TexasGuy

I bought a piece of car stereo equipment on eBay. The item # is 5768413732

Here is a pic from the auction:



The item was described as "excellent condition", but I take serious issue with the seller's definition of excellent. The main control unit (the big grey piece in the pic above) is crushed. Not lightly, but seriously caved in, like it was smashed with a sledgehammer. To me, the picture above does not show anywhere close to this damage. The unit was packed pretty well, and the box had no damage, so it is doubtful this occured in transit. The head unit is covered in scratches - far too badly for anyone to seriously consider putting it in a car. I guess that could be included in the picture, as most of the scratches are pretty small to be noticed from a distance as in the pic above (think of the scratches on the bottom of a cd/dvd - easily visible from 2-3 feet but not from 4-5 feet away), but I just don't think it qualifies anywhere close to "excellent condition". Furthermore, the cable from the head unit has been spliced in two places and patched together with electrical tape - again not evident in the picture, as it looked like he tucked the spliced portion below the other wiring to hide it. The auction does say the cord was "extended", but I took this to mean he purchased an extension cable that can be purchased specifically for this unit, not hacked it himself.

Here's my question: I want to return it to the seller and demand a refund based on false description of quality. Do you think I have a legitimate complaint or is this my fault for not asking every possible question about the condition in advance. This irritates me because I always try to disclose problems in anything I sell, even if it cost me on the final value. I did pay with Paypal, but have never tried to get a refund for differences in opinion over the condition before.

BTW, the seller took nearly 2 weeks after receiving payment to mail the package. He sent an email last week to say it was returned, and I got it today.

phatboy

Well if it's anything like my transaction, you're SOL. Paypal doens't protect you worth dick unless it's over a certain amount and then you have to go above and beyond everything to prove or show that it's not your fault and even then they might tell you to take a long walk off a short pier. This has happened to me on 2 different occasions now. Case in point. I bought a copy of Girl Next Door Unrated dvd and when I received them, they were both bootleg. So I tried returning them and contacted paypal. I disputed it stating it was a bootleg copy and that it was false advertising and because it didn't cost over $25.00 that i was screwed. My first clue should've been when I noticed they were brand new ebayers but you always hope that you're not "that" guy who gets taken but that's exactly what happened. My 2nd time I bought a pc game and the seller stated it was "brand new, never opened etc etc" Well I get it and it's scratched, opened, with no box or manual. It's obviously been played and the seller was a completly, dishonest piece of crap who should go to hell. Made me want to I contacted paypal and this time it was over $25.00 and they write back telling me that they're not responsible for the condition of the product and that I can't dispute the condition of the game as long as I recieved it. Oh and on top of al lthat, the bastard leaves me a negative b/c I wanted to return the game by stating that I "was just trying to get a refund". That's why I had a 100% feedback until this jackass came along. Still pisses me off. So another big F.U. from Paypal. So from what I read, it sounds like you're screwed. Live and learn.

P.s. Basically from what I got out of my ordeal, you just have to lie and say you never recieved it. Also whenever possible pay through your credit card that way you can have them cancel the payment and then you get the last laugh. It sucks when honest people have to play dirty b/c of some dirt bag tries to screw you over but that's life eh?

TexasGuy

phatboy, sorry to hear about your experiences. I just got done with a very bad experience with Paypal on a completely unrelated matter (I have another thread a few days old), so I doubt they will go out of their way to help. I wouldn't have used them on this auction after my recent run-in with Paypal, but as I said I purchased this several weeks ago and the seller has taken almost 3 weeks to get it to me. The auction was over $200.

I sent a polite letter to the seller expressing my disappointment in the quality. I would not be willing to lie about whether I received it, regardless if it screws those vampires at Paypal. We'll see how it goes.

raytrade

If you paid via credit card, you can always do a chargeback. NEVER use Paypal's dispute process as they will deduct $25 even when they side with you. Credit card companies almost always side with the customer anyway.

tasha99

I've never heard that Paypal deducts $25--is this new since ebay bought them out? I had a dispute years ago, and they only recovered a small portion. My credit card covered the rest, even the shipping costs which were substantial.

Jeremy517

I've used the dispute process four times (three times with one seller, one time with another). I won all four cases and was never charged any kind of fee. All that happened was that I had to send the items back, and then my money was refunded.

Max Bottomtime

I bought the Team America DVD
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1
from a seller who sent me an Asian bootleg pan 'n scan copy instead. I emailed him twice without a reply. I disputed the deal through Paypal and was told that I had to return the DVD for a full refund, which I did. Unfortunately, the seller had the nerve to leave me a negative feedback, my first, even though he is the one who scammed me.



Offered to refund money.... no response to emails... SELLERS BEWARE.. SCAMMER
Seller doogiesdvds (private) May-18-05 03:37 6386725061
Reply by pacificcoast101: Sent bootleg Asian DVD instead of the one advertised. No response to emails. May-18-05 14:07

He has received five negative feedbacks this week, and so he made his feedback private. What a jerk.

phatboy

there's nothing that pisses me off more than idiots like that who leave neg. feedback b/c they're a bunch of retarded morons who have absolutely no recourse to leave neg. feedback but do it just b/c they can.

DVD Josh

YOu are confusing PP's policy with ebay's Buyer Protection.