guidothepimmp wrote:
shees..
talk of being moral eh? what with so many willing to give bird some stick because he decided to waste your (oops.. correction).. his money on a cheap knock off.
would have thought there were other things to preoccupy ourselves with than some dude no one here knows buying knock off gibsons.
anywho.. i dont really care either way.. im with jack..
lol
Regardless of the issue whether someone gets scammed or whether the OP deserved what he got, I've got three major problems with him wasting our (oop.. correction).. his money on a cheap knock off.
1. Fake Gibson's, fake Fenders, fake Sony TV's, fake Nike shoes and fake District 9 DVD's should not exist. Gibson (and all these other brands) worked hard over many decades to establish the name that they have and be able to to put that name on a headstock. People took risks to bring a business off the ground and their risks paid off. This cheap Chinese wanker did nothing to deserve the right to put that name on his headstock. He's simply trying to ride the wave of someone else's success. Being scammed by him is one thing and I abhor it, but willingly investing in his criminal business is perpetuating the problem so I consider the OP as responsible for the proliferation of fake merchandise as the cheap Chinese wanker.
2. There is now one extra fake Gibson Les Paul in South Africa. While the OP claims to be honorable (yet, he is willing to sustain a criminal industry) no-one knows what will eventually happen to that guitar. He might sell it off to someone who knows it's fake but will that guy eventually sell it off in full disclosure? I'm almost convinced that somewhere down the line, someone is going to try to sell it off as a real Gibson LP and chances are that some other unsuspecting person who doesn't know any better will take the bait.
3. If enough fake Gibson Les Pauls are in circulation, it will dilute the value of the real Gibson Les Pauls out there. Some other guy who forked out serious amounts of dough for his real Gibson LP might one day find that the guitar just didn't appreciate in value as the expectations were because people have lost faith in second hand Gibson LP's.
So, to tBird, forgive me for not mincing my words but;
1. Fair play to you for being so candid in relating your experience
2. You've garnered more sympathy in this thread than I think you deserve
3. You got only half of what you deserve in terms of ending up with a broken dud for the money you paid. The other half of what you deserve is to be tried in a criminal court.
4. I would strongly discourage you from selling that guitar to ANYBODY else, even someone who knows that its a fake. I'm saying this for a number of reasons but not least of which that it's illegal. In fact, I've got a good mind to try to buy that guitar from you (even if you tell me that it is fake) and then report you to the police the moment the transaction is concluded.
5. You may not want to hear it but your best course of action is to destroy that guitar, lest SARS or the South African Police does it - which would carry with it some further unpleasant implications for you.
6. I'm not sure who you are trying to protect by not revealing the name of the scammer?
