Posted by lance_ryley (lance_ryley@…>)
I noticed someone’s post saying “find it on ebay.” I’ve certainly
done my share of that. However, even more than the adage “cheap is
good,” it is also sage advice that “if it sounds too good to be true,
it is.”
Recently, some Tylaska snap shackles were being sold on Ebay at
ridiculously low prices. If you know their product line, then you
know that a) it’s pretty darn good stuff, and b) it’s not cheap. Over
on Sailing Anarchy, someone posted “get em while they’re available.”
It turns out that nearly the entire Spring run of Tylaska shackles
had been stolen and sold. Tylaska and the police caught the
perpetrator (inside job), but by then the shackles were gone and the
money spent. To add an element of danger to the whole episode,
somewhere between 2 and 5 % of the stolen shackles were stolen from
wholly untested or test-failed stock.
Tylaska is asking anyone who may have bought their shackles from ebay
in the past few months to send them back directly to their facility
in Mystic, CT for testing. They are only asking people to pay for the
return shipping. He feels that whether the gear was stolen or not, he
has a responsibility to make sure no one is using unsafe, untested
equipment with his name on it.
I know there are good deals on ebay, just be wary of the grey and
black marketeers. I’m pretty impressed with the way Tylaska is
handling this, despite the heavy loss to his business.
Lance
Posted by Fargo Rousseau (fargo_r@…>)
Thanks, Lance, for taking the time to write this up… Excellent cautionary tale.Fargolance_ryley <lance_ryley@…> wrote: I noticed someone’s post saying “find it on ebay.” I’ve certainly done my share of that. However, even more than the adage “cheap is good,” it is also sage advice that “if it sounds too good to be true, it is.” Recently, some Tylaska snap shackles were being sold on Ebay at ridiculously low prices. If you know their product line, then you know that a) it’s pretty darn good
stuff, and b) it’s not cheap. Over on Sailing Anarchy, someone posted “get em while they’re available.” It turns out that nearly the entire Spring run of Tylaska shackles had been stolen and sold. Tylaska and the police caught the perpetrator (inside job), but by then the shackles were gone and the money spent. To add an element of danger to the whole episode, somewhere between 2 and 5 % of the stolen shackles were stolen from wholly untested or test-failed stock. Tylaska is asking anyone who may have bought their shackles from ebay in the past few months to send them back directly to their facility in Mystic, CT for testing. They are only asking people to pay for the return shipping. He feels that whether the gear was stolen or not, he has a responsibility to make sure no one is using unsafe, untested equipment with his name on it. I know there are good deals on ebay, just be wary of the grey
and black marketeers. I’m pretty impressed with the way Tylaska is handling this, despite the heavy loss to his business. Lance