American Philatelic Society Ken Martin Forced donation of collection Bellefonte Pennsylvania

As per a telephone conversation with Mr. Ken Martin about a stamp collection that I inherited, I sent the collection to him for his review and assistance in in finding finding the value of the collection, and any help he Could offer in helping me sell the collection.   He agreed to let me send him the collection and I sent it to him with a covering letter which included the same wording. The bulk of the collection was made mostly of US stamps from the 1920-1930 and mid 1940's, but it also included stamps from 84 foreign countries.  Many of the stamps were loose and the collection was not organized very well.

After 10 days I received a letter from Mr. Martin thanking me for DONATING the coleection to the Society, and that I could claim a donation amount of $25 to his non-profit organization.

I called him to let him know that I did not donate the collection, and that I would like him to return it to me. He responded that it was not possible to return it since it had been processed as a donation and the collection was no longer in tact.  I was shocked at his explanation of how this could occur, and expressed my dismay at the lack of communications in his organization.  He said that he had not seen my letter until after the collection was processed, and that they had made a MISTAKE and apologized and offered my a check for $25 to compensate for the MISTAKE.  I refused his offer. 

I view the handling of this as a forced donation, which is another way of saying a THEFT. So I caution everyone to be careful of yuur dealings with the APS and don't get screwed like I did.