Experiences buying used cartridges


Most of us who belong to this forum have at one time or another purchased a few used cartridges. I wanted to start this post to discuss our experiences.
Would you do it again? Was it a good experience with an honest seller or was it a nightmare?
analogluvr
Qdrone the problem is that if a certain amount of time goes by you cannot leave feedback for a transaction. I believe this is why GRGaudio ignored my first three or four emails.  By the time I had it looked at and verified that it was toast I could not leave feedback. And I'm sure he's pulled this on quite a few others as well. I don't know the guy personally but I just want to warn others about him so they don't get burned. Right now he has a Linn archiv b up for sale. Supposedly has 250 hours on it. It is 25 to 30-year-old cartridge with only 250 hours on it??!!  Come on give me a break, that's only 10 hours a year. And this is not an isolated example. Pretty much all of his cartridges he has ever sold have been listed as 300 hours or less. And a lot of them have been 20 to 30 years old. 
Sold several on Audiogon, but would never buy used!

Never had a buyer complaint.
I just heard from another CAM member who was sold a defective cartridge from GRG audio. He was sold a different cartridge then was pictured in the ad, it had a different serial number, and it had a totally defective suspension. He sent it back and received a few emails over a few months that Greg was going to fix it and send it to him but he never got anything back and Greg stopped responding to his emails.  Thankfully CAM has moderation that review the case and booted GRG Audio off of CAM.  However this a small consolation to the gentleman who is now out almost $1000 and has no cartridge.  If you do not want to get ripped off do not buy from this guy he sells hundreds of cartridges and apparently none of them have over 300 hours.  This stretches the logical bounds of credibility in and of itself.  Then he has a track record of completely ignoring people when there is a problem.  I'm sure only one out of 20 cartridges is completely defective but still do you want to support someone like this?  And if you are the one out of 20 then you have been completely ripped off for thousands of dollars and have absolutely no recourse.  
Well I am that Guy that bought a EPC -100 Technics cart from Greg / Victor or whatever his name is this week at GRG. Here is how this guy works. First off, if you have a problem he pulls the stall tactic until you are past the point of a pay pal refund and feedback on this site. (so if you have a problem with GRG right now, you better dispute your pay-pal ASAP) Then he does the old I did not get your emails, I sorry I was in Russia at the Olympics. Then he says, send it back and I will have it repaired. Then he never answers your emails ever again. He has your money and his defective cart back, then he then resells again to some other poor schmuck. I actually saw the cart I sent back to him advertised with the same serial number 2 weeks later. Meanwhile he answers all of my kids emails about other carts while he is supposed to be in Russia. When I finally did get him on the phone he threatened to have someone to pay me a visit to give me a beating. So I jumped on A-gone and posted questions to all of his adds saying stay away, he burnt me for $500. All he did was block me. Stay away from this guy unless your in driving distance to give him a personal refund, if you catch my drift.
I have had him banned from Canuck Audio Mart and US Audio Mart. He would not even make contact with the moderators over this dispute.
His tactics prevent users from getting their money back and leaving negative feedback.
He also goes under the handle ViraUSA
GRG Audio are thieves, run for the hills and never look back.

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32853

  The same thing happened to me as what happened to analogluvr.  grgaudio sent me a faulty cartridge and wouldn't answer emails.  I sent the cartridge to Soundsmith to see if they could help and they said it was broken beyond repair.  Finally grgaudio answered an email, but said they wouldn't even discuss a deal that was done four months ago.  My initial emails asked about who did the retip, how many hours, etc.  The guy is a crook.  Of yeah, he sent me one cartridge that had one channel out.  I sent it back and he sent me the replacement...that was broken beyond repair.  Steer clear of this one.