Richard Boutin of " bigdaddycomic17 " (his eBay seller name) and email is [email protected] [richard boutin 67 ithica rd. Brockton, mass. 02302]is lied to me, cheated me, committed fraud, and has stolen $540 from me as well as used obscenities and rude language — bottom line, though, is he has stolen $540 from me. Here is a chronicle of what has happened.
I've retained ALL his and my emails to each other, with header information, unedited in my email inbox as well as my check information, USPS delivery confirmation and insurance tickets. Anyone wishing more information is welcome to all the emails received and sent. Although not all the emails are here in this report (and there are numerous, and many of his replies include the most obscene, foul language) I've included the information emails below and all statements in quotes are precisely as sent and received between Mr. Boutin and myself:
On March 17th, Mr. Boutin and I made a deal for 100 silver age comic books and 300 20 and 25 cent cover priced bronze age Marvel comics. His initial emails were courteous and professional and after some back and forth emailing clearing up the specifics of what I wanted to buy and what he was going to send and the price for all said comics, we came to an agreement and a deal. Here is his email to me, telling me what he was going to send:
"I've come up with another deal for you 100 silver 1960-70 all 12 cent and 15 cent and all marvel for $200 and 300 bronze 20 cent and 25 cent for $300 and all marvel also that's $500 for the comics and add $40.00 for the shipping and dont forget I've still got over 6000 comics coming that I'll go threw and give you 1st dibs on the silver and bronze that i find let me know what you want to do and ill make another list if you want to go ahead bigdaddycomics17 "
On March 21st, I emailed him that I was sending payment of $540 ($500 for the comics and $40 for postage) and here's his reply, confirming again what he was going to send to me:
" make the check out to richard boutin 67 ithica rd. Brockton, mass. 02302 so you will receive 100 12and 15 cent marvel comics in good condition or better and 300 20 and 25 cent marvel comics. Awesome im glad we could come to a satisfactory deal and as soon as I get the lot of comics im waiting on wiche should be soon ill send you another list thanks for the business big daddycomic17"
Between March 21st and April 23rd, we emailed each other regarding the clearance of the check I sent, and he informed me that he was going to send the bronze age Marvels first, and then a box with the 100 silver age Marvels. He was very courteous regarding his banks' delays in clearing the check — there was nothing wrong with the check, it was just (according to Mr. Boutin) taking time for his bank to clear the check — which is why he said he would send the box of bronze age 20/25 cent cover priced Marvels in advance.
On April 23rd, I received the first box ($12 was spent on postage)— a long box of Marvels. Although all the books were Marvels, I went through them and found virtually the entire box consisted of 30 cent or high cover priced Marvels and only a few 20 and 25 cent cover priced Marvels. This was EXACTLY what I told him before even starting the deal that I didn't want and EXACTLY the opposite of what he said he was going to send. See his email above. I replied, courteously, that perhaps I'd been sent the wrong box because it did not have the 300 20/25 cent cover priced Marvels. Here is my email to him and his reply:
Mine: "I received a package today form you — but you sent me the wrong box. Virtually every book is 30 cent cover price or higher. You told me you were sending 300 bronze age (20 and 25 cent cover comics) and 100 silver age (12 and 15 cent cover priced books) but there are only a few 20 and 25 cent cover priced books in this box so am just guessing you sent me the wrong box and that this was meant for someone else.
How do we handle this error? Obviously, I can't use any of these because none are what we agreed on. Do you still have a box of my 300 20/25 cent cover priced Marvel comics sitting around there? Richard"
His reply: "the comics i sent were exactly what we talked about 300 bronze marvel comics in good or better condition and one hundred silver i even sent 5-7 extras so in case there were any doubles but if you want tomail them back no problem the check you sent was $540 minus the postage as soon as i get them ill mail you a check"
Already, you can see the problem developing. For some reason, he completely ignored the fact that he said he was going to send 300 20 and 25 cent Marvels — ignoring also the fact that he hadn't even SENT the silver age Marvels. He offered a refund (less the $40 postage — of which he only spent $12 to mail the box I received) if I send them back. I mailed the package back that very Monday, insured with delivery confirmation. Here is the delivery confirmation number: 0304 3490 0002 5710 7197, with insurance claim number VF 478 805 038 US.
Even though the check had long since cleared by this time, he emailed me that he hadn't even sent the silver age comics yet: "how many comics were there and the dates are all 1979 and under i didnt even mail the silver yet", and to date (May 24th, he hasn't sent the silver age comics OR refund for them OR refund for the comics returned).
We emailed back and forth a couple more times, his emails becoming more and more beligerant and abusive, completely changing his 'story' about what he was going to send — even though you can read above what he promised he was sending, he began lying in his emails that we'd agreed on 300 comics dated up to 1979 (??? Am not sure how on earth he arrived at THAT since we'd already agreed on 300 20 and 25 cent Marvels). He THEN said he wasn't going to refund for the 300 comics but just for the 100 silver age comics (which he hadn't sent) and on March 23rd stated that a refund was on the way already. This of course is also a lie, as it's been a month and no such refund has been received for ANYthing.
Here is his email of Marh 23rd: "listen im just going to send you the money left over and be done with you checks on its way your playing some kind of scam and i dont appreciate it after all the shit i went through to get this done i beleive i owe you around $200 mail it out as soon as possible bigdaddycomics17"
[you can see already that he's running a scam — even if he WAS going to send a refund of $200 for the silver age comics he never even mailed, he's clearly pocketing all the unspent postage — but the postage I sent his that he never even used is besides the point — he never even mailed the silver age portion of the transaction and simply pocketed that money. And he'd already said I should send back the 300 incorrect comics for a refund and is now telling me I'm stuck with the books received, even though they aren't what I ordered and they've already been returned to him]. For the next couple days, we emailed back and forth — I tried, firmly but courteously, to remind him of what he promised and he continously emailed back lies about what he said he was going to send.
On May 11th, I emailed him this email: "As per your email, the 300 comics were returned for a refund. As you're probably aware, they were delivered to you on May 5th. To date, I've received no word from you, no refund, no 100 silver age comics nor refund for them. As I've sent them back for a refund (I still have the email from you which instructed me to do so) I would appreciate the refund and communication from you. Sincerely, Richard Parks, information is below: [this is the official information on the USPS website at the time]: 0304 3490 0002 5710 7197 delivery confirmation You entered 0304 3490 0002 5710 7197
"We attempted to deliver your item at 2:21 pm on May 05 in BROCKTON, MA 02302 and a notice was left. It can be redelivered or picked up at the Post Office. If the item is unclaimed, it will be returned to the sender.information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later."[note: Mr Boutin has since that time claimed the box but refuses to send a refund]
[clearly, Mr. Boutin was refusing to pick up the books from the post office during the first part of May so that they'd be returned to me, unrefunded]. He lied about what he was going to send me in the first place, lied about sending the 100 silver age comics when the check cleared, lied about sending a refund for the 100 silver age comics back in April, and lied about his offer to send a refund for the books once I returned them (because I DID return them and he refused to accept the package).
On May 11th, he emailed: "my e-mail said i was not taking back the 300 comics after you went through them and your $200 check was mailed thank you bigdaddycomic"[again, he's lying — no $200 refund was ever sent or received and he already said he WOULD take the comics back for a refund and now he's saying he something completely different. He can't even remember his own lies]
On May 12th I emailed again, trying desperately to remind him of what he said in previous emails concerning his promise of certain books and his clear statement that I should return them for a refund AND that he said he'd already sent a partial refund of $200 for the 100 silver age comics. Here is his entire reply to me on May 12th:
"go f your self "
I replied that I didn't appreciate the foul language and reminded him again of his promise. Here is his reply:
"we agreed on 300 bronze comics and 100 silver all marvel all in good or better shape wiche i sent my obligation is filled if you feel the need to tak it to a higher authority be my guest but dont say i ripped you off you scum bag stop e-mailing me either send the comics back or shut the f* up "
[So, after all his lies about what he was going to send, and his lies about sending a refund, he calls me a "scum bag". BUT, he also says AGAIN that I should send the comics back or shut the f* up. BUT, I'd already SENT the comics back as he well knew because he'd been refusing to collect them from the post office which was holding the package for him. He DID pick them up after this email as the post office website confirms].
On May 13th, I received an email from him referring to me as a 'whine bag' (well, wouldn't anyone be upset over having $540 stolen from them and then lied to? And despite numerous emails from him using foul language, I never sank to his level to call him obnoxious names or use obscenities... Maybe in HIS warped view I'm a whine-bag, but all my emails have been professional and courteous — he is dishonest and coniving, a fraud and has stolen money from me but I didn't refer to him as a scum bag or tell him to f* himself).
It is now May 24th. I've received no return of the comics nor any refund for the books returned (NOR any refund for the books he never even sent!). He has lied to me, been verbally abusive, cheated me, and stolen my $540. As I informed him well in advance — if he continues to refuse to sent the refund (which by my figuring is $540 — but $528 would be satisfactory in he wishes not to send the $12 he spent on the original package, which ended up being the wrong books anyway... I would accept $528 as satisfactory conclusion of this situation providing I never hear from him again in any capacity), I will be and am reporting the situation to the Better Business Bureau (for improper business practices and fraud), to the Boston Postal Authority and Postmaster General (for mail fraud), to the Boston Police Department for theft, and to any other authorities that might help prevent Mr. Boutin from cheating another customer. I hold out no further hope of satisfaction dealing with Mr. Boutin and at this point I doubt I'll ever see my $540 again. He has cheated me and stolen my money. My only hope now is that this report I'm making might save some other customer the same nightmare I've received dealing with the criminal Mr. Boutin.
RichardMather, California
U.S.A.
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