Originally Posted by
rccardr
And yet...and yet. Sometimes there are nice people out there too.
Found a bike I wanted out of state (WAY out of state), sent the guy an e-mail, called a friend who agreed to go by, pay the asking price in cash and ship it to me. Called the guy- who hadn't seen my e-mail yet- explained that I wasn't some scammer, and he said "Hey, no problem. If you're willing to call me and explain all this stuff YOU MUST BE MEANT TO BUY THIS BIKE." I swear, that's exactly what he said.
So...sometimes the person on the other end of a CL sale is actually a thinking, literate, friendly person who's just trying to sell a nice bike at a reasonable price.
Not always, but sometimes.
I found the same thing, that guy in Maine who had the Roger Riviere. After dropping him a note (I'm 800+ miles away) explaining why I'm interested, he calls me back. We talk. Turns out I'm the customer he's looking for - someone who will actually take the time and effort to restore an odd French $100 10-speed from the Bike Boom. He holds it for me for three months (after our trip to see Patti's mom was delayed by her - Patti's - stroke) . . . . . . . . . . and then he GIVES me the bike! Turns out the listed selling price was just to put off the fixie-wannabes.
I owe him some pictures once the bike is done. Total debt.
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Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)