The Internet has opened new doors to sales of all kinds. And, unfortunately, crooks are finding new opportunities to rip people off. We've seen a lot of these rip-offs for sale in many places on the internet, most notable EBAY. Some of the sellers are innocent. But most of the sellers not. Then there are quantity dealers, such as Al Doyle (Subtimes on EBAY). He knows what he is doing and is causing the majority of the problem.
Al screws the submini community in several ways. This is not just my opinion. Check out his EBAY feedback at http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=subtimes. It's the worst EBAY rating I've ever seen.
Al "sells" bogus cassettes and bogus reprints of books. First, many people complain that they don't get anything from him. But the ones that get cassettes typically have problems and he won't take the cassettes back. He sells fake Minolta nad Mamiya cassettes. But of course he does not tell you they are fakes. The fake cassettes are hand-made, pressed epoxy copies. So what's wrong with that, you might ask. Well, here are a few items to consider:
1. The epoxy is very weak and the cassettes are easy to break.
2. The hand-pressed nature of the cassettes leaves them with tiny air bubbles in the plastic. That means light leaks through the cassette walls.
3. The outside of the cassette has to be filed down which means the cassette may not fit correctly in your camera. And if it does, the film may not advance correctly.
4. The inside of the cassette is often filed too. This means scratches on the back of every roll of film that you put through that cassette.
5. The cheap felt for the light trap is likely to produces light leaks and scratched film.
I think that gives you the idea. These cassettes are junk! And to top it off they are EXPENSIVE! But the problems don't end there. The film that comes with the cassettes is usually junk too. The ads usually state "GENUINE KODAK COLOR NEGATIVE FILM". And sure, that's what you get, but it will probably be tungesten-based, movie film with a REMJET backing. They don't mention any of this. So what's wrong with that, you might ask. Here are a few items to consider:
A. With tungsten-based film, all of your pictures will have a strong blue tint.
B. You have a REMJET film backing that requires special processing -- which most places don't offer.
C. If you order B&W film, you'll probably get Fuji HS-U which is a microfilm and requires special exposure and processing.
You might be asking "EBAY won't let him sell fake cassettes. They don't care. They will only stop him if they get a complaint from Minolta or Mamiya, and that is not going to happen.
Al also sells crappy reprints of books. A true rip-off artist. Let's put this loser out of business.
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