"Jeffgate": A Story of Woah

[m154cath]

As some might know myself,Matt(skyjacker) & Tang have been using Jeff as a US "poster buddy" for the last year or so. Unfortunately, Jeff seems to have gone AWOL with approximately £2000 worth of our posters. I'm a a patient man & not one to lose my rag quickly & thus far I have held my tongue & played it nice in the vain hope that Jeff's conscience would kick into action. It hasn't & enough is enough!
I originally posted a message on the forum for a US poster buddy when postage costs starts to rise from the States. Not having an endless pot of cash & in attempt to keep costs down it made economic sense. Jeff replied & everything when smoothly with regular communication & updates.
The problems only started when I asked for the stuff to be sent. Since then, virtually nothing! A single email to explain that due to serious health issues with his mum he has been away from his home & the forum but would be back soon(21/2). Now we all appreciate that family comes first. The health of a loved one far outweighs a few pieces of paper regardless of their monetary value. But Matt asked 5 months ago for his stuff to be sent & myself 3 months. It doesn't take long to send an email to keep people,you have agreed to help out, informed. Since December he has logged in to the Forum once. His eBay account is littered with negatives. He's just not replying to anyone! Holiday sent him a letter & Jason has tried ringing him (thanks for trying). Still nothing! Bugger! 
What do I do now? What lessons have been learnt? Am I being an inconsiderate bastard with a complete lack of sympathy for a man whose mum is "seriously ill"?
At the moment, I'm writing off the posters. Maybe, like Holiday/Cochan scenario a few years ago, it will all work itself out & the posters will be delivered. Probably too late for my wife's "hobby" room which 2 of the posters were presents for. She will survive thou. Some have said file a police report. I live in the UK & have no clue how to go down the legal path. If this had occurred in the UK I would have just jumped in the car,gone round his house & demanded them. Maybe take a baseball bat or a couple of "undesirables" as support. Regardless, I would have brought my posters home!
Some have said "why did you use Jeff!" It seemed a no brainier at the time. A long time member & frequent contributor to the Forum who seemed liked by all. Moreover, he was a Forum Administrator! Surely a position of trust & responsibility?  After reaching out to a few people about my problems with Jeff I start to hear rumours that he's done this kind of thing before & not to be trusted. That he caused members to leave the forum & not so well liked after all. A bit late now!
I'm not here to do a character assassination. I don't know what's really going on in Jeff's life right now. I'm here to put out a warning to others that before you decide to enlist the help of anyone do your research,ask around etc. I mean, the reason I joined this forum was to find like minded people who had a passion for film posters. To learn from & help others where I can. To provide information & pictures of posters other collectors might find of interest. I'd like to think I've done that. I help a couple of fellow collectors find posters they are after & hold till there tube is full. I post on the forum whenever I feel I have something useful to say or some new posters have arrived. & ive learnt a lot from the posts of fellow members. I didn't join the Forum to get shafted!
I'm done! Rant over for now! But if anyone finds themselves near Washington Place, LA.....


 

[Simes]

Grief. I feel for you.

Yes, had I been offered help by Jeff, I too would have reacted in exactly the same way.  On the forum, ever present, ever helpful.  I'd have happily accepted his offer.

And yes, irrespective of whose health I was looking after, had I collected things from Ewbanks for people and found myself 'busier than normal', as you say, an email goes a long way - so long as the promises within are met.

Do we know if either your poster and/or Jeff are currently at that address?  If his mother lives out of town, presumably he too would be out..?

Hoping this will sort itself out.  Hoping it will be nothing other than different people reacting in different ways to personal trauma?  That said, worse case, is there any way of finding out if in fact he is still alive!  Has to be considered...

Missing people, police, ebay, Paypal…?  Can they be contacted at this stage?

[Tob]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Mike. I hope he eventually comes through. I edited your post to remove his exact address as this forum is open to non-members, but if anyone can help with picking up the posters from Jeff, please PM Mike for details.

[m154cath]

Thanks guys. It would indeed be nice if the situation could be resolved in an amicable & swift fashion.
Simon, as far as the posters go, they are all at his house & his mum lives "out of town" but where I'm unsure. He has been similarly out of town but for 3-5 months worth is another area of debate!
I'm unsure if eBay or Paypal could help but with likely possibility that the UK will be in lockdown shortly I will have plenty of time on my hands to check it out. Similarly for missing people etc.

[eatbrie]

I haven't spoken to this guy in ages.  I found out a lot of stuff about him I didn't like, but kept him as a moderator because no one else wanted to do the job and it would have meant closing the forum.  So I closed my eyes instead and I now regret it. 

I apologize to you all.

We all have our load of crap to carry, but nothing in my view authorizes someone to steal from someone else.  At the very least, emails should be exchanged.  Your mother is sick?  It happens to all of us.  Both my parents are dead.  I went through hard times too.  One thing I didn't do though was cut myself off from the word.  No time, busy life?  BS.  Take time.  Sorry if I sound harsh, but I have very little sympathy for this crap, especially when it hurts others.

T

[timelessmoviemagic]

I used Jeff once and he came through for me.

I feel for you guys, I get panicky if a package hasn't shipped within 10 days and no response so this situation would be horrible to go through.

[Charlie]

[okiehawker]

I've had some great discussions with Jeff over the last couple of years via APF.  I really feel like he will make this right - crosses to bear, skeletons, closets and all.  Most of my skeletons shook their bony hands out of the closet years ago (Thanks Crash Test Dummies). Sorry to hear this is happening, Mike.  Okie

[kovacs01]

I wouldnt give up hope just yet, though it still sucks.  I had an experience years ago with someone on here, bought some stuff, and I was convinced he had stolen my money.  I think it was around $1000 or so.  This is the dude that mailed me a poster in afghanistan to put on my wall when I simply asked if someone could find one for me.  He asked me for my address, said he would look around, and it just showed up one day.  He wouldn't accept payment for it.  So of course I tristed him

He said he was doing undercover police work and couldnt get to it because he wasnt going home.  Then he had health issues and couldnt take care of it.  2-ish years after I paid, he finally sent them.  At the end of all of that, I tend to believe him.......

I say all that to say that if I were you, I would probably write them off.  But I also wouldnt lose some degree of hope that he still intends to mail them...........

[paul waines]

Most of you guys know me, and Jeff was one of the main reasons I stopped coming here.

Enough said.

[Starling]

Most of you guys know me, and Jeff was one of the main reasons I stopped coming here.

Enough said.

SAME.

[skyjackers]

I've been considering commenting in this thread since Mike first posted. I too have a number of very hard to find pieces with Jeff. Not that valuable to anyone perhaps but me, but still, I put a lot of time, money and energy in tracking them down and acquiring them for my collection.

Jeff bent over backwards to help me with these items. He's been great with communication and really gone the extra mile to help me, which is why I can't understand this.

My concern began when I asked for them to be shipped and sent the postage fees back in June last year. After that I guess events happened that made it difficult for Jeff to mail the 2 packages out.

The real issue for me is the lack of communication. I'm a fairly relaxed and understanding person and wouldn't / didn't have too much of a problem with the constant delays until it became apparent that there are a number of other people in the same situation as I am. So far I know of 6 people in the same position.

I'm hopeful that this can be resolved and Jeff will open up the dialogue once more with all concerned.

[eatbrie]

Wow, you guys are really understanding about this.  More power to you.

Speaking of disappearance, this thread reminded me of that guy Brude, who also disappeared.  Anyone knows what happened to him?

T

[Harry Caul]

Most of you guys know me, and Jeff was one of the main reasons I stopped coming here.

Enough said.

Glad to see you and Starling back! 

[paul waines]

Wow, you guys are really understanding about this.  More power to you.

Speaking of disappearance, this thread reminded me of that guy Brude, who also disappeared.  Anyone knows what happened to him?

T

Was thinking the same thing, Anyone?? I haven't heard from him for over a year...

[paul waines]

Glad to see you and Starling back!

Slowly Slowly, Matt.  See how this pans out...

Though I do hope the guys get their posters, nothing worse than stealing or messing with other peoples stuff.

[Tob]

Regarding Brude, he was unwell and went offline. Jason spoke to him on the phone last week and he seems to be doing ok. Hopefully he’ll be back one day.

Paul and Starling, hope you do come back and post more, the forum is a better place for folk with your knowledge (and of course, the photos of your pretty posters!).

[Charlie]

Glad to see you and Starling back!

Awesome! Good times...

With the new moderators and Jeff not around for a troll reply post, I might have to visit more too. Of course that might run some people off.   

[Charlie]

Slowly Slowly, Matt.  See how this pans out...

Though I do hope the guys get their posters, nothing worse than stealing or messing with other peoples stuff.

Paul went from quad master to master of social media. He gets all the girls with his pretty posters on fb...

[eatbrie]

Awesome! Good times...

With the new moderators and Jeff not around for a troll reply post, I might have to visit more too. Of course that might run some people off.   

You should tell Rosa to come back too, Charlie.  I owe her a big apology.

T

[Crazy Vick]

Looooved Rosa.

[Charlie]

You should tell Rosa to come back too, Charlie.  I owe her a big apology.

T

Unfortunately, she went into hiding from even me.  Sent me a sort of farewell e-mail after all that stuff.  I'll see if I can find it and ping her.

[BruceH]

Most of you guys know me, and Jeff was one of the main reasons I stopped coming here.

Enough said.

Same here. A troll of legendary status. AND the main forum moderator. Inconceivable.

[skyjackers]

When I read these comments about Jeff I find it hard to reconcile it with how he treated me.

Obviously I’m not happy about the situation but because he was the main moderator on here I assumed he was liked and respected. I’m beginning to realise that’s clearly not the case.

I’m still hopeful he’ll come through in the end and set things right. I’ve heard of similar things happening in the past that have resolved themselves so fingers crossed.

[eatbrie]

Obviously I’m not happy about the situation but because he was the main moderator on here I assumed he was liked and respected. I’m beginning to realise that’s clearly not the case.

I've said it before, keeping him as a moderator was my mistake, and it has now been rectified.

But enough with the Jeff bashing, what has been done is done.  Like you said, we can only hope he makes things right in the end.

And Bruce and Paul, welcome back.

T