Placerau.....where are you?

[polekaat]

I sent this to John's personal email......maybe I'll get a response from him on here. It's been over a month since he's answered ANY of my communications.

"All hoses have been plugged to prevent varmint's from nesting..etc. Has a 12 HP Vanguard engine with air. I forget pump size, but no problem cleaning anything from bedrock. I bought it from Tom Ashworth in Oregon, and Leonard delivered it for me. I used it one summer for 2 weeks, and figured out pretty quickly that it was to much for me to handle comfortably, getting to old for that much action. I also have a Keene 4" triple stage, that I will be keeping, hoping that someday Kalifornication, will again resume doing the right thing for us, that want to continue dredging in the coming years. Has twenty feet of new TigerFlex 5" hose. Also have a T 7/16 Griphoist I would be willing to sell as well, ( $400. ), greatest thing since sliced bread. An extremely great piece of equipmwnt for moving any size boulder. The 5" comes with all support equipment I have left for it.. like, a few of rock baskets, snatch blocks, cable for blocks to dead hang, fish plate, shackles, quick links ( all sizes ) crowbar, rock hammers, sledge hammer, span sets, extra belts for air, and whatever else is there. I'll take $1000.00 OBO. You would be getting a very nice outfit here with all that is in the bundle package."


John,

I have been trying to get in touch with you since before you left Ca. You were supposed to call Dan, to arrange dropping off the "forgotten" box. Now after NUMEROUS voicemails, texts, and phone calls, with ZERO response, I am feeling screwed. If I don't get a call from you by this weekend, I am posting this letter on Leonard's forum for all to see.

Originally you said " you can pay for it when you have it in your posession, I trust you", then you asked for the money to be transferred as soon as you and Dan made the switch (a week before I even got to see what I was paying for). Then on the night before you were to fly home, I was talking to Dan about what was included with what he picked up. NONE of the griphoist, rock baskets, snatch block, cables, fish plate, shackles, quick links, crowbars, rock hammers, sledge hammers, span sets, belts, etc.... was given to him. I called you that night and you said that you "FORGOT" a box of stuff, and that you would get with Dan, and get it to him on your way to the airport. That was the last time that you answered any of my calls, texts, emails, PMs or posts. I had already arranged for shipping and the estimated weight that I gave them, included the weight of the stuff that you "forgot". So I have already paid the money to have this stuff shipped to me. My loss, shipping company's gain. Not only that, but you tried to jack up the price on me right before I made the transfer. Your original asking price was $1400, you came down to $1200 "to help with fuel", when I was going to pick it up over the Memorial Day holidays, you tried to get me to pay $1500 for the dredge alone, then another $4-500 for the griphoist. You finally came back down to $1200 and the deal was made. You just seem to have changed the deal and kept all of the "extras" for yourself. Then you kept putting off going to Ca. (which you said you were going to do anyway, to get some gold, from roaring camp, and see your "friends"), and waited to the last possible minute to get it out of storage. I was left with ZERO time to make the planned modifications for fine gold. I ended up blowing alot of material through a single stage sluice, set up for large ca. gold, and only getting a few colors. I actually got more color in my test pans than I did from a full days clean up of the dredge. But I did get alot of useful experience, so all is not lost.

I pasted your original offer, above, then hilighted a few things that weren't quite as described. First off the engine was a 9 horse instead of a 12 and you also told me that you had the engine serviced " a few years back" before you stored it, and that you started it before you shipped it. Well, I don't know how you started it, the only way I could get it to run, at first, was with a plastic coke bottle with a hole punched in the lid, full of gas. This was used to 'prime" the engine and get it to turn over. I found that once it fired off, I could keep it running by timing a squirt of gas into the carb b4 it died. I actually ran 3 - 20oz bottle of gas, with carb cleaner in it, through the engine before I finally gave up and removed the carburator for a proper cleaning. Ther is NO WAY that this engine had run only 2 weeks earlier. The service tag, still hanging on the engine, was dated 2003. The sparkplug, air cleaner, and oil were new. You also stated that you ran this rig for 2 weeks a couple of years back. Did you have any problems with overheating? It seems that the 3x4 keene pump needs more than a single jet log to run over an idle. Every time we ran the dredge, the crankcase got so hot that water sizzled off of it. We know this because the pump seal is leaking pretty bad and throwing water everywhere. I took your word for the engine being "in good shape" and since I didn't have a pool or pond to prime the pump, didn't even try it out until I was in the river. What a letdown.

NONE of the pins were included to assemble the dredge. The regulators were not with the shipment either. I had to go out and spend a couple hundred more on regulators and have them modified to work on a hookah rig.

As far as plugging the hoses to keep varmints out. I think you must have missed the 3" pressure hose, as it had a large rats nest stuck in it.
The "new" tigerflex hose also had a 1/2" hole in it.

As you can see. I am NOT HAPPY with the way you have treated me in this deal. Not a single response to any of my communications. No wonder I'm feeling so screwed.

Regards,
Trevor

[CalGoldDredger]

That really sucks!
Good example for my own cautiousness over the years... sad to have to be that way but... been there and done that as they say.

[bill-costa rica]

yes , it does suck. I think I have seen the name placerau around for a long time. sounds like he is getting out of mining and just doesn’t give a damn any more. really too bad for Trevor.

bill in Costa Rica

[polekaat]

I called and left him ANOTHER voicemail today. I think that it's pretty chickensh*t that he refuses to even talk to me. When we first talked, he said that he "trusted me" and that I could pay him for the dredge after I received it and looked it over. When I had my guy pick it up from Roaring Camp, he insisted that the money change hands immediately, because he was in Ca. and needed the money. So, since we both use the same bank, I just transferred the cash to his account.
I need to look through my notes. I know I have his home address and phone number around here somewhere.

Trevor

[Bonaro]

Just a couple observations.

1. I am not sure why you are posting this private transaction on a public forum before you even know what the outcome is. that in itself is very chickenshit

2. if I read it right it seems you are bitching and whining about not getting all the extra goodies on a 5" dredge deal that was priced at about 40 cents on the dollar

3. No one reading this can resolve your problem so I can only presume your intent is to run Johns name into the mud because you want the incredibly smokin deal you thought you were going to get.

4. I know John personally and he is a original member on this and other forums. He predates you by about a decade and If he is out of contact, there is a good reason.

I don't know what's going on and I have no idea what condition that dredge is really in but based only on your pissy explanation I will buy it from you for $1400 cash right now, sight unseen and I will flip it tomorrow for at least 3 grand.

Let me know what you want to do

[russau]

John is currently (i think) working out of state,and hes always been sorta hard to reach. he never was posting here regularly, just every now and then. i can understand your disappointment,but i dont think John is trying to get over on you!

[polekaat]

1. I am posting on here to try to get some response from John.

2. I'm not bitching about the "extras". It would seem that it should have, at least, been complete, by his original and subsequent descriptions.

3. I think that, like you, if someone that is closer to him, contacted him, since he refuses to contact me himself, it might get him off of dead center, so we could, at least, discuss a resolution.

4. The last time I talked to John, he was going "to call Dan and get the other box delivered, before he went to the airport", that was over a month ago. Dan nor I, never heard from him again. I did see that he has logged on to this forum, at least a couple of times, since then.

Right now I have, right at, two grand in the dredge. That is before any modifications. I'm not looking to "flip" it. I will probably keep and modify this dredge from now on. Yes, it needs lots of work, but I expected that. I did not expect to get only part of what was in the deal. Some sort of communication would have been prudent, don't you agree?

Trevor

[DJR]

Communication is everything.
The individual made promises that he did not keep,. Other people should be aware of that, good for you for letting other folks know.
One of the main complaints that I have heard in my business over the years is that when something goes wrong the other party will not communicate with the person asking the questions. That is always a bad sign.
There is always a chance that the individual in question is incapacitated in some way. But he knew what he promised and what he sent.
I fully understand you anger, but in most cases like this you most likely will not recover what you lost.
Hope I am wrong.

[CalGoldDredger]

Communication and Responsibility, Yep. Not to mention a mans word.
I don't think you are or were out of line, Trevor.

[h20prospector]

Just got off the For Sale or Wanted Items of the forum, and promises were made. I for one, appreciate your comments, and feel you're justified. At the moment, I wouldn't buy anything this person advertised, but he also said in one of his postings, "I'm one of the Kings of Procrastinator, and for that I am so sorry."

It just may be that he is not able to communicate, due to being off the grid. Hopefully it'll all come out in the wash, and you'll be able to look back and laugh at the whole situation.

Pat