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View Full Version : Has anyone dealt with a reseller in Arlington Heights IL?



John Noell
07-21-2014, 10:36 PM
There is an eBay listing for an Epilog Helix by someone named aleksn. He says his company has a lab and they regas tubes (but only for existing customers). Has anyone here dealth with him?

David Somers
07-21-2014, 10:56 PM
I haven't dealt with them. But if they are US based you could check with two sources to see if they have any kind of complaint history.

The Better Business Bureau, and the Consumer Products Protection Agency or Bureau for the State they are based in.

The BBB will need to know the city and state they are in. A search for that state and BBB will get you there number.

The CPPA will likely be part of that State's Attorney General Office.

Neither can tell you if they are a good company. But they can at least tell you their complaint history, along with how many complaints have been resolved and how many are outstanding and for how long. Useful info.

Hope that helps.

How long have you folks been in Fiji? Been a long time since I was down that way. Lovely islands and people!

Dave

John Noell
07-22-2014, 3:18 PM
Thanks Dave However, I don't have his comppany name or his full name. At least all communications have been thru eBay with no attempt to go outside them.

And, I've been in Fiji about 14 years now. Living on a smallish island has its limitations. (It is VERY expensive to get laser parts sent here, and we pay duty + VAT even on the freight costs. We even pay duty + VAT on the "retail value" of parts replaced under warranty.) Haven't seen any bleu cheese in about 10 years. :-(

On the other hand, I live near some fancy resorts with big names (Cousteau, Tony Robbins' Namale, etc.) so it's obviously pretty nice around here.

David Somers
07-22-2014, 3:43 PM
Hmmm. At least with EBay if you pay using Paypal you have some assurances of recovering your money if the whole thing goes south somehow.

I took an opportunity while on a long conference call to dig a little. Check out Epilog-laser.com and see if that looks right. They buy and sell used lasers and are based in Arlington Heights.

107 E Central Rd,
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 910-0921

I used to live on the Big Island of Hawaii, and while it is quite a bit bigger than the islands in Fiji it is still out there. I understand the limitation of living on an island. I used to get out in your neck of the ocean a lot to work at American Samoa. Again, a lovely place and lovely people, but it sure made the Big Island seem like New York City! <grin>

Hope that Epilog-Laser company is it. Holler if not and I can try to help more if you like.

Dave

David Somers
07-22-2014, 3:51 PM
Sorry...almost forgot. Their web page URL, Epilog-Laser.ComIs parked on GoDaddy. So their domain name has possibly expired for some reason, or they bought it and have done nothing with it so have parked it for now, but kept it visible. I am guessing the latter since I can see their domain is good till 2019. A whois search on that domain name shows Godaddy.com as the registrar but not a lot else. They have the domain info blocked off. That is fairly normal though, especially if they are holding it to use later.

At least you have a phone number to use for them.

Hope that is them!

Dave

Scott Shepherd
07-22-2014, 4:01 PM
Call Active Lock & Key, which you can see in the google maps street view for that address and ask them if they have a neighbor that sells stuff like that. You can get the number off their vans that are parked out front in the view.

I've be careful with anyone trying to spoof a manufacturers web name like that.

David Somers
07-22-2014, 4:32 PM
Scott and John,

I can see a For Rent sign on the shop to the right of Active Lock and Key. And lots of large boxes under tarps to the right of that empty shop front. Again, no clue what it all means. I think I have seen the name of these folks around for a while, but am not sure, and certainly have no clue what their reputation is. BBB has nothing on them. That is as far as I think I will get this afternoon. Long conference call is ending.

Good luck! I agree with Scott. Be cautious. For what it is worth....you could even try calling Epilog themselves and see if they are aware of these folks. Bet they are!

Dan Hintz
07-22-2014, 5:44 PM
The BBB is all but useless. You can buy a rating from them, which immediately removes any appearance and/or reality of impartiality. I know of companies that would stab you in the back for a nickel, but they have an A+ rating. It's useless.

David Somers
07-22-2014, 5:53 PM
Thanks Dan! I didnt realize that about them. I generally take their ratings lightly, but do look to see how many unresolved complaints a company has going and how old they are as a signal that might need more digging on. No rating, or a high rating with no activity never seemed like it told me anything. I guess I use them as a signal that something MAY be wrong, but not a signal that all is well? Does that fit your experiences with them?

Dave

John Noell
07-22-2014, 8:46 PM
Guys, I am impressed with the help!! Thank you very much! (Or, as we say here, Vinaka vaka levu!) I have the serial number and have emailed it to Epilog. However, when I asked for the name of his company he said this: I do not work for the lab, my company owns a small percentage of the laboratory.
As far as who that is, we are restricted by contracts and I cannot share that info with you. Let me put it this way, If a regass costs you $1100 and your company charges $3800
to the end user, as is the case for lets say a 120 watt laser. Would you want the general public to know about it? That is why we do not advertise regass services. We are restricted by our contractual obligations as we have a continuing flow of work coming in from the major US laser companies. The machine can be inspected anytime and there is a local epilog dealer that is located in Wisconsin and in Indiana that should be able to do a inspection but be prepared to spend a few bucks. Of course a private party inspection can be done as well.

Curious, no?

PS I envy people with fast enough Internet connections to USE streetview. After 15 minutes it has yet to show anything.

David Somers
07-22-2014, 9:14 PM
Hmmmm. Not sure what to suggest to you. Especially where you are an international buyer. If you decided to take a chance you might first double check Paypal to see if being international affects their protections to you. And certainly having the Epilog dealer in that area check it for you would be worth some $$ for the peace of mind. And you can certainly check on the dealer since they are an established business.

Here is the info for Active Lock and Key if you want to call them regarding their "neighbor."

107 E Central Rd, Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 398-0034

Eeks! Interesting conundrum. Time for a cup of yaqona and some pondering I bet!

Allan Rabanales
07-22-2014, 9:27 PM
Small world. This guy had a mini 24 on eBay for $10950. I gave him an offer through email for $9k. He gave me his phone number and asked for me to call him. He actually accepted the offer. This includes Freight shipping to a non residential address. I heard the same thing about the regassing. He said that his brother owns a laser laboratory and that he had them regas the tubes. And also that he would regas them for $1100.
I considered following through until he told me the age. manufactured in 2005.

If you go through eBay and PayPal you should be safe. Good luck

John Noell
07-22-2014, 10:26 PM
Time for a cup of yaqona and some pondering I bet!

You are 100% correct! Seems I have acquired a taste for 'grog' and find it quite helpful for that end of the day mellowing out time. :)

Dan Hintz
07-23-2014, 6:24 AM
I guess I use them as a signal that something MAY be wrong, but not a signal that all is well? Does that fit your experiences with them?
That's the way I use it, and I keep in mind that zero bad ratings in no way tells me they're a good company... but a number of bad ratings tells me something.


I do not work for the lab, my company owns a small percentage of the laboratory.
As far as who that is, we are restricted by contracts and I cannot share that info with you. Let me put it this way, If a regass costs you $1100 and your company charges $3800
to the end user, as is the case for lets say a 120 watt laser. Would you want the general public to know about it? That is why we do not advertise regass services. We are restricted by our contractual obligations as we have a continuing flow of work coming in from the major US laser companies. The machine can be inspected anytime and there is a local epilog dealer that is located in Wisconsin and in Indiana that should be able to do a inspection but be prepared to spend a few bucks. Of course a private party inspection can be done as well.

Curious, no?

This is quite reasonable, though in no way does it prove anything, so take that with a grain of salt.

For the right price (and protection of PayPal and purchased through my credit card), I might take the chance. Another way of verifying the purchase is easy enough... ask him to take a picture of the machine with the current day's newspaper held in front where you can clearly see the date. Have him hold it next to the serial number tag. No one trying to scam you with a non-existent machine is going to bother with faking that kind of a picture.

John Noell
07-23-2014, 3:05 PM
Dan, I can give you that photo without ever seeing the machine. Photoshop is my friend. :) Maybe no crook would bother faking it but I don't see why not. Way easy stuff to do.

And Epilog says no parts were ever sent for that machine. Made in 2006 with a 35 watt tube. That's the complete history.

Dan Hintz
07-23-2014, 4:53 PM
Dan, I can give you that photo without ever seeing the machine. Photoshop is my friend. :) Maybe no crook would bother faking it but I don't see why not. Way easy stuff to do.

It would not be a 5-minute job if it was to look halfway realistic, and most thieves wish to move on to the next guy. Even if they spent all day on it, I could load up one of my verifiers and tell you with 100% certainty whether or not it was a fake.