reopen thread?

[Sully]

Regarding a thread I recently closed, I received the following in an email from Charles Lent.

My gut feeling is to reopen the thread so that Charles can add this information minus that part "I think it was stolen". What say you?


"Jay,

I just went and looked at the saw that you closed the thread for and, although it seemed to be a nice saw, I think it was stolen. I was trying to look at it for Shamrock and was prepared with cash to buy it for him, but the guy got real upset when I asked for a receipt. He then sait it wasn't for sale and ushered me out of his garage, shut the door, and turned the lights out, leaving me in his driveway in the dark.

I think he'll be better off finding a saw that is legal. I would have put this in the listing, but you closed it too quick.

Charley"


Here's the thread:
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36785

On the other hand, there is another thread with the same saw, where Charles could post his input.

 

[TracyP]

If it is indeed stolen, I would leave the thread closed.

 

[Douglas Robinson]

This brings up an interesting point. Quite often members post a deal they have found that is not theirs (usually on craigslist). The old adage "if it is too good to believe, it probably is" might apply. Should we remind the people that make these posts a lot of this guide? In bad economic times tools are stolen more often. Should we do anything different?:dontknow:

 

[McRabbet]

I agree that the thread should remain closed. Perhaps Tracy can add a few words to the guidance for the "Found for Sale/Hot Deals" forum that it is the buyer's responsibility to verify the quality and validity of the offering and that no endorsement is implied.

 

[ScottM]

This is a very thin line as there are legit super deals. In this case and based on the seller's actions I concur with leaving this closed.

 

[MikeH]

I think Charley may have crossed the line. Check out this post on CL I just found. I really think Charley went a little too far with this. What should we do?

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/tls/2180472490.html

Thoughts?

 

[Sully]

I just received an email from Charles with the following text (copied below). Rather alarming.

I think the whole thread should be moved out of sight until it can be thoroughly discussed. Not just closed but moved where web bots won't pick it up.

"
Jay,

Is there any way to remove my comments and posts regarding this saw? My wife got a threatening phone call from him last night and I'm going a bit paranoid about cutting my easy access ties with the world now. I realized that everthing that I posted can be easily viewed by google and I don't want this. My only intent was to warn other members about the saw and they have all likely seen my posts. The trouble is that they will be available on google for everyone to see forever. I'm going to report his call to the police tomorrow, but I'm getting a bit paranoid about this situation here. Anything that you can do would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just editing out or deleting my comments so it doesn't show forever on google.

..... [unrelated commentary removed for brevity].....

I'll greatly appreciate anything that you or the board can do,

Charley
"

 

[Sully]

FYI, I just "unapproved" the whole thread so it goes into the moderation area while this get's sorted out. I hope that was the appropriate thing to do.