Our club have this bad experience with him and hopefully nobody else on this lion dance list gets "burned" by him.

This experience is real and true because another member on this list, Greg Chuck, from Marin County Lion Dance knows our situation.

Let's start from the beginning.

Peter Seen got my name from the lion dance list. He sends a pricelist to whoever signs the guest book on the website.

I did not want to order from him because his prices were too high. But one of our club's elder did. His name is Teddy. Teddy decided to give Peter an order for one gold lion head to be shipped to our clubhouse in July, 2000. He wanted to see how Master Lim's lion head is compared with Master Siou. Anyway, Peter email Teddy that the cost would be $900 US and wants the money to be bank transfered to Peter's bank account in Malaysia. He cabled the money to Peter's bank account around the first of August. Peter emailed back that he got the money and will be shipping the lion head on the first boat from Malaysia which just happened to be the first week in August. So, we wait for the paperwork. Wait, wait, and more waiting. One week goes by, two weeks go by. Finally, Teddy emailed Peter that he did not receive any shipping orders in regards to the lion head. In the last week of August, Peter emails back to Teddy that the lion head came to Honolulu, Hawaii and because of the wrong address, it was returned back to Malaysia. Wow, what happened!!! How can a boat leave Malaysia during the first week of August with our lion head and return back to Malaysia with our lion head so fast within three weeks? How can you have a wrong address anyway? There is got to be a contact person on the bill of lading and an address to deliver. There have to be a telephone number on the bill of lading. The shipping company needs to collect the ocean freight. Sounds crazy to me. Anyway, a slight mistake is forgiven. Teddy emails Peter again with his telephone number, address, and our club chairman's name, address, and telephone number in case Teddy was not available. Peter confirms the address and phone number and promises to fly the lion head to Hawaii on the next available plane at no expenses to our club. That was in the first week of September. From September to now, November 8, 2000, we have not heard one word from Peter or our lion head.

If this is how Peter does business, I suggest everybody take their business elsewhere. In regards to Master Lim Meng Kok's lion dance merchandise, it might be great, but with saleman like Peter Seen, his name is mud, too. I hope some members on this lion dance list who lives in Malaysia reads this email and pass on this information to Master Lim. I am sure he will be very disturbed and upset that his saleman, Peter Seen, "burned" potential customers. As of us, we are out $900 US plus bank charges and a great "bad" experience about ordering from foreign companies. Always buy merchandise from people you know and can be trusted.

I guess "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware) applies more than ever when buying lion dance equipment.

I found Peter through Dragon-gate..... He's no longer there with the company...About two three weeks after wiring my money to him, Dragon=gate emailed me saying Peter was no longer in their employ and any transactions I had with him they would not take responsibility. YOU CAN GUESS HOW WORRIED I WAS BACK THEN.

I ordered two drums two pairs of cymbals and four lion heads. The sum came out to be around $3000. One set of instruments and two heads were going to Germany. The others to Oakland, California. It took quite some time to arrive. But they did arrive.

My kung fu brother and I got some things we didn't ask for, basically an extra pair of cymbals. The lionhead didn't look exactly like the ones on the webpage.--ZhangFei, black lion.

I didn't get some things promised, like an extra pair of drumsticks, a brochure of his school/company. Schematics showing various ground formations.

I did feel he was overpriced, especially after all the extra fees associated with the shipping process.

See tips on buying equipment overseas,if you want more detail on the whole process.

There were some things that didn't seem on the "up and up" with my correspondance. Peter said he never got my wire. I mailed him ,Priority mail, with a copy of the wire transfer... He said he never got the letter. He said he mailed me the brochures/schematics. I never got them.

We did receive our shipment, basically, though. In Germany, it was sent to an inconvenient port/dock and my kung fu brother had to spend about another $1000 US to get the shipment to his apartment.

In the end, if you're thinking about buying mailorder.... Think Twice. Hold out, and go buy it in person, so you can see what you're actually getting.

Regarding Malaysian business sense or courtesy...... Even though my transaction with Peter is finished, he still calls longdistance asking me to line him up with a seminar or people interested in his lionheads. I've already told him that I've tried my best, and can't help him with that aspect.

Unfortunately, Money makes the world go round' Things that weren't meant for profit-making shouldn't be turned into a vehicle to make money, such as the arts

Sadly, it's become more about making money than being than being true, and maintaining martial arts and martial ethics.

Anyone interested in coming by to check out the quality of Lim Meng koks lion heads are welcome to email me.

Anyway, after lots of correspondence between Lawrence and myself, we finally got our lion head air freighted to Honolulu last Wednesday. We had our lion blessings ceremony last Saturday night. Peter Seen is no where to be found. From what I understand, Peter is no longer selling Sifu Lim's lion equipments and was kicked out of the Meng Kok Lion Dance Association. Peter has kept the money we cabled him and Sifu Lim sent the lion head at no charge. I guess to save face, he donated the lion head to us. For future purchases of equipment, you can buy from Sifu Lim's company, Lo Fo Chi Trading Company, if you speak Chinese. If you don't speak the language, I recommend Mr. Lawrence Ng from Springrace Enterprises. He is the secretary of Meng Kok Lion Dance Association. His company's web site is http://www.oocities.org/lionmk99/springrace.htm. This is not an endorsement for his company but without his help, we would not have received our lion head. I have never met him personally but I have emailed him over 10 emails and he sincerely replied to each one of my emails. He is truely a gentleman and a professional proudly representing his sifu's line of lion dance equipment.