buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

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rotten
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buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by rotten »

Hey all,

I unfortunately recently purchased a Flying Copper from jwart on the banksy forum. I wanted to let everyone know what happened, so people can deal with this guy at their own risk.

He clearly stated in his post that the print was in "PRISTINE CONDITION WITH NO MARKS WHATSOEVER" and re-iterates at the end of his post that "AGAIN THESE ARE MINT CONDITION". Here's a screenshot of his for sale post in case he decides to delete or edit it:

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/8530 ... 0at101.png

Well, the print was about the farthest thing from mint I can imagine. The print had several creases at the bottom of the print and a paper tear on the left hand border, which can easily be seen in these photos:

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/7793/dsc00258m.jpg
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/935/dsc00317vn.jpg
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/1583/dsc00319m.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6126/dsc00318r.jpg

The real kick in the nuts was that the print was actually mounted to some sort of paper backing which was trimmed to the edge of the print. Here's a couple shots of this:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1454/dsc00320rk.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3681/dsc00256pd.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6854/dsc00259a.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3687/dsc00261w.jpg

Needless to say, I wasn't happy and emailed him right away and asked for my money back. I can't say I was surprised when he declined to refund my money, and acted like the backing wasn't a big deal. He states that it is not dry mounted, it was linen backed when he got it, and his framer recommended re-lining it with thicker paper to protect it against creasing. He then said he might be willing to pay for half of the restoration to remove the backing. I was digging around, looking at ebay sales and found this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 669wt_1139

***edit***
gah, looks like it's been 90 days, and the ebay auction was removed. I saved a web archive of it, here are the screen shots:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/6108/s ... 6at105.png
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6108 ... 6at105.png
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6108 ... 6at105.png
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6108 ... 6at105.png

***edit***

It's clearly the same print that he sold me, the creases are in the same spot, and the COA is identical to mine.

auction COA image:
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3737/346349281o.jpg

COA image from my print:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8411/dsc00254uz.jpg

The listing states that it is dry mounted. I don't know how many hands it went through from this auction in February to get to jwart, then to me. I took the print to my restorer yesterday, and he told me he believed it was not reversible. He said he could try to remove the backing by re-heating it in the vacuum press, but that it would possibly damage the print even more...no guarantees. It would also be fairly expensive to try to repair all the creasing. I declined.

Now I'm sure most of you are asking why I didn't file a claim to get my money back....well, I did something incredibly stupid when I bought this print. I broke my first rule of buying from someone I don't know, and agreed to do a bank transfer because he was having trouble with paypal. I should have known better, and probably deserve to have this happen for falling for this.

I'm sure jwart will try to come up with some sort of excuse or defense, but I don't see how he can defend himself...the print was advertised as mint, it's obviously far from mint and he obviously knew that....and that really is the bottom line here. He lied in his post and got me to buy a damaged print, there's really nothing I can do about that, but hopefully this will help keep other from getting screwed by this guy. I don't believe he's on this forum, but I know a lot of people here frequent the banksy forum.

Sorry for the incredibly long post, just thought people should know, and needed to vent....buyer beware.

here's the thread on banksy forum:
http://banksyforum.proboards.com/index. ... read=53159
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slidingaround
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Re: buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by slidingaround »

Sorry to hear that, there have been a few dodgy things about this guy. I thought he was trouble now i know for sure. I noticed you posted it on the banksy forum in his thread. If i was you, id start up a new thread with a title exposing him so people check it out.
Hope you get it all sorted.
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Solar
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Re: buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by Solar »

That really sucks - I hope you are able to work out a refund. In the future, never buy from anyone who types in all caps. Seriously.
Last edited by Solar on Wed May 26, 2010 8:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
ritedere
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Re: buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by ritedere »

That sucks, hope it works out for you somehow.

Did you not ask for any pics prior to buying it either?

Unbelievable that he would claim THAT is pristine condition.
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rotten
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Re: buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by rotten »

I did ask for photos, but they weren't the best quality and it was still in the frame, so the glass seemed to hide all the damage. Honestly, it's my own fault for getting too excited about getting a print I've wanted for years, and not just being patient, moving on, and finding a different one. I may still frame it, not sure....but thanks to everyone for their support here and on the banksy forum.
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rotten
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Re: buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by rotten »

he has since popped up selling items on ebay under the usernames ukghost79 and abnthe....buyer beware
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JErikR
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Re: buyer beware: jwart on banksy forum

Post by JErikR »

Doesn't this qualify as fraud? If this happened to me, I would be looking to make sure this guy learns how to obey law enforcement. Just a thought.
JErikR
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