JZ1276

Every couple of years I purchase one of those Intex Easy Set pools. When summer is over I take it down & store it until next summer. They last maybe 3-4 summers. Anyway, it was time for a new one so I found a good deal on ebay for a "New/Sealed" one for around $40. I received the package today & as always, immediately leave positive feedback (it's the OCD in me). The smart thing to do is to actually open the box & inspect the pool first, but I trusted the seller that this pool was actually new & sealed as stated. Anyway, a few hours later I get around to opening the box. I immediately noticed the box was beat up & it looked like it had been opened & re-taped but I figured it was handled roughly by UPS like most packages. Anyway, I open the box can see that the seller basically stuffed a used pool into the original box & listed it as new. It was absolutely filthy & nowhere near how they are packaged from the factory. First thing I did was call eBay & try to change the positive feedback I left him to negative, knew it was a long shot & of course they refused. So, I just contacted the seller with this message...

"I went ahead & left positive feedback for you before opening the box trusting the pool was actually new & sealed as stated. You basically crammed a used pool in the original box & listed it as brand new. That's a pretty dishonest thing to do man. I have purchased many of these pools & am very familiar with how they are packaged from the factory. Aside from the pool being filthy dirty, your packaging didn't even come close to the original factory packaging. Like I said, I already left you positive feedback & wanted to contact you first hoping to resolve the issue before going through eBay. We can do 1 of 2 things. I will leave the positive feedback I left for you & you issue a FULL refund. There is absolutely no way I am paying to ship this back to you. If you disagree with that suggestion then I will go through eBay, get them to recant the positive feedback & get the refund anyway. Your choice. By the way, I haven't even taken the pool out of the box yet so I can only imagine what kind of shape the rest of it is in. Please let me know what you want to do."

I know there isn't much I can do here. Shipping this back to him would be quite expensive as it is a pretty heavy box going from NY to Illinois. Hopefully he doesn't call my bluff & just issues the refund. I never even took the pool out of the box. Here's some pictures.


..and here's the link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252980509099?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
What do you guys think?

TheBang

I think it was stupid to leave positive feedback immediately upon receiving the package. You should break yourself of that habit, ASAP. There's really zero incentive for the buyer to leave feedback at all, so you shouldn't feel obligated to leave it without inspecting your goods first.

That said, it's probably not fatal to your case, and you should not have a problem winning an Item Significantly Not as Described case with eBay.

JZ1276

I couldn't agree more. I took it out of the box today & the pool is so disgustingly filthy, the seller didn't even attempt to clean it to at least try to make it look new. Algae and dirt all over it. A filter pump was also supposed to be included, but wasn't.
The only thing I am worried about is if I have to pay to return the item. I am thinking of just shipping the box itself without the pool & leaving a note inside for the seller.

JoeySeven

Besides the seller being A POS.I hope Ebay/Paypal(?) goes to bat for you and gets your money back at least.

And Intex pools always go on sale around about the middle of summer.I watch SD and just when out shopping I see pools sometimes marked down.
Had A few of the smaller ones,good pools but the pump/filter are junk.

Went with the 48 inch by 15 or 18 foot two years ago and really like it besides the filter needs to be replaced. I think we bought it at Wally world store pick up for half off or so.

JZ1276

Actually, the seller just contacted me. Apologized, told me he was selling it for a friend that told him it was new, and issued a refund.

Troy Stiffler

I'm surprised that was his story. Does he have more stuff like that for sale? If so, I'd say that he's a small-time store-return liquidator. And people on Ebay aren't afraid to lie to make themselves look less stupid.

More often, they're simply store returns. Customers constantly rip-off retailers by using a product, and returning it. And, to a lesser extent, non-functional products. Or they buy an item, switch it with their out-of-warranty broken item, and return it. The retailer accepts the return and funnels it into liquidation, and it's sold (usually by the truckload) to liquidation companies (usually Ebayers). Many Ebayers will mark "new - other" instead of "new".

So what happens, is that those people process so much inventory, that they don't check out every single item. The bad sellers will ignore you when there's a problem. The good sellers will cover a return/refund where there's a problem.

I personally wish the whole store-return business would morph into a recycling business. When I look at your pic, I see recyclable textiles and cardboard. But people keep peddling it on Ebay and making a few bucks. So the cycle continues.

I'm around this stuff everyday. When buying products like this, I recommend just going to Amazon. I've bought "factory refurbished", store returns, and blah blah blah over the years. It always breaks fast or lets me down. It's a market that shouldn't exist. I have little patience for that stuff anymore.

Troy Stiffler

I just saw you posted the listing. Looking at that guy, I'd peg him as one of those guys who go to public auctions or garage sales and buy up misc. stuff. But he said 'his friend gave it to him to sell'. So it's hard to say. I wouldn't assume.

JZ1276

The inside of the pool looked very clean, basically unused, so I went ahead & set it up anyway (it was the outside that is extremely dirty). It is however leaking water so now I have to spot the leak(s) & patch them up.

I purchased the same 12' x 36" pool as that size fits perfectly in my backyard but it seems they've discontinued that size so I had to go with the next size smaller, & it really makes a big difference how much smaller it is.

BTW, I just had yet another eBay problem. Just bought a pair of Ray Bans, Silver frame/blue lenses. The listing was a little whacky though. There were 4 different options from the drop down menu which didn't change the main picture whatsoever when choosing an option. I contacted the seller letting him know this & asked if I would be getting the EXACT same glasses as in the photo to which he replied yes. Needless to say, I received totally different glasses. Gold frame/black lenses.

Why So Blu?

I sold a criterion BD the other day and noticed that the delivery confirmation said it was refused. I looked this morning on my eBay account and that person that supposedly refused it left positive feedback on my account -- yet the item still says refused. Either this is something shady or the mail man accidentally marked it as refused instead of received?

Thoughts?

TheBang

Just wait. If a case is never opened, then you're fine. It doesn't really help you in any way in trying to "get ahead" of the issue, especially if there's no issue to begin with.

malazar

I had this happen one time for an item I sold. I never ended up receiving negative feedback, any messages from the buyer, or the item back in the mail, so I think it usually just means that the carrier messed up and scanned it wrong. Hopefully that will be the case for you. I was tempted the whole time to contact the person and ask what was up, but didn't want to tip them off to the weird tracking since some people would use that as an excuse to request their money back even though they have the item.

I have been plagued lately with tracking that goes from "out for delivery" to "delivery status not updated" which never updates again. That's the kind of thing dishonest buyers can pounce on. It is very annoying.

PhantomStranger

Human error by the postal worker scanning the delivery.I've seen them handle this in person and it doesn't look hard to mark the wrong box by accident.

mspmms

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