eBay purchase gone awry

[mikewhi]

Hi:

I bought a used lens on eBay and when I rec'd it, it didn't meet the description stated.

1) Shutter described as "shutter seems accurate". The shutter is an old Ilex No. 5 and even at 50 takes about 2 seconds to open\close. Other speeds are even slower. There is no way the seller (named: nsfw) told the truth about the shutter.

2) He stated there were cleaning marks on the glass. When I look at the glass, there is 'crazing' that looks like minutes scratches. In a few instances, I can feel a scratch when a run a cleaning cloth over the area.

I've contacted the seller and he blamed the shutter on shipping! It was packed extremely well, in many layers of foam rubber so it could not have been jarred enough.

I paid with a money order.

Has anyone had any such experience and was able to get a return\refund? The seller mentions no deadline for returns\refunds or if they are even offered.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

-Mike

 

[Jorge]

Hi:

I bought a used lens on eBay and when I rec'd it, it didn't meet the description stated.

1) Shutter described as "shutter seems accurate". The shutter is an old Ilex No. 5 and even at 50 takes about 2 seconds to open\close. Other speeds are even slower. There is no way the seller (named: nsfw) told the truth about the shutter.

2) He stated there were cleaning marks on the glass. When I look at the glass, there is 'crazing' that looks like minutes scratches. In a few instances, I can feel a scratch when a run a cleaning cloth over the area.

I've contacted the seller and he blamed the shutter on shipping! It was packed extremely well, in many layers of foam rubber so it could not have been jarred enough.

I paid with a money order.

Has anyone had any such experience and was able to get a return\refund? The seller mentions no deadline for returns\refunds or if they are even offered.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

-Mike

Well, it all depends on how much you paid. It might not be worth the hassle, I beleive E bay covers you for items $25 and above. So here goes.

First, go back to the auction and make a hard copy of the ad they will ask you for this.
Save your MO receipt, they will ask you for it.
Contact E Bay's dispute resolution dept. You will have to fill in your dispute and some other info. They will give you a "case" number, save it, you will need it for later.
They in turn will contact the seller, he will respond to your complaint, you will then have the chance to respond to his response. You will go round and round, sort of like the Master's thread in APUG.
At some point you will have the option to choose that the dispute is impossible to resolve.
E bay will evaluate your case and will refund you the price of the lens minus $25 dollars and shipping. I dont recall if they require that you send the lens back or not, you will figure it out.

If you paid more than $40 including shipping, then it is worth the hassle, if not, then chalk it up to bad luck and running into the one a$$hole that ruins it for everbody else.

 

[Art Vandalay]

I had an almost identical experience a couple of years ago with and old 135mm for my 4x5!! The ad said a few 'cleaning marks' which turned out to be a spiders web of scratches that you could see and feel - the shutter was also broken. This dealer had many transaction and a good reputation and I merely told him I was returning the lens because his 'cleaning marks' description was misleading and the lens was completely unusable and should not have been sold to anyone. He grudgingly took it back and even paid the shipping because I left him no doubt I would fry him in the feeback section. It's so competitive on there that even one bad comment can hurt a reputation, especially since I had a solid case against him. I think if you are firm he'll take it back without much of a fight.

 

[Flotsam]

I've only bought a couple of items on Ebay. One was and old 105mm Nikkor lens. When it arrived the glass was fine but when I cycled the auto diaphragm lever, it was obvious that the mechanism was gummed up, either not shutting down at all or just slowly shutting down when the lever was released. I had payed by paypal and the seller, who seemed nice enough in emails, didn't complain but also didn't make putting a check in the mail his top priority. I had to email him a few reminders over the next several weeks but he finally refunded the price minus the shipping.

Not an Ebay nightmare story but a PITA that took time and cost me the shipping both ways for nothing.

 

[Dave Parker]

I am a large volume seller on Ebay, first I would contact the seller and let him know again that the item was not in the condition stated in the auction listing, and the damage exhibited on the lens was not and could not have been caused by shipping,(make sure and keep all materials that came with the shipping)

I would also contact the company that issued the Money Order and aprised them of the situation and that you intend to file a complaint for a fraudulent transaction involving the money order, also let the seller know you will file a mail fraud complaint, if it was sent through the U.S. Mail.

Contact both the Att. Genreals of the respective states involed in the sale and the receiving end of the transaction.

Make sure and file a complaint and claim through ebays safe harbor system.

At all stages make sure and print out all emails for records, in addition file a fraud complaint with your local police, so they have record of it.

Let the seller know in no uncertain terms you will follow up and make sure and jump through the hoops to ensure satisfaction on your part.

The only way to ensure that this type of situation does not happen, is if the purchaser makes sure and follows up at each stage of the process.

I just looked at his listings both current and closed and think I found the lisiting you purchased, if so, the price paid is well worth the effort, the person does not have a bad feedback rating and if your firm with him, I am almost sure he would want to work something out that would be happy for both parties involved.

If I can help, please let me know, as I said, I sell a lot on ebay and am always honest with my purchasers and work very hard to ensure they are happy.

Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialties
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass

 

[Konical]

Good Evening,

I've purchased about fifty items, mostly photographic, on E-Bay. Overall, it's been a positive experience. One item, a 35mm SLR body, arrived with defects which were not noted in the seller's description, not enough to make it inoperable, but obvious enough so that they should certainly have been mentioned. The cost, however, was only about $35.00, so I wasn't overly disturbed. The one somewhat bad experience has been offset by numerous very good deals (e. g. TWO functioning Kodak Carousel projectors for $6.30!), so careful buying on E-Bay still seems like a good idea.

Konical