50 money order.

Tomorrow, I will be forwarding your $5 in change back and will post the delivery confirmation number here once it is sent.

Thanks!

Blackoak · Post by **Blackoak** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:50 pm

He offered you the 5 bucks in way of an apology for a bad transaction.
Publicly refusing it smacks of refusing his apology and makes you look bad.

Accept his apology and let this rest.

Uric

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:52 pm

I would disagree.

He sold the kit to make money he needed. Offering the $5 was an apology. What Jess may be saying is that apology isn't necessary, but you really need the $5 you sent me.

-Aaron