steven_moseley1 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 "I wonder if this is the "Rocky" that attends many of the camera fairs in the UK" Yes, this is the one and same. He still has a stand at many UK camera fairs. Most of the gear is 'car boot' standard. His business philosophy is of the school: throw enough mud and some is sure to stick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astral Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 "I wonder if this is the "Rocky" that attends many of the camera fairs in the UK" - "Yes, this is the one and same". Thanks for the valuable confirmation, Steven. Yes indeed, the overall quality of gear that I have seen on his stand has been pretty poor, and sometimes overpriced compared to other traders. Beyond that, his attitude generally has not inspired confidence in me. The only things I have bought from his stand are those that can hardly go wrong - like a strap or tripod screw: mechanical and electrical items seem too much of a gamble. AC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_shriver Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Well, my lens was in the condition I expected from the photo. Scruffy, but the glass was clean. There were no defects that one could spot by external examination. Shipping was very slow, it was two weeks between him receiving payment and posting the item. It was wrapped in a lot of bubble wrap (no peanuts), which is good, the box was new, but of the lowest grade of cardboard (came rather mushed). There was no proactive communication on his part, no notification of shipping, etc. Lots of friendly sellers, who cherish their reputation, do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_moseley1 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Hi, John...I am surprised you expected more. It is perfectly clear from his listings that he is a 'stack em high, sell em cheap' kind of dealer. He simply does not have enough time in the day to do any more than he does. He lives (I believe) near Poole on the south coast and drives all over the UK to different camera fairs, which from that extreme south location must be a nightmare. He was at the big London Photographica fair this last Sunday just gone. He had one of the largest tables and was surounded by his usual mountains of well-used gear...and had more people around his stand than any other... cheers Steve.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo_cortez Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 Looks like eBay read our comments ;) Just check the new feedback policies!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_beckrich1 Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 A lot of scare comments posted here. I just received my puchase from Rocky. * Better than described. * Perfectly packaged. * Works as it should. * Faster than I expected. Will I bid on his stuff again? You bet! When you look at the scope of his listings, it's obvious that this guy deals in volume... not hand-holding. That's my $0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Not scare comments ; accounts of actual dealings. You are fortunate, and there are bound to be many such positive transactions given the volume of trading he does. But "hand-holding"? I'm a fairly experienced amateur photographer, and don't need hand-holding. What I need is for the item sent to be the one ordered. I don't consider that expecting the lens I ordered to be for the camera it was sold for, and not some completely different camera, to be "hand-holding". It's only fair and proper that those who have had good dealings should report this in the same thread, and you've rightly done that ; but once you've had one or, in my case, two unpleasant experiences with this guy, and seen what happens when you try to get redress, or your money back, your opinion could take on a different colour. Good as it is to get what you paid for, it's what's supposed to happen. A significant number of his customers don't get that, and given his practice of blacklisting those who won't leave him positive feedback, his feedback rating may underestimate that dis-satisfaction rate. Jessica's original caution is still a propos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham_lack Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 I bid successfully on three items from him some time back, but he never sent them I had to surmise after 3 months, and I never received replies to my emails. If one examines his feedback it is clear that the vast majority of his negatives are from members outside Britain. I guess he figures we are far enough away for comfort. The other trick is feedback inflation. It appears he "sends", say, 30 items to a (probably bogus) "buyer", then appends "great item, hope to trade again" or some other meaningless feed 30 times in sequence to his list, thus pushing the negatives way back off the screen, and -- he supposes -- off our radar. He never sent the 30 items I would alledge and the buyer is part of the ring I think. I did get my money back by registering a complaint with the British Police in Bournemouth, closest I could get to Ferndown where Keith Rock (who he?) lives. I got cash (Euros) in 5 days! Hope this helps, it's worked for a few others around the world. Just google "Bournemouth" and "police". I know it sounds extreme, but the Brits are pretty hot on Ebay crime and I had tried emails, Ebay, Square Trade et cet. British Chamber of Commerce were quite open to discussions too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_r_riley Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Last year I ordered a 28mm lens which was listed "in PERFECT CONDITION" from Mr. Rock. When it arrived, it was immediately obvious that the aperture blades were stuck and would not stop down. I contacted Mr. Rock and he claimed that it worked when he put it in the box and that it must have been damaged in shipment. I told him there were no signs of damage to the box and no breakage of any of the bubble wrap. He finally agreed after several e-mails to let me return the lens. This is where I made a BIG mistake. I mailed it to him without requesting a delivery receipt! Dumb, DumB, DUMB!!! After 3 months of e-mails and denials on his part that the lens never arrived, I finally gave up. I considered leaving negative feedback and filing a dispute with ebay and paypal but as a very very low volume buyer, I didn't want to get the inevitable negative feedback from Mr. Rock. It was obvious that I would barely scratch his feedback percentage, but he could decimate mine. I began watching his auctions for the lens to reappear at which point I was going to file a complaint regardless of what he might reply with. However, I soon realized that I had made another serious mistake. I'd lost the papers which I wrote the lens serial number on, so I could prove nothing. I firmly believe that Mr. Rock sold the lens fraudulently and also received it back and later resold it to another sucker either on ebay or elsewhere. Avoid this fraud at all costs. Also, it appears that he is trying to cover his tracks now. he has changed the name of his store to rockycamera and as of this moment has NO items for sale... Maybe someone finally caught up to him that he couldnt hide from... Thanks for the hints Graham. I may contact the Bournemouth police as well. The more people complain about this slug the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_r_riley Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Correction... he does have current auctions and all are listed under "rockycamera". He seems to have left his previous alias behind. My previous searches showing ZERO listing were centered around his old ID (thought he had just changed the name). Right now he has 100% postitive feedback (likely self generated using his shadow buyers). Be warned... rockycamera = the old member446885, aka K.G.Rock, aka Keith Rock. Buyers Beware!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_moseley1 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Hi, Michael...I am an old hand with evilbay...this is what you should have done: 1. Any returns to sellers should always be sent via a 'signed for' service. In the UK, use 1st class recorded for items up to £36 and special delivery for items over £36. 2. If the item then 'goes missing' you can claim from the Royal mail. I had a similar instance where a lens was totally mis-described. It was worth £42...I sent back via 1st class and the seller (like Rocky) claimed it never reached him. I ended up claiming from Royal Mail and at least got £36 back. 3. You still SHOULD talk to your local trading standards office. They may take up the case and they should contact the Bournemouth office. However you could contact them directly yourself and see if this gets you anywhere. Even if it does not, if others complain..they may get the idea he is worth looking at more closely. They can issue warnings even without proof of wrong doing. The police are pointless....they will only get involved if there is 100% proveable fraud. 4. You should have left neg feedback...the concerns you had are unfounded. Any sensible ebayer can see through the retaliation neg you may have received. The f/b system is now changed, as of about two months ago, sellers can no longer leave any neg ot neut f/b for buyers. I totally disagree with the change, but it may have helped in this sitiuation. I strongly suggest you start a new thread and re post your story with his new ebay ID. cheers Steve.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 member446885 is not the first name he has traded under on Ebay. I cannot remember what it was, but he's certainly changed his trading name several times. Notice that his feedback as rockycamera, currently 100%, is all as a buyer, not a seller. He has been buying cheap bits and bobs priced at £0.99, £1 and so on, stuff that is clearly going to end up in a re-sale auction, bumping up a feedback score on the way. Guess what he's doing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtlawyer Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Early in the history of Europe and Great Britain, there was a thing called the "market ouvert". It was an open market in the town square. The important thing about it was that any item sold there gave good title to the buyer, even if it was stolen. The market ouvert does not exist any more, except as E-bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farside Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Keith Rock is somebody who will never be getting any of my money - he seems to have changed his ebay ID to rockycamera now, perhaps to start with a new sheet uncontaminated with negs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farside Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 "rockycamera" Hah - guess that'll teach me to read to the end of the thread before throwing in my two Euros. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham_lack Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Keith Rock has now sold some items under his most recent name 'rocky camera'. It seems to be the old "nice lens cap, nice lens cap, nice...." routine. And some items appear as if they might have been multiple sales (same item, same buyer...or same item differerent buyer perhaps). Odd, too, that the alias 'member 446885' does not show when one tries to call up previous ebay names from his profile. Covering his tracks excellently it would seem. Well none of this bodes well, so keep on your toes everyone. Just for the record, the Bournemouth police did open a file on him and did log a number of complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Under the member446885 alias, he's recording a high number of positive feedbacks. One buyer has given 53 feedbacks in a row, all positive, all with the same text (including spelling errors). Hmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_mitchell Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I did know the negative reputation of Rockycamera and bought two lens. They were both described as "optically perfect" but they both arrived with fungus yesterday. They were that dirty that I doubt they were properly checked for fungus, though the rest of the lenses seem fine and they were cheap. I mailed him through the paypal resolution process including a link to my photos of the lens fungus. Definitely a refund is in order, I am waiting for a reply so will see what happens until then I will reserve my judgements. One thing is the shipping cost is more than the lens cost (I am in Ecuador). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_mitchell Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Sorry should have said I DIDNT know the negative reputation of Rockycamera before I bought the lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_mitchell Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Well I got a part refund immediately as soon as I began a Paypal dispute. That was fair of him so I cant knock the guy and I am pleased with the outcome Obviously I think that his items should be checked more, because one faulty lens I can understand, but both of them being faulty simply should not happen in the first place, because of that I left a neutral feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 You may not want to deal with him again, but be aware that he classes neutral feedback as negative feedback, and his 'T&Cs' say that he will ban anyone from his auctions who leaves him negative or neutral feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_mitchell Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Yes I was aware of that and no I would not buy from him again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_korn Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 I had the misfortune to buy several of his items, 5 out of 7 items arrived broken. He insisted that they must have been damaged in shipping, however the items were missing pieces that were not in the packaging..obviously they were broken before they were shipped. I have learned my lesson and have blocked him from further searches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I hope you took advantage of the new eBay feedback rules to leave appropriate feedback for your experience. It was this seller's practice always to leave retaliatory feedback, even for neutral comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham_lack Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 <p>I just found <a href="http://www.rockycameras.com">www.rockycameras.com</a> -- quite a new site it would seem. In the section "about us" Keith Rock talks of his "excellent reputation" that he has "built up" on Ebay. I would of thought that 22 negatives in the last 12 months alone, combined with some prime examples of what I would alledge is feedback inflation (3 entire pages with the same comment "all fine"), might just give rise to immanent feelings of misgiving. But there you are, just the cynic in me. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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