Dave Williams Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Rob is up to his old pattern again. He stiffed me on CMR stuff, just like he did on Aerodynamix stuff long ago. I ordered some stuff from his latest renaming, Cornwall Model Resins, off of eBay over 5 weeks ago. Over 3 weeks with getting the items, I sent messages to him via eBay and also via the LSP messages. After a few days, he replied to the eBay message, saying he had a touch of the flu and was sorry and he would get the stuff right out. Being suspicious, since a touch of flu hardly explains why he couldn't get to the post office for 3 weeks+, I replied to him through the Paypal dispute center, so that Paypal would have a record of the emails if it became necessarty to upgrade to a claim. When I tried to submit the dispute, Paypal came back with the message that his email was unavailable and would I like to upgrade to a claim. I did, and he was given 10 days to respond. Two days later, Rob sent an email through the LSP message system, basically repeating what he said in the previous email and said he'd make good the Aerodynamix order too, because he had "everything". I replied, saying that he needed to respond the the Paypal claim and just worry about the CMR stuff for now. After that nothing was heard. The 10 period expired and I won the Paypal claim by default because Rob never responded. I only got a fraction of the money back as there wasn't enough in his account. Folks, I don't know if Rob is malevolent, in over his head, or just the unluckiest man in the world. However, he seems to be repeating a pattern that started with Aerodynamix, went to Cleveland Model Resins, and ended with Cornwall Model Resins. It's always basically the same. It starts out strong with people getting their stuff, then after a time, communications get spotty, and then the excuses come (moving, lost in the mail, hard drive problems, ISP problems, email problems, family problems, etc.). In the end it's all the same. He disappears with people's money. He took my money twice, so I no longer have any sympathy for him. Check out his recent eBay feedback Rob Ebay Feedback Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham T Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Bad luck. This joker stiffed me on ebay as "Aerodynamix" a couple of years back. I can't recall how I made the connection between him & CMR (maybe a posting here on ARC) but fortunately I did & have avoided him ever since. Curiously, before I made the connection I did order some F4 intake guards from him & received them no problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mungo1974 Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 the annoying part is he'll again just start up again with a new user name on ebay...and the process will start over again. its something ebay should really address IMO.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted November 26, 2006 Author Share Posted November 26, 2006 Part of the problem is that he'll probably use a hotmail address like his last one. With the availability of all of the free internet mail servers like yahoo and hotmail, people can come back again and again with different names and you don't know who it is until it's too late. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted November 26, 2006 Share Posted November 26, 2006 Folks, I don't know if Rob is malevolent, in over his head, or just the unluckiest man in the world. The fact that he's done exactly the same thing, three times, strongly suggests the former to me. And particularly the fact that he re-appears with a new name each time, trying to hide the fact that he is who he is (more than a few people who got stung as Cleveland said they would have known better if it was Aerodynamix - same will probably happen again as Cornwall). I got a kick out of the posts when Cleveland was 'outed' as involving Rob Clements. It's not like the thing's a multi-national corporation! It's not even a small business with half a dozen employees. It's a one-man show - Aerodynamix was Rob Clements; Cleveland Model Reins was Rob Clements; Cornwall Model Resins IS Rob Clements. Exactly the same way that other small aftermarket companies are effectively one-man shows as well: Twobobs, Zotz, Hi-Decal, Leading Edge... In fact, cruising around eBay recently, I noticed a store selling F-4 FOD covers, AIM-9Xs and the like, and chuckled to myself, wondering how long it'd be before Rob's latest company started getting reports of screwing people over. At this point, anything even remotely tied to the guy is poisoned from the start, to my mind. If you see a small retailer, pushing the same products, chances are it's Rob Clements, and chances are, you won't get your stuff. If you see some new company announce an ambitious Tornado F.3 conversion, it's probably the same conversion promised back when the company was Aerodynamix, and it's probably the same chance you'll actually get your hands on it. Really, the only thing I wonder, is whether he pulled this stuff before Aerodynamix. Was that the start, or were there earlier 'companies', and 'personal crises'? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Yes, had many problems with his as Aerodynamix then got caught by "Clevland Model Resins", realised to late that it was the same bloke. I am not sure about his motives I think he is some kind of Walter Mitty character, starts out with good intentions and then it goes down hill. I at least mamanged to get my small amount of product out of him. I agree with others here I wish ebay would stamp on this, I will certainly report it if I see it again. Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabre Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Personal issues aside, Rob certainly puts out some terrific resin goodies. Gordon at Sprue Brothers is the North American distributor for them at the present time. Gordon's reputation is above reproach, as we all know... Good to go, Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Glen the Rotorhead Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 I'm just glad that I stocked up on the Fin wing gloves before he disappeared again! They are really nice. He did leave me holding the (empty) bag on three sets of pylons, but I have been cheated worse and I avoid letting other people's behavior screw me into the ground anymore. Life is too short with too many models to build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spaced Marine Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I still have not recieved two sets of Phantom FOD covers ordered from ebay back in June... I've just written it off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
polybebber Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 He still owes me big, big money for some prepaid 32nd Buccaneer kits when he was still Aerodynamix. When I asked him back then why he wouldn't ship my kits he told me he couldn't produce them because he was suffering from stomach cancer I hope he had fun spending my hard earned money. Lothar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
f5guy Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 You guys are going about this all wrong. I got screwed by Rob as "Cleveland blah blah" on ebay as well. I got his usual lies about having sent the items, then "oh they'll be in this weeks mail", yada, yada, yada. By the time I tried to get my money back from paypal it was past the 45 day dispute period. So I'm screwed right? WRONG! I submitted a dispute claim to my credit card holder, and in three days had the $80 credited to my account. The next thing you know I get an email from him saying that the goods would be shipped that day. I told him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Obviously paypal was all over his *** when my bank yanked the money back from them. This will also tarnish him account with paypal, so maybe they'll eventually shut him down. This probably won't work for your guys that got screwed awhile back or that didn't use paypal, but for those that did, maybe you can get you money back the same way I did Fred K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 Unfortunately, I doubt that would work for people who have their Paypal funds tied to a bank account instead of a credit card. I also doubt that Rob really is worried much about Paypal. If they shut him down, he'll just come back with a new identity and start over again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Davidwatson Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Looks like I got my Gr.7 FOD Guards just in time!! Needless to say they took several weeks to arrive, eventually got them & left him positive feedback but looking at the link to his feedback it seems things went downhill rapidly after my comments. I will certainly be careful & on the lookout in the future :) David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Will2K65 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 (edited) I bought a few things of him at the start of last summer (resin 1/48 AIM-120Cs and AIM-9Xs) and they turned up after about 10 weeks. Fair enough products, somewhat fiddly for my unaccustomed-to-resin fingers, but overall I'd say still worth the cash. Just a shame the service was so poor! Over the 10 week period I sent numerous emails and the responses were always some excuse about moving house, but in the meantime, he'd been redesigning the decals for the AIM-9X so that it was now even better.....why carry on taking business when you're too busy to actually meet your obligations as part of these deals? Its just greed to my mind, pure and simple...if he announced he was no longer taking orders, as he had a backlog or is too busy, nobody would hold it against him. A shame that he chooses to operate a business in this way, because the products that actually come to fruition are pretty fair in my view. But I will never do business with the guy again, and urge others to boycott his sales, until he rights his wrongs and refunds those who he's ripped off, and to be honest I think given his track record the chances of that are pretty slim! Edited January 11, 2007 by Will2K65 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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