• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Ebay bad Transaction Question

jwstewar

Active member
I purchased an HP DDS3 tape drive on Wednesday. It arrived yesterday. It didn't work and actually ate a cleaning tape and 2 regular tapes. The ad said that it was as is. I sent the guy a message saying it was defective and that it destroyed my tapes. He said he was sorry for it destroying my tapes. I send another message back saying "Before I leave feedback, are you going to refund my money?" It was $13.xx and $10 shipping so it wasn't that big of deal in terms of $, but still makes me :mad: Was I out of line in asking for a refund? Would I be out of line in leaving negative feedback or maybe neutral? He has already left us positive feedback.:confused: This is our first ebay dealing that has gone bad (not that this has been terrible).

What would you do?
 

OhioTC18

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Jim,
Did he say that it tested out OK but it was still "as is"? I kinda think as-is means you bought it just like it sets, you take your chances.
 

jwstewar

Active member
It says Status Unknown, Sold as is.

He just responded back that if I leave negative feedback he'll contact ebay about a retraction.

I see that there are some other items that he did the same thing on. When I first looked these weren't withdrawn, now they are.

I actually screwed up (guess in more ways than one), I was watching 2 or 3 of these and saw this one ending and was thinking it was one of the others and wanted to grab it.
 

OhioTC18

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Ebay is like buying a pig in a poke. You never know what you're going to get. I think at worst I would post neutral feedback. Shipping seemed to be prompt, but item was not in working condition.
 

jwstewar

Active member
I left neutral with this description:

Prompt Shipping Item defective, refused to resolve.

Thanks Jerry for the heads-up on the CompUSA auctions. I saw that in another thread. I didn't realize they had done that. I'll be watching that from now on.
 

California

Charter Member
Site Supporter
I think you nailed it. I drafted the text below before I sat down to dinner and when I came back, I see you have settled it.

Warning others is important, it helps make ebay self-cleaning as the flakes realize they have to meet the standard of common decency if they want to keep selling.

I use a separate account for bidding, where retaliatory feedback after leaving a negative would not reflect on my reputation as a seller over on the primary account. I've never had to leave a neg since the early days when I encountered a few disappearing bidders, and never received one.

$13 for a 24gb drive? Prices have sure dropped since I was selling tape drives!

-------------------
Well he only got you for $23.02 but its only been 3 weeks since he got another customer for about $680.

His description on this drive was:

Item Specifics - Item Condition: Used.
The status of this tape drive is unknown. Sold as is.
If it were me, I would leave him a Neutral with the comment:

"Caution - his condition 'Used, as is', was not functional and it destroyed $7 worth of tapes. Refund refused. Buyer beware."
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
jwstewar said:
He just responded back that if I leave negative feedback he'll contact ebay about a retraction.

So, how does the retraction option work with Ebay? Sounds like the guy was not surprised that it didn't work. By saying unknown he is getting by with selling defective items, and not having to stand behind them. What a sleezeball.
 

jwstewar

Active member
Doc, not sure how the retraction process. I know Monica (my wife) had a dispute a year or so about some seeds. They both ended up retracting their comments but I wasn't involved with the process and she doesn't remember the process.

One thing that didn't hit me at first. I just put 2 & 2 together this morning (OK, so I'm a little slow:pat: ). This drive came with a SCSI cable. When I took the drive out of the box the cable was stuck to the drive. It wasn't stuck, the insulation was pinched in between the cover of the drive and the drive itself. If the drive's condition was unknown, why had the cover been off? When I pulled the cable off, it ruined the insulation and the shielding as well. So now the cable is useless as right.

You guys are right, I also think he is a sleezeball. I'm just happy it was only $23 he got me for. Could've been much worse, still hate to lose money for no reason - that could've filled the fuel tank on the tractor:yum:
 
Top