[meteorite-list] Update: Stolen meteorite shipment

[Gary Fujihara]

Aloha,

Since my original post on this subject June 1, a lot has transpired  
and I thought it in the best interest of the parties involved, as well  
as the members of this list to know (as the late Paul Harvey would  
say) "The rest of the story".

The meteorites I had purchased were won on ebay in a bulk auction that  
took about 3 hours to run.  I paid for the items, and they were  
shipped out of South America soon after.  When the package arrived, I  
eagerly went to the post office to claim my treasure.  After the  
discovery of the theft of my meteorites in shipment (I received an  
empty box from the post office), I staggered home in disbelief.  I  
emailed the seller notifying him of the disaster, but did not hear  
from him in a couple of days.  At this point I was not a happy camper  
and filed a grievance with IMCA, a claim with eBay and Paypal, and  
wrote my email to the list.

The seller responded to my emails, was empathetic and offered to  
assist on his end by filing a claim at his post office, and suggested  
I do the same at my post office.  I returned the next day to file a  
claim at the USPS.  Meanwhile Maria Haas, representing IMCA, responded  
almost immediately by contacting both the seller and me separately  
first to gather information from each other's respective viewpoint.   
She extracted the facts and shared with me the IMCA code of ethics and  
the issues of insurance, customs, taxes and other things that which I  
was not aware (but were reiterated by list members in response to my  
email).  She then took steps to mediate the situation in as tactful a  
manner possible.

At some point, the seller offered to share the loss with me, and  
agreed to refund me half of my payment if I would drop my claim with  
Paypal (which was withholding my payment to him until resolution).  I  
dropped the claim, the seller reimbursed half my loss and the rest, as  
they say, is history...but wait, there's more.

Since then, I have become a member of the IMCA.  Not to become a big  
dealer, but to establish and uphold a modicum of the integrity and  
honor that was demonstrated to me by the characters in this story,  
themselves upstanding members of the IMCA.  I have learned a lot from  
them and other IMCA members and dealers, and am dedicated to extending  
and perpetuating those values to the current and next generation of  
meteorite enthusiast.

BTW, the seller (as many of you can guess) is Eduardo Jawerbaum, and I  
am a happy winner and recipient of some of the meteorites he had on  
auction a couple of weeks ago!  Yes, I bought some more meteorites  
from the same person in the same country and postal system from which  
my previous shipment was stolen.  Slow learner?  Repeat offender?   
Obsessed collector?  Maybe a little of all, but I must tell you that I  
am happy to continue to be a customer of Eduardo, and the proud owner  
of the freshest Franconia you've ever seen.  Mahalo Eduardo ... Peace  
and poi.

Gary Fujihara
AstroDay Institute
105 Puhili Place, Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 640-9161, fujmon at mac.com
http://astroday.net