Various CR list members have occasionally posted negative comments regarding Collalbo and his auctions but in his defense I have had some very positive interactions.
A couple of years ago, I purchased a box of rims from him. They didn't show
up after 3 months and I was certain I had been taken. After trying to trace
the shipment, Collalbo offered to send me another box of the same rims but
before he could get them in the mail, the original set showed up on my door.
>From the shipping stickers pasted to the box, I was able to determine that
the box had rested in LaGuardia airport for those many months.
About a year ago, he contacted me out of the blue to ask the value of many vintage components he planned to auction. I told him the range of values I thought they might fetch on eBay. Among the items were three sets of NOS steel Campy pedals that he had seriously undervalued. After telling him what I thought they were worth, he offered to sell me all three sets at his original low estimate. Since I didn't foresee a need for all of them, don't want NOS parts just sitting in my basement, don't want to buy things just to resell them and didn't want to deprive all of you from the opportunity to purchase them, I bought only a single pair.
So I think Collalbo is basically an honest person but may not be well-informed about vintage parts and perhaps is not always the most careful seller. I would buy from him again if the item was something I could positively identify from the photos but I understand how others might be hesitant.
Gary Chottiner, Northeast Ohio
http://www.bikelist.org/
> In my book 95% is low feedback. That means every 20th transaction results
> in a problem significant enough to warrant negative feedback. I believe
that
> most problems get resolved without negative feedback posted, so I GUESS
that
> buyers encounter problems with Collalbo more often than once every 20
> transactions. And who's to know whether he is not going to be that 20th
buyer. So
> I avoid dealing with Collalbo. That's MY OPINION. I am entitled to it
and
> don't flame me for it.
>
This is the seller who had a Gitane with the geometric drop outs, that had Colnago decals on it. When told point blank that it was a Gitane and not a Colnago, he did NOT change his listing. He may be under informed or he may be worse, I don't know. He does get some interesting bikes on occasion, but not
interesting enough to tempt me (so far), and if he did, I'd likely resist
the
temptation.
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA