Dot, I HAVE met one of these men and have been a close friend of his for over a decade. I had a lengthy email conversation with the other man that yielded lots of stories full of innuendo, and with clearly stated rumors. When I mentioned this conversation with him a few months later, he had no recollection of it and said he had no idea who I was.
As for the Arias controversy... No one has dibs on facts on this one except Manolo and the workers in the lab there. I am not a supporter of him, but I do support the one who did business with him and am privy to some of the "facts" that many of the speculators out there purport to know but have gotten wrong. First of all, there is no evidence at this time of any deliberate wrongdoing, the operative word here being Deliberate. While it is obvious there is something awry here, there is nothing proved and where I come from, people are innocent until proved guilty. Labs do make mistakes, as all of you know and I'm sure many of you can think of various "mistakes" that have been made in the past. While unfortunate, they are cataclysmic in effect when you think of the countless people in possession of mis-named plants. As I said, there is no concrete evidence that there was intentional wrongdoing. When the true identity of the plants in question came to light and this was brought to Mr Arias' attention, he wasted no time in writing his letter and promised to make good on his product. That is a reasonable and honorable response to this kind of situation. All of this is fact. What irritates me no end is the financial twist some have put on this "saga". The one who is most outspoken against the Arias' has an obvious stake in the matter. It is to his benefit that the Arias's are made to look crooked. If there is only ONE TRUE SUPPLIER, then he and his partners stand to gain financially. Had Mr Croezen not been a player in this game, I would not be so peeved. But I believe he used controversy to line his and his partners' pockets. One would almost wonder if he is behind the events of this controversy since he seems to know so much about it. It is unfortunate that this person and his partners sold so many immature flasks that later died. At that time, no one really knew what conditions they needed to survive, let alone thrive. Couldn't they have waited until they knew how to handle these plants? Did they make money on this? Oh, Yes. Did they replace these flasks? Maybe some, but not all. That is not the case with the one who is my friend. He made an agreement that a lot of you out there speculated about and ridiculed, but he stood by his word. And his integrity saved a lot of you much grief and uncertainty. Had he abandoned the agreement to not sell his plants for 2 years, and sold his plants too early, many of you out there would have plants in your possession that were either dead or not what you paid for. Instead, he waited it out and grew the plants to a better stage of maturity. He took his time, gaining experience and knowledge of the new species. When it became clear to him there was a problem, he took the initiative to find out the facts. Once he knew what he was dealing with, he undid your deals and refunded your money. That was a hardship and a sacrifice from start to finish. But it was the right thing to do and that is what he does. AND, while so many out here in internet land are discussing it and debating the issues, and speculating and attacking, and bragging, and gossiping, and whatever, he has been quietly working in the background, growing the plants, taking care of business, checking things out, and watching out for his customer's best interests. You won't hear him out here blasting his competition, making sly insinuations, and creating doubt in people's minds. He won't stoop to that level. It would be good if everyone would take a lesson from his example. Yes, even me. Enough of this. I have a question of a different, but related matter. I have to go and ask that question in another post. Barbara > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 11:19:38 -0500 > From: Dorothy & Le Roy Barnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [OGD] Subject: Re: Chuck Acker > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed > > I must admit that I was taken back at such a strong attack. > > While I've not met either of these two gentlemen, I have, during my > time on both the OGD and SlipperTalk Forums, read many posts by Peter > Croezen. While he may be a bit hot-headed at times, I've not seen any > personal attacks by him regarding anyone involved in the kovachii saga. > > So I am wondering, Mr. Marriott, where is Peter Croezen's "history of > hating people"? How are his words "gossip maker/spreader"? What has > he said that is not true? > > I'd really like to know, because I've been following what Mr. Croezen > has said about the flasks from Mr. Arias, having almost purchased > some myself (price being the limiting factor for me at the time). > > You seem to be a supporter of Mr. Arias, at least it would seem so > from the posts you've placed here on the OGD (http://www.mail- > archive.com/search?l=orchids%40orchidguide.com&q=Graham+Marriott) -- > so I'm wondering what you know that the rest of us don't? > > I don't have an axe to grind in this matter, but I do think that > strong statements need to be backed up with facts. Otherwise, they > are just seen as rantings. And this Pk thing is such an important > issue for the orchid world and especially the slipper orchid world, > that I think facts are vital for all of us who would like to have > kovachii and it's hybrids in our collections. > > Dot _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
