Dodgy eBay seller - Buyer Beware

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andy_k

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 23, 2003
Messages
5,204
Location
Bexhill, East sussex
Car
Alfa GTV 3.0
Recently I purchased an item from an eBay seller victor_mk. The item was described as brand new and of superb quality in the following advert

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8000830470&sspagename=ADME:L:AAQ:UK:1

The picture in the advertisement clearly shows a nice dark burl gear knob so you can imagine my disappointment when I opened the package from the vendor.

Just in case the ebay auction link disappears here's the photo from the advert

knob_ad.jpg


As you can see from the photograph below the gear knob was far from a dark rich burl it was almost orange and from the grain pattern clearly not the same item as advertised. The wood looks and feels more like stained pine than burl, the "engraved logo" is a poor quality plastic badge set into the wood, the quality of the varnished finish is very poor with runs and imperfections and the "chrome" on the shaft is dull and feels rough to the touch

actual_knob.jpg


The seller insists that it is the same but just a different shade - hmm how can something be the same but different? I don't really understand that either.

Getting a refund is proving tricky, although he has agreed to refund the original costs should the goods be returned in absolutely A1 condition (what's the betting he says that I have damaged the gearknob and therefore not eligible for a refund?) he will not accept any liability for return postage despite the advert being misleading which of course leaves me out of pocket for the return postage. Paypal and eBay won't help beyond a simple refund as they are only interested in getting their slice of the auction fees

I can only recommend that all club members avoid buying inferior quality goods from this seller who has absolutely no concept of customer service and look elsewhere to buy accessories for their cars.


Andy
 
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The guy has 100% feedback - mention you'll leave him -ve feedback and persue a claim if he doesn't want to help.
 
That's very disapointing. The gearknob looks awful, especially bearing in mind he's aiming it at an owner of a fairly luxury car who's looking to improve it and not make an a**e of it.

Yep, I'd threaten him with neg feedack too but I might be wary of actually doing it as he'll likely retaliate by giving the same to you.

Ebay and Paypal are likely to be of no help to you but it still may be worth reporting him for selling goods substantially different to what was advertised. If he gets a couple of complaints against him maybe Ebay would do something about him.
 
Rob77 said:
Yep, I'd threaten him with neg feedack too but I might be wary of actually doing it as he'll likely retaliate by giving the same to you.
QUOTE]

he's already threatened that - in the first email he sent me saying that he wouldn't leave any feedback for me until I had left his.

I've had retaliatory negatives left in the past and would sooner get another one than leave anything other than honest feedback. This sellers trick of using "feedback blackmail" to ensure they keep the 100% really annoys me.


Andy
 
Yes, I agree. It's very annoying that Ebay doesn't take more of an active involvement in the activities of some of their members. I did once report someone for quite obviously bidding on his own stuff and he was banned within a day.

There doesn't seem any doubt that this guy is selling shoddy goods and you're right it would be a shame if he were to go unchecked.

He says it's Burl Wood, which is defined as "wood cut from a tree burl or outgrowth and often used decoratively in veneer". So he's passing off stained pine as Burl and claiming it to have "quality" and "superiority" when it has nothing of the kind. The photos in his ad make the product look very good too and nothing like the thing that you showed us.

I'm sure you're familiar with the process but I've posted the link to Ebay's "Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process". Even if successful you'd lose the first £15 of the claim but I'd do it just for the satisfaction if I wasn't getting a full refund.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html
 
Rob77 said:
Yes, I agree. It's very annoying that Ebay doesn't take more of an active involvement in the activities of some of their members. I did once report someone for quite obviously bidding on his own stuff and he was banned within a day.

There doesn't seem any doubt that this guy is selling shoddy goods and you're right it would be a shame if he were to go unchecked.

The problem is Ebay is just getting more and more automated and less personal. Probably just because there are that many users for the number of staff to be able to handle it all effectively.

This is ultimately going to lead to disgruntled customers. I for one am loosing faith in Ebay rapidly.

You clearly have a case there though. The product you got is nothing like what you intended to buy.
 
cheers guys, I'd already looked at the eBay appeal process but apparently I can't open a "significantly different" dispute for 10 days as it comes under the same heading as "not received". Plus because I have lodged a complaint with Paypal, eBay won't do anything.

I mailed the seller and told him that I was going to post details of his idea of customer service and quality goods on these forums - I suspect that a post on here serves more purpose than negative feedback on eBay.

Perhaps we should have a seperate "name and shame" forum where we could keep a list of poor eBay experiences - there have been several in the past and it would save others getting ripped off.

Andy
 
andy_k said:
Perhaps we should have a seperate "name and shame" forum where we could keep a list of poor eBay experiences - there have been several in the past and it would save others getting ripped off.
A dedicated thread maybe, but I think a whole forum section for that would be overkill ;)
 
Shude said:
A dedicated thread maybe, but I think a whole forum section for that would be overkill ;)

sorry Shude - that's what I meant

it's early - well, that's my excuse.

Obviously if it could be done it would be really useful reference but we'd need to make sure that nothing on there was libellous and it would possibly need a "club disclaimer" saying that individuals posting took full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.

Andy
 
andy_k said:
Obviously if it could be done it would be really useful reference but we'd need to make sure that nothing on there was libellous and it would possibly need a "club disclaimer" saying that individuals posting took full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.
I suppose, but the forum owner still ends up being liable if someone gets upset. We can leave this discussion for later, so far we only have a couple of names and it's probably not worth it :)
 
I'm an E-bay novice but is there an address that I could write to as a 'potential' customer that has been made aware of the difference in quality of goods? Clearly there is a vast difference between what is advertised and what you received!

I cannot say 'we' could all write letters, but I for one certainly would, that way it would avoid any forum liability.

Good luck with your claim, and I'm off to post a question to the seller.

John

Edit:
Good morning Victor,
I have just seen a photograph of the gear knob you sold to the owner of a Mercedes-Benz.

The item looks absolutely nothing like the quality piece you are illustrating on your site.

The item that was sold was made of a very inferior wood, and stained with a terrible 'orange' varnish!

Is this typical of the items you are selling or has someone posted this inferior product by mistake?

Yours truly
 
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10 Leave +ve feedback
20 set up a new e-bay account
30 buy something else from him
40 don't pay
50 leave -ve feedback
60 goto 20
 
janner said:
10 Leave +ve feedback
20 set up a new e-bay account
30 buy something else from him
40 don't pay
50 leave -ve feedback
60 goto 20

:D Sounds naughty ;)

Who is that person in your details thingie!! Water skiing

Regards,
John
 
Shude said:
A dedicated thread maybe, but I think a whole forum section for that would be overkill ;)


Maybe a sticky thread?

speaking of which, what happened to the thread for stolen vehicles? There was discussion on it, but then the idea was kind'a dropped...

Michele
 
hello
 

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