Re: [NTLK] Knowledgenavigator

From: Jon Glass <jonglass_at_usa.net>
Date: Sun Sep 07 2008 - 07:54:54 EDT

On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 3:52 AM, Larry Zasitko <l.zasitko@sasktel.net> wrote:
> Ferdi has been around here for a long long time and is greeted with
> mixed reactions, some do not like him for some reason and others are
> fine with him. I have dealt with him several times and I would not
> hesitate to do so again, he delivers what you states. Yes you might
> be able to find things cheaper but you are dealing with unknowns,
> what the old saying.... better the devil you know than the devil you
> don't :-)

Ferdi has a long, and slightly ignoble history on the list for a few
reasons. However, before I list them I will say that he has improved
immensely since the beginning, and he has stuck with it. His story is
actually similar to the stories of J&K Sales, and one other
seller--GEM, I think, that started off poorly, but learned from their
mistakes, and became rather solid dealers of Newton equipment.

Ferdi's "sins": ;-)

1. Using NTLK as free advertising, being quite pushy, and also quite
rude to people who had received bad service, and complained on the
list. The complaints were typically in the form of "watch out for this
guy." Which Ferdi proceeded to confirm by his rather immature
behavior--He has vastly improved since then. Notice how silent he has
been, letting, rather, his customers speak for him. :-) Thumbs-up.
2. Extremely high prices in comparison to other sellers, repair
people, also hyperbole, and some would say, outright lies in his
product descriptions--claiming rarity for some common items. I haven't
checked recently, but I highly suspect this is also no longer true.
3. And probably the most egregious, he resold parts that others in the
community made at higher prices--no big deal, but there is a dispute
in that the other person created them from the ground up, and it
appears that Ferdi copied his work, and made his own copies without
permission--despite the copyright on the circuit boards. If this is
true, it is quite bad. However, I am not in the position to say
whether thiis was true or not. There have been heated arguments
between these two people, and one of them is no longer actively making
Newton parts. Ferdi still sells, and, I presume, makes Newton mods. As
I said, if the accusations are true, then I would have reservations
about purchasing said parts from Ferdi. However, on the other hand,
since the other parts are no longer purchasable... Well... in any
case, the whole ordeal was quite a long time ago now, and some of his
biggest critics are no longer criticizing him, so you have that to
take on board also. I don't want to name names, because the disputes
were long enough ago that it's not worth naming them. In any case,
he's been around a long time, and stuck with it. I doubt he's getting
rich off of Newton sales, or even supporting himself. In any case, if
you think his prices and service are reasonable, I see no reason to
not purchase from him. It was well over 5 years ago that the ugly
stuff happened, and the only "blowups" since have been more personal
in nature, IMO.

Having said all that, I have no desire to dig up the poor, long-dead,
and surely smelling horse, just to flog it a few more times. I thought
it fair, however, to give a bit more detail, so that people who hear
about "problems" in the past are aware of their nature, and can
compare with the present, and judge for themselves. I have no bone to
pick with Ferdi, and wish him the greatest success, but better
knowledge than rumor.

-- 
 -Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass@usa.net>
"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus
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Received on Sun Sep 7 07:54:55 2008

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