(I'll make a form letter out of this reply and will respond to any trade offers from Vic with this note each time he posts. Will also email it to him in case he's interested in all the great feedback from his current offer so far.)

Vic Galante is offering a trade or sale on TheChipBoard, but the general consensus of experienced chippers is that dealing with Vic is definitely more trouble than it is worth.

His most common swindle lately is to offer chips for trade, usually Southeast USA common chips or miscellaneous flea market finds. On at least two occasions, trades with regular posters on this board have gone sour when Vic's chips mysteriously get lost in the mail. When that happens, Vic is unable or unwilling to make good on the deal, and will not respond to public inquiries on this board as well as to private email.

Vic has participated in round-robin trades which are popular on TheChipBoard. Unfortunately, he does not abide by the agreed-upon standards of acceptable conditions, and has ruined at least one round-robin trade by taking out high condition chips and replacing them with fewer, lower condition chips of less value. His excuse was that he didn't have any higher-condition traders at the time, but since then, he has posted scans of higher-condition traders of his own which he is unwilling to use to make good on his previous swindle.

Vic formerly offered chips for sale on eBay under the account alpha1243. I had personally won nine chips from him in October, 2003, for roughly a dollar apiece. Each chip listed a shipping and handling fee of $1.85, and he refused to combine shipping charges, claiming he did not combine shipping: "Thanks for the sale. Again, sorry you were dissatisfied with the s&h fees. Please inquire about combining auctions prior to bidding." The problem here was, he did in fact combine shipping, sending all nine chips poorly protected in a single white business envelope bearing a postage cost of $1.29. For this he charged me $16.65 and pocketed the difference. He refused to negotiate under eBay's Square Trade service, possibly because he knew that fee avoidance by overcharging for postage and handling was against eBay's rules, and he would lose his account. I gave him negative feedback, as did one other customer of his. He has since abandoned the alpha1243 account on ebay and rarely offers anything of significance for sale.

For the most part, Vic refuses to acknowledge or deal with any complaint of poor customer service or trade fraud on this message board. He did, though, attempt to explain the reason he grossly overcharged me for postage and handling: "Profit, pure and simple." It seems he was trying to recoup costs incurred in obtaining the chip, such as gas money for his trip to the casino, which should have been figured in to the starting bid on his eBay lots instead of designated for shipping and handling costs which were never incurred.

Vic is not a member of the CC+GTCC, as he is not qualified to abide by the standards of ethical behavior required by the Club. He formerly posted on this board showing his membership number in a regional chipping club, the former "Deep South" chapter, but was removed from that club over a separate dispute in which he was not willing to make good on a failed deal. Vic is not accountable to any governing board of officials, and he has abused that position with what appear to be blatant dishonesty and carelessness in proposed trades and sales.

If you have been scammed by Vic (I coined the term "Vic-Tim"), one avenue of recourse is to send a letter containing the facts of the situation to Postmaster, Navarre, FL 32566, Attn: Postal Inspector, who will investigate the situation and recommend courses of action. In the meantime, the best prevention is to peruse the archives of TheChipBoard and search on "Vic G" or "Galante" to see the virtually unanimous opinion of everyone who has had the misfortune of dealing with this scam artist.

Please feel free to contact me at wayne@deliafamily.net if you have any further specific questions.

Best,
WMD

If you have