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Topic: Steinar vs Eric Brown |
Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 7:33 am |
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Steinar - Did you ever get anything resolved with Eric Brown?
For those who may have missed it, here is a link to the original topic.
Lee, from South Texas |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 10:08 am
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Thanks for asking, Lee. I never heard back from him, and I didn't expect to...
The newspaper that ran the story where he claimed I had used one of his guitars to record with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt (wish it was true, though...) printed a retraction (is that the right word?), and that was the most important thing for me.
This story has been spread pretty well over the internet, so I would guess his reputation has suffered a well deserved blow.
I have a formal complaint saved on my PC and ready to send to the 'proper authorities', but frankly I'm not sure I'll bother, not for $400, so I haven't done anything with it so far.
I have submitted a review at Harmony Central, but they don't seem to be willing to publish it. After emailing them three times asking why the first review didn't show, and not receiving any reply from them, I submitted one more which hasn't shown either.
So I guess their policy is to not publish 100% negative reviews, or perhaps they don't think it's okay to review a product that never arrived. Which kinda makes sense to me, but I still find it a little irritating....
So that's where it stands now, and I try to focus on more positive matters, like my upcoming CD release for example...... 
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 10:29 am
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Ok, but what about for the principle? [This message was edited by HowardR on 15 February 2006 at 10:30 AM.] |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 11:02 am
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the principle. I dont think enough money has ever been minted to cover that.
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Mike D
From:
Phx, Az
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 11:05 am
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If not the principle, how about the interest?
I was hoping this thread was going to involve some headcutting, or at least frypans at 20 paces!
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Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.
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Don Kona Woods
From:
Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 12:49 pm
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Steinar says,
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| I have a formal complaint saved on my PC and ready to send to the 'proper authorities', but frankly I'm not sure I'll bother, not for $400, so I haven't done anything with it so far. |
Steinar, my encouragement is to do it. Scoundrels depend on inaction to continue to perpetrate their fraudalent schemes. If he has done it to you, he will do it to others.
We will give you more support if you need it.
Aloha,
Don
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 12:58 pm
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immoral if need be....  |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 3:41 pm
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Well, thanks for the support and encouragment.
But for one minute, try to remember a few things,- I'm thousands of miles away from the US, and I don't know anything about how to go about with this in the US and what your routines are in cases like this.
Several agencies and offices has been mentioned to me, some were disagreed upon by various posters in the original thread, and frankly I have no idea how to navigate in all this. At one point even the FBI was mentioned to me...
And I have no idea what these different agencies does and how they work, they're just names to me - and one thing is mailing off a complaint to 3-4 various agencies, but there will be responses (I assume), and how do I deal with those - so the temptation to just let it slide is big.
If this had been a Norwegian luthier I would have known exactly how to rip him a new one before he knew what happened, but the whole transatlantic thing makes it all feel a bit more confusing than I appreciate.
So basically I would need to be 'walked through' this step by step, because I don't have a clue what 'proper authorities' I'm dealing with here..
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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Russ Young
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 4:38 pm
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Steinar, this is America, and we're Americans: never too busy to stop what we're doing to help people from other countries find their way through the complex, often perplexing -- and sometimes frustrating -- American legal system. It's part of the sharing, caring spirit that forged this great land of ours.
And we only charge 33 percent of what you recover ... |
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Loni Specter
From:
West Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2006 7:10 pm
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Get me the guys phone # and I'll have a friendly chat with him. Perhaps a word from another builder will do the trick.
I only take 20% |
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Russ Young
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2006 8:23 am
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| The Harmony Central "review" of the Incredible Disappearing Eric Brown Lap Steel has been posted. |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2006 8:49 am
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Russ, thanks for the link.
now that is clever.
hadnt thought of that.
good thinking Steinar.
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Bob Smith
From:
Allentown, New Jersey, USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2006 8:56 am
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| These things are best resolved by a "surprise, in person visit". Maybe one day you can pop in and say hello to him one day. I know its a longshot , but its worked for me before.Or get a USA friend to pay him a friendly visit. Best of luck, bob |
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Loni Specter
From:
West Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2006 9:03 am
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| I spoke with Eric and he seems like a regular guy. I'll report any progress on the subject. |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Feb 2006 5:01 pm
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Loni, he's a regular guy alright. He regularly rips people off. This is not the only instance of this type of behaviour on his part.
It's real simple. After taking Steinar's money, he should have made good on his end of the deal and sent him the guitar. Not only did he fail to do that, he seems to think it's perfectly okay. He has had ample opportunity to make it right and ample opportunity to tell his side of the situation. On the rare occasions that he has responded to emails about this, he was vague and disingenuous.
He might sound like a regular guy on the phone, but his actions speak louder - he cannot be trusted or believed.
If you read the original topic (link provided in Lee's post) it pretty much tells the whole story. He even has the audacity to say that he considers Steinar a friend.
I doubt if he'll ever make it right, but at least he has been exposed. He's famous now.
In fact now if someone gets screwed by a builder, they can just say they've been "Eric Browned" - and everyone will know what that means . .
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Feb 2006 6:07 pm
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Eric is a very nice guy when talking to him on the phone, which is why I trusted him even after I learned that he had let another guy use my guitar on the road for several months while telling me that it was "delayed in production".
I was a fool and consider the money for lost and the whole story as one of those things you have to go through in order to learn a thing or two about people.
I would of course be happy if the money showed up on my PayPal account one day, but I don't believe they will and it's not the most important thing for me,- he is properly "outed" and hopefully others won't have to go through the same.
Steinar
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www.gregertsen.com
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