Screwed Again by IAW

4 months ago I set up a direct sales deal with Colin for an EVA Phaser Rifle, a Type 3, Mark 3 Phaser Rifle, and a Phaser Power Cell. All for $ 7,400, not a small amount. For two months I waited for them to send me an invoice. I even discussed it with Dom at Vegas. Since they couldn't even send me a simple invoice, on September 14th I went ahead and paid them by PayPal (detailing the transaction).

Today I get an invoice and am told that they sold the Phaser Power Cell that was put aside for me! This was the SINGLE most important prop I wanted.

And now I get this stupid email from Dave:

"You need to work out details with Dom on any direct deals

Collin and others are not aware of what alreadys been sold in auction."

Well Dom knew about the deal, and the items were sold AFTER I paid for them.

Just one more way I get screwed by IAW. I have canceled the rest of the order. I don't need this stuff and I am so sick of this crap.

Alec

Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum hits 300 members!

Well, I am happy to say that the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum hit 300 members last week (now at 307). It is the best place to talk about screen-used Star Trek props & costumes, find out important info from experienced collectors and talk about the IAW auctions.

Check it out!

Alec

It's a Wrap decides to screw me

Well, I just heard from Holly that Dom is claiming he never promised me the MACO Rifle, despite the fact that I have a witness who heard him, and despite the fact that Dom recently told one collector flat out he put the rifle up the screw me. Oh, and I guess it is just coincidence that Dom put it up the day after he got an email from me about it.

There isn't a person outside of IAW who has done more to help their sales than I have. My blog alone has meant dozens, if not hundreds of people found out about the Star trek auctions who never would have known about them That means tens of thousands in extra sales for them. AND THIS IS MY THANKS?

eBay buyer Maharanidiva, who has purchsed $ 141,746 worth of props & costumes from IAW found the IAW auctions through my blog. She never would have known about them otherwise.

And because I post a blog post calling their crappy customer service to task (a post just about everyone agrees is the most even handed article I could have written), Dom does this to spite me.

His word obviously means nothing. I have emailed Tiara, but I am sure she will back Dom. I am afraid Tiara won't take care of her # 4 customer who has spent over $ 100,000 with them as well as the hundreds of thousands of $ in sales I brought their way. Everyone has been right. They don't care.

So now the war starts. Now they get treated like every other crappy eBay seller.

Alec

It's a Wrap eBay auctions - Week 41 Results

Week 41 Results

Well, needless to say, a lot going on this week, so my apologies for this being late. Just because IAW is pissing me off, I don't want to make this blog all about IAW and their issues. After all, we do this because we love collecting stuff from our favorite show.

OK, so this is a week old. This is what closed on September 28. Nothing spectacular, but we are starting to see prices for all but the most desire able items dropping. There are good deals all over as people get worn down by both bad service and the duration of these auctions.

The Star Trek: TNG Captain Picard Uniform and Civilian Lot at $ 3,150 was the top costume lot. an interesting lot in that it had what appeared to be an unfinished Picard two piece costume. I think this was a good way to get a Picard.

The Star Trek: TNG Councilor Troi uniform at $ 2,609 was a great lot as it not only had the black and gray uniform, but it had a wig, corset, boots and pips! So I think a good deal for the buyer here.

The T'Pol away team jacket and uniform was the best buy of the week. At $ 2,420, my good buddy Jim Williams won this. Yes the T'Pol uniform was unfinished at tech cuffs, but so what? It is like a production made prop. Maybe not screen used, but that is not important to me, and this was a great way to get a good deal on both a T'Pol uniform as well as the cool jacket.

The MACO Complete Uniform went for $ 2,282. The uniform was distressed, but the whole ensemble is very cool, and a decent price. What makes this cool is how complete it is.

The Worf costume lot at $ 1,925 was a good deal I think. It was a stunt lot for the most part, but what great costumes! The Naval costume with boots is pretty recognizable. My good friend Lyn won this lot and I congratulate her on a wise purchase.

The Enterprise Xindi Reptilian Costume went for $ 1,913 and was about where these always go. The costume is a Reman costume from Nemesis where the costume has been converted from a jumpsuit to a two piece. These look great on display.

The Voyager Commander Chakotay Uniform went for $ 1,881. This had a rank pip and some costume extras. IAW is packaging costume elements with good uniforms to basically move the stuff out. A wise move (see? I can give credit where due) as otherwise these extra elements will clog up the warehouse and are not worth listing.

The TNG Borg costume at $ 1,680 was a beauty. I bid on this and my friend John won this and I am really happy for him. I wouldn't touch a movie/Voyager Borg costume as they are foam and latex and fall apart. But this one was AWESOME. A great buy and I think it will really last.

The Data Costume Lot at $ 1,585 was a good deal as it had a nice First Contact stunt Data. A good deal I believe for two stunt costumes.

The Captain Archer Distressed Uniform went for a reasonable $ 1,284. There is something cool about distressed costumes as they are so easily screen matched.


As far as props go:

The Kolaran Jeep Mounted Gun and Argo Canon went for a surprising $ 1,504. Cool in that ws two pieces. The Argo canon was the one without the electronics in it, that one being sold previously.

The Wish List - Working Light Up PADD went for $ 1,415. Another boring PADD. ho-hum.

The Alien Chair set dressing was actually pointed out to be Commander Donatra's by Jim Williams, who owns Donatra's uniform. At $ 1,289 a decent deal and won by Martin from Germany. He has no problem paying big shipping costs, but the weak dollar helps.

The Voyager Briefing Room Chair went for $ 1,227. These are very cool and I would love to have one as my office chair.

The Voyager Anti-Matter Pod at $ 1,084 was cool in that it is a model used in filiming. With CGI, there won't be many more of these coming out these days. My good buddy Dana won this one at a good price.

I loved the Romulan Star Empire Wall Flat at $ 943. I want one, but I have been bidding less these days due to my frustrations with IAW. Still, a great piece at a good price.

My favorite prop though is the Phaser Power Cell at $ 941. DS9 fans know this prop from "Behind the Lines". It is critical to that episode and I bought one direct from IAW. I can't wait to get it.


THIS WEEK'S AWARDS:

Best Costume of the Week: The TNG Borg costume at $ 1,680 was a beauty!

Best Prop of the Week: The Phaser Power Cell at $ 941. An important prop for any DS9 fan!

Best Buy of the week: The T'Pol away team jacket and uniform at $ 2,420 had two great pieces.

Worst Buy of the week: None. We are all doing a great job buying smart!

Sleeper of the Week: The Hand Sized Circuitry PADD was a steal at $ 482!


5 HIGHEST PRICED ITEMS THAT SOLD

Star Trek: TNG Captain Picard Uniform and Civilian Lot at $ 3,150.

Star Trek: TNG Councilor Troi uniform at $ 2,609.

Star Trek:Enterprise T'Pol away team jacket and uniform at $ 2,420.

Star Trek: Enterprise MACO Complete Uniform at $ 2,282.

Star Trek: TNG Worf costume lot at $ 1,925.


Alec

Boycott costs IAW a couple thousand.

Well, it is hard to say for sure, but based on the feedback from bidders on the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum who didn't bid in protest for Dom's actions against me and the general lack of customer service, I can say that IAW lost probably $ 1,000 - 2,000 in lost higher winning bids in yesterday's auctions.

I know that my high bid on the Weyoun that went for $ 1,179 was going to be $ 1,600. My high bid on the Zefram Cochrane Statue would have been $ 2,100 and it went for $ 1,530.

A bunch of the users on the Forum didn't bid as well, and they have voiced that they would have bid much higher than the winning bids realized.

While I don't see what we did as changing IAW in any way, it proves several things:

1) We are a community and we will support each other

2) Sitting out a week isn't very hard. We don't NEED any of this.

3) Piss us off (by bad service or otherwise) and it will cost you $.

So Dom, who put the MACO rifle up on eBay just to spite me, cost himself any additional revenue he is going to get from a bidder on eBay for the MACO rifle by losing that money yesterday.

There is no doubt that the last month have seen a HUGE increase in dissatisfied buyers. Most (including myself) now won't bid unless it is REALLY important to us.

Frankly, I don't expect anything to change.

Alec

Boycotting IAW this week

Because of the unresolved issue of the MACO Rifle with IAW, I am sitting out the auctions this week. In addition, many of the members of the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum have decided to join in as a show of solidarity. Don't forget, my issue is just one of many that collectors have. Almost no one is happy with the lack of service and hundreds of unresolved customer service issues.

Many STPC&A Forum members have even written to IAW in support of me, and one even got a reply claiming that no promise was ever made to me. That pisses me off even more. Seems IAW is more concerned about squeezing out an extra few dollars than keeping their word.

I also just sent an email to Dom and Tiara informing them that their # 1 buyer, Maharanidiva, who has purchsed $ 141,746 worth of props & costumes from IAW found the IAW auctions through my blog. She never would have known about them otherwise.

I also want to thank our fellow collectors on the Movie Prop Forum who have decided to sit out this week in their outrage of all the issues that we have to deal with with IAW.

Alec

At the end of my rope with Dominic from IAW

This updates my previous post on the subject.

Well all, I have been really nice to IAW for months and tried to help them resolve problems. I am a lot nicer than most collectors who are pissed off at the problems they are having. I even sold over $ 25,000 worth of items for them at the las Vegas convention to forum members who couldn't make it to Vegas. I think everyone knows I have bent over backwards to be fair to them.

Many of you commented on how fair I was in my blog post last week. I sent Dom an email to help him understand the issues the collecting public has with the lack of customer service. Dominic in turn, sent me the following email:

From: Movieclothes@aol.com [mailto:Movieclothes@aol.com]

Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 12:06 PM

To: apeters@screamingsports.com

Subject: Re: Just so you know

Alec...... why are you causing trouble

This is not a good thing mate.

Well, not exactly a good attitude. Taking constructive criticism is a must if you ever want to improve. And that blog post was as nice as I could make it. I know most collectors thought I was too nice.

Well, in Las Vegas, because of my help in selling all their stuff, Dom agreed to sell me the MACO Sniper Rifle that I knew they had.


Well, I guess he was so pissed off at my blog post, that he posted the rifle on eBay. JUST TO SPITE ME. What is funny is Tiara had just sent me an email telling me how professionalism is important to them. And I know Tiara is very professional, but it is obvious she doesn't know what is going on in the warehouse.

Dom finally called me Wednesday morning. He claimed he forgot the conversation at Vegas and him putting up the rifle was a coincidence. RIGHT.

I was pretty adamant that he take the rifle down and sell it to me as agreed. To me this is a matter of Dom honoring his word. He said he would get back with me that night. Then I get an email saying "Were still looking into this MACO issue". What was there to look into? You either are going to honor your word or not.

Yesterday was Thursday.....nothing.

I have no idea why Dom has such a hard time returning calls, but I am sick of it. No one can run a business like this and expect to keep customers. And to promise me something and then back out is total crap. My word means something.

I HAVE CANCELED ALL MY BIDS FOR TODAY.
(including the Weyoun I have waited 10 months for)

I am sick of this crap.

Alec