Recently, some of you may have seen posts or even been contacted by a man on Facebook calling himself "Starr Guy", real name John Tsimbidaros, proclaiming that I scammed him or even stole from him, that I am a "liar", or saying various obscenities. Why am I posting this to Astromart before 6:00 in the morning, you might ask? Well, for one thing, I don't know who he's contacting and two, he messaged me on here with some particularly nasty threats.
This man is apparently hellbent on destroying my name, my livelihood, and my ability to buy and sell astronomical equipment altogether because of circumstances he has completely fabricated. He needs psychiatric help. He has already apparently contacted the administrators of several astronomy websites and posted to a variety of Facebook groups at this point. I regret ever interacting with him.
For some background:
John originally messaged me on Facebook asking for advice on a large telescope, which I suggested I might be interested in. I ended up trading an Explore Scientific 5" triplet refractor to him in exchange for that telescope, a homemade 8" refractor which, in an ironic twist, he apparently lied about the manufacturer of (he claimed it was a Unitron, but there is no evidence he was telling the truth). I never promised John a warranty, and not only is he proclaiming I did so but he claims Explore Scientific offers a lifetime warranty on all of their telescopes, which is not the case: "EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC Branded Telescopes [have a] *Limited* USA One Year Warranty once registered within 60 days of purchase" - this telescope was obviously more than 1 year old and he is again claiming it is supposed to have a warranty that not only was never promised in the transaction but literally does not exist, as you can see here:
https://explorescientificusa.com/pages/warranty
I told John I would look into the warranty "issue" initially just to humor him, as I was aware something was off and hoped maybe he would forget about the whole thing. This was probably a mistake on my part and I could've handled it better - but I again never promised a warranty before or during the point of sale. I blocked John on Facebook after his texts began to take a creepy turn, and his screenshots that he posts do not show this part of the story. Again, none of this was on AstroMart.
I decided to put the scope up for sale as it is not realistically something I would ever use and I quite simply don't want to think of it anymore.
John is now not only saying I stole from him and going on an unhinged crusade across most of the known astronomical circles online, but has threatened to call the police on me and has implied physical violence if I encounter him.
This man is not only trying to destroy my good name but indeed wants to ruin my livelihood and is threatening physical harm towards me. I would offer to give him back "his" telescope at this point but I fear for the safety of my parents who would have to do so on my behalf since the telescope is currently on the other side of the country from me.
I have been paying for my AstroMart listings ever since I was classified as a small vendor on this site, which I understand and have had no issue with. I have had years of successful transactions on AstroMart, Cloudy Nights, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace.
I'm just a college student who loves astronomy and telescope making and I am lucky enough to be able to participate in the AstroMart and greater astronomical community and interact with a wide variety of buyers and sellers. It saddens me that people like John Tsimbidaros are interested in attempting to ruin my life because of their own personal issues.
This man is apparently hellbent on destroying my name, my livelihood, and my ability to buy and sell astronomical equipment altogether because of circumstances he has completely fabricated. He needs psychiatric help. He has already apparently contacted the administrators of several astronomy websites and posted to a variety of Facebook groups at this point. I regret ever interacting with him.
For some background:
John originally messaged me on Facebook asking for advice on a large telescope, which I suggested I might be interested in. I ended up trading an Explore Scientific 5" triplet refractor to him in exchange for that telescope, a homemade 8" refractor which, in an ironic twist, he apparently lied about the manufacturer of (he claimed it was a Unitron, but there is no evidence he was telling the truth). I never promised John a warranty, and not only is he proclaiming I did so but he claims Explore Scientific offers a lifetime warranty on all of their telescopes, which is not the case: "EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC Branded Telescopes [have a] *Limited* USA One Year Warranty once registered within 60 days of purchase" - this telescope was obviously more than 1 year old and he is again claiming it is supposed to have a warranty that not only was never promised in the transaction but literally does not exist, as you can see here:
https://explorescientificusa.com/pages/warranty
I told John I would look into the warranty "issue" initially just to humor him, as I was aware something was off and hoped maybe he would forget about the whole thing. This was probably a mistake on my part and I could've handled it better - but I again never promised a warranty before or during the point of sale. I blocked John on Facebook after his texts began to take a creepy turn, and his screenshots that he posts do not show this part of the story. Again, none of this was on AstroMart.
I decided to put the scope up for sale as it is not realistically something I would ever use and I quite simply don't want to think of it anymore.
John is now not only saying I stole from him and going on an unhinged crusade across most of the known astronomical circles online, but has threatened to call the police on me and has implied physical violence if I encounter him.
This man is not only trying to destroy my good name but indeed wants to ruin my livelihood and is threatening physical harm towards me. I would offer to give him back "his" telescope at this point but I fear for the safety of my parents who would have to do so on my behalf since the telescope is currently on the other side of the country from me.
I have been paying for my AstroMart listings ever since I was classified as a small vendor on this site, which I understand and have had no issue with. I have had years of successful transactions on AstroMart, Cloudy Nights, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace.
I'm just a college student who loves astronomy and telescope making and I am lucky enough to be able to participate in the AstroMart and greater astronomical community and interact with a wide variety of buyers and sellers. It saddens me that people like John Tsimbidaros are interested in attempting to ruin my life because of their own personal issues.
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