Brooke Carr - [email protected]

[LeoW]

Recently received some parts from Brooke. Paypal'd 2/25 rec'd 3/8 even with the piles of snow here. Previous purchases went well also. No problems. Has also been helpful with questions about parts and communicated well.

I'll still watch his ads for parts I need.

[vintagecar74]

I bought 2 big lots from him, 2-3 days ago, I'm still waiting all parts!!!!!
Try to contact him but DISAPPERA, Don't know why.

[AaronBlanchard]

I just read this thread after I bought a set of bumpers from Brooke. I sent payment on June 23. He contacted me right after he got the money to tell me he would let me know when he was going to ship. So, when will they ship?? BTW 8 days later and the ad is still up in the classifieds. I can't wait to post up some good feedback.

[campingbox]

In June 2009 I had met Brooke at the June OCTO meet in California. I had met him before but it had been a number of years.

He mentioned he was working on a '55 deluxe bus and needed a rear seat snowflake kick panel for it. I told him I had a mint one that was correct for his bus, and that I could send him pictures when I got home.

A week later on June 19th, 2009 I emailed him pictures of the kick panel and quoted him a price of $1800 including shipping. He emailed back a few hours later, said he wanted it but only had $900 to send at that moment, but could send the balance in 10 days. I told him he could send a check for $900 now, and could send the balance within 30 days. That same day he said that sounded fair and would proceed with the purchase. That was a Friday, and he said he would mail me a check on Monday June 22nd.

On June 29th, 2009 I followed up to see if he mailed a check and I received no response.

On July 2nd, 2009 I followed up to see if he mailed a check.

On July 3rd, 2009 he responded with a quick "Greg, I am at work and I am sorry that I have not contacted you. Mi internet has been down at home. I have it working now finally after 5 days without it. I will email you when I get home tonight. Brooke"

On July 6th, 2009 I followed up and pointed out that I had yet to hear back from him. He responded, said some unexpected bills came up and he was two weeks away from sending me money. I responded and told him I was irritated because he had kept me in the dark for two weeks. I told him I might consider taking a small deposit to hold the panel for two weeks while he arranged the balance. He responded, said he could pay me $100 now, $900 in two weeks, and the balance at a later date.

On July 8th, 2009 I asked him if I accepted his offer, when would I expect for him to send the final payment?

On July 9th, 2009 he responded saying he would send $100 now, $900 in two weeks, and would hope to get the balance out no more than two weeks after that. I accepted that offer and gave him our Paypal email.

On July 12th, 2009 he emailed asking for the Paypal email again. I responded immediately by sending him a Paypal payment request.

He paid the deposit on July 13th, 2009.

On July 21st, 2009 I emailed him and asked him when we should expect to see the $900 check.

On July 22nd, 2009 he said he would be unable to send the check for 5 more days, best case, and that he was waiting on some payments from some sales. He had offered to send me a post dated check. I responded and told him I was considering bailing out of the deal. It had started almost five weeks earlier and I was growing impatient. On Wednesday July 8th I agreed to accept a $100 deposit immediately and he agreed that we would received an additional $900 within two weeks (July 22nd). The deposit came five days later. We never agreed on when we would received the balance, which made me uncomfortable. I hate open ended deals. Now he wanted to send me a check that following Monday, which meant that I would receive it at least a week late, and I still have no idea when to expect the balance. I told him that unless he could hammer out some details that he could commit to, and follow through with, and that I find acceptable, I was going to bail on this deal and move this item elsewhere. I received no response until July 31st.

On July 24th, 2009 I placed an ad on thesamba for the kick panel for $1800, and used the "email this ad to a friend" link and forwarded it to Brooke. There were several inquiries, but I held the kick panel from other sale because I was currently holding a deposit from Brooke.

On July 31st, 2009 he said it was alright for me to back out, and that I should refund his Paypal deposit. I told him that I would love to see him follow through with the purchase. I told him that I considered the $100 deposit non-refundable and that the deposit was made to hold the kick panel from other sale for the duration of our agreement. I told him that if he felt I hadn't held up to my end of the agreement that I would consider refunding the deposit. I also reminded him that I initially had offered it to him on June 19th, and that he had agreed to send half of the purchase price on June 22nd, and the other half would be received by me no later than July 19th. I told Brooke that if he wanted it, and wanted to work something out to let me know what he could do. I told him that his deposit was still current if he wanted to renegotiate the terms that we both would find acceptable.

On Monday, August 3rd, 2009 I received an email from him stating he was sending me a check for $900 that Wednesday. He said he really wanted this kick panel and that a reproduction would not do. He asked for my mailing address and said that he would send it priority. He apologized that it had taken so long. I responded immediately, told him to send it, and to follow up on Wednesday after it had been sent.

On August 9th, 2009 he emailed me stating a check was on the way. I responded and said I would confirm with him once it had shown up.

The check for $900 arrived on August 12th, and I emailed him on August 13th to keep me posted when the balance would arrive. The balance due was $800.

He responded later that day and told me the check would not clear if I cashed it that day, and asked me to wait a few days to deposit it. He also asked me about somd barndoor coathooks we had for sale for $300 and said he wanted those as well. I responded, and asked if he wanted me to wait a few days to deposit the check. He emailed back and said to wait two days.

I waited five days and on August 20th, 2009 I deposited the check. It cleared.

On August 21st, 2009 I emailed him stating that I deposited the check.

He responded that day, saying he would probably send us $400 the next week and $400 the following week.

On September 9th, 2009 I followed up and asked if he was still planning to send us that first $400 check. He responded later that day stating it was already mailed.

On September 19th, 2009 I received the check and emailed him to let him know. His current balance was $400. I told him if he needed to break it down into two smaller payments he was welcome to.

On September 20th, 2009 he responded and said he would try to pay the balance within two weeks. He asked about the shipping costs and I told him they were included.

On October 5th, 2009 he emailed saying he was going to send a check for the balance that week. He also said he wanted 3 barndoor deluxe coathooks we had advertised for $300 and that he would pay for those next.

On October 13th, 2009 he emailed saying he had some money that came in, but it was in Euros and his bank would take three weeks to exchange it.

On October 19th, 2009 I sold the coathooks to someone else because I was sick of waiting. I emailed him that day and told him.

On November 10th, 2009 Brooke emailed me saying he had purchased another rough snowflake kick panel out of the classifieds for $500 (and I was still waiting for the $400 balance :roll: ), and wanted to have it sent to me so he could hire me to make it into two middle seat kick panels. I quoted him $260 to do the work and suggested he send me a check for $660.

On November 12th, 2009 he told me the rear seat kick panel he just bought was on the way to me, and that he would send me the check for $400 on November 14th.

In Mid-Novembe 2009 he purchased a set of seats and door panels from a fried of mine for $3500. He paid cash and picked them up in person within a few weeks.

On November 20th, 2009 he offered me some parts to pay off his balance, I told him I was interested and asked for pictures.

On November 23rd, 2009 I received the kick panel from Brooke and sent him an email to confirm this. I also sent him pictures of it.

On December 20th, 2009 I started working on his two middle seat kick panels. I emailed him because I had a few questions about what he wanted done with them. I received no reply.

On January 24th, 2010 I forwarded the email and asked him for a response. He responded and answered my questions. I asked him to send the balance of $660 soon so we could get this deal done with. I also reminded him I was still interested in the trade material he offered me.

On January 25th, 2010, he said he would just send me the trade material. I suggested he send me pictures and decide on a price he wanted for them first, before he shipped the stuff out. I received no reply.

On February 2nd, 2010 I forwarded him the email and asked for a response. I received no reply.

On February 27th, 2010 I forwarded him the same email, asked for a response and told him I would finish his two middle seat kick panels the following week and pleaded with him to pay off his balance.I received no response.

On March 10th, 2010 I forwaded the same message, told him his kick panels were done and asked him to Paypal me the baance due (and that I would cover the Paypal fees). I also told him that "if he no longer needed the rear seat kick panel (his '55 bus had been put up for sale the week before) I could always put the kick panel back up for sale and cash you out when it sells." I told him that I would prefer to have him follow through and come through with the balance, but if that isn't an option then I would rather move forward one way or another. I reminded him that we have had a deal pending on this kick panel since June of last year, nine months, and while I had been trying to be patient I have been slowly becoming more & more irritated about it. I received no reply.

On March 11th, 2010 I sent Brooke this email.
I also sent the message to him by using the "contact this advertiser button" on an ad he had listed that morning.
I also sent him the message by PM through thesamba:

"Hey Brooke-
Since I can't get a response from you I've decided to list the three kick panels under consignment on thesamba.

Here are links to the ads:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=935952
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=935947
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=935955

I hate to do it, but you can only string someone along for so long before they get upset. You've been ignoring my emails for over six weeks, and before that your responses were very spotty and you would not answer direct questions. To say your communication skills need improvement would be an understatement. I know you have internet access, because I have seen new ads listed under your account both today and yesterday. Things are changing here, both with my lifestyle and my finances and I can't store these kick panels long term for you. I'm sorry. When our shop burned down a few years back, I have resisted storing things that do not belong to me. Even if they were paid in full I would still insist that they be sent out to you without delay.

You have a balance due of $660, the majority of which has been pending since June 21st 2009. That's nine months too long. I can't believe I allowed myself to get into an open ended agreement without a commitment date, because they almost always never work out smoothly. I'm sure you're pissed at me, but I'm sure you can understand why I'm upset with you. I know you've had money to pay off the balance since then, because you paid ~ $400 for the snowflake cores you sent me, and I know you purchased an interior set from Todd Williams for around $3500. I also know that you had a buch of metalwork done to your bus, and I can only guess that you paid cash for the labor.

I charge a minimum 10% commission on consignment pieces. I have listed the rear seat kick panel for sale for $1800 plus shipping. If this sells first I will send you your two middle seat kick panels by Fedex ground insured and I will include a check for $960.00 ($1800 - 10% - balance due of $660 = $960).
I have listed the nicer of the two snowflake kick panels for sale for $435 plus shipping and the worse of the two up for $300 plus shipping. If these two sell, I will ship you the rear seat kick panel and consider the $660 balance paid in full and will send you $1.50 in cash ($435 + $300 = $735 - 10% = $661.50 - $660 balance = $1.50 refund).

Anyway, if you don't agree to these terms I expect to have payment sent in full immediately. I will not hesitate to sell any of these three items to someone else to cover your debt.
I accept Paypal, and require a split payment ($260 to be sent to [email protected], and $400 to be sent to [email protected]).
I will cover the Paypal fees and will ship these three items out to you no later than Saturday (March 11th).

I am sorry that you have pushed me to look into other avenues to recover the balance due, and hope that you do not hold any ill will towards me. I will have no problem selling you parts in the future, but I will not consider accepting any sort of terms or payment options."

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

I received no reply.

I also started emailing people I know and asking for feedback on how to respond to Brooke.

On March 27th, 2010 I sent Brooke this email.
I also sent the message to him by using the "contact this advertiser button" on an ad he had listed that morning.
I also sent him the message by PM through thesamba:

"Hey Brooke-
I have yet to receive any responses from you regarding my previous emails. I do not know if you have received these emails, but I know that you have relisted several ads on thesamba which means you have had atleast some internet access.
As previously mentioned, I have listed your property on consignment to settle your outstanding debt.
I sold one of the two middle seat kick panels today on consignment (ad # 935952 for the one mounted on masonite, with the worse of the two pieces of trim. Sale price was $300, less 10% commission, and I have applied a credit of $270 towards your balance).
You're current balance due (after the sale) is $390.00.

If you want to Paypal this balance ($260 needs to be sent to [email protected] and $130 needs to be sent to [email protected]) I will ship the long rear kick panel, and the remaning wood middle seat kick panel out to you. I will cover the Paypal fees. Or you can mail a postal money order (one combined M.O. for $390 is fine) this can be sent to:

Greg Noble
XXXXXX
Olympia, Wa XXXXX
I have a couple of people asking about the second middle seat kick panel (the wood one) and once it sells I plan to immediately box up and ship you the rear seat kick panel, which will settle your debt and clear our transaction.

This is the address I have on file for you:

Brooke Carr
XXXXX
Bristol, TN XXXXX
United States

If for some reason this has changed, I will expect you to email me an updated address to correct this. Because of the declared value, you will need to be available to sign for this package and to accept delivery. I plan to require a "direct signature" which means that you will have to sign for it yourself. If I ship the kick panel out and it is undeliverable, or gets refused for some reason, I will put it back up for sale on consignment and once sold I will cut you a check for the sale price, less 10%, less shipping costs.

It would be nice to atleast have some communication from you. While it's upsetting to me that you've had a balance due for so long it's more upsetting that you are completely ignoring me."

I received no response.

On April 13th, 2010 I sent him this email:
I also sent it by PM and emailed him through one of his ads.
"Hey Brooke-
I have a pending deal for the second middle seat kick panel you have (ad # 829607) as well as the second rear seat kick panel we have (ad # 870909) and hope your debt to be paid up within a week or two.

At that point I will be ready to ship you your rear seat kick panel (ad # 935955).

Here is the address I have on file for you:

Brooke Carr
XXXXX
Bristol, TN XXXXX
United States

A phone number would be nice to have on file to provide Fedex with.

As of today 4/13/10 I have not heard a single thing from you for over three months, and have not been able to confirm this as a current shipping address. I do not beilieve I have received a decent communication regarding this transaction since last Fall. You have forced e to sell some of your property to recover your outstanding balance which I am unhappy about, and your communication over the past 12 months has been poor at the best of times. You have wasted a ton of my time. I am a little bit uncomfortable shipping an expensive item out like this not knowing if this is the correct address, or if someone will be around to receive it. I also am not wanting to continue storing this indefinately for you until you decide to respond to my repeated inquiries. That said, I have decided I will NOT ship this item until you confirm your shipping address, and I also will charge you $100/month in storage for the kick panel for every month the item remains in my custody beginning May 1st 2010. If this kick panel remains in my custody for six months, there will be a balance due of $600 before I am willing to ship this item out. If you leave it here for 18 months, I will reclaim possession of it and absolutely no refund will be given. I suggest you think about this, and that you take just a few moments of your time to confirm your shipping address, so you can avoid costly penalties. A quick "yes, that is the correct shipping address and yes, I will be around to receive it" will be sufficient. If the address has changed, please provide me with an updated address to use.

I am looking forward to completeting this exchange between us, and honestly I hope in the future we can recover a relationship. I will not hold any long term grudges over this, and would be happy to buy/sell/trade with you in the future provided all dealings were fairly straight forward and could be completed within a respectable period of time (quickly). I know we have a number of mutual friends, and I want us to remain civil towards each other in the future. I am not happy about the current situation, but I feel that your lack of communication has left me with no other alternative."

I received no response.

I followed up later that day with this email:

"Hey Brooke-
I have revised my plan. I will keep the kick panel advertised on thesamba for $1800 firm for as long as it takes for you to confirm your shipping address. When the kick panel sells, I will subtract a 10% commission, and for every month (or any partials) it's here (beginning May 1st 2010) I will subtract $100 and mail a check to that address for the balance.
Example, if it sells before May 1st, I will send you a check for $1620.
If it sells anytime in the month of May, I will send you a check for $1520.
If it sells anytime in the month of June, I will send you a check for $1420.
If it sells anytime in the month of July, I will send you a check for $1320.
And so on.
This storage fee & commission are easily avoidable, simply confirm your current shipping address by email and provide me with a phone number and I will ship it out (once the deal on the other middle seat kick panel is completed, supposedly a "check is in the mail" so it should be on hand next week)."

I sent it by email, by PM, and by emailing him through an ad he had just listed.
I received no reply.

On July 1st, 2010 I sent him this email:
"Hey Brooke-
It's July 1st, and so far this kick panel has accumulated $300 in storage fees for you.

If you are willing to confirm a shipping address with me today, I am willing to wave these storage charges.

This is a one time offer, all you need to do is confirm your shipping address by email and I will ship this package out to you.

I cannot even begin to understand why you refuse to respond to me, and honestly I would have sooner given the kick panel away to someone than be taken on this ride with you, it was totally not worth it."

I sent it by PM and emailed him through the site as well.

I have received no reply.

Yes, the storage charges are total bullshit, and were meant to sniff Brooke out of his hiding spot. Obviously it did not work.

Brooke still continues to use this site, advertises, relists ads, deactivated, and deletes ads, and collects peoples money.

I can't say Brooke ripped me off, but he irritated me to no end and has wasted a ton of my time. The $300 he currently owes me for storage does not come close to covering the amount of time I have spent trying to figure out how to handle him. It has taken me months to leave this feedback post and over two hours just to write it all out.

I would not recommend dealing with Brooke as a buyer or a seller, and if you read other peoples posts you will realize he is incredibly inconsistant.

Buy/sell/trade with caution!

[AaronBlanchard]

[campingbox]

Update on my Brooke situation. I received a response from him by PM:

From: german tin
To: campingbox
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:22 pm
Subject: Re: Snowflake rear seat kick panel

[DL West-Wiperguy]

Greg you are a patient man! I think you are a buyer and seller we all should model ourselves after. You are more than fair in all of the above.
DL

[campingbox]

No response from Brooke yet. He logged into thesamba over the weekend but did not take the time to respond to my private message which asks the simple question of a shipping address which he has been dodging for six months. I know, I'm not special. He is simply ignoring the entire world.

Honestly I would love for him to confirm his address and phone number so I could ship this part out to him immediately.

If he stiffs me on the $400 in storage then so be it, but I really want to get this piece shipped out and into his custody.

Again, all Brooke needs to do is send me his address and phone number, and if he stiffs me on the storage then so be it, actually a sincere apology and a reasonable explanation would be more than enough to cover the storage due.

[germansupplyscott]

greg,

why not refund the payments and sell the part to someone else? sometimes it's better to just walk away from a deal, and if that means giving them a full refund then that's OK, at least you walk away with a clear head.
_________________
SL

[campingbox]

[nlorntson]

I've been trying to buy two oil sending units and he won't respond to me either.

Funny that a guy needing money to buy a kick panel doesn't want to make a buck or two by selling stuff.

[BeeDubyaBugz]

It seems brooke is ignoring everyone. I have made a purchase yet to be recieved. I have not heard from him since july 20th when he said that the decklid hinges i bought on july 6th had shipped. I have been emailing him with no responses. Paypal is waiting for a response and he has yet to respond to them. I have bought stuff from brooke before with no problems. This time was a total different situation. I would use caution when buying anything from him.
sorry to be this way, but i have tried to be in contact and he has chosen to ignore it.

[BeeDubyaBugz]

Update. I recieved the hinges i bought today. I appreciate that they did finally arrive. He had stated that they shipped july 19 when in fact the postage shows Aug 4, 2010. So hopefully he will come thru fo those of you who have not recieved any responses.

[52HoffmanSplit]

Purchased a taillight on Jul 17th..... No item, No response after email 10 days ago.... just silence..... Item is STILL listed on the Samba.... Ad was NOT taken down after I paypal'd.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=921812

Paypal Claim has been submitted.... very sketchy situation all around.

Everett, Watch this space I will wager more are in the same situation. My personal opinion is that he is close to warranting a suspension. His own words to Greg were that he is "ignoring the world"... so why should he have the right of Samba Seller Access. JMO.
_________________
DB

9/1950 Hoffman Standard
11/1966 Porsche 912
10/1966 Porsche 912
7/1968 Type 265 Double Cab
10/1958 Type 117

[52HoffmanSplit]

Taillight arrived today 28 days after ordering... at least it got here, but a month IS a bit long.
_________________
DB

9/1950 Hoffman Standard
11/1966 Porsche 912
10/1966 Porsche 912
7/1968 Type 265 Double Cab
10/1958 Type 117

[51deluxe]

Brooke is a very honest and nice person. I know he works very hard at a regular job as most of us have to do to make ends meet in these hard times. with a family you have to make sure the regular job is done to support your family and the other stuff is just that stuff. he has always told me and other people that with working that it takes extra time to get these parts out and I have never had any reason to not trust him ever. I know myself that I sell parts on ebay and I work a regular job and when you go in at 7 or 8 and get off at 5 or 6 the post office is closed so I usually have to go on saturdays unless I have to work then too. I am just saying that this is the problem I personally run into with my parts selling and I tell people from the start please be patient I work m-f and sometimes saturday and nobody has ever complained yet but I guess theres a first time for everything. this is a hobby right? not life or death? god bless you all..

[EverettB]

In response to the above (which is not really feedback), COMMUNICATION solves these sort of issues.

I don't get worried if something is late if the sellers tells me he had to ship it out a few days later or I know ahead of time that you only ship on Saturdays. Keep in touch with buyers and respond to them when they email you for a status update, especially when you have not provided one due to delays, and there will very few or no complaints.
_________________
How to Post Photos
Everett Barnes - [email protected] | My wanted ads
"Water is the only drink for a wise man" | "Communication prevents complaints"
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[51deluxe]

[campingbox]

[warriorbass05]

I paypal'd on 8/12 and the initial communication was good but have had nothing since. I don't mind waiting but the communication piece is so critical. I will filing with paypal I guess since there has been no communication and I have NO IDEA when I will see the part since it is still listed on this site. This is my first attempt at a transaction with him and I am not sure if I will do any more. "Ignoring the world" is not the best way to do business...