Ray Cornett
New member
What is the name of your state? California
I am in the business of repairing and restoring vintage fountain pens.
Back in early/ mid-2016, my fiance got an injury that required complete bed rest for months. That being said, my business and the work it involved had to be put on hold. Near the end of 2016, I also got an injury that resulted in a serious infection, sepsis, and then having to have my big toe amputated. This resulted in me being bedridden myself until early 2017. During this time customers continued to send pens in for repair which means I would be even more backed up when I was finally well enough to get back to doing the work. In the meantime, I was involved in a trade of one pen with a lady and it never arrived. I told her I would get another pen just like it and send it to her. This apparently took too long for her, although she said she understood. As a result, she went online into one of the forms for fountain pen collectors about this but did not mention my name publically. However, she evidently told my name to one of the worst pot stirrers in these forums who decided to blast me in the forum which started an entire storm of drama. People saying I was stealing people's pens, ripping them off in trades and such even though they were people I had never even dealt with.
These lies all but killed my business.
I eventually caught up on all repairs with the exception of two customers. 1 customer's pen needs a certain replacement part which has proven difficult to find. I have kept in contact with him and he has been understanding. The other customer has been negotiating a trade with me for the pens he sent to be repaired.
Upon getting caught up on the backlog I began accepting new customers. I had no problems with any customers from then until now. One lady sent me two pens. One was a normal, very low end cheaply made vintage fountain pen worth less than my fee for fixing it, and the other used a glass nib, which was broken. I finished the normal pen and waited for her to send the replacement glass nib for months but she never did. A few days ago she became very demanding that I send her pens back as is and that it had been over a year since she sent them to me. This is true but that is her fault in my opinion since she knew I was waiting for her to send me the replacement part.
She received the pens back from me in the mail today. I discovered that she had gone into one of the forums telling people I had her pens for two years instead of one(I never even talked to her until August of 2017, so 2 years is impossible), and that I am the one that broke the glass nib, that I did not fix the other pen and even switched out the nib on the pen for a cheaper one which is not possible. The pen was a very low-end pen with a cheap steel nib. I couldn't possibly have a reason to switch out the nib for another. I never removed it from the pen at all.
I am being told people want to charge me with mail fraud and theft.
I am in the business of repairing and restoring vintage fountain pens.
Back in early/ mid-2016, my fiance got an injury that required complete bed rest for months. That being said, my business and the work it involved had to be put on hold. Near the end of 2016, I also got an injury that resulted in a serious infection, sepsis, and then having to have my big toe amputated. This resulted in me being bedridden myself until early 2017. During this time customers continued to send pens in for repair which means I would be even more backed up when I was finally well enough to get back to doing the work. In the meantime, I was involved in a trade of one pen with a lady and it never arrived. I told her I would get another pen just like it and send it to her. This apparently took too long for her, although she said she understood. As a result, she went online into one of the forms for fountain pen collectors about this but did not mention my name publically. However, she evidently told my name to one of the worst pot stirrers in these forums who decided to blast me in the forum which started an entire storm of drama. People saying I was stealing people's pens, ripping them off in trades and such even though they were people I had never even dealt with.
These lies all but killed my business.
I eventually caught up on all repairs with the exception of two customers. 1 customer's pen needs a certain replacement part which has proven difficult to find. I have kept in contact with him and he has been understanding. The other customer has been negotiating a trade with me for the pens he sent to be repaired.
Upon getting caught up on the backlog I began accepting new customers. I had no problems with any customers from then until now. One lady sent me two pens. One was a normal, very low end cheaply made vintage fountain pen worth less than my fee for fixing it, and the other used a glass nib, which was broken. I finished the normal pen and waited for her to send the replacement glass nib for months but she never did. A few days ago she became very demanding that I send her pens back as is and that it had been over a year since she sent them to me. This is true but that is her fault in my opinion since she knew I was waiting for her to send me the replacement part.
She received the pens back from me in the mail today. I discovered that she had gone into one of the forums telling people I had her pens for two years instead of one(I never even talked to her until August of 2017, so 2 years is impossible), and that I am the one that broke the glass nib, that I did not fix the other pen and even switched out the nib on the pen for a cheaper one which is not possible. The pen was a very low-end pen with a cheap steel nib. I couldn't possibly have a reason to switch out the nib for another. I never removed it from the pen at all.
I am being told people want to charge me with mail fraud and theft.
