Park Slope Computers Hit Hard by ‘Perfect Storm’ of Personal Tragedy

When Mascha Elskamp dropped off her Apple laptop to Park Slope Computers on March 23, she figured it would be fixed and returned to her in a few days.  

But after not hearing from the owner, Edward Smallman, by April 4 who was just going to replace the battery, she called to see what was going on. But, there was no answer.

She called the next day, no answer. She emailed him, no answer.  

When she stopped by the store on the corner of Prospect Avenue and Seventh Avenue that weekend, she found the gates closed and a sign reading, “Park Slope Computers has moved!” and stated to call 718-768-7070 or visit their website "for details" but did not give the new address.     

She thought that to be strange....

Elskamp jumped on Yelp.com, on which Park Slope Computers has a four-star rating out of five, and found another customer who hasn’t heard from Smallman since she he picked up her computer on April 5, and now figured it was stolen.

"These people deserve -5 stars. Nightmare. THE most unprofessional, unresponsive 'business' people I have ever dealt with," the review wrote. "I am furious."

The reviewer concluded:

"My next step is to call the police because at this point, I feel that my computer has been stolen."

After reading the Yelp review, Elskamp wrote to the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs, who said she should file in Small Claims Court. After those calls, she went to the 78th Precinct, but since she had a receipt for the laptop, it couldn’t be considered stole. They also suggested she could file a small claim.  

However, without an address she couldn’t file a lawsuit. Elskamp, who lives on Eighth Street, felt as though she was caught in a strange twilight zone, where she was unable to get in touch with Smallman, and unable to file a lawsuit or police report and unable to get her laptop back.  

So, by April 29 Elskamp figured her MacBook was stolen, too.  

“It’s not so much about the computer, it’s about the principal. [Smallman] took my computer and then moved and didn’t tell me and the other customers where they moved to,” she said. “I’m really pissed off, I brought it there in good faith thinking they were a good local business with great reviews on Yelp. Now, in my mind they ran off with it.”    

After Patch was able to get in touch with Smallman, he said that he didn’t steal his customers’ computers.

Instead, he was hit with a “perfect storm” just as he packed up his shop Easter weekend and was ready to move into his new, larger location in order to expand his business. However, the new space fell through, Verizon cut off his service early and he lost his database with his client list. He said that he was left without a store and without a way to get in touch with his clients.     

“I have to apologize to my clients, our new store location fell through and my business ended up in my garage without my list of clients and their numbers,” Smallman told Patch on Tuesday. “I take full responsibility and I am doing anything I can to fix the situation.”  

With 40 of his customers’ computers in his garage and no way of contacting them himself, he had to wait for his customers to call his cellphone after putting his number on his website.  

On top of losing his new location, he said he fell ill and was in and out of the hospital for two weeks.  

But as of Tuesday, April 30, he said he had been in contact with most of his clients and will finish the work on their computers for free and will return all machines by this weekend.  

“I take full responsibility for my poor preparation, I am not trying to relinquish responsibility but this has been a professional nightmare," he said. "I truly apologize to all my clients who thought I stole their computers.”     

A few of his clients, including Mascha Elskamp, called the police to report their computers stolen. After six people reported the same situation to the police, a cop called Smallman. Smallman explained what he had gone through and then returned six computers to those who reported them stolen.  

“I had to return those critical ones first, but I will have everything back in the hands of my customers in a few days,” he said.  

“These past few weeks have been a perfect storm, and I have never experienced this in all of my professional career,” he said.  

After Smallman called Elskamp, she was happy to hear her laptop would be returned after all.  

“To be honest, I never thought I’d see my laptop again. I thought it was gone,” she said. “I am very happy now, and a little surprised!”  

If you gave your computer to Park Slope Computers and haven’t heard from Smallman since, call his cell: 718-909-5747.

If you want to e-mail the editor of Park Slope Patch at will.yakowicz@patch.com, we’ll make sure to pass along the message to Smallman.