Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

[frikativ54]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

I just got an email from a guy who's not a member, but registered and has to wait a couple days to post. He said that he also bought a jersey from Boyd; "2007 Roy Oswalt #44 Home Red Alternate Jersey (Heavy Use and Washing!!!), Majestic $250." The jersey came with absolutely no use and was likely game issued. In this case there was no LOA. But it was the same story; the guy got burned from a Boyd item. Sounds like he'll give more details when he is able to comment on here.

[Astros1994]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

I too purchased an Astros jersey (Aaron Boone) from Chris Boyd that came with a fraudulent letter. I sent scans to Mike Acosta.

Not good, not good at all

I was wondering if you could post a scan of the fraudulent Astros LOA for the Aaron Boone jersey. I have received dozens of LOA's from Mike and would be interested in how they differ from a bad one.

Thanks,

Scott

[Preston]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

I was wondering if you could post a scan of the fraudulent Astros LOA for the Aaron Boone jersey. I have received dozens of LOA's from Mike and would be interested in how they differ from a bad one.

Thanks,

Scott

That and any evidence that's suitable/relevant/appropriate for us to see i.e. communication, the fake LOA, the fake item(s). Anything helps!

[eGameUsed]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

All,

Just saw the post. It looks like the forum was down for a couple days. I initially contacted Mike Axosta when I rsearched this following Greg's concern. Unfortunately, my last communication with Greg was o 10/2 as we were trying to work a resolution. I show to have replied last to Greg. I did not receive any other communication from Greg until this was posted. I do regret I lost track of the communication with Greg, due to some business travel and work related issues. I should not be selling as many of you pointed out, as I do get pulled away from hom very often in my line of work.

I contacted MIke Acosta yesterday and let me know what was going on. I do have a dialogue going with Mike Acosta. I was contacted by a person names Patrick via text in late July saying he had Astros jerseys and bats he was looking to move. He was a local person that had a local phone number. I was offered 5 jerseys and a Biggio bat, all with Astros LOAs. I know Mike sells jerseys and Biggio bats with LOAs as they are on ebay all the time. I ended up purchasing the 5 jerseys, but passed on the bat. We agreed to meet and had a agreed upon price. Upon meeting, I checked each jersey and all looked good. I briefly looked at the COAs, but no issue. I did look at the Biggio bat COA closer as I was interested in what it said and I do personally collect Biggio bats. This occured in late July. The price of the jerseys was higher than what the Astros were offering these for at the time on the $50 Flashback Friday sales, but they were good names and the letters seemed appealing.

In regard to the letters, I have purchased 309 jerseys from the Astros authentics program since 2009, and I have personally only received 4 COAs from jerseys from Mike. I strongly requested these LOAs as they were for high end items in my collection. As Mike knows, I did not press the issue on LOAs owed from the past as I know he is busy and it is a big list. Mike rarely offers LOAs now as it is a time conuming task. If I wanted letters for any jerseys, I am sure he would have granted those to me eventually. There is another ebay seller and forum member that has a lot of Astros LOAs, so assume Mike would have obliged me as well. In addition, I have purchased one bat and one jersey from ebay with COAs. I also purchased these 5 jerseys from the seller in July.

Call me naive, but I was more worried about the jerseys at the time. I only personally started to sell off some jerseys at the end of the season as 1. I way overbought this year at the $50 sales and 2. purchased a few older Astros items from a estate and wanted to get some money back. You can look at my ebay history and forum history and see I do not sell often.

I do not refer to myself as a dealer any longer and did receive permission from the moderators prior to posting last year. Originally I posted a for sale add, it was removed, and then was granted permission after asking if I could sale.

I have been collecting, buying, selling, for 24 years. I have been burned countless times. I have made stupid mistakes and decisions in the past, but assure the forum/community I did not create these LOAs.

As stated above, I am working with Mike Acosta on this and hope to help with any informtation he needs.

Leslie . . . Barry Gallace contacted me two weeks ago with his concerns over the use on the jersey. I admitted to him that I felt I overstated the use and or sent him thw wrong jersey. I recently purchased multiple Oswalt jerseys at the last two Flashback Friday sales. I offered him to swap the jersey or refund, and he said he did not have time to send things back and forth. He contacted me today and asked for a refund. I have granted that and told him I would promptly refund as soon as he send it back, including return shipping.

Thanks,

[eGameUsed]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

Greg,

I regret your first Astros transaction was sour. I am sincerely sorry for that and please understand I meant no ill intent. I do not know how we broke communication, but wish I could have helped you.

I have been doing this for 24 years and guess I took for granted the LOAs. I was not trying to pass something I knew off as bad to you.

Mike Acosta is a good guy and has helped Astros collectibles tremendoudly. He has advised me on items and I have done the same for him. I have seen a lot, but this one got past me.

Fortunately for me, I was not out a TON of money. I am glad that Astros jersyes prices have come down significantly since 2009 when the Astros started releasing these, or I would have been out even more.

Thanks,

[rays54]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

Never a bad dealing on this end.

[hfd0035]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

[quote=eGameUsed;305916]All,

Just saw the post. It looks like the forum was down for a couple days. I initially contacted Mike Axosta when I rsearched this following Greg's concern. Unfortunately, my last communication with Greg was o 10/2 as we were trying to work a resolution. I show to have replied last to Greg. I did not receive any other communication from Greg until this was posted. I do regret I lost track of the communication with Greg, due to some business travel and work related issues. I should not be selling as many of you pointed out, as I do get pulled away from hom very often in my line of work.


Leslie . . . Barry Gallace contacted me two weeks ago with his concerns over the use on the jersey. I admitted to him that I felt I overstated the use and or sent him thw wrong jersey. I recently purchased multiple Oswalt jerseys at the last two Flashback Friday sales. I offered him to swap the jersey or refund, and he said he did not have time to send things back and forth. He contacted me today and asked for a refund. I have granted that and told him I would promptly refund as soon as he send it back, including return shipping.

For what its worth, I show the last communication in green 10/2 9:00PM. Your reply is in grey 10/16 5:52AM. Also notice the same issues with my Oswalt and Barrys. No wear on either that were described heavy wear.

[Preston]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

First of all, I want to say that as a fellow Astros' collector, this situation disappoints me greatly. I had always trusted that items with an Astros' LOA were legitimate. When things like this happens, they undermine my trust in team letters. Collectors should be able to have confidence in team LOAs.

I have the same questions as Joel about the Collector to Collector Classifieds. I thought dealers were not allowed to sell there. I emailed the moderators a while back asking about such things, and I did not get a response. So I just figured that it was a free-for-all for anyone who wanted to post there.

Sad to say, my experience with Chris Boyd has not been positive either. Those of you who are new to the forum may not remember eGameUsed's past history with game used bats, but it bears mentioning here. A few years back, Boyd was called out for doctoring a Pujols and a Carlos Lee bat. He later confessed.

Here are the threads:

Pujols bat

Carlos Lee bat

Chris later admitted to doctoring both bats, in a thread where I called into question his listing a game issued Bagwell bat on his website as game used. Boyd later sold the bat on eBay as game issued with no use whatsoever.

I know these threads are from a few years back, but I don't think that obviates the need to examine eGameUsed's history. In the context of the Team Letter, it tells a lot about the ethics of the man we are dealing with.

Here's a thread from only a year ago about a questionable Biggio jersey sourced to a Chris Boyd sale. As I recall, it was like pulling teeth for the guy who bought it to get his money back. Boyd eventually refunded the buyer, but it took pressure from me and other forum members for the guy to see any money.

In closing, I am very disappointed to read about this situation, but I'm glad to hear that it was made right by Mike Acosta with the Houston Astros. I've worked with Mike as well, and he is an excellent guy. He really was under no obligation to replace the jersey, but he did the right thing and made the situation better.

But where is Chris Boyd in all of this? Why the silence? If someone has a problem with an item, why not try to correct the situation? IMO, it's suspicious that he didn't immediately refund the forum member. If I were to ever have a problem with one of my transactions, I'd make it right immediately. I want my buyers to be happy and for them to be able to put their trust in me.

To me this is still an underlined concern.

FWIW I have had 1 transaction w/ Chris Boyd and it was a great one. But the above concerns me and leaves more questions than answers. My other question is, if Chris didn't produce the fake LOAs, who did?

[xpress34]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

I guess I got EXTREMELY lucky then because I actually was the one doing the selling, and in this case, had the power.

People like that that knowingly commit fraud should be placed in prison. Period.

As a former Loss Prevention Agent, I can tell you that while working for Nike, any state that they had a store in had the same law - Fraud is a Felony, regardless of the $ amount.

I don't know Mr Boyd, but when things like this come up - especially past indiscretions to which he admitted guilt - it's a hard pill to swallow that he knew nothing was wrong with these jerseys or COAs. Especially when you see how many jerseys he has dealt with from the Astros over the years.

I have purchased 309 jerseys from the Astros Authentics program since 2009

Regardless of whether you only received 4 LOAS 04 40, you have had more than enough inventory come through your hands to know what you are describing and selling.

I travel a lot for work as well, but on the rare occasion that I do go through a selling phase, I take the time to make sure that I send what was sold. Once, I could understand, but twice? And the same item basically?

I'm sorry, but I won't be doing any business with Mr Boyd anytime in the future.

Just my .02

- Smitty

[bagbig]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

At what point will people realize this guy is a fraud?!?!? It is like groundhog's day on here. Boyd had ripped off countless people. I am sure there are many poor suckers that got screwed by Boyd that are NOT even members of this forum. In every phase of collecting he is a fraud- he puts up "Paying Top Dollar" for certain items, then you email him and hear nothing back. The only time Boyd contacts you is if he is getting ready to rip you off. If he does buy an item from a fellow member, he just rubs it in their face that he got the "greatest item of all time". Lord only knows how Boyd sleeps at night. Shameful.

[xpress34]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

One other item of note - and this goes to the OPs 1st post and Mr Boyd claiming he was 'busy' and 'lost track of the communication' with the OP.

OPs last Msg to Boyd was 10.2.12 (per the supplied screenshots) and Boyd didn't respond until 10.16.12 (again per the screenshots) - the day the OP posted his concerns here on GUU.

Interesting that Mr Boyd came here, not once, not twice, but EIGHT times between Oct 4 and Oct 14 to 'UPDATE' his jersey thread in C to C, add a GU Pants thread in C to C and even reach out to another member regarding a question they asked here on the forum, but was too busy to reach back out to a buyer.

Again, just my .02

Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck....

[tella27]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

Egameused is a joke - EVERYTIME he gets caught he has some sad story about him not knowing or have been ripped off in the past blah blah.. It's been proven that he doctors items - now is that a mistake? He's been shown to ignore people when they have issues after purchase and also that he doesn't always ship the item if you pay as a gift. These are things he's done a few times and been caught!!! How are these continued to be just passed off as mistakes like he's a child and didn't know better? He just said he's been doing this for 24 years - these were done purely to SCAM someone and make money. Where does it end - first it was making bats looked used now its faking COAs!! It's not a question if this guy did these things - the question is why is he still allowed on the forum?

[slab0meat]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

I can't say I'm that surprised he's still around. The C2C section often has items posted that are on eBay, and people make multiple posts instead of one for multiple items... just two rules that aren't followed.. and occasionally items are sold over $500. Rules day a poster is suspended immediately for breaking them, without warning.. Also says GUU doesn't moderate that forum (though to enforce those rules, don't they have to?)

ANYWAY... too much evidence against the guy.. sounds like "stay away" is the safest option.

[frikativ54]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

Egameused is a joke - EVERYTIME he gets caught he has some sad story about him not knowing or have been ripped off in the past blah blah.. It's been proven that he doctors items - now is that a mistake? He's been shown to ignore people when they have issues after purchase and also that he doesn't always ship the item if you pay as a gift. These are things he's done a few times and been caught!!! How are these continued to be just passed off as mistakes like he's a child and didn't know better? He just said he's been doing this for 24 years - these were done purely to SCAM someone and make money. Where does it end - first it was making bats looked used now its faking COAs!! It's not a question if this guy did these things - the question is why is he still allowed on the forum?

This is what I cannot figure out and what I have put in bold above: Why is Boyd still allowed to post on the forum? There have been numerous examples of items doctored and multiple instances of forged LOAs over several threads.

Also, I've never been able to forget how Boyd responded to me when I had an issue with a jersey a few years ago, and I confronted him on GUU about how his story did not make sense:

"Frik,

I don't have to disclose any and all items to you! I can lie about what I have, I can hype up my items, I can change my mind, I can choose to sell, I can choose to make as much profit as I want! You can disagree all day long and tell me I am wrong, but I can still do what I want."

-Chris Boyd (link)

If, by his own words, Chris does not feel he is under any obligation to tell the truth, then how can we believe the stories he tells?

How do we know that there really was a "Patrick" that sold the jerseys with the fraudulent LOAs to him? How do we know that he's bought 300+ Astros' jerseys? How do we know that it was a mere mistake that the Oswalt shirts were described as having great use when there really was no use? Or that letters merely got switched up?

The simplest explanation is usually the best. And it's pretty clear here what that explanation is; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to connect the dots.

[bagbig]

Re: Fraudulent Houston Astros COA

If anybody believes Boyd's excuses, then call me- I have some oceanfront property in Arizona.....