This is really a long story, but I'll make it as short as I can. Over two years ago I bought a lap steel on eBay, direct from the builder, and liked it enough to order one more with some custom modifications (which has been incorprorated in all his later models).
Long story short; Lap steel never shows and I give up after 1,5 years, builder claims it must have been lost during shipping but cannot show proof of ever shipping it, I never get a refund for my $400 but instead I'm promised a new instrument (which never shows either), and by now I had almost forgotten about the whole thing.

Through all of this I have resisted the temptation of telling the story on this forum (which includes some pretty ugly details that I'll spare you from), but tonight I found this interview through a Google search, and it includes this quote:

quote:

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Since building lap steel guitars, Brown sold one to Steinar Gregertsen of Arendel, Norway, a lap steel slide guitar player who used one of Brown's guitars on the recent soundtrack "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me," which is a tribute done by Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt to the late Warren Zevon.

Brown said that Gregertsen purchased one guitar and asked him to custom-make two more of the instruments.

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That's it, gloves off. I am the sort of guy who always believe the best about people until they prove the opposite, many who know me will probably call me naive, and I had written off the $400 on my "naivety account" - **** happens, especially on the Internet.

But finding this pushed me over the edge,- having the nerve to use my name to advertize for his instruments, and coming up with a story that has absolutely nothing to do with reality, is going too far. Waaaaaay to far....

Sorry about this rant folks, but I simply had to get it off my chest.
I don't see any reason for me to ever contact this guy again - been there done that - but I have written the newspaper explaining the reality of the situation, and I guess that's about all I can do......

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Everything Jim says plus.

Furthermore inform him or them that you intend to contact some investigative reporters of the national or local news media who expose cases of fraud in order to protect the public.

Inform him or them that your case will be referred to the media for the purpose of exposing this as fraud.

They are just dying to get this free advertising.

Best regards,
Don

[This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 14 December 2005 at 01:01 AM.]

IMHO, Steinar is at fault: for being too patient, too accommodating, too trusting and too nice a guy to expose this sad situation prior to now. Unlike some posters who bring their complaints to the forum without first trying to solve them one-on-one, he has tried to communicate with this guy, and has continually extended the benefit of the doubt ... until he read that newspaper story.

I'm glad he has finally decided to bring this debacle to light, because potential lap steel buyers deserve to know about it.

[This message was edited by Russ Young on 14 December 2005 at 04:59 AM.]

BTW, in the newspaper story, he said he's never seen his own Web site, because he doesn't own a computer. So how is he selling on eBay?

I am a very trusting sort like Steinar. I fully understand that the gloves have now come off.
what can I do to help?

[This message was edited by Randy Reeves on 14 December 2005 at 08:37 AM.]

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'49 & '51 National Dynamics, Harmos Model One, Lazy River Weissenborn, Mesa Boogie DC-3, SRV Strat.
http://community.webshots.com/user/keefriff

Let him get bombarded with letters of concern.

Perhaps this should be posted in all music forums.

I added Eric Brown to my "Uncool Guys" Bookmarks folder. I had a similar experience with a local guy who was supposed to build an amp for me. Two years after the promised delivery date I finally got my money back. That used up all the patience I ever had for this kind of crap.

He wants publicity - let's give him some.

You could go to harmony-central.com and write a review about him. If he's not already on their list of manufacturers, you can put him on the list and tell your story for all the world to see. That's what I eventually did in my case. A lot of people read the product reviews there - and once posted they are permanent!

He should at the very least refund your money with an apology.

And here is the Guitarsite page where you can post any remarks you might have about Eric Brown and the way he conducts his business. His email address is on that page too. Nothing like a few dozen emails from irate steelers to stir things up . .

They say any publicity is good publicity, but that might not be as true for guitar builders as it is for movie stars . .

BTW Steiner, I reconized another name in that article and will do a little poking around.

What I believe has happened is that he needed "a name" - not necessarily a known one - that he could drop in that interview (note that he also refers to Cheryl Crow buying one of his guitars from a shop six years earlier - quite pathetic). Now, I know from experience that he isn't very 'friendly' with computers or the internet, so he didn't know this interview would show in Google (he's probably never heard of Google), and that's why he picked my name,- believeing that I would never find out. Well, he was wrong..

Now, if this had been one of my "good" builders, like Jason above, George Piburn, Bill Asher, etc, I'd just send a mail saying that perhaps they went a bit too far and then share a laugh about it all.
But it's the combination of this guy first ripping me off, and THEN using my name to advertize for his products, even coming up with a completely false story, that does it to me..

To answer some questions:
- No, I did not play on that song (it's from the "Enjoy Every Sandwich" tribute album to Warren Zevon), and I have never said or written anything in a mail to him that can be understood that way.
- I have written "Capital Weekly" in Maine, where this interview is from, and explained the situation to them. Unfortunately I didn't ask them to remove the chapter concerning me from their online version, but I assume they will at least confirm that they have received my email, and then I'll get back to them and ask if they can remove it.
The way it stands now it might look like I try to take credit for work I haven't done, and I would never do that.
- His website is here. The quote where he says he couldn't see his own website is from the original 1997 interview, and at that time he didn't have a computer. I'll get in touch with him later tonight and make him aware that I know about this interview, ask (once again) for my money back OR a new guitar (he probably still claims that the old one was "lost" during shipping, something I don't believe for a second, for good reasons I won't go into now, too long a story), and then we'll see...

Thanks again,
Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Then once every Steel Player in the world becomes aware how the guy operates his business, I would start feeling a little bit glad.

At least it might prevent others from having similar experiences!

You asked for the gory details, well, I'd prefer not to get into that at this point but save them for later,- if necessary.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

quote:

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Is it possible the guitar really was lost in shipment and the guy can't find his delivery documents?

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Yes it is, which is why I haven't made much fuzz about it until now, but decided to forget about the whole thing and move on.

But he's lied to me before, and that's why I find it a bit hard to believe. I've probably been involved in 150-200 US/Norway transactions through the net (no, not all of them were guitars...) and only had one other package disappear during shipping. This was a compressor from a shop in New York, and was covered by the USPS without any problem.

It's just too much of a "coincidence"... But I can't prove anything, and incidentally,- neither can he (I would assume the burden of proof is on his shoulders, not mine)..... As I said, I had written this whole thing off as a loss, if it just hadn't been for this article showing up. That's where it went one step too far.....

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Thanks for the tip. I'll stick with the reliable builders and support the builders that support us.

This Eric guy is not a happy camper.

Why does he look so pissed off?

What? he get's to work on guitars all day and lobster's 50 cents a pound in Maine?... Tough life, sheesh!

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 14 December 2005 at 10:33 AM.]

"Steinar Gregertsen, from Norway, one of your clients, previously states you "stiffed him" on an ebay item. Knowing there are always 2 sides to every story, I among over 5000 steel guitar forum members, would like to hear your side. If you cannot find it in your heart to do so I would be satisfied to hear that also. Even though I am a professional writer for a publication in the Ft Worth/Dallas Metroplex, this does not constitute any type of interview, but as a private citizen I'm very interested in the treatment of individuals who do not reside in the United States. Too, I'm considering doing an article, with examples, of how our merchants treat foreign clients, when there are operations out of the public eye such as your transaction with Steinar.

Thanking you in Advance
Fred Shannon, Senior Columnist
Ellis County Press"

quote:

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It seems if someone is going to deliberately set out to scam people, he would do it in easier ways than setting up shop as a guitar builder, then pretending to ship guitars in order to collect money??

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In all fairness,- he HAS delivered to other customers (including one that was ordered on my recommendation ) so he's 'for real' (his Telecasters has a fairly good reputation as far as I can understand), but perhaps he thought he could get away with it since I was a "nobody" from a small country on the other side of the globe. Some of his other actions during this period indicates that.
As I said,- I don't think he fully understand the new Internet age. Perhaps he will now....

BTW - I have emailed him now, demanding that he contacts the editor of Capital Weekly and have the part including me removed from the article, and that he comes up with a solution regarding the missing guitar/money.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 14 December 2005 at 10:42 AM.]

Just making sure all details are correct, I don't want to cause any misunderstandings or misinformation..

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

For me, it is not so much the money (don't have many of them either way) although that is bad enough, but it's the use of my name in a fabricated story. Add to that the fact that he never delivered the goods, and it's just too much.

In this Internet age, I find it extremely important to protect my privacy and especially - my integrity (though judging from a few goofy photos I have posted, some may find that hard to believe.. ).

What I feel has happened here is that Eric Brown has violated both,- he has intruded on my privacy by using me to promote his guitars without permission, and even worse - he has hurt my credibilty by doing so in a fabricated story.

This is a very serious matter, my personal integrity is extremely important to me, and I will guard it by any means available to me.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

As for the guitar and the money, it's his responsibility to make certain that you get what you paid him for or refund your money. It doesn't matter whether it's $40, $400, or $4000.
He took your money and ripped you off. He needs to make it right. If he doesn't we should make sure everybody who might ever buy a steel guitar knows about this.
Oh, wait a minute - we're already doing that.

Eric Brown had better contact you and make reparation very soon or the entire steel guitar community will have him pegged for the dirty dealer that he is.

Here are his email addresses for your convenience.
ebbtone09@aol.com
ecb@mint.net
Rick is right - it's Hammer Time!

and Steinar, I'd be willing to bet there isn't even one forumite who doesn't want to hear ALL the details. This is exactly the kind of thing that needs to be told in its entirety.
Inquiring minds want to know.

[This message was edited by Rick Alexander on 14 December 2005 at 06:17 PM.]