E-Bay Headaches

ottoatm · Post by **ottoatm** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:31 pm

Hi all - this is my first post "creation", so I hope it's in the right spot.

Just wanted to come to CC asking for some advice on an e-bay deal that took a strange turn for me.

I won the wolfpack tower (http://classic-castle.com/sets/archives/6075.html) from e-bay for a meager 26.00 bucks, listed as in near-mint condition. When I actually got it, the box was indeed in fine condition. But upon opening it, I found that all the wolfpack figs were gone, and this set (http://guide.lugnet.com/set/6669) was assembled and included in the box as well! I haven't attempted to piece together the tower yet, so I'm not sure if it has all the pieces or not - I do see many of the large wall pieces but who knows about the smaller blocks.

I was so upset about the deal that I wrote to the seller and demanded a refund, which he has agreed to... but I am a bit worried about whether or not he will send my money back once he gets the "set" again.

Any thoughts on what I should do? I'm thinking that it was only 25 bucks... should I just grin and bear it?

Thanks for any feedback/opinions~

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:03 am

If it were me, I'd treat it as a normal Ebay transaction. The seller doesn't send the auction winnings until he receives the money, so why should you send off the item until you get your money back?

But then again, I'm opinionated, and it's doubtful a lot of sellers would go along with what I would demand.

I count myself fortunate that I have not had too many problems yet.

--Anthony

xiblal · Post by **xiblal** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:00 am

I would do what Anthony said, wait until you get the money before sending it back. Also you have the eBay Guaranty to fall back on. I have not looked into it a lot but I believe they cover any fraud that happens up to $500.

Blueandwhite · Post by **Blueandwhite** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:19 am

That really is too bad. Whatever you do, don't return it to the seller unless you first receive a refund. The seller has already proven himself untrustworthy. Let the seller remedy the situation first.

Post by **architect** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:35 am

A link to the auction listing would be helpful. Was there a picture of the set assembled or just a photo of the box? For $26 if the box and set were in good condition, it would be a good deal. However since wolfpack men are expensive (probably around $3 a piece) I would demand a refund as the others said, or to get the missing figs. The extra set would be nice though

Also this thread is more appropriate in buy sell trade, so I will move it there.

Ben E.

ottoatm · Post by **ottoatm** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:18 am

Thanks all ~

I think your right about waiting for the refund, but I didn't know that e-bay covered expenses as well. I did file a complaint with the buyer protection program, and after your suggestions I will look into some further actions.

I did get all the documentation I could about the listing as soon as I saw what the seller sent to me - I have screen shots and everything...

There really is no way that he took the pictures he listed in his auction - the auction listing is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... otohosting,
although the images seemed to have mysteriously vanished since my mail to him. No matter, I saved the original page and took some screenshots...

ORIGINAL listing
http://web.syr.edu/~atmarks/ebay/eBayISAPI.dll.htm

Screenshots
http://web.syr.edu/~atmarks/ebay/screenshots.htm

I've never had that big of a problem in two years of e-bay collecting, but this experience certainly is sobering... I'll keep you all updated, and if you have any suggestions, thanks in advance

>> Edit >> oops... your right... this def. should be in buy/sell/trade... my bad~

N8 · Post by N8 » Sat Jan 08, 2005 8:44 am

He is willing to give you a refund so maybe he did not know. I have bought lego sets from stores that people have taken things from and resealed them. so that may be the case. Find out how much it would be to buy the parts you need from bricklink then offer him to just refund that amount. if he does that you still get the set for what you thought you were getting it for. then throw some good feedback around and you are set.

Umgarla · Post by **Umgarla** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:30 pm

Hmm... the picture shows the minifigs...
That means he hasn't kept his part of the deal...
As others have said, you either demand a refund or the minifgs too. If he doesn't do either, then you let the ebay admins know so they'll ban him or something like that...
In the last case ya won't get yer money back, but he'll learn his lesson...

forester3291 · Post by **forester3291** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:57 pm

Well, did you SNED him actual money or did you use Pay-Pal. If you used Pay-Pal you can get a refund from them. That's what my Dad said happens. If you didn't use Pay-Pal then you should ask for the figs. He has the pic of the set so he should give you the whole thing.

Just think if you were one of those colectors who don't open the boxes. You would be thinking there was a complete set when there wasn't.

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 5:59 pm

Here is my take on the whole thing:

He did not fulfill his end of the deal, namely he didn't include the figs after showing a picture with the figs included. Keep the legos, don't send them back, that just gives the seller another chance to stiff you. Find the figs on Bricklink and figure out the replacement cost including shipping. Ask for a refund of that amount. If he won't comply, then file a fraud complaint with ebay and leave negative feedback. However, if you leave negative feedback, he may retaliate and leave it for you too. If you paid through Paypal, get a refund through them. Ebay also has fraud protection. I have been using ebay for years now and I have only had a couple of bad transactions (one involving Lego). I feel for you, this kind of thing really stinks, I am still upset about my one negative feedback. But don't lose your trust in people. There are more honest sellers out there than dishonest and the dishonest ones do end up getting booted. After three fraud reports, Ebay will kick them out. I was the third for one seller. At least I assume I was. After I filed a report they were "no longer a registered user". The system does work, and this transaction may work out for the best. Also, about the extra set. I would feel free to ignore it. It is not worth the missing figs. So don't just grin and bear it.

Take care and good luck,
Josh

N8 · Post by N8 » Sun Jan 09, 2005 8:10 am

I allready said that JoshWedin. so an I agree with n8 would of sufficed. but anyways yes it is probably your best

Post by **JoshWedin** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:23 am

N8,

I have PMed you to talk about your reply to my post. Discussing it here would be off-topic.

Josh

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:18 am

Actually, Paypal WON'T refund your money in this situation. They will ONLY refund your payment if you received nothing in the mail. This is proved by the seller not being able to supply a tracking number.

Even if you have all the evidence in the world that he didn't send what he was supposed to it doesn't matter. I had purchased a Hobby-level R/C car on ebay awhile back. The seller had advertised it as a rolling chassis. The picture showed a complete rolling chassis. He also was quite specific about the car being in good condition. What I got was a chassis lacking wheels, shocks, a drive shaft. It had a few broken parts, and the chasis was covered in servo tape (strong double sided sticky tape) soaked in super glue, with tons of scratches all over the thing. The belt was also nearly striped and the rear pulley was half way melted.

I emailed the seller about it, and he admitted there were no shocks or wheels/tires. His defense was that he never said it included wheels/tires or shocks, but the pictures clearly showed them. He said he would send the missing drive shaft, but never did. He ended up totally ignoring any of my emails. I filed a claim with Paypal saying I had screen shots of the listing, the car pictures on my hard drive, and all the emails where he says the car is missing the parts. They pretty much said tough luck, we can't do anything if you got a box in the mail.

If the guy doesn't cooperate there isn't anything you can do but let other people know his ways through feedback, and file a fraud report with eBay.

If you are worried about retaliatory negative feedback wait until the last possible day to leave feedback. I believe eBay gives you 90 days to leave feedback. I'd find out when the end of that 90 days is, and leave negative feedback then.

His other feedback shows he isn't exactly a model eBay seller. If you check the people who left him Negative feedback you will also see that he left them negative feedback as well.

Sorry to hear about the situation, just hope he cooperates and get your money/goods. I'd still leave a neutral feedback at the end of the 90 day period to let others know what he has done.

N8 · Post by N8 » Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:51 am

Charlie thats not true. I am not saying that it didn't happen to you but what you are saying is not true. I bought legos before that did not come in exellent condition as the description said. After making the complaint under the significantly differant than the desciption heading or something like that they gave him a chance to explain then they had me send the legos to pay pal and they gave me full refund including shipping.

Classic-Castle.com

E-Bay Headaches

E-Bay Headaches

Just a thought

Re: E-Bay Headaches

hello

Re: hello

Not true