Oh, there’s clearly something to hide. I’m not denying they’re trying to conceal the membership info. I’m just saying it’s not necessarily because they know the badge is stolen, as some have suggested.
A favorite tactic of some rescue groups (and individuals) is to contact ebay and falsely report the badge stolen. Once ebay shuts down the auction, they contact the seller and offer to take it off his hands for a bargain price, sometimes spamming him mercilessly until he figures it’s less hassle to just sell them the badge at the cheap price. Or they email the seller pretending to be the original owner and giving him a sad story of how the badge was stolen. Removing the engraving solves this problem.
Of course, dealers are smarter now, and ebay no longer blindly ends auctions without proof. It’s generally agreed that a police report is required to get an auction shut down. But it’s tough for dealers when they get an email from someone claiming to be the original owner. How does the seller know whether it’s legit or a scam? If he refuses, he’s an insensitive jerk. If he agrees, he’s probably a sucker. Again, removing the engraving solves that problem.
There are a few “legit” reasons for a dealer to remove an engraving. I don’t feel like typing it all again, so I’ll refer you here…
http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...threadid=20816
Anyway, it’s not that they “know it belongs to someone else and don’t care”. They don’t agree that it belongs to you, so they’re telling you not to waste their time trying to argue it. And let’s face it: the law says unless it’s stolen, it’s theirs to sell. So you’re right, they don’t care. But that’s not because they’re mean people necessarily.
It’s hard to bring “right and wrong” into this discussion. Obviously you feel it’s wrong, but you’re probably in the minority.
Remember the days of Minister Hatchett, when a Greekchat member would post about their Christian beliefs and then get an unsolicited email or PM from Fred accusing them of not being a Christian and telling them they’re going to hell for worshipping false idols? Who’s right and who’s wrong in that scenario? Fred fervently believed he was right and that GLOs are ungodly, just as you fervently believe you’re right and that selling badges is immoral.
(not comparing you to Fred necessarily)
wptw
