... and are banding together in groups on Frisco.org, TrainBoard, and other online forums to contact Federal authorities for an investigation of your possibly conducting fraud across state lines...
Would it do any good to contact those on Trainorders board to get an idea how much those folks are out? I'm not a member there, but saw a thread about Oddballs.
Of course, having Frisco decals available again in S scale would be a partial success for me, even though I would have to purchase again. Problem is: Frisco content was only a small portion of the $500+ order I sent. In a good faith in order to help Tom, I had literally ordered enough S scale decals to last me a lifetime. There's more than just those of us here, and Trainboard, etc. There's also the O scalers over at the OGR forum. Several of those were cheated out of their money, too. In fact, I recall a thread where some of the O scalers demanded either the decals, a refund, or the artwork... and Tom delivered a copy of the artwork, however it was unusable according to the decal printing guys it was sent to. All totaled, I suspect the bogus sales were well into the 4 digit range.
Are there anyone else that sent money to Tom and has not received their decals. If so please post the amount, so I can add it to the E-mail I will be sending to Tom. I would say we have less than 50% chance he will accept our offer, but it does not hurt to try.
It all comes down to we will never see our orders are our money. So we'll have to move on and hope someone else decides to make them. It's hard to think that someone would do that to people, but I guess it's the only way he could afford building a layout (with our money). Mike.P
I got a E-mail from Tom today, he is really wanting to know if we have excepted his $5500.00 offer. I am sure he was not pleased with my response; I told him the group was still discussing the matter. He sure wants the money!
Richard: IMHO, an offer to purchase his artwork for the figure you indicated should NOT be in the cards. He owes a LOT of money to a LOT of people, has proven to be desperate, and the artwork that HAS been sent to individuals hasn't been compatible with modern systems. IMHO, this man has defrauded using the USPS and can be in some SERIOUS CHIT if enough of us know how to proceed. That he has the audacity to place such an outrageous price on said artwork when he himself is in precarious position legally (possible prison time) is simply mind-numbing. I'm concerned that he may not deliver on ANYTHING he promises. Such a shame. Andre
Upon referals by unknowing forum members, I almost ordered decals from Oddballs. I am thankful that I just never got around to it. For that reason, I have been following this thread for the last few days. Although I have never purchased anything from Tom, I feel compelled to speak up and side with the crowd that advises everyone not to send anything to anyone (Tom) who has broken the trust of so many... regardless of the circumstances. Trust and respect take a long time to earn but can be lost in the blink of an eye. You all can do what you want but rest assured, Tom will never see one red cent of my hard earned money. My advice, don't lose more money by persuing a small loss. $500 isn't small to me but it is to the government. My dad took someone to small claims court years ago over a bad debt. He lost an additional $50.00 in court cost and never got a dime. That's my $0.02 worth.
After following this thread, I have to agree on not sending good money after bad. I was burned on a music "compilation" cd with distribution scam, along with some other artists, back when I was doing a little touring.
As promised, I E-mailed Tom and said no Thanks. Not all is lost, I will be working with Manny, to produce new and better Frisco decals, since we are going to have to start all over, it will take some time; but we will succeed.
