Sorry to bug the forum with this problem but I am at a loss where to turn. Besides, we don't have any games for a while and so the board has been slow lately anyway.::coffee::
I had a great experience at the Red Hot hockey event at MSG. But the experience was somewhat tainted by my experience in selling two extra tickets. A couple of family members couldn't go and so I posted the availability of two tickets on the Ticket Exchange on Tuesday before the game. I was selling them at the price that I paid for them. They were good seats. Within a few hours, I had several responses via e-mail. Some folks were really excited about the possibility of getting tickets at this late date. Although some of the responders were closer to me geographically and offered to come to pick up the tickets and pay for them in person, I chose to go with the first person to respond since I thought that was the most fair.
The first person to respond had a Cornell student e-mail address. We exchanged cell phone numbers and we spoke to arrange things. He claimed to indeed be a student and talked about how excited he was to be able to go to this game (he apparently has season tickets at Lynah but didn't think about getting tickets to this game until recently). Since I believed that I was dealing with a fellow member of the Faithful, I did not worry about getting payment beforehand and we arranged to meet at Will Call before the game. That was my mistake. ::smashfreak::
We spoke by phone the afternoon of the game to reconfirm and adjust the meeting time.
I began calling him before our meeting time and continued to call until well after our meeting time. Every time my message rolled over to voicemail. Not wanting to miss any of the game and fearing that he was lost on the subway or something like that, I left a final message saying that I left the tickets under his name at Will Call and went in to "enjoy" (sigh) the game. I expected him to show up at the seats late but he never showed (I did not check back with Will Call to see if the tickets were ever claimed). I called a few more times. Although, I considered the tickets to be his, had he just bothered to let me know that he was unable to come, I am sure that I could have sold them for a good portion of the price even a few minutes before the game.
I have since called several times (always getting the same voicemail message) and also sent messages to the original e-mail address that he contacted me with. I have not heard back. Subsequent searches on the web seem to confirm the validity of the name and e-mail address.
Why am I bugging the forum with this? Well I want resolution. It is not really the money but rather the principle. He deprived other people of the tickets and doesn't have the courtesy to respond to numerous messages. I am trying to conceive of a reasonable scenario that explains what happened that does not involve him being an incredible jerk::asshole::. I cannot. I am not aware of any students passing away or lapsing into a coma recently. If I am wrong please then let me know.
I am itching to let the forum community know who he is in the hope that he can be found and that peer pressure will make him do the right thing. Do you think that it would be OK to post his name here? OK to allow people to PM me for details?
Sorry again and thanks for you anticipated words of wisdom.::wtf::
Red Hot Roy
Roy, that really does suck. And I don't blame you for wanting to shame this douchnozzle publicly. But I think you've really got to ask yourself: What is it you'd hope to achieve by putting his name and/or e-mail address here? And what do you actually expect to happen if you do so?
Sometimes when someone has taken advantage of you and screwed you over, taking the high road/being the bigger man/etc. sucks, but it's also usually a relatively consequence-free decision. Personally, I'd try to look for alternatives to a public shaming (or even a PM one).
You got dicked over, Roy, but cut your losses. If posting what you just did without his name won't get him to do the right thing, revealing his name, email, and cell probably won't. And if he's as much a jerk as he seems so far, he'll only respond in the most vindictive way possible (Beeeej might have been alluding to this). Some of the better readers of Elynah once signed a Harvard hockey writer up to a million porn email lists simply for being lame. Imagine what one of the worst readers of Elynah would do.
I mean, unless you need more porn email lists.
[quote Jacob 03]You got dicked over, Roy, but cut your losses. If posting what you just did without his name won't get him to do the right thing, revealing his name, email, and cell probably won't. And if he's as much a jerk as he seems so far, he'll only respond in the most vindictive way possible (Beeeej might have been alluding to this).[/quote]
I was actually a little more worried about what out-of-proportion steps dozens of the best eLynah readers might take to send a message to the jerk than I was about what the jerk would do in response, but both are valid concerns.
I agree that you should not expect any action on his part -- history shows he's not real big on proactive steps.
But I don't think it should be out-of-bounds to post his name/Cornell ID (but certainly no cell numbers). IMO it does future eLynah ticket transactors a disservice to not know who the unreliable buyer(s)/potential seller(s) is that may be contacting them in the future.
Roy,
Chalk it up as a (relatively inexpensive) learning experience. In the future, do not put yourself at the mercy of someone who might turn out to be a jerk, even if you have reason to trust them. If you can indeed trust them, they won't mind you having an escape clause if they don't fulfill their part of the bargain. This includes contractors, auto mechanics, lawyers, clients, colleagues and subordinates, and others who may get something in advance (money, work, or commitment) from you. Always spell out an escape clause if they don't keep their side of the bargain, and try to make sure you come out of it whole.
Swampy
I imagine that this wouldn't have been a quandary should the ticket exchange had a feedback system similar to that of ebay. But that, obviously, is asking a little too much.