Austin has just been suspended (effective April 30), from any further trading with eBay.
Austin was caught red handed trying to interfere with my wife’s eBay business which has been in place for over 12 years and with a stellar reputation. Using another surrogate eBay ID, Austin “purchased” two items from my wife which totaled over US $4,000.00 in value. It was rather easy to trace the origin of the e-mail address used in his surrogate (bogus) eBay ID to his recently re-activated and scam Travelethos web site, and then further to Austin’s own eBay registration.
Austin was out for some retaliation for this blog, which is clearly causing him some serious discomfort as the truth is made more and more clear about him. His intention was to leave my wife with negative feedback on her eBay account claiming that he had paid for these items and that my wife was committing fraud because they were not shipped. Austin’s nefarious efforts were quickly investigated by the eBay trust and safety department, with the result that he is no longer a registered user.
Stupidly, Austin threatened this activity in an e-mail to my wife dated April 20 wherein he wrote, “Let me see, just off the top of my head, some of your many vulnerabilities…your eBay account, your eBay feedback, your bank account.”
This recent event is just one more example of how Austin will use any means, including lies, deception, hyperbole, impersonation, etc., etc. to impose his will upon, and coerce anyone who dares to expose him and his activities.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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8 comments:
How's paradise Roy?
Wow, you shut Austin down, wow. I thought he had stopped selling on eBay anyway because a) he was doing too well in more profitable areas outside eBay, b) this: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/firearms-weapons-knives.html and c) the fact he is in a group of people filing a racial discrimination complaint against eBay in the UK (something to do with allowing US sellers to sell swords but not everyone else). I thought it was something to do with that! But wow, you are powerful. What a sad loss to Austin; he can no longer access his ebay account in order not to sell anything even if he wanted to, which he does not! However, you appear to really need your eBay account. Looks like you may be a target in many ways now though Roy. See you have restricted your own eBay selling recently. Anything to do with the law catching up with you one way or another?
It didn’t take long for a response from Austin, (pathetic as it is) and why not let him comment in full?
Of course, it’s written in the third person, and “from” another of his endless internet identities.
And now, (are we surprised?) he’s going to have a go at eBay?… “the fact he (Austin) is in a “group of people” filing a racial discrimination complaint against eBay in the UK (something to do with allowing US sellers to sell swords but not everyone else)”
Ebay gives him the boot, so it’s time to attack eBay!!!!!
As for not caring about the money he is out, (as he said) keep in mind that when he was thrown off of eBay, he was an eBay Power Seller. The minimal level of sustained power seller status on eBay is US $5,000 a month in sales. He was, (and I stress was) doing a little better than that. So this is “OUCH” big time, and yet again, by his own doing!
But it is kind of fun to learn that I’m not blamed, as now Austin has latched on to eBay “racial discrimination!”
Is anyone else laughing????
Digging around further, I came up with another Austin blog. This one is dedicated to a “fellow sword collector.”
http://british-swords.blogspot.com/
With no pun intended, this poor guy, Richard Deller, crossed swords with Austin at one time, and this is Austin’s way of dealing with it.
What is interesting is that I’ve already caught Austin selling fake Balinese kris, and while I started that blog, I still have a lot of work to do.
http://snrswordebay.blogspot.com/
http://fakesatswordauctionsblog.blogspot.com/
I just got a funny e-mail. Someone asked, “well now, thrown off of eBay will he (Austin)
be attacking eBay on his blog?”: http://mark-andrew-austin.blogspot.com/
Likely so as I just got an e-mail from Austin (he can’t resist) and in part he wrote,
“And my suspension was along with three other sword sellers who are filing a racial discrimination complaitn (very sic) against ebay in the UK, so do not pride yourself too much on playing a part in something of no consequence anyway.”
Racial discrimination against sword sellers?
Hello Wayan, I am a sword collector in the UK (a real one, not the nutter who thinks he's an expert). Anyway, we should talk, I'll send you my email address. Regards, J J Runkel.
It didn’t take long for several notable persons in the “sword community” to come forward with stories and information of their own about Austin. Here are a couple of notable quotes from recent e-mails received:
“Austin first appeared on the Sword Forum International maybe just over a year ago. At first most of us didn't take much notice of him, but increasingly he began to hold himself out as some sort of expert on British swords when it was quite clear that he was anything but that. What began to irritate people was his propensity to weave a fictional history around the pieces he was talking about and this became the most prominent characteristic of the items he began selling on ebay. I don't think he ever put up an out and out fake for sale but he would claim that such and such a piece was at Waterloo and that such and such a piece had provenance to some famous regiment when it was all totally unsustainable and simply a figment of his imagination.”
“The more he was challenged the more this resulted in a torrent of abusive and threatening "private messages" plus some fairly abusive public postings towards me and forum members. The end result was that he was thrown off the forum - the first time I have ever known this to happen to anyone. You can imagine his anger!”
And from another e-mail:
“What I can also tell you also, (about Austin) is that he has totally alienated virtually every collector and dealer of note in the UK so his suggestion that he is collaborating "with others" to take on eBay is again almost certainly untrue as no "others" would collaborate with him. He has been the source of much discussion as you can imagine amongst the sword collecting fraternity and many of my friends are completely outraged by him.”
This comment below by Jonathan was sent via a friend’s computer in Sanur while visiting from Singapore. When Jonathan is back in Singapore, I’m sure he will clarify this himself with another comment using his own blogger ID:
______________________________________________________________
Poor little Mark.
He's just a misunderstood boy from a poor neighbourhood in London who made a bit of money through the grey world of selling Rx meds across borders on the internet (Semi-legal at best). But the whole world is against him and he has to fight the world all the way!
As they say in UK, "Class will out" and it looks like the world is finally catching up with Mr Austin and his sociopathic, perhaps even psychopathic behavior.
Can't he just do us all a favor and fall on one of his own fantasy swords?
Your blog does the world a great service Wayan in exposing this nutter for what he is. I have never personally crossed swords with him but I was active with childrens charities when I worked in Bali so the whole website charity scam just outraged me. Please don't stop until this nutter is behind bars or in an institution where he belongs.
Regarding the Bali hotels, in one of which I used to work, I say to you again, "Follow the money".
Wayan,
Thanks for posting my earlier comments from the computer of friends in Bali I was visiting with. I have now returned to Singapore (And am already looking forward to my next Bali visit. At least I was re-assigned reasonably close by!)
When previously living in Bali for almost 3 years, I became involved with childrens charity work initially through a Company CSR project and it truly hurts me that someone could be so cynical as to mis-represent donations intended for such a deserving cause.
The people of Bali are generous of heart and spirit; and so undeserving of all the harm this person is trying to cause them, purely because he has not been able to live harmoniously in the Bali community, or anywhere else it would seem.
As a result of his rejection, the typical Austin psychotic response has been to blame anyone and anything other than himself, to spread lies and attempt to poison the good name of Bali, its people and the many caring individuals who are trying to help in many different ways. Austin needs to be exposed as a sick puppy deperately in need of psychiatric help.
I personally do not know any of the cast of characters involved in this exchange, but it seems to me that in reviewing the body of evidence available now on the internet, no fair-minded person could possible regard Austin’s version of any events as fair or reasonable.
I do see that Austin’s own blogging activity has become more circumspect of late and I assume that this is largely a result of your exposure of Austin for what he truly is and of the authorities seemingly taking a keener interest in Mr Austin after his own online confessions of criminal intent and conspiracy. The world will be a better place when Austin is locked away where he can do no more harm.
So keep up the good work Wayan and if I can help you expose Austin through International Hotel connections, just let me know.
Jon
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