TheSamba.com :: View topic - mikmalone

Tue May 31, 2005 6:11 pm

Does anyone know the whereabouts of a seller called Mikel Chinn? He gave me an address in Bothel, WA.
I agreed to purchase a ragtop mechanism from him, and sent him $275 to cover the parts and shipping. The money was received and signed for on May 18th. I've heard nothing more from him, and the parts have not arrived. It seems that two weeks would be plenty long to ship the parts.....
Now his e-mail address, mikelchinn@comcast.net, comes back as no good. I'd hate to think I've been taken advantage of.
Does anyone out there know how to contact him? He goes by the name of "Mick", apparently.
Please help me if you can. I can't afford this loss!
Don

Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:58 pm

Hi Don ,
I had the same surprise as you, when I saw that this e-mail mikelchinn@comcast.net was not working anymore. This guy cash money from me on May 7th, and told me later May 27th, that he had to check out if he send me the parts. I gave him back my adress to be sure that everything was fine. He reply me on May 31 th that he had to go back to the post office, saying that he did not notice that I was living in Canada. Holy....... :evil: Tell me that . Sending 2 heater boxes to somewhere in US with a postal code made of 4 letters and 2 numbers.....That's a good one.
So here some infos about the guy. Mik Malone is another name I had from his ads. Now he is sending me replys from: vintageaircooled@yahoo.com.
I am planning a bike trip to Vancouver, this summer with 2 of my friends who are retired police officers....they still have contacts in USA....may be we will ride a little bit south of the border , just to meet the guy.

Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:00 pm

I found a phone number for him today! Called there and got a guy named Paul Nelson who says he is the landlord. He is the one who signed for the letter I sent with the money in it. He said he would have Mick call me. Minutes later he called back to say that he talked to Mick, and that Mick was at that very moment packing up my parts to ship. He said to expect to see them within a week. We'll see......

Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:08 am

Hey let me know your progress on receiving your parts, this guy Michel Chinn owes me parts too, but I sent my payment through Paypal. And haven't heard nothing from him yet, not even an excuse. Parts are better late than never receiving them at all. Its been a few weeks. Hmmm!!

Fri Jun 03, 2005 7:58 pm

Sorry guys I got caught up helping my aunt move out of state. My email was on her comcast. I updated it on this site but didnt have a chance to contact everyone. The heater boxes were $75 shipped inside the US. I didnt know you werent in the US. Thank you.

Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:05 pm

One more thing, jimmy perez initialy sent me an incorrect adress to send his parts to. I got it straitened out and his parts are now on thier way.

Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:25 am

One last thing. I did update my samba account with the new email adress before the old one was shut off. Ive got other ads running. You guys really shouldnt have had any problems contacting me. All you had to do was look up my user name mikmalone on the samba. Its been there the whole time with an updated adress.

Sat Jun 04, 2005 8:03 am

Hi letting everyone know Mik is back on track, seems like he received 2 shipping address where to ship my parts. And the address has been confirmed and my parts are on their way.
The key here is (communication), I guess he lost his old email address. But all is fine now. And would be happy to purchase parts in the future from Mikel Chinn.

Sat Jun 04, 2005 8:42 am

on track. like the transmission you were gonna buy from me a few months back :roll:

Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:58 pm

Wanted to let everyone know that I did finally get my sunroof mechanism today, as promised.
On the one hand, I'm thrilled because I was afraid I was going to get nothing for my money.
On the other hand, I'm less than thrilled with the condition of the parts. Both front and rear headers are pretty rusty, and I believe I'll need to replace the front one. The mechanism was described as being in very good shape. Oh, well.......

Wed Jun 15, 2005 6:04 pm

I am still waiting news from MikChinn, after 5 weeks he cash the money....for heater boxes....A few words from the guy could make me not so apprehensive about him....where are the parts, or send me back the money.................do something f...!!!!!!

Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:32 am

Sorry mailman the ragtop was described as being in good condition. I just contacted you and offered a full refund. No return on the parts neccessary.

Merillo I have provided you with a refund.

Thank you.

Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:35 pm

I just completed buying a wiper switch from Mik. Communication was good the switch looks just fine. :D

Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:06 pm

Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:31 pm

I know Mik and have dealt with him persoanlly quite a few times. I think he is in the process of moving again. I will call him and let him know about your part.

edit. Just spoke to him and he didn't get your part out til Friday. He is a busy guy, not making any excuses for him. He is moving and I know he is an upstanding seller.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:39 pm

what happened to this guy anyone know ? his e mail is not working

Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:05 pm

I just dealt with Mik on a canvas for my Riviera top. It was in good shape as advertised and the whole deal went down in just under 2 weeks. It was a more than fair price for this hard to find item. Sounds likes some people have had some problems with Mik, but I can only speak for my own dealings. It went well and I feel I did alright on the deal.

Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:32 am

finally got the air breather... over a month later. wrapped only in a brown paper bag and tape, it was 1/2 falling out of the package when it arrived and had a sticker obscuring part of the address. i'm surprised (but thankful) that the post office even delivered it.

lesson learned: avoid mik malone if you can... while he might seem to have the part you'll need, it probably won't arrive in time for you to actually use it.

--

edit (02/22/08... 5:38pm):

based on mick's edits to his post below more than 18-months after submitting the original post, i feel the need to add to this one.

over a year-and-a-half after this transaction closed, mick sends a note begging me to reverse the feedback above. and he didn't just send one note, but several, very heated notes on the topic (some in ALLCAPS). at one point, he even offered me money to change it. :shock:

my response to mick was that the feedback that was left was honest and direct. i paid for a part and it took a silly amount of time to get it to me and that -- as a professional seller -- he should be able to package something so that it doesn't get refused by the postal service multiple times. packaging something the size and weight of a soda can (and something that is non-breakable) shouldn't be that hard... and if it is, other buyers should know about it.

i suggested to mick to let the past record stand and if he wanted to build a new, better reputation, to do that by offering fair prices, good merchandise and speedy shipping... and let the past be the past.

based on more recent feedback, it seems he may be on his way to do that, which is good. :)

--

edit (02/22/02... 5:45pm):

hmm... looking at edits to posts by folks like "thefladge" (and mick himself) over 18-months after the original post, i'm a little suspicious as to the nature of these changes (and what the original posts said).

trying to build a new reputation is a good thing and actually applaudable. trying to revisit and change the past is a bit dodgy in my opinion.

Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:57 pm

had good communication, shipped fast and secure.. very pleased with everything. hope to do more buisiness soon.

Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:08 pm

Mick .......finally send me back my money....and a little bit more for the trouble and waiting for parts.