Seems my financial woes are over! You see, this very nice lady from Dallas, TX contacted me out of the blue and asked me about some paintings I have on my website for sale.
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(clewys@live.com) on Friday, June 19, 2009 at 09:03:41name: Caroline Lewis
message: Good day to you.
I am so excited that I came across of your work on internet search,I am interested in purchasing these creative artworks from you………………..the Tracks in South Millville,Al’s Hide-away in Shellpile, NJ,Sometimes a cigar is a cigar and Corner bar in Bayonne, NJ Let me know their various prices. and how much discounts are you going to give?I will be happy to have these selected artworks hanged in our new home in South Africa. As well, I want you to take out the shipping cost. I have been in touch with a shipping firm that will be shipping other house decoratives.
We are traveling from our Dallas home to our new apartment as soon as possible.
On Paying for the artworks,I will be glad to pay you with a Money Order or Cashier`s check in US funds that can be easily cashed at your local bank, please let me know on how to proceed for the payment of the creative artworks.
I will await your advise on how to proceed. Have a wonderful day.
Take care,
Caroline Lewis
Wow! What good fortune! A supposedly rich art buyer - I love the salutation, “Good day to you” - how so very American! I quickly responded with inflated prices.
The Tracks painting is $500, Al’s Hide-away is $4000, and cigar is
$8,000. If you want them all, deduct 10% from the total. The cigar
painting is 4 feet by 5 feet - rather large to ship.
To my surprise, Caroline Lewis promptly responded:
Hello,
Thanks for your response to my inquiry regarding your creative works of art, I`ll love to proceed with the purchase of “The Tracks painting is ($500) and Al’s Hide-away is ($4000).And as I stated earlier from my first email to you,I`ll be handling shippings and handlings myself.
Therefore, I`ll want you to get back to me with your physical mailing address so that my hubby who has been shuttling between Jo-burg and our Dallas Home since he resumed as the Head IT section for the organisation he works in Jo-burg,SA will make out the payment to you as soon as possible.
Regarding shipping,I`ll forward your contact information to the shipping company contracted to handle all our house decoratives and other house wares to get in touch with you and make shipping plans with you.They can arrange for FedEx pick-up right from your studio/residence.They are also been charged to handle insurance and other logistics involved with the shipments.
I`ll look forward to hearing back from so I`ll know how best we can proceed.
Sincerely,
Caroline Lewis
Oh, that is just so cute, Jo-burg! I sent her my mailing address, and she replied:
Hi Carl,
Nice to hear back from you.I`ll surely get you the photograph of our new home once we are finally settled in our new home so that you will know how the artworks have added color to our new walls. Pls comfirm,the total balance for my purchae is $4500.
In the meantime I`ll be forwarding your contact information to the shipping agent who will be picking up the shipments once we finalised the financial end of the transaction,they will pack and box the package shipments.
I`ll inform you once my husband makes out the payment to you.Have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Caroline
Cool - I can’t wait to see the photo of their new house in Jo-burg. This is amazing, she didn’t squawk at the price of $500 for an 8″x10″ painting. And $4,000 for the bar painting is $3,500 more than I have ever rec’d for a painting of comparable size!
The next morning, the check arrived! She must be a serious art buyer. So serious, in fact, that she sent the very same introduction letter to my friend Rachel Citrino from Rhodestown, NJ, and one to a very good friend Lilliana Didovic from Philly.
But there was a problem with the check - it was for $8,000 and not $4,500 as expected! But I am sure it was an honest mistake on her side. I contacted Caroline about the error!
Hi Caroline - I rec’d a check today in UPS overnight, but it came with no documentation or anything- is it from you for the paintings? It is for $8,000, but we agreed the total was for $4500. Is the extra to cover shipping?
Carl
She responded, it was obviously an honest mistake on her side:
Hi Lewis,
Good to hear you got the payment for those creative works I am purchasing from you.The check is a refund for a cancelled order as a result of our recent relocation plan.I have sent you an email earlier today which I`m sure you didnt get because I`d explained it to you all in the email.
I was not available to give the details to the creditor` client of my husband who made the payment since I was in the hospital all day yesterday,I`m so sorry for inconviniecing you.My husband also informed that he has tried to speak with you some 45 minutes ago but didnt know why your line didnt go through,that the caller ID is blocked.Also the shipper informed us that since they had been in contact with you,you have not responded back to the email they sent to you.
Therefore,I will like you to proceed to your bank to deposit the check as soon as the funds has been processed by your bank we can proceed with the shipments. The rest of the funds will be for the shipment of the artworks and the other house items we are moving to our new home in Johannesburg. You will do me a favour to pay the movers when they come for the pick up.The Shipper had advised us that he will forward the information you need for the remittance as soon as they can.
I will look forward to hearing from you as soon as you have deposited the check so that I can contact the person that issued the payment to facilitate its prompt clearance at your bank.
Regards,
Caroline Lewis
Oops, she got my name wrong. Possibly this was meant to go to one of the other artists where they made an honest error. About this same time I began receiving calls from a restricted number on my cell phone. I do not as a rule answer restricted numbers. If you can’t allow your number to display on my Caller ID, then you have no right to call me. Actually I am pushing for laws requiring ALL non-personal calls to display the PROPER phone number on Caller ID. But I digress…
Apparently at least one of those calls was from Caroline’s husband. I listened to my voice mail, and sure enough he left a message. I did have a difficult time understanding due to the poor connection and his heavy Nigerian accent. How nice that Dallas white girl would marry a Nigerian.
My aggressive email spam filter apparently lost some of her emails, and she emailed one of them again, explaining the little mix-up on their end:
Hi Carl,
I hope this email finds you well,I`d like to thank you for your patience and understanding all this while regarding this purchase,I`m very happy to inform you that the payment has been sent out yesterday by a creditor client of my husband`s who promised to send the payment since my husband had been indispensable to be home in the last couple of months,but there is a minor fault with the payment,though it`s not really a fault but I just think it`ll be a wise thing to inform you before it arrives so that you can be sure it`s actually the payment for my purchase.
Since he was unaware of the details of our transaction he made the whole payment requested by me from my husband to you which includes your payment and the balance to give to the shipper to enable them complete the shipments of our various house wares from our Dallas home to our new home in Johannesburg.And since I was out all day yesterday he was unable to inquire from me what the details are,because I was in the hospital for bed rest as advised by the doctors because of my new baby.The payment was sent via UPS with tracking number:1Z61273R2210002515 and according to him the payment should be delivered to you today.
Therefore,upon arrival I`ll want you to deposit the check and once processed by your bank remove your asking price and forward the rest of the money to the Freight company from which arrangement will be made for the shippings of our housewares from Dallas and to also pickup my shipments from you to be shipped to Jo-burg.I`m very sorry for the inconvenience,I was in the hospital for bed rest as advised by the doctors as I`m carrying another baby that is almost due so it was never a deliberate thing.I hope you understand what I`m going through with my husband away and still carrying another baby.I do hope we can finalise the transaction as soon as possible so I can join my husband in our new home.
I`ll look forward to hearing back from you so I can know that you got the email.
Best wishes,
Caroline Lewis
The problems are understandable. She is so very pregnant, moving to another country - their lives must be in disarray. I really hope the paintings look good in their new house. I guess she will put the bar scene painting in the baby’s new room. I responded this morning, telling her my bank told me the check would be clear by tomorrow, and to make arrangements for the shipper to come and pick up the paintings as well as my check for over payment. I will keep everyone updated as this saga continues.
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