“Hassywest” seller on ebay

NB23 · Mar 31, 2020

Just a warning to whoever wants to deal with them: beware. Crooks.

“Hassywest” from denver colorado: lousy company.

I purchased a buy it now item from them and they simply canceled the deal and relisted it with a higher price. Later on they bullshitted me, giving pathetic reasons.ah yeah, I lost 2 days of messaging, waiting for answers.

You know guys, this needs to be known.

cramej · Apr 1, 2020

Ebay has a complaint form for abusing cancellation and return policies. You may not get any feedback from ebay, but the more people submit complaints, the more ebay will ding their seller rating.

removed account4 · Apr 1, 2020

hi cramej
I had a problem with Garys camera in Indiana several years ago and contacted ebay because they were listing a broken item as works. they are a brick / mortar store so I called them and asked about the old wollensak portrait lens before I bid on it to make sure the studio shutter wasn't toast. well, it was toast and didn't work. I asked if the guy if they were going to revise their auction page and he called me a nazi and hitler... I contacted they did absolutely nothing, and the seller decided to not change the description but he cancelled the opening bid from 300$ to 1200$. not sure how well that reporting system works on eBay...

darkroommike · Apr 3, 2020

Nothing wring with outing the bad guys here. I'm sure you fell better but it does nothing. Report them to Ebay, that may of may not help. And they might change their name on Ebay next week. It's always on the buyer to beware, the Internet is full of lowlifes.

Dan Fromm · Apr 3, 2020

OP, I agree with you that the would-be seller acted badly but don't see how you can call them crooks. When your adventure with them began they had an item and you had some money. When the adventure ended they had the item and you had the money. Where's the crime?

NB23 · Apr 3, 2020

Well, maybe not crooks, but surely a crooked way of doing business.

I am still HIGHLY insulted by this. HIGHLY.

BrianShaw · Apr 3, 2020

This kind of thing seems to happen occasionally. I’ve had to adopt a “get over it... quickly” attitude. Don’t let someone else’s bad behavior ruin your day, or week.

Monty Craig · Jun 8, 2020

Wonder if they are now calling themselves "camera.inc"? They are out of Denver too, and they tend to play games as well. I looked at their listing for a Hasselblad 500cm, and they had it listed as an A12 back when it clearly said it was a 24. I courteously asked them about it with no answer in response. They had a second camera listed with an A12 back, and in the description it was listed for $800 with all offers over $550 considered. So, I offered well over $550 but still no answer... at the very least, they could have responded with a "ROFL" , and I would have known...

NB23 · Jun 8, 2020

They could have many trading names. And I’m still very pissed by this episode.

Grim Tuesday · Jun 8, 2020

Being a sketchy ebay seller is so stupid these days; I sell quite a bit on eBay and no matter what, if the buyer claims there is an issue, eBay sides with the buyer. So anyone listing something as the wrong item is just wasting their own time and money because eBay will not side with them, and if the item is returned for not being as described, the seller covers return shipping. There's no choice about it - eBay just forces it.

Arthurwg · Jun 8, 2020

Grim Tuesday said:
Being a sketchy ebay seller is so stupid these days; I sell quite a bit on eBay and no matter what, if the buyer claims there is an issue, eBay sides with the buyer. So anyone listing something as the wrong item is just wasting their own time and money because eBay will not side with them, and if the item is returned for not being as described, the seller covers return shipping. There's no choice about it - eBay just forces it.

That has not been my experience. Just the opposite.

Grim Tuesday · Jun 8, 2020

Arthurwg said:
That has not been my experience. Just the opposite.

How recently were your experiences? And I guess, what were they?

Arthurwg · Jun 8, 2020

I bought a lens a year ago that had a serious problem. I tried to get a refund but Ebay sided with the seller.

mshchem · Jun 8, 2020

I've purchased from this seller without any issues. No doubt things get fouled up, can be very annoying. Hassywest has 100% rating.

Only one time did I experience real fraud, on Ebay. I think it was some young mastermind trying to collect on postal insurance. He lifted images from another seller's listing, big no no.

Grim Tuesday · Jun 8, 2020

Arthurwg said:
I bought a lens a year ago that had a serious problem. I tried to get a refund but Ebay sided with the seller.

I know it's too late for you, but currently, if you file an "is not as described" claim, you will instantly be allowed to send the item back and the seller cannot do anything about it. Also, in the worst case scenario, you can file a claim with paypal who will be very likely to side with you too. I had someone buy a lens from me, receive it, change his mind, return it (my return policy was: no returns), take off the tripod collar and put it against the front element's glass, wrap it all up in one layer of bubble wrap, and send it back to me. Of course it returned with the front element full of scratches. I called eBay who told me to reject the return because I never authorized it and my policy was no returns. They told me that I should let him file a case against me, and they would then let me give him a partial refund for the damaged item. He filed a case against me on PayPal and won, initially and upon appeal for a full refund purely because he showed them a tracking number that showed it had been returned and I admitted that I did receive "an" item. I even showed PayPal pictures of the lens before and after and they still decided against me! In the end, I had to sell the lens at a reduced price and all eBay did was put a strike on his account.

mshchem · Jun 9, 2020

Yes Ebay will go to bat for a seller that is a mega dealer, but for the little guy it's in the buyer's favor. I let a dealer friend of mine sell my stuff. I can't stand dealing with USPS, UPS, etc. I've sold probably 15 things on Ebay. Everything at bargain prices and uncomplicated items. Didn't have a problem. I would rather sell it to a young buddy at KEH buy prices.

ColdEye · Jun 9, 2020

I have seen sellers that had 94% rating, magically jump to 100% in a couple of months. I think they can request negative reviews to be taken off. As for the reporting, I once saw a few listing of fishing reels being advertised as a different reel. They were advertised as $400 dollar reels by a famous company, but it is actually one of their $120 dollar reels with stickers to match the $400 one. If it was someone new or not aware of stuff like that they would have bought it as it was pretty cheaply listed. I reported it, it got removed in a couple of days. A few weeks later it is back again.

Ko.Fe. · Jun 9, 2020

All Russian mega sellers selling not working film cameras as working have 100% rating.

thuggins · Jun 9, 2020

Dan Fromm said:
OP, I agree with you that the would-be seller acted badly but don't see how you can call them crooks. When your adventure with them began they had an item and you had some money. When the adventure ended they had the item and you had the money. Where's the crime?

Actually, the adventure started with the seller making an offer of contract. The moment the buyer accepted that a legal contract was in place. The seller broke that contract, that's a crime.

Contracts 101 holds that breaking a contract causes harm. The fact that party A still has an item and party B still has money has nothing to do with it.

Dan Fromm · Jun 9, 2020

Tim, the OP would have a hard time getting a court to give him damages.

reddesert · Jun 9, 2020

thuggins said:
Actually, the adventure started with the seller making an offer of contract. The moment the buyer accepted that a legal contract was in place. The seller broke that contract, that's a crime.

Contracts 101 holds that breaking a contract causes harm. The fact that party A still has an item and party B still has money has nothing to do with it.

Contract law should also tell us that breach of contract is not a crime. It's covered under civil law.

Ariston · Jun 9, 2020

thuggins said:
Actually, the adventure started with the seller making an offer of contract. The moment the buyer accepted that a legal contract was in place. The seller broke that contract, that's a crime.

Contracts 101 holds that breaking a contract causes harm. The fact that party A still has an item and party B still has money has nothing to do with it.

Except that the buyer and seller have contracts with eBay, not each other. And I would bet that their contracts with eBay say that eBay is the sole arbiter in these matters.

I had a similar thing happen on another classifieds site. Bought something at a price that was too good. The seller realized it was too good and canceled my purchase.

All you can really do is get over it.

thuggins · Jun 10, 2020

OK, since we have such interest in legal niceties:

1. Whether this gentleman would have a "hard time" getting damages in court does not change the fact that breach occurred.
2. Contracts are enforceable under the law and courts can and do award damages for breach. The term "criminal" has a generic implication of "illegal", as well as the technical differentiation between criminal and civil acts.
3. The contract was most definitely NOT between anybody and Ebay. Before they inserted themselves into the transaction to collect sales tax, Ebay actively and repeatedly stressed that they had no involvement in the transaction and it was solely between the buyer and seller. Even now with the sales tax collection, Ebay is a best a broker or finder. The seller does have a contract with Ebay to pay them for the services provided, but that has nothing to do with the transaction between the buyer and seller.

For heaven's sake, people! The OP got screwed over and he is doing the community a service by giving the rest of us a heads up. And your response is "Ha-ha, you lose!"??

grat · Jun 10, 2020

No, the OP got jerked around by a seller. He lost no money, only time. By that measure, eBay itself has "criminally" wasted many hours of my life.

It's nice to know that particular seller won't always honor their prices, but it may have been an honest mistake. It's worth noting that they didn't apparently attempt bait and switch, which is usually a tactic for scammers-- "Oh, sorry, a junior employee sold that item earlier today-- we can offer you this MUCH better model for a slightly higher price!".

If you don't know the difference between civil and criminal law, then you should probably refrain from giving legal opinions. Yes, a criminal act is illegal. But you have yet to prove a criminal act happened. And by claiming a criminal act occurred when in fact one didn't, you might be accused of a civil infraction-- ie, "libel" (since it's in print).

And finally, eBay is most definitely involved-- they are brokers, arbiters, and enforcers, of transactions. You want to play on their site, you do it by their rules-- unfortunately, those rules are enforced by individuals, and may not be uniformly applied, and your chances of getting the raw end of the deal are about the same if you're a seller, or a buyer. But the risks are generally low, or eBay wouldn't still be in business.

Ariston · Jun 10, 2020

If you created an account with eBay, you entered into a contract with them, as far as I know. Most people don’t read it, including me.

“Hassywest” seller on ebay

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