I found my stolen sho-bud on ebay What shoul I do?San- Fran!

[Michael Douchette]

Alex, my wife is an eBay power seller. I have her checking on this for you. Don't know if we can help or not, but we'll give it a shot...

[Alex Piazza]

thanks everyone for helping! This is burning me up watching my favorite thing ive ever owned being sold by someone else.

[Bo Legg]

Alex Why don't you win the bid and then not pay after he sends you the address where to send the money or email him and ask if you can be picked up.

[Bo Legg]

Alex I was trying to say see if you can meet him and pick it up after you win. Maybe show up with the sheriff. By winning at least you have an adress of some kind.

[Alex Piazza]

well bo, that sounds like a good idea, but im in arkansas. It would cost me over 1000 dollars to make that trip. And I dont think i could get the police to cooperate with me. They basically laughed at me.It was like the scene in the big lebowski when he finds his car and asks the officer if he had any leads.

This guy has sold over 400 + items with almost 100% feedback. He seems somewhat legit. he probably bought it from some fencing outfit at the laney college swap meet.

[James Mayer]

Somewhat legit?

"I like it straight up". Riiiiiggghhtttt. He happened to find a "straight up" steel that is just his rare flavor of pedal-steel-without-pedals and now he's selling it on eBay. The seller knows it's stolen.

[James Mayer]

If all else fails, you could tell him to ship it to you and you won't press charges. If you can somehow get his info and show him that you have his address, he might not call your bluff.

[George Plemons]

The police won't help? I bet if you try to make a trip out there you will find these police so busy there writing tickets they don't have time to "protect and serve". I have a 20 gauge shotgun, give me the guys address!

[Alex Piazza]

yeah james, i could tell the auction was b.s from the beginning. It just seems wierd that hes sold so much crap without any negative feedbacks. getting his info is the hardest part. I just dont want to spook this guy, and have him unlist it and dissapear. i dont know what to do really.

[Russell Nugent]

The police may not have enough evidence for a search warrant but there's certainly enough probable cause for them to subpoena ebay and get the seller's address. Than they could at least take possession of the guitar and hold it for safekeeping until its ownership can be proven. In the past 20 years I've worked for four police chiefs and none of them would have settled for me telling a victim there's nothing I can do, especially if I believed I knew where the victim's property was.

[Alex Piazza]

russell, i agree. ebay even gave me a phone number specifically for law enforcment to call them in these situations, but these a-holes wont even do that. im trying to get ahold of somebody that gives a damn in the police department.

[Russell Nugent]

Things, as they say, flow downhill. I'd try to contact the chief, or mayor's office. It can't hurt.

[Jerry Roller]

Alex, do you know the serial number of your guitar or if not can you trace thru where you bought it and get the serial number. You need the serial number to provide to the authorities but you don't need to get it from the guy who is selling. You need to be able to prove ownership. My son was a police officer and detective and I asked him what you should do and he told me you sure need the serial number to provide to the police. Do you have a bill of sale with the serial number on it? I sure hope you can get your guitar back.
Jerry

[Alex Piazza]

jerry, i bought the guitar here in arkansas from ron fredrickson. I dont have the serial number. I dont think the police out there would help me even if they had the serial #.

[Jerry Roller]

Alex, I know Ron, he is here in my town and I give him steel lessons on Thursdays. I will see if he can come up with the serial number. If you can prove ownership I think something can be done about it. If it is indeed your guitar you can make the bidders aware that they are bidding on a stolen guitar and stand a chance of having it removed from them should they purchase it. I will let you know if I can get the serial number. If you obtain the serial number from the guy who has it in his possession you will remove your chance of proving it is yours.
Jerry

[Alex Piazza]

thanks jerry

[David Doggett]

Alex, are you talking to the police in Arkansas or in San Francisco? If you can get the serial number, you might try contacting the District Attorney's office in San Francisco.

[Alex Piazza]

im talking to the san fran police. I wouldnt even think about callig these jokers here.

[Ben Jones]

man, how frustrating must this be for poor Alex!. I cant help none, but just wishing the best for you Alex and that you get your guitar back.

The police here (Seattle) will no longer come out for car accidents unless someone is injured, leaving the two driving parties to fight out whos fault it is amongst themselves on the street...you can imagine how well that usually turns out. I saw an accident a while back, two SUVs totalled completely..womens and children crying in the street. the cops wouldnt come.
of course the lady who's fault it clearly was insisted it wasnt her fault and I ended up in court as a witness. woulda taken a cop all of 15 minutes to do the paperwork and declare fault. Couple weeks later, some lady hit my car and insisted it was my fault...it sure was fun arguing with her on the street over whose fault it was. (insurance companies declared it her fault...duh!)

anyway Alex....thinking good thoughts for you and your ax.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Alex, what a bummer. Here's what I would do first. Contact resident SGF security dude Bobby D. Hunter. A search here or on the old forum should return an e address. I know he mainly deals with scams that pop up on the forum and I think his forte is internet scams, but he's a pretty savvy guy and might be able to advise you as to how to proceed with this matter.

I'm sorry to hear that the local police are not interested in helping you recover your gear. I wish you the best of luck with this situation.

[Brian Henry]

To make sure this goes nowhere could we help Alex by bidding it up to $100,000 and then retracting the bid at the appropriate time.

[Bob Hoffnar]

Alex,
Do you have any friends in SF ?
I have a few that might help.

Shoot me an Email

[James Morehead]

Private email sent.

[Joe Alterio]

I'll second the advice to WIN the guitar on eBay, get the guy's mailing address and phone number, and then tell him you WON'T press charges if he mails the guitar back to you ASAP. Scare him, and get your guitar back.

[Mickey Adams]

Ive opened a dialouge with the guy.. I will be in Oakland on the 29th...I am scheduled to have all day there. Im waiting for him to reply with his regular email outside ebay...forget local authorities...they wont do squat...Do you have the original reciept or any proof that its yours?..police report...etc?..He probably didnt steel it, but you can bet he probably knows who did....Who cares, stolen property is stolen property..