43_echo

Well, I thought there would be......Kevin emailed me that he didn't have the money to give me a refund. He called PD and then emailed me to send the canopy there and have it checked out by them. He said he would work with me on a fair conclusion to this transaction. Turns out that the canopy had fading but not any real damage. That was the good news.....bad news is that the trim is out little over 3 inches and needs a reline. It also has some puncture holes somewhere on the tail but PD said there would not warrant a repair yet. I am now asking that he pay me $310.00 and we call it even although I made a seriously bad mistake here and could have had a new canopy for the money spent. If I was told it needed a reline I know I would never have paid $1,600.00 for it and passed. PD is relining the canopy for me. I emailed him and am still waiting for a reply. Keeping my fingers crossed..................

*move on.

I have received emails from Kevin. He told me he called PD and they told him the usual fee of $25.00 for inspection and then possibly an additional fee of $25.00 for futher testing should the canopy need it. I have it packaged and is ready to ship today. I am hoping once PD gives their recommendations we can agree and more on. I am also asking what they would value this as being sold as is to see what they say.

likestojump, thank you for the heads-up on that they (PD) close at noon Friday's. I switched the tag for 2nd day air which saved me almost half!

Well here goes $90.00 more into this for shipping fees. Off to PD.

It would have to be tested. I plan on sending it to PD.

Yes she is bad mouthing my name for something that isn't true, why wouldn't I change it? Kevin, I started this post after I contacted you and you balked at the idea that you sent it to me that way. Your info was already gone from here. That is why I decided to post to warn others about not brokering deals. I did make a copy of it (your registration info) on January 20, 2012 after I sent you the money.

No Pictures......except for the original photo on the ad. BTW, I am a he not a she. Kevin resumed contact with me through email. So far he told me he contacted PD and wants me to send the canopy to them to have them check it out. Strangely enough, I came into work this morning with the boxed canopy and was about to do the same thing. I plan on sending it down there tomorrow. Jude

stratostar, Thank you for your reply. My first post on this thread was basically what you said, never pay for anything first - broker a deal. At least go through Paypal with buyer protection. Looking the way Kevin handled this after I did get it examined, I really don't think it would have turned out any different if I had it inspected the same day I received the canopy. He would have never returned any money for a refund. Yes, broker a deal. In a way, I actually feel sorry for him. He knows what he pulled.

Well, where is Kevin? About 2 years ago I sold a vintage 1972 Paracommander with a 26' Stong Lopo reserve to (I am almost positive) SEREJumper. It was stored in the same closet as the Sabre II since 1983. That was a chute that I had't jumped in a long time and they both were still airworthy with 0% UV damage. At least there is one person who knows how I take care of equipment. I hope one would think that I wouldn't store q canopy opened up in direct sunlight to ruin it and then try and get my money back nor want to do that to a canopy I paid $1,600.00 for and planned on jumping it. I work over 60 hours a week and time sometimes goes by faster than I realize. That is no excuse but for anyone who thinks I would be stupid enough to ruin a canopy is wrong. In fact I just ordered a brand new QuasarII to put this canopy in. The only reason I purchased a used main was that down the road I wanted to down size and felt I could sell it being it was suppose to be in great condition. I should be getting it this week. Fraud is fraud and personally knowing that I had nothing to do with the condition of this canopy is good enough reason to persue by any means to get a refund. I didn't post this problem here to start a witch hunt but being the seller started to cover his tracks shows me who I was dealing with. When he had his ad running here I looked up his personal info as would any buyer. Now he cleaned it up. I do have some leads and will be persuing them. From the support I have received in PM's I just want to thank you. I owe you guys one!

Selling something that is not what your claim it to be is fraud. Not disclosing a flaw is fraud. The canopy was never listed with any disclaimer saying "as is". Again, being I am not a FAA licensed rigger, I opened the package to verify that there was a canopy in it and found the Date of Man. tag being the canopy looked as if it was just removed from a D-bag and put into the box. Tag was right in view. Being it was still folded I couldn't see the color variation as compared to the underside skin so the fading wasn't noticeable. The lines were daisy chained and just wanted to keep it that way until it was examined. There was never any indication of flaws. Before I posted here I had made contact with seller to renegociate the price as I was told it was worth about $1,000.00 instead of the $1,600.00 I paid. At first I never asked for a full refund just the $600.00. He denied that it was UV damaged so I then just asked for a refund. He kept asking for pics and I sent him the one posted here and now he just disappeared.

Being it was stored as received in a 10" cube box, the only UV damage was to the top cells (not all and uneven). As I said before but may have been taken out of text was that I was a rigger in the U.S. Army and know how sunlight can damage nylon. I surely didn't have it laid out as some type of cover or in any sunlight period. It was store as I mentioned before in a walk-in closet in the box. Yes, I did wait a little more than a month but being I am not a FAA certified rigger and this time of year in the N.E. our skydiving club is usually closed due to winds and other weather. I am to blame for not making a phone call and maybe try to schedule it to be looked at but then again, if the damage was DISCLOSED before I purchased it I would have made sure that I didn't pay top dollar for a canopy that wasn't worth it and made sure itr was checked out. Looking at it when it first arrived it was placed in a Walmart bag and then in the box. I did remove the canopy from box and bag but being the lines were daisy-chained I really couldn't see the difference in color until it was fully opened up. Here is a picture once it was opened and you can see the UV discoloration. It is still jumpable and that is not my complaint. It is that I paid much more than it was really worth.

That is the dude! I have his full address too.

OK, I see he has now removed his personal info from this site. The guy who sold this to me was kdrivas1989.

I know you can only hear one side of the story but I didn't even receive the container I ordered for this canopy as of yet. I was a Military rigger and know about UV effecting nylon. It was store in a dark walk-in closet 10' X 12' with no windows and sealed in the 10" cube box he shipped it in. Being he knew about the damage and sold it that way is wrong. I don't care what anyone says. He knew it was damaged but sold it as almost new. It was never in any sumlight as I first looked at it at work in my back office which again has no windows and then yesterday laid out on the packing mat. Basically even though I had to wait to have it looked at, it still was sold to me under the wrong impression. Now being his facebook site is removed, that tells me he is covering his tracks. But that again is my problem and I do have an attorney in the family. Selling gear to use in skydiving that may be flawed is very low. Then not disclosing it......I sent him my last email stating that I wanted a refund and that I would hand the canopy over to my local DZ and as soon as they receive the money I paid, they will send him the canopy back. If I don't hear from him I will post his info.

It was delivered January 23, 2012 and had it inspected March 4, 2012.

*** Dave, It was also said to me that it may also be damage from a cutaway and was hanging in a tree for awhile. I mentioned that to him and the seller balked at that, saying it was never cut away. On a side note he had a facebook page and now I see it is down! Hmmm

N/A

stratorstar, I agree with you and mentioned that in my first post. This is just my bad experience being shared here to maybe help some other person. Funny you should mention that this sounds like a canopy from the SW! That is exactly what Don said. No it came from the State of Massachuetts. As I mentioned when I first opened the box the canopy appears to be in a newer condition. It even sounds very crisp. Being it was in a packed state and the lines rigger rolled, the majority looked fine IO felt it was in good condition. I work over 60 hours a week and with the weather we have been having in PA. the DZ for the most part has been closed. I jnow I should have called but the feel and sound of the canopy lead me to believe that the rest of it was in good condition too. I did drive to the DZ on 2 different occasions but no one was there.

Squeak, I may be a unknown poster here but I think I have had dealings with SereJumper. In fact I think he was the person I sold that Para-Commander I spoke about aprox. 2 years ago? I could have exposed the person I dealt with here and am a patient person who is still giving this person time to come clean and at least give me the $600.00 back so I can have the canopy fixed.

This my first post and sorry it had to be about a purchase through the classified ads but want to bring about an awareness so it doesn't happen to you. I looked at an ad in mid January about a canopy for sale. Ad stated: For Sale Sabre II 170 Price 1,600.00 usd Canopy is in great condition. No tears and patches. Never wet, always landed on grass and packed indoors. Bought new canopy has 200 jumps. After a few emails to the seller I purchased the canopy and received it about the 23rd. I opened the box when it arrived but never fully examined the canopy as I was planning on having my local dropzone rigger examine it. I sent him an email and stated that I haven't had it checked out but did appreciate that he kept all the lines on the slinks and I was going to take it to my rigger for the check. Turns out that I finally had the chance to have someone at the local DZ check the canopy. At first when removing it from the box it looked nice but upon spreading the canopy out it was very visable that the top skin had a stain or UV damage going from the 2nd cell to the center cell. When you opened the nose you could see the color faded from top to inside. The person who inspected the canopy was Don Kellner of Above the Poconos skyding center. He told me to either ask for a refund or at the least get $600.00 back as that was all the canopy was worth. I contacted the seller who says that I did the damage and when he sent it it was fine! BS! I kept in my walk-in closet and there are no windows and was kept in the box that it was sent to me in. I had a Para-Commander rig from the 70's that was red, white & blue kept in the same closet and never had any discoloration to it. The seller now has refused to compromise with me so that I can send it to PD to have the needed repairs done or the money back for the canopy. To think for $600.00 more dollars I could have had a brand new canopy....... I am posting this so that people here don't make the same mistake as I and if you buy anything......have it sent to your local DZ and inspected before any money changes hands. If the seller refuses then that is the first signal to not buy it. Jude