I called the man selling the item and discussed when I could come see it. He was difficult to get a hold of because they repeatedly made trips out of town (but never anywhere closer to my location, which forced me to make the 1 hour drive from my home to his home). On Saturday November 22nd, 2010, we traveled from Oklahoma City to Blanchard, Oklahoma to see the grinder. I was told by Ray that the grinder was 2 years old, in wonderful condition (was "a work horse" by his description), that it had only been used to grind up a single deer during hunting season and that he was selling it because he was getting too old to hunt. When we arrived, Ray and his wife seemed nice enough. Ray showed us the grinder and detailed what it had been used for. He said he wanted to sell it for $300. My main concern, as I extended to Ray, was that I would purchase a machine for $300 and it would stop working. I also explained to him that the machine had some rust on it, cosmetic really, and would only be willing to pay $250 for it because of its condition. He became quite rude and told us there was no need for us to waste his time if we did not want to purchase the machine for $300, he might as well just keep it. As my boyfriend and I made advancements to leave he told us that he would split the deduction with us, an agreement of $275, and that he would allow us 2 months to bring the machine back if it stopped working. In this, he said, we could feel confident in buying a used product from him. During this time he turned the machine on so that we would know it worked and disassembled the machine to show us how to put it together/take it apart once we returned home. With that, I paid Ray $275 and my boyfriend gathered up the machine and we headed through their living room toward the door. During that time, Ray's wife pointed to another room along our way stating that it contained a few mountings of the deer that Ray had killed. My boyfriend sat the machine down and we stood talking to Ray and his wife for at least 20 minutes about hunting and uses for the machine and so forth. As we walked out the door I said, "Now if there are any problems, I'm just to call you, correct?". Ray directly stated to me, in the presence of my boyfriend and Ray's wife, that calling would be acceptable and that he would hold up the 2 month guarantee as long as we did not put a bone through the grinder.

It was about 7 days following purchase, following Thanksgiving, that we were able to use the machine. I put everything together and realized...we did not have the blade. Ray had sent us with everything, including two grinding plates, but he did not send the blade. Since Blanchard is 120 miles round trip for us, I decided it would be easier to contact the manufacturer and purchase the blade needed for the machine. After all, I presumed that Ray had kept the machine together for the 2 years he'd been using it...and there was a chance it had been lost. I contacted American Eagle Machines, gave them the serial number from the machine and learned, curiously enough, this machine was not two years old...it was almost 9. It was made in 2002. So, at the price of another $35, I had a blade shipped to us which arrived on the 3rd of December. I managed to grind about 1/2 pound of bunny before the machine locked up. I immediately put the machine into reverse assuming it had hit a chunk of meat or tendon that was tough. However, the machine did not respond and I immediately stopped it to ensure that if there was any mechanical problem that I was not further damaging the machine. I broke the machine down to its base and flipped it on for reverse, still locked up, and "on", also locked up. Since it was around midnight, I elected to wait until the following morning to call Ray.

At 10am I called. Ray picked up the phone after a few rings and I explained to him that the machine had worked fine for a few minutes and then locked up. He chuckled and told me "Well, that's a risk you take when you purchase a used machine, if you wanted a guarantee you should have purchased a new one". I explained to him that this situation was no more fair for me than it was for him, but was wondering if he would uphold his 2 month guarantee since I hadn't even had a chance to fully use the machine for its intended purpose before it broke. He then said "Well, I came down on the price...I expected you knew that meant I wasn't going to take the machine back if there was a problem". I reminded him of my departing words as we had left his home, after he had cash in hand, and he told me "Well, that's certainly not how I remember it. Anyhow, I can't do anything with a machine like that...you've broken it now. Probably sent a bone through it, you know how women are". At this point, he hung up on me. I called him back and left a message on his machine explaining that if he was not willing to uphold the guarantee to please consider making a compromise with me so that at least I was not out $275 for a completely non-working machine (and now an additional blade that he had not included in the purchase). I also detailed that if he was unwilling to uphold his guarantee that I would have no further choice but to contact the police. Within a few minutes he called me back and ho-hummed around the fact that he was unwilling to help with the situation any further and practically told me, "You should have known this could happen...and you should have just purchased a new machine. I don't have any desire to help you. You can figure this one out on your own". Again, ending his side of the conversation by hanging up on me.

I then contacted the local authorities for Dibble, Oklahoma and Blanchard, Oklahoma regarding this incident. I was asked to give them dates, numbers, locations, names of people involved, etc. I was directed to the Sherriff's department for McClain county and asked to call back on Monday (November 6th, 2010) to speak further with the authorities.

I will say that I am quite unsettled that I, at 25 years of age, would not and have not screwed over someone who purchased a non-working item from me...while an elderly man feels it necessary. I cannot begin to imagine why Ray felt the necessity to lie about the age of the machine, its condition, his "guarantee", etc. but I do feel it necessary that this story be known. Ray is using a relative to post his "for sale" items on the internet, since he does not have access to, or knowledge of, computers/the internet. I cannot help but wonder if this is some type of family-based scam.