I was RIPPED OFF!!! on eBay...

shredd

I just picked up a bass on ebay - easily the 6th or 7th instrument I've gotten on ebay, all excellent - from a seller with nearly perfect feedback (which I perused thoroughly) and lots of satisfied customers. It was described as 'very good condition', with only a missing fret marker noted as damage.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170209705542
So I get it - it's wasted. It's got a 9-inch crack in the neck, which in and of itself renders it unplayable. But it's also got a tuner missing it's nylon collar around the key, a nearly worn-out bridge, scratchy pots, etc etc.
And, of course, the seller claims they don't know very much about musical instruments, and the thing appeared to be in great condition. Puh-LEEZ. :roll:
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
They're in Kentucky...any of youse guys on that coast willing to go slap them silly???

iliace

It's difficult to tell from the picture, isn't it. There is no picture of the top part of the neck, and the tuner that's missing (G string is it?) looks like it's there without a different angle.

shredd

The pics really weren't very good...I was ??? enough to believe the description. I'm pretty p/o'd - it's really in pretty bad condition and the seller is begging off with the \"I don't really know much about musical instruments\" crapola.
I don't care who you are; you'd have to be patently stupid to describe this bass as in \"very good condition\" and not be able to recognize the signs of hard use/lack of maintenance.

Manitou

It will cost you about $20 to return it UPS Ground.
The seller has no policy on returns. I'd let him know he is going to have to accept a return. He's mis-represented the item, and can't go hiding behind ignorance.
If he won't except a return on the item, contact eBay on their \"live chat\" and provide the item number, and your complaint. They will talk to this seller if necessary. It is NOT an instrument, if it can not be used as intended. There is a warrant of merchantability.

You are going to loose shipping charges, and that's all you should have to pay for this unfortunate POS.

You got too laid back...huh. :P
If this was your first eBay guitar...you would have required close up photos, of all areas of interest in email attachments...or wipe the drool, and move on.

Good luck Shredd...and if we must...I get down that way now and then... :twisted:

iliace

\shredd\ wrote:

The pics really weren't very good...I was ??? enough to believe the description. I'm pretty p/o'd - it's really in pretty bad condition and the seller is begging off with the \"I don't really know much about musical instruments\" crapola.
I don't care who you are; you'd have to be patently stupid to describe this bass as in \"very good condition\" and not be able to recognize the signs of hard use/lack of maintenance.

You'll notice just about every other sentence in his description begins or ends with \"to the best of my knowledge\" or \"as far as I know\". He was planning his defense by ignorance all along.

Mike B

Sorry about the poor condition bass you recieved. I guess you can always give them a very poor rating. I hope things work out.

Good luck


peace

shredd

Iliace is right - the seller was waffling from the start. I shoulda seen this coming. :evil: :evil: :evil:
'Course, 'tou is also right. I was knowingly - I think - sold a misrepresented item, and as a musical instrument, it is essentially useless.
So I've initiated the eBay/PayPal complaint, I'm calling my credit card co. tomorrow, and will put the screws on any way I can.

The stupid thing is, I've bought about 7 or 8 instruments and they were all exactly as described; I even bought my GNX4 used on eBay and it was in like-new condition - as described. This seller is just a lyin' S.O.B. - that's why I want 'tou to stop out there and damage his sorry @$$. :evil: :evil:

shredd

\Mike B\ wrote:

Sorry about the poor condition bass you recieved. I guess you can always give them a very poor rating. I hope things work out.

Don't care about the ratings. I WANT MY MONEY BACK. :evil:

shredd

\Manitou\ wrote:

It will cost you about $20 to return it UPS Ground.
The seller has no policy on returns. I'd let him know he is going to have to accept a return. He's mis-represented the item, and can't go hiding behind ignorance.

Here's the punch line: seller is doing all this griping about how it cost him a fortune to pack and ship it, and he lost all this money on it. What a pile of BS: it arrived in a re-used box (well packed, at least.... :roll: ) but was shipped normal ground UPS, which costs about what 'tou said. But the seller is claiming he spent an amount on shipping which was the cost of 2nd Day Air, which this most definitely was NOT used. :evil:
I've done eBay for ten years, and before this, had exactly two bad incidents out of hundreds and hundreds of transactions. Now I've got a bad taste for it. :evil: :evil:

ednrg

Caveat emptor :shock: :roll:

gtaus

I've only bought one thing off of eBay, and that was a disappointment. It was a buy it now price on something that I need to be shipped out right away. It arrived 2 weeks later. I would have had better luck going straight to an online merchant and paid for 2nd day air. The things I have wanted to buy have not been bargains on eBay. I get better deals from MF or the other online merchants on brand new stuff which I find on sale. And, there is a warranty and return process with MF that keeps me going back there. Sorry about your bad experience. Take care.

philflood

The last sentence of the description says both items are in good condition and completely functional. Hence, this would be a misrepresentation if the bass is not functional owing to the cracked neck. So I do think you have him. Be prepared to get a statement from a delaer or repair shop that indicates the bass is not playable as is, and have that to submit with your claims to PAYPAL or your credit card company.

As for eBay, I have had generally excellent sucess both buying and selling items on Ebay. Just going through my current guitars, I have 10 that I bought off eBay and none of them were misrepresented.

rawfish

Shredd I feel your pain man. Somebody always wants to mess up a good thing. Too bad it's a set neck, at least you could easily replace a bolt-on :^(

My ebay purchasing rule-of-thumb: I will *ALWAYS* explicitly ask the seller if there are any flaws of any kind (and I get very specific: warpage, cracking, missing parts, fret wear, electronics issues, has the seller actually plugged in and played the instrument, etc.) before I even bid. Even if it looks perfect and is listed as new in box, ASK!

I have bought two axes on ebay. Both experiences roller-coastered me through the euphoria of acquiring a cool new axe to the emotional nadir of a broken new axe back and back again to satisfaction.

Axe 1: Schecter PT Elite. Man I asked all kinds o' questions! The axe arrives well packed, in an skb hard case. Plug it in and \"BZZZZZZZZZZZZ\". Oh hell I've been robbed, I think. I emailed the seller and he told me to take it to my local shop and have it fixed, he'll send me the cash if I send him a repair receipt. Yeah, sure! Well, I have to get it fixed anyhow. $25 gets me a nice new switchcraft jack replacing the sub-optimal korean one, and the guitar is now IMHO perfect. Fax the receipt to the seller and a few days later I get an envelope in the mail with $25 one dollar bills. My faith in humanity is restored! (and the schecter is my number-one most played guitar now).

Axe 2: Fender Thinline TC-90. Oh, I was jonesin' for that P90 growl... And the TC-90 is kind of a cool guitar though I don't care for a set neck on a tele-style guitar. I went for it anyway. Guitar arrives in a (ironically) schecter guitar box which looks the worse for its journey through the UPS maze. Heart sinks... Gig bag looks OK (for a GC POS gig bag!). Guitar looks A-1, ok, heart rises again. Plug it in and, you guessed it, \"BZZZZZZ\". Ah man. This time I opened the guitar up myself and found that the solder joint on the ground wire was *this close* to breaking. Resoldered it and bingo, another nice axe.

In both cases I had asked the seller if they had plugged it in and played it and they said yes. I dunno if they were both BS'ing me, but in both cases the damage *could* have been caused by shock during shipping so I guess I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I'll buy another axe on ebay, but probably never one that costs over $500... just to limit my possible loss to the won't-get-me-killed-by-the-wife level if it doesn't work out. Hell, she bought a $2,000 camera on ebay. Talk about a leap of faith.

just felt like sharing. hugs everyone!

Rf.

cyclonic

so.....how far into Kentucky do I need to drive? :shock: :twisted:

that royally stinks!! :evil:

I could open up a six-pack of \"Kentucky\" jokes but....................

iliace

\philflood\ wrote:

The last sentence of the description says both items are in good condition and completely functional. Hence, this would be a misrepresentation if the bass is not functional owing to the cracked neck. So I do think you have him. Be prepared to get a statement from a delaer or repair shop that indicates the bass is not playable as is, and have that to submit with your claims to PAYPAL or your credit card company.

As for eBay, I have had generally excellent sucess both buying and selling items on Ebay. Just going through my current guitars, I have 10 that I bought off eBay and none of them were misrepresented.

I guess I was looking at this statement:

The bass guitar is in very good condition, the only negative aspect of it I am aware of being a missing fret marker.

Note also the sentence following:

If you look you can see it missing from the 19th fret.

:shock: :shock: Doesn't sound like someone who doesn't know anything about guitars and basses and musical instruments...

Rawb

4 hrs to Kentucky. Will hook up with cyclonic, I'll cover the back door! jus' in case he wants to run!

Know people who buy n sell alot on e-bay. Matter of when not if . when you deal with an #674@! on there.

So if the dude don't do the right thing, will we be seeing you on judge Judy? :shock:

Manitou

I still think a warrant of merchantability is your best defense against this lame deal, and eBay should lean on this seller for you.
Also, use that \"live chat.\" I always got better results that way, because you can ask or be asked further questions, and seems to promote better action.

\"Implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose - Warranty that exists when a seller should know that a buyer is relying on the seller's expertise.\"

You are buying a Bass guitar, not a 3 BF flat stock of Kentucky Basswood for whittling toothpicks.
But if you do whittle toothpicks from this chunk of jit....
I would like to order a months worth of double dipped cinnamon-flavored XL Trucker grade toothpticks...please.

How boutcha Shredd...
My cowboy boots, big western beltbuckle, lambskin vest, mirrored aviator shades, and cowboy hat w/conchos...
just don't fly without the cinnamon flavored toothpicks. 10-4. (Rodger-beep)

shredd

\iliace\ wrote:

If you look you can see it missing from the 19th fret.

:shock: :shock: Doesn't sound like someone who doesn't know anything about guitars and basses and musical instruments...

You said it... :evil: :evil:

cyclonic

\Rawb\ wrote:

4 hrs to Kentucky. Will hook up with cyclonic, I'll cover the back door! jus' in case he wants to run!

Know people who buy n sell alot on e-bay. Matter of when not if . when you deal with an #674@! on there.

So if the dude don't do the right thing, will we be seeing you on judge Judy? :shock:

ROADTRIP!!!!!!! :twisted:

first........ we can strap them to a chair and make them listen to Dimmu Borgir at ear bleeding levels

Rawb

\cyclonic\ wrote:

ROADTRIP!!!!!!! :twisted:

first........ we can strap them to a chair and make them listen to Dimmu Borgir at ear bleeding levels

And if that don't do it. Surely we'll get shredds money,shipping and interest, When we leave 'em there listening to Yoko ono! :shock: While we make a beer run!

ednrg

As a rule of thumb, I make sure I get pictures from every possible angle before buying an item. If you notice in that post, he never shows you the problem areas you mentioned.

shredd

\ednrg\ wrote:

As a rule of thumb, I make sure I get pictures from every possible angle before buying an item. If you notice in that post, he never shows you the problem areas you mentioned.

Yup...plus, rf's policy of asking lots of ?'s for details, etc; make the seller reveal/confirm as much as possible, so they can't pull this \"I don't know much about instruments\" crapola later.
I really shoulda known better. Yet I've bought a number of instruments, not to mention my GNX4 and a lot of other stuff at ebay; and, using careful selection of both item and seller, I've always gotten good deals on good stuff. This is HOPEfully an anomoly, but I'm still p/o'd as can be, or at least I will be if the seller won't choke up the bux or be forced to by ebay/paypal.
'Course, I could always have Rawb and Cyclonic go down there and thrash the guy, in exchange for gas money and tickets to distillery tours.

cyclonic

sad part is most of the good distilleries are in DRY COUNTIES!!! :shock: :evil:

though......... :twisted: .......... there IS Dollywood

Rawb

So... uh....... What happened?

Did he do the right thing? Did ebay force him to? Are yous headed for Judy's court room?

shredd

\Rawb\ wrote:

So... uh....... What happened?
Did he do the right thing? Did ebay force him to? Are yous headed for Judy's court room?

Well...I filed a grievance with ebay and paypal, and after many weeks of waiting for the gears to grind, it was decided :roll: that I was ripped off and should have my $ refunded. So I just shipped the bass back, and once it's confirmed recieved (via UPS tracking, although I'm sure this seller dirtbag will complain that it never got there, or termites ate it, or I peed on it before returning it :roll: ), I'm supposed to get a full or partial refund. Stand by.

wildmann

8)Aaaahh-- Shred-hopper, Why do I know that th' Seller will claim that the Ax wuz cracked/damaged in SHIPPING, :roll: an' ya haveta File A Claim with U.P.S. [or whoever th' shipping agent was. :x ] SAVE the Box, and all packing stuff, the shipper will want to SEE it!! take fotos if necessary. There is a very good possibility that the ax was Dropped/Crammed/Slammed/tossed/thrown,--- by the Apes/Chimps/Go-Rillas [Never touched by Human Hands] that either Load the truck, unload, and all the other things that happen to a package on it's Merry Way to ya!! :roll: Why does the Wildmann KNOW This???--- I useta receive Guitars/Amps/Mixers from myraid an' diverse Shippers, Direct from the Illustrious Fender/Gibson/Gretsch/Martin/Guild factories, an' Believe me, the stuff gets Mishandled!! A cracked neck is not only Possible, but Probable. You will get Paid back, by the Shipper, if you approach it in the Right Manner. Try this first, Before ya Contract a Wandering Band O' Reggae Rastarfarians to do a \"Chicago Shuffle \"on the Sellers head! :twisted:

shredd

Naaah...depsite your experiences, I'm convinced that this ax was cracked BEFORE it shipped. I sent pics of it to a member here who's a hard-core luthier type, and he knew instantly that it was cracked from dryness/weather/temperature changes. Not to mention the rest of the bass was in s****y condition, nothing like the \"very good condition\" the seller claimed.
So the seller can claim whatever they want...fact is that the bass arrived in substantially different condition than was described. So, as per PayPal, I sent it back, and they're forcibly exacting a refund.
I still think it'd have been fun to have a coupla you east-coasters go down there to KY and rough 'em up. :twisted:

Tal Rules

At least you were wise enough to through Pay Pal..(Credit Cards also work..You can reverse the charges....)....

Only bad experience I had was my 2006 American Standard Strat, and like a fool I sent a cashiers check through registered mail, thinking I would be safe...

Dude got the bread, (Saw through registered mail reciept) then quit answering emails for 3 weeks, till I got Ebay on him... Finally sent the guitar after being threatened with legal action.

Could have been a lot worse..

shredd

Ya know...I've been doing ebay for ten-plus years, and done hundreds of x-actions. Yet I've only been screwed 2 or 3 times, including this one. If you buy - and sell - carefully, you can really minimize the chances of a bad deal. I don't know what happened on this one; I just hope it all comes out in the wash. Stand by; I should know in a week or so if I'm getting my $ back... :roll:

iliace

Everybody slips up now and again. You had a lot of successes, so you got a little careless, and it is human (in my opinion) to want to trust others. Don't be so hard on yourself, and good luck with the dispute.

anitacris

Man, I hate people like that. Jerk-offs! Dispute it with E-Bay, I 've done it before, and got a full refund. Don't let them get away with this. Click on the left side of the e-bay page. It'll say \"Dispute\"