Soundcraft Ghost won on Ebay, then damaged then 'fixed'. ADVISE PLEASE!!!

[mncheetah]

Okay, here's the situation,

I won an Ebay auction for a 32 channel Soundcraft ghost with the MIDI cotrol (not the LE) for $2550(without shipping). He told me that the Ghost was in perfect condition before I even bid on it.

After 2 weeks of waiting for the guy to respond to me he says that his sprinkler system went off and that the Ghost was damaged and that he was sorry and stuff. I then sent a nasty email, basically telling him that he is responsible for the auction and that he must either find another Ghost in perfect condition or repair the original, or give it to me for near free.

So he then notified me that a Soundcraft tech looked at it and replaced channels 1,2, and 4 on it and that it is working 'fine right now'.

Is there anything more that I should be concerned about water being sprayed on a mixer? Should I still buy it?

WHAT SHOULD I DO?????????????????????????????????

[DonF]

Ask the seller to put you in touch with the Soundcraft tech directly, so you can verify that the board is in essentially the same condition that it was in when you bid on it. If you can't verify this, cancel your purchase.

[subtractor]

I'd do escrow with him until you have it and can check it out.

[mncheetah]

How can I be sure that I'd be talking to the actual tech and not one of his buddies or something?

[subtractor]

Ask him for the business the tech works for.

[mncheetah]

I was thinking escrow, but for an item that expensive, they want over $100. Maybe I should make him pay escrow.

But even if I did that, what else should I check on the board once I recieved it? Every channel, all sends, all busses, what about MIDI and anything else, I've never owned a board of this caliber.

[DonF]

Yeah, it occurred to me that he might try to fake the contact with the tech. Ask him for the tech's business email address. If he gives you something that ends in "hotmail.com", run the other way!

[TexRoadkill]

I'd forget about it and move on. Just unpacking the mixer and checking it all out would be a big task. Then packing it all up and sending back? That fucker ways 100lbs and costs about $250 to ship.

There's plenty of good Ghost deals on Ebay. Just catch the next one.

[c7sus]

If the guy had any scruples at all he would have emailed you right away when things got shitty and told you the unit was no longer available until further notice.

I wouldn't deal with a clown like that.

[skippy]

I'm with Tex. Cancel the sale and *run*, don't walk, away. The merchandise is _not_ what you bid on, whether any repairs were made or not- and that's the seller's problem, not yours. Whenever "surprises" like this creep in, it tells me that the whole deal is likely to be a huge scam. There will be another one, ideally from a good broker who will actually stand behind the product.

Get out now. From here, the hassles are almost certain to increase, if you decide to press on regardless- and I'll bet a beer that you end up laying out more money in the long run than you would have if you'd bought a new one. Call up Soundcraft and ask them if they have any factory refurb B-stock units, if you want to go used. For example, my Ghost was in a booth at NAMM a couple years back, refurbed, and I got it direct from Soundcraft as B-stock with the full warranty and a very nice price. If Soundcraft won't deal directly with you, call one of their big online dealers (like Full Compass) and get _them_ to make the inquiry for you. It never hurts to ask.

Sometimes saving money (by trying to get the killer deal on Ebay) gets to be too damned expensive for me.

[mncheetah]

I think you guys are right. Man I'm pissed. I've been looking for this mixer for about 3 months now. I knew it was to good to be true.

[TexRoadkill]

I took me a few months to get my Ghost also. I ended up getting a 24 MMC w/meters for $2400 (I think) on Ebay. It's in great shape and although the meter bridge is a little flaky and some pots are a little scratchy it's running like a champ.

Make sure you have a search saved with email notification so you can jump on the good deals quickly.

[SonicAlbert]

Yes, cut and run. There's too much money involved, shipping would be a pain and expensive, and returning it would be yet more difficult. Drop this guy now and move on.

[MISTERQCUE]

............what everybody else said!

Unless he knocks off 70-80% of the price plus free shipping!

[jake-owa]

I bet he just made up the story to twerp out on the sale price.

[acorec]

First of all, the sale is suspect because how many people wait 2 weeks to contact the buyer about ANYTHING? He wants his money. Something is very fishy here.

[mncheetah]

I told him to forget it. Thanks all, for your help.

[SonicAlbert]

Good choice, you won't regret it.