very interesting!! I knew that you'd had a problem with Dean, and that it stemmed from an uninsured shipment. I did NOT know that there was a torn envelope involved. Here's why I found it interesting...

I was very new on ebay (a month or 2). I bid on some of vegasclarks auctions, and won 3 of them. I bid on one that I didn't win. The 3 that I won were all low value chips....a $1 Four Queens "current", a $5 Reno Horseshoe, don't remember what the 3rd one was. I also bid around $60-$65 on a New Frontier chip with the building on it. I was "sniped" on that one.

I got an email from Dean, saying he had another New Frontier chip, and he'd sell it to me for my bid price. His "rating" was over 700, with more postives than that (from repeat buyers). He had NO negatives. I thought he could be trusted, and accepted his offer. I sent him a check for $92 or $98 or something like that. He never mentioned insurance, and as an ebay "newbie" it didn't occur to me to ask.

When I received A TORN bubble mailer , and NO chips I contacted vegasclarks. He assured me that all I had to do was contact the post office and they would refund my money. I was used to U.P.S., and they automatically insure every package for $100, so that sounded right to me. Now, of course, I know better.

After a trip to the post office to get claim forms (for the "lost & found"....not for a refund) I emailed Dean for some information for the claim form. I told him that the post office would NOT cover uninsured mail. His response was that he would not offer insurance, as he did "not want to stand in line at the post office"!!! I asked him for positive feedback, since it looked like that was all I was going to get for my $90+. I NEVER asked him for anything except mailing information, phone number, etc. for the postal claim form, and positive feedback. He ignored my request for feedback, and refused to give me his phone number for the claim form! That did it for me.....after spending $90+, and a couple of trips to the post office (and at least one more trip yet to happen), an ebay seller who "didn't want to stand in line at the post office", my request for feedback was ignored, and then he wouldn't give me his phone number for the post office! I left FACTUAL negative feedback. Vegasclarks, of course, left retaliatory negatives calling me a scammer and a few other kind words. To this day I will NOT look at his auctions.

Carl, I'm amazed that he offered you anything!! He didn't even offer me a $1 Four Queens to replace the one that I didn't get!! (BTW, I've NEVER, NEVER, NEVER claimed that vegasclarks didn't send my 4 chips.....I DO say "buyer beware of this guy" because he was a total A** in our transaction.) Anyway, the torn envelope and postal regulations were something he learned about in February, 2000 (I think). Did your transaction happen after that?

I also learned, AND TOLD DEAN, that he did NOT have to GO TO the post office to insure his packages.

Sorry about the long post.