Bad ebay'er: buggie4vrl

[hellothere]

If this isn't the place to put this, please move. Or delete. I'm cool with that.

Earlier this month, I ordered two key caps for an Apple M0116 keyboard ("Apple Standard Keyboard," if you prefer). Specifically, caps-lock and option. On the M0116, these are 1U key caps on the bottom row, so a bit unique.

I sent this seller a message through ebay to make sure that the key caps were available, because there really isn't a way to choose which key caps in the ad:

Got the message; thanks. YES: THESE KEYCAPS FOR MAC MO116 [emphasis in original] keyboard are still available for purchase: Option Caps-Lock YES, these two are in the higher-price category for MO116.

When you buy, attach a MEMO to the purchase telling me which keycaps are chosen. OR send me a message at "EBAY MESSAGES."

So, I bought. The ad is still up, if you want to take a look.

What I received was an Option key cap and a key cap with a handwritten sticker on it that said, "Caps Lock." There was also a handwritten letter included with the package (I wrote a portion on ebay, but space limits):

Sticker on low-cost keycap, Caps-Lock, Caps-Lock [sic], ESC, and SpaceBar are the three [sic] most popular keycaps. This sticker cap is a temporary keycap [underline in original] to use until you get an original of it. You are billed at the low cost rate [i.e. the cost of "unpopular" keycaps, like "Z"] so you will be sent a partial refund for the 2/3 overpayment on the caps-lock.

That's kinda like advertising a Rolls Royce, but when you pick it up, it's really a Beetle with a Rolls Royce grille on it.

I bought a bag of Alps switches from this person in 2020. "LOT-OF-TEN 'CLICKY' ALPS SWITCHES KEYSWITCHES; WHITE STEM-COLOR." (Item number: 32412475398. It's in my purchase history, but the ad is long gone.) I got a bag of mixed white Alps and cream damped Alps switches. I guess I didn't learn my lesson, then.

I bought a couple M0116 partial sets from someone else here, IIRC, so my keyboards are all good.

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I think I mentioned a while ago that this person is also the "creator" of the "SKCM BLUE ALPS KEYSWITCH + LOT-OF-10 BLUE CLONES Clicky! Tactile!" ad. The "blue clones" are Matias switches that the seller painted blue or used a blue marker on. To one-up that, he also advertises, "SKCL GREEN ALPS KEYSWITCH + LOT-OF-10 'CANADA RED' KEYSWITCHES!" The red switches are, again, Matias -- and "Canada Red" is a made-up name. Also note that a bag of 200 new Matias switches costs $50.

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Am I going to bother ebay about this? It's not worth it to me. I'd rather just tell people to watch out for this seller.

[John Doe]

What I received was an Option key cap and a key cap with a handwritten sticker on it that said, "Caps Lock." There was also a handwritten letter included with the package (I wrote a portion on ebay, but space limits):

Sorry but wife asked me why I stupidly laughed louder

[Polecat]

I bought a K104 case and PC board froim Buggie on ebay a while back. The case was nice, but the PC board had probably twenty pads pulled loose from poor unsoldering. I didn't care, because all I wanted was the case. But it was ironic, because he included some of his instruction sheets as part of the deal, including one about how to unsolder Alps switches. He also included samples of his "Canada Red" and "Canada Blue" switches, which were standard Matias clones with blobs of colored paint on the sliders. The guy is a psychology professor or something, so who am I to say he's batshit crazy?

[hellothere]

BA, MA and PhD in psychology. Also into uranium, so I might have to call a hazardous waste team so I can throw out all the junk he sent.

I received ...
* A business card for his uranium business.
* A professionally-printed flyer for the Red Rock Balloon Rally, with a note saying he's flown in balloons 14 times.
* Two pictures (like, real photographs that you had to hand over to someone for processing) of him at Apple II Kansasfest.
* Printouts:

-- His biography.
-- "Mechanical Switches: Dreaming of the Blue Alps."
-- "Apple II's Vintage Early Years: DVD Video Highlights."
-- "These Keyboard Brands Used Alps Keyswitches."
-- Advertisement for his Apple IIc enhanced EPROM service.
-- Advertisement for his "superior" Apple IIc power supplies.
-- Another printout on Apple II EPROMs.
-- Another another printout on Apple II EPROMs.
-- "Desoldering and Replacing Mechanical Key Switches on Apple II or Mac Keyboards."
-- Home address and phone number.

I think that his shipping costs could be lowered by not including all of the above.

[Polecat]

I did a bit of searching, and it appears the guy has a bit of a following in the Apple II community. Mostly from selling replacement power supplies and EPROMs. He can't possibly need three bucks badly enough to be hand labelling and selling individual keycaps. I was trying to convince myself that he really thought he was trying to help. But his psychology teachings include "perception" and "motivation", which sheds some serious doubt on that. Oh, he's also selling "Canada Gray" (Matias Quiet Click) switches now, for those who didn't want a balloon flyer badly enough to buy the "Canada Blue" or "Canada Red" ones.

[thefarside]

I bought some switches and caps from him and got similar stuff, along with an invitation to attend a conference where he was presenting on alps switches. The switches were soaked in the “Max-Pro” lube he references and I didn’t like the sound and feel and decided to use them just for spare parts.

[robo]

This thread was more entertaining than I expected.

It does seem more like "odd eccentric individual" than "ebay scammer"... or maybe a bit of both?

Sending a random keycap with a handwritten label is hilarious though. Maybe it made sense in their head?

[hellothere]

The switches were soaked in the “Max-Pro” lube

Yup. I remember that now, from the bag o' switches I bought in 2020. Let's see. It's on Amazon. "#1,494 in Sexual Lubricants." Um. OK, then.

The guy's got 5744 "karma" on ebay with 98.3% positive, so he must have done something right, at some time. Feedback:

Do not trust this person l ordered a. Eprom ,apple iic chip. But reserved a chip a not compatable as described not only did l get the chip the but l receive a package 90% larger than the order full of nonsense another person.

Looks like I have a brother or sister I can commiserate with ...

It was a different key with a paper sticker hand written with the replacement key label. Not appropriate for my restoration. Seller also wouldn't combine shipping which was quite high for such a tiny part.

Past year:
3 bad, not including me
1 neutral
252 good

> It does seem more like "odd eccentric individual" than "ebay scammer"... or maybe a bit of both?
I don't know. I'm positive it takes him a while to get all that documentation stuff put together, then more time to make the little label. My time's more valuable than that. It'd be easier to write a message saying, "Can't find the keycap. I thought I had it next to my pile of Apple IIe parts, but it's not there. Sorry. Do you want a refund for both keys or a refund for the correct key?"