My ongoing ebay saga with my Les Paul purchase

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sarge117

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Just wanted to share my current Guitar purchase over Ebay experience and maybe get some advice since I am sure many here have purchased guitars over Ebay before.

What really sucks about this is that this was my first Ebay purchase so I can tell you my experience has not been a fond one.

Back on February 16th I won a bid on Ebay for a Les Paul double cut.

I paid, through paypal on the ebay site, probably within 30 minutes. I contacted the seller and he responded quickly.

He told me he would ship it out the next day. So I email him the next day for the tracking number and he says he hasn't had a chance to mail it just yet and he will do it tommorow.

Tommorow comes and I email him again (Feb 18th). He replies with a USPS parcel post tracking number. Now I have 2 problems with this.
1. In his listing, he listed UPS ground, Not USPS
2. Tracking with USPS parcel post only provides 2 updates, the first is when the label is printed(which can be done at home online), the second is when it arrives at the post office it will be delivered from. So I have no visual evidence when he actually drops it off at the post office. Originally I did not know this. I thought the tracking number meant it had been dropped off. I found out later through research this was not the case.

So, a week goes by and nothing. After reading the parcel post times on the internet I was not surprised, especially since I live on the east coast and the guitar is coming from the west coast. So I email on February 26th him letting him no I haven't recieved the guitar yet. He responds that that is wierd but to give it more time as parcell post can take up to 9 days.

Now, another week goes by, and no guitar. So April 3rd I email him again and I ask him when he actually dropped it off at the post office. He responds February 24th. Needless to say I am p!ssed at this point. I am even more p!ssed that he didn't say that when I emailed him on the 26th.

So I reply that I had thought he had mailed it on the 18th, but that I would continue to wait.

If he really did mail it out on the 24th, I would expect the guitar no earlier then the end of this week beginning of next.

With that in mind my plan going forward is this. If I have not recieved the guitar by the end of next week I am going to request a full refund. If he declines I am going to file a claim on paypal. If Paypal give me any problems I will dispute it with my Credit card as well.

I am fairly new with paypal and such. With a refund though, I want to make sure I get every penny back. Is there a way I can make sure that if he does pay me back I am not charged some transaction fee.

If he does give me a refund this will be an obvious sign to me that he never sent the guitar and that he probably just didn't like the price he got for it.

Secondly, let's suppose I do get the guitar. I still want to give this guy negative feedback. But if I give him negative feedback, could he not then make some stuff up on me and give me negative feedback thus hurting my chances when I want to bid on other stuff?

To the guys credit (only positive I can think of), he has been easy to get in touch with. He responds to every email I send within a reasonable amount of time. But this is just infuriating me.

If anyone has gone through similar circumstances and could offer some advice it would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
He claimed he sent it out on the 24th of Feb and it is now April 7th!? Doesn't look good man.
 
I can't tell you what to do.....

....but if it were me I would open up the dispute console and file a claim. If everything works out hunky dory in the end there is no problem. Just state the problem is resolved. If not, you have the groundwork to get your money back. Also, it prevents the seller from selling anything else until the dispute is resolved giving him the impetus to get it taken care of right away. Good luck. Hopefully you will be playing your new LP soon and drift off into a dreamy place where none of this crap bothers you.
 
Not to be negative but it sounds like you are being taken for a ride. You paid for UPS shipping not USPS...that is already a problem in my mind. Not to mention....way too much time has passed. I am sure he is responding because he has your money and you haven't made any move toward getting it back. I am going to guess as soon as you tell him you want a refund he is going to disappear. As stated I would go ahead and file a claim with Paypal. It has been over a month since you paid the payment...correct? Normally, paypal will put a hold on the funds until positive feedback has been given or they can see a "delivered" status on the UPS or Fedex website. I have no idea how that works with a USPS shipment. At any rate, no matter the outcome, you have done your part as a buyer. It sucks that you are going through this on your first purchase. I can assure that there are descent sellers with good deals to be had. Good luck!
 
Absolutely file a Paypal dispute immediately! You are being scammed. I've been on Ebay since 1999 and have heard this from many sellers. First they tell you they forgot, then they were sick, then they give you some phony tracking #, then "Oops, sorry let me get you the right one". All of this is an attempt to string you along as long as possible.

You've been more than patient. It'll take PayPal about 10 days to get your money back for you. When you file a dispute they'll ask the seller to provide a tracking # and proof of delivery (Signature Confirmation with USPS). Sounds like the seller didn't use one of their approved tracking methods, so PayPal will side with you.

Also be sure to leave Negative Feedback on Ebay right away so that other buyers don't get scammed by this same guy! If he ends up coming through you can always revise your feedback later. And no, sellers can no longer leave retaliatory feedback, so you don't have to worry about him messing up your feedback rating.

As an aside, when using PayPal for big ticket items it is a good idea to always use a credit card as your payment method instead of your bank account. That way if PayPal can't recover all of your money you can file a dispute with your credit card company and get the rest back that way.

Good luck!

Ryan
 
report the seller to ebay and Pay Pal ASAP! they will get your money back, it may take time but they will be able to get it back in most cases.

Sorry to hear you are having bad experience with Ebay

anytime you consider buying from a merchant from ebay always check out their feedback and how long they have been doing business on ebay and it never hurts if they are classified as a power seller.

I am knocking on wood but I have not up to this point anyway, had a bad buying experience with ebay

Good Luck Man! I hope it works out for you.
 
Last edited:
Sarge,

I can't offer advise as I've never had an issue with Ebay purchases BUT what I will say, is don't be put of from using Ebay in the future...........we've bought and imported countless amounts of gear and guitars from the US to Australia but I only ever deal with sellers whos feedback, etc., is beyond question.

:cool:
 
So far you've seemed to cover all your bases...I would report the incident to ebay and paypal, worse case scenario you're happy with the git and just tell paypal and ebay the situation has been resolved...As for negative feedback, be honest in your feedback to him and he can 't really dispute what you've left...How was his feedback anyway?....I've been on ebay since 97 and have left negative feedback and never received any negative myself...Good luck
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

I have opened a dispute with Paypal.

After reading a few of your responses it really hit me that it has been three weeks since I won the bid.

in the dispute I list every communication we have had as well as the fact that the listed shipping method was not used.

The sellar has already contacted me. He was actually very understanding of me opening the dispute though I am not sure if it is geniune. He has offered to refund me the shipping cost when I recieve the guitar.

I set a deadline in the at which point I want a full refund. I may allow a couple extra days becuase I really want that guitar. But it is still well within the Paypal 45 day window. I'll keep you posted.

I purposely tied my paypal account to a credit card so I would have multiple avenues of dispute.

Thanks again.
 
His feedback was 100% positive. He had only had about 11 or 12 sales, but the feedback was all positive.

I'm still holding out hope.

I am certain I will get my money back if it doesn't work out though!
 
sarge117 said:
Secondly, let's suppose I do get the guitar. I still want to give this guy negative feedback. But if I give him negative feedback, could he not then make some stuff up on me and give me negative feedback thus hurting my chances when I want to bid on other stuff?
Click to expand...


ebay has set rules in place to protect the buyer from getting bad feedback from a seller due to a buyer posting bad feedback on a seller. it has to be a legit reason why the seller has posted bad feedback like Delinquent or non payment of a won bid.

in your case this douchebag cannot leave bad feedback on you.
 
Purge said:
I thought sellers couldn't leave negative feedback at all anymore?
Click to expand...

That is the case.:)

Sorry about the run around sarg. I had to refund a person when I sold a cell phone. I sent out a working phone, it either broke while shipping or during the buyers use. But 30 days after she'd been using it, she filed a claim and I was practically helpless. I lost money on shipping and now how a broken phone.

I hope it works out for you, which I think it should. Paypal sides easier with the buyer, which I can't blame. I'm just more hesitant to sell now.


Good luck, Eric
 
I once flew without a net and bought a TC Electronic M-One XL off of Craigslist....out of state. I thought I was hosed too, as this guy sent it out USPS and I would have sworn the seller literally put the unit on a pony (ala pony express) from Colorado to Texas. It took way longer than I would have ever imagined to get here. Just shy of 2 weeks, it finally showed up. The guy I bought it from was even blown away at how long it took. The point is, he was easy to get a hold of and responded within reasonable time to emails and though I started having my doubts, it all worked out. Cover yourself with this buy but I wouldn't be surprised if your guitar shows up, just look for the pony hairs.
 
I had the same thing happen before. Parcel Post is very slow and can take weeks to arrive. I opened a dispute with the seller because I was afraid that he was scamming me. It turns out that he was just cheap and sent my item Parcel Post instead of the agreed shipping method. When my item finally arrived I agreed to give the seller positive feedback once he refunded the shipping amount to me.
 
Purge said:
I thought sellers couldn't leave negative feedback at all anymore?
Click to expand...


One of the many reasons I don't do Feebay much, anymore. There are bad buyers, as well as sellers, and scamers on both ends. Not being able to leave neg for buyers allows scammers on the buyer end to run rampant.
 
Always check sellers out on goofbay,ebay sometimes accidentally:rolleyes: leave out some stuff especially for power sellers,
If it does arrive which I doubt,check it out properly before you close dispute,take rear cover plate of and have a look,genuine sellers dont dick people around like this.Had guitars shipped from all over world to UK with very few probs.
If you do decide to return it remember you will lose your postage costs and ebay or paypal wont make him pay you this.So remember to loosen the truss rod,dont over do it about eight or nine full turns should do;):D
 
Crash80 said:
I once flew without a net and bought a TC Electronic M-One XL off of Craigslist....out of state. I thought I was hosed too, as this guy sent it out USPS and I would have sworn the seller literally put the unit on a pony (ala pony express) from Colorado to Texas. It took way longer than I would have ever imagined to get here. Just shy of 2 weeks, it finally showed up. The guy I bought it from was even blown away at how long it took. The point is, he was easy to get a hold of and responded within reasonable time to emails and though I started having my doubts, it all worked out. Cover yourself with this buy but I wouldn't be surprised if your guitar shows up, just look for the pony hairs.
Click to expand...

All kidding aside, you wouldn't believe what pony hair can do for tone though!
 
UNFREAKINGBEILIEVABLE!

Guess what was sitting on the front patio as I got home from work today.

I had to double check to make sure I was pulling into the right house.

So for over three weeks nothing, then finally, I get mad and open a claim and the same freaking day the guitar shows up.

The post office told me I would see an "Arrived at local post office" or something like that atleast two days prior to recieving it.

As of this morning it couldn't even confirm it had been dropped off for shipping.

The good news is that the guitar is exactly as I expected. Every ding and scratch exactly as the seller had posted, no mysteries scratches that were not in the pictures that were sent. In fact with the lighting the scratches looked worse.

I love it. Jet Black Gibson Les Paul Double Cut. Love the smaller scale neck for my not so large hands.

Life is much better now.

From here on out, I will not bid on anything unless I get a confirmation from the sellar that he WILL NOT use USPS.
 
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