In late 2006 a very well-known dealer sold me a 'Chromian Mimetite' from Tsumeb for $2000. In mid-2008 I saw an almost identical specimen on another dealer's site for $550, but there described as Smithsonite. I asked this dealer how one might tell between Mimetite and Smithsonite, and he said that this would involve a very simple acid test whereby one would fizz and the other wouldn't. I then sent my specimen in August 2008 to the original dealer asking him to have it tested.
Over the next four months I heard only prevarications about how long it was taking, how the report was nearly ready, how the mineral had to be sent for another test, and how much this was costing the dealer. Finally the specimen returned from its 'investigations' with the verdict that its identity could not be determined. I asked for a copy of the report(s) and was refused.
The dealer then told me he had offered the specimen to someone else, who was willing to pay $3500 for it. As it was still my property I demanded that he return it to me with compensation for it's not being what he originally claimed. This he refused, saying I had the option of getting either the mineral or my money back. In the end I settled for asking for my money back. This was in January this year.
When the money did not appear I asked why, and was told that since it was a long time since I had bought the mineral, and since the dealer had been so generous as to take it back and have it tested, he would send it 'in my time, not yours'.
The discussion now became acrimonious, and eventually I tired of it and agreed to give him longer to pay. Two weeks ago I wrote to say I had given him over four months and had heard nothing. His wife emailed that he was travelling abroad, but she would tell him my message when he phoned in that evening (May 13). Since then, nothing.
What should I do?
