eBay extortionists

[evm1024]

I've had an interesting eBay experience I thought to share. I sold a 7" teac RE-711 take up reel. This reel is in outstanding condition and is the best that I have ever owned. I listed it as near mint. As you can see from the photo it is really nice.

Going price is about $40 to $50 for RE-711 in good condition and up to $60 for pristine ones. Mine went for a little under $50 and I paid for shipping.

The guy who bought it (Jeff Koon AKA ggoat!!!) wrote me and said that it had some deep scratches and that when he buys mint he expects truly mint (that's just the way he is he says).

In the 6 or so email that went back and forth between us he stated that
he thought that it was only good (now look at that photo) for spare parts and that he would not pay more than $20 for such a reel.

I stand behind what I sell and even tho this was offered as-is I offered to refund his money. He was OK with that provided I send him the money then he ship the reel back. I don't think so.

So last I heard from him was a request for me to tell him what I was going to do so that he could leave feedback. My answer was to send the reel back for a refund or to leave whatever feedback he wanted. I've not heard from him yet and no feedback yet.

I don't know if he had buyers remorse or if he pulls this crap all the time. But it appeared that he was very dishonest.

Just thought that I would drop this note and suggest that you all take care when dealing on eBay.

Not sure if I can but I might just look into finding out if eBay has a way of dealing with this.

Regards!

 

[krhall]

well him claiming that the reel has deep scratches is almost impossible judging by the image.

In my opinion i think this guy is trying to scam you.

Tell that guy to photograph the reel and upload the image to you.

Some ppl like that pull that kind of stuff to get the price down (ie: partial refund) and most likely re-sell it to make a profit.

Don't let that guy take advantage of you, a lot of ppl fall for that and get left high and dry, and to make matters worse they destroy your ebay reputation by leaving negative feedback.

at the moment i have 150+ possative feedback and a 100% clean ebay reputation from buying and selling. So i got a good rep and it has taken me 5 years to get there, so i would be so angry if someone left me negative feedback, because all that work would be destroyed.

 

[SteveM]

Ethan, it's sounds like you nailed it when you called him an extortionist. I would definately notify ebay. There may be others he did the same to or in the future will do it to again. They'll be on to him once he's reported a few times.

 

[funkytonk]

Don't worry about ebay feedback. Ebay feedback is a joke. I used to worry about feedback until I had to deal with a few guys like evm1024 is dealing with.

If you sell alot of stuff on ebay 'negatives' eventually will happen. Even if you try to be square with people.

All you can do is offer the guy a refund after he sends the item back. I mean what the hell, does this guy think you were born yesterday. If you used paypal I would definitely document this in the resolution center for your own protection, this guy definitely isn't playing with a full deck.

 

[evm1024]

Reported

I'm not too worried about feedback. negative is bound to happen. (Rep is much more important ;-)) On one hand it is funny and on the other it pisses me off.

I've got the high res images and all the email saved. I've reported it to ebay just to document for the future.

Regards.

 

[analog aaron]

I think "or would hope" anyone in their right mind would never ask for a refund first, then they can send the item back. I would just let it go and consider it a done deal/sale, and if he gives you a negative, you can always repost a response to the negative. I had a guy buy a USED/ vintage 4 track recorder from me and he started complaining about it saying things like " I knew I should have bought a new 4 track". I listed the item as USED but good condition. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the item besides it being USED with normal wear and tear and some light surface scratches. How can anyone expect a BRAND NEW SPANKING CLEAN Item if the item is made 25 or more years ago! I never listed it as NEW/ NOS/ MINT anything like that! I simply listed listed it as what it was... USED, GOOD WORKING CONDITION with light surface scratches. People are just so stupid. I guess it boils down to.... everyone has his or her own ideal of what New, Mint, Great, Good, Fair, worn, is. And if you sell a lot of items...This is what makes it impossible to please everyone ALL the time and avoid negative feedback every now and then (if you sell a lot of items) . I wouldn't worry about it. The reel looked fine...

 

[Beck]

Ethan,

The standard eBay/paypal procedure is definitely to have the buyer send the item back to you first and then you refund or replace after you examine the item, if you judge that it has the problems the buyer claims. If it doesn’t you can send it back to him.

They have a seller protection program, so good idea to report it.

I had a guy once buy something from me just to take parts out of it to fix one he already had. I knew it was in perfect condition, so I said for him to send it back and I would fix it or refund once I “Examine it for tampering.” That statement had the effect of waterboarding, because he immediately emailed back and confessed he had taken chips out of it to put in another one, and that he “May have made a mistake soldering.” That was the end of it.

I wonder if he is trying to swap with a scratched one he already had or trying to keep the reel and the money.

I’ve had bad sellers try stuff too, so each transaction is a new “Adventure.”

By the way, that reel looks great to me.

 

[ausrock]

Geezus, what's so special about those reels...............I've got a couple of them in their boxes that have seen little use.

 

[evm1024]

Update

It appears that the eBay user is no longer registered....