I totally agree Brian , I for one need to learn from others all the time(even after 25 years of collecting!) , there is no substitute for the knowledge of experienced collectors being shared in a community like this,but at the end of the day you need to stand or fall by what your own knowledge and instincts tell you. Leon.
If you brought the matter up to a police officer or an attorney, they would probably tell you; Caveat emptor: buyer beware. Nobody is forcing you to hand over your hard-earned dollars. It is your own responsibility to know what you are buying. If you have a $5K fake sitting on your shelf because you trusted in a dealer, forum, or book; tough luck. Inform yourself and make better decisions next time or get out of the hobby entirely. Nobody will hold your hand through life, and nobody will do it in the TR hobby either.
by Brian
You are right, caveat emptor, and the police or a lawyer won't care.
However in Canada, Consumer and Corporate Affairs govern how business conduct themselves and Revenue Canada wants their pound of flesh. I know this as fact and have used this tactic in the long forgotten past. As an owner of several Canadian businesses, just because you are a militaria dealer does not make you exempt from abiding by the CCA and Tax act. Its how one uses the act and information to press the dealer.
You have to think outside the box. ;-)
You are basically talking about an unhappy customer, for whatever reason. CCA wants happy customers and the squeaky wheel gets the oil. They can put pressure on a merchant to resolve an issue.
Yes, I understand that. But in the overall scheme of things it is only a band-aid approach to the rampant fakery in our hobby. That one issue may be settled but it doesn't solve the overall problem.
If such things were ever brought to trial however, the issues of authenticity and the intent to defraud would have to be established, but as I mentioned, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
It's more than pressure to resolve and issue, it's about advertising tactics, misrepresentations of warranties, etc. it's not about a singular consumer. Sears Canada took a whopping multi-million dollar fine which caused them to exit the auto service business in Canada over misrepresentations. My industry led the charge and I was involved through our association and one of my businesses. It's the same premise here but on a smaller scale. It simply takes a consumer group to launch an action via complaints with evidence to bring the house down so to speak.
Revenue Canada is another way to hit the dealer.
Dealers deal in cash at shows. You never get a receipt. A complaint to Revenue Canada about a return denied and lack of proof of cash payment by the seller brings an audit right now. Most dealers won't want to be audited over cash sales they do, which is an awful lot.
So there are weapons to fight the dealers here in Canada.
Does it prevent them from selling fakes, of course it doesn't. But it is a very powerful set of tools the dealer when investigated, will be very afraid of. Nobody likes a government spotlight on them. :-)
Trust me, both work. :-)
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