I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

[lund6771]

that's a great question Eric?

Would this have stopped if he didn't get caught?..One can only speculate...

I also saw a post about Fukushima and some Dallas Cowboy's jerseys around 12-13 years ago...If I remember correctly, he had many of their thowback jerseys listid in an SCD ad...Shortly afterwards a collector who had boughten from Fukushima posted a full page ad in SCD about the transaction...(ads those days were running around a $1,000 a week)...he stated that he had contacted the equipment manager of the Cowboys and was told that the team still had possession of the jerseys...the guy went back to Fukusima to get his $, and Fukushima would not refund it to him...out of anger he spent a lot of money to expose Fukushima in SCD...he let everyone else know who had bought one of these, what the facts were...

Dealers like Fukushima have been able to do this to people for years...so what if they screw a collector over....who is the collector gonna tell?...because of the ineternet and this site, collectors do have a voice without taking $1,000 ads out in SCD

Maybe & hopefully he has changed..,.but by looking at a time frame from the Cowboys incident to shill bidding, around 10 years lies in between...who knows what else has happened in the mean time...has his ethics really changed?...or is he just sorry that he got caught?...to many unawnsered questions here for this guy to be working for an auction house

[allstarsplus]

Eric,

I also believe that people should be given second chances. I know there are forum members who have done business with Ron and have been happy with the product and the service. I've never personally done business with him but have heard good things from others who have.

Regards,

Dave

Dave - Your quote above seems to be such a softened stance given your writings from 2005 where you didn't mince words.

Here's what you wrote about him on the old site

This is total crap...

July 4 2005 at 12:54 PM Dave (Login CollectGU)

Response to Ron
TRUST NO ONE....that's basically what this hobby has boiled down to. There are no good guys. Ron was supposed to be one, but if Ron was shill bidding, then he is STEALING people's money, and is CORRUPT.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/37997...+total+crap...

I also believe in 2nd chances depending on the severity of the issue, but is it just a crazy coincidence that now that Ron has an association with the authenticator for AMI you now have a change of heart?

Your quotes of TRUST NO ONE...STEALING...CORRUPT are extremely strong words and now you write "have heard good things about him".

Dave, you seem to now talk from both sides of your mouth. It was great to see you voice yourself in an unbiased way in your July 2005 post and now.....Ron's association changes and all of a sudden "I also believe that people should be given chances". Why didn't you say that in your July 2005 post about Ron?

Dave, when are you going to come clean and write with the same objectivity on Lampson and other issues as you did on that July 2005 post?

Andrew

[kingjammy24]

"Were the consumers affected by the shill bidding refunded their money?"

great question. anyone know the answer? did ron's feelings of guilt simply stop at an apology or did put his money where his mouth was, step up to the plate, and actually make restitution for his fraudulent actions?
to top it off, just like rick kohl, ron was allowed back on ebay.

"Would this have stopped if he didn't get caught?"

do most of these people stop if they aren't caught?

anyway, i'm sure many people have had successful and enjoyable dealings with ron. for me, regardless of the item, life is too short to deal with cheats.

rudy.

[both-teams-played-hard]

[reed1216]

Holy crap!! What has all this turned into?? I feel like I just waded into the Amazon and a school of pirhanas has made its way to me and there's no escape...

Ron admitted he was wrong and has obviously paid a price for a mistake. Not to diminish his error- it was wrong. But what do you guys want? Should he fold up the tents, call it a career and retreat into obscurity?? I ask that everyone who has crushed him for his mistake, have you ever done anything in your personal or professional life that you regret??? I include "personal life" because his errors are as much an indication of a character flaw as a professional one.

I try my best to run my life in a manner that will contribute to me being proud of the person I am and hope to become. However, to portray myself as a flawless figure would be a grotesque distortion. I have made mistakes. I have also been burned by others who have made mistakes. But the bottom line is that we have ALL made mistakes and those who have gone out of our way to be accountable for the mistakes we have made are far better than those who use half truths and semantics to hide theirs.

Let's all back off Ron until there are some FACTS that substantiate him being a crook today. I haven't purchased from Ron in years. In fact, I almost bought his ARod Rangers set, before opting for a jersey with MeiGray papers that was photomatched. It really bums me out to see him being lynched for a mistake that he went out of his way to be accountable for. No one here is perfect and (in my humble opinion) it's time for us all to look at ourselves in the mirror and evaluate what it is we see.

To those that are perfect, you will probably miss my point. But I hope the rest of you can see what it is I am suggesting. Ron doesn't deserve a medal for admitting a mistake, but he does deserve some forgiveness for being accountable for one......

[Eric]

Reed-

I don't want to speak on behalf of other people, but whenever something like this comes up you'll find that once they or a fellow consumer has been burned, taken advantage of or in this case stolen from (let's remember, that's what shill bidding is), it's hard for many people to forget.

If people have since had positive experiences with Mr. Fukushima, then that's terrific, maybe he did turn things around- but I hope people were compensated for their bids being inflated.

If not, then the issue is still unresolved.

AMI is comfortable with Mr. Fukushima being added to their 100% Authentic authentication staff, which is fine- it's their business decision- just as it was their business decision to play dress-up with the game used equipment, but once again, the consumer does not have to choose to forgive.

The hobby is about taking calculated risks- Is the item genuine? Is the wear from the player? Do I trust the source?

People can choose to forgive those who have tried to take advantage of them, or they can choose to deal with people who would never take advantage of them.

Your name is your value in this hobby. In this case, Fukushima put that on the line when he chose to shill bid. People can forgive if they choose to and I respect that, or they can choose not to, and I respect that too.

When trying not to get ripped off on the next deal, the consumer has the right to make that decision.

Just my opinion
Eric

[kingjammy24]

"But what do you guys want?"

only what's fair; restitution. ron said he was sorry but i'd like to know if he was sorry enough to actually give back his fraudulent profits. if i ripped you off, would you be satisfied if i simply said "sorry about that" and kept the money?

"have you ever done anything in your personal or professional life that you regret???...the bottom line is that we have ALL made mistakes"

the idea that all mistakes are equal is beyond ludicrous. we've all made mistakes but very few of us have sunk so low as to intentionally defraud people. i'm not perfect but i've never sunk that low. have you? we've all made mistakes but it really takes a special sort of degenerate to scam people out of their money. it's insane to think that not calling my mother enough means i'm no better than a guy who scammed people out of their money.

"..a mistake that he went out of his way to be accountable for."

so you're saying he paid back all of his victims? if so, that's great. honestly.

rudy.