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jebjeb · Jun 5, 2007, 04:36 PM

I bought a three month old Dell 30" LCD from a chap on eBay last Thursday at 0900. Paid via Paypal immediately (it was BIN). I sent the guy a few questions along with the payment.

I know that people have lives outside of eBay etc but I am used to a reply same day with these sort of things. But a bit of a delay is fine. Looking at the guys history, I see that he had sold another display back in April so I emailed the buyer. That buyer replied to say that everything went fine and that the PayPal address was the same that he used. That made me comfortable that things should be ok (obviously not guaranteed though).

Received a message on Friday night (around 2300) from the seller saying that I would have the display on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Great, I thought. It's my birthday tomorrow (Wednesday) so it would be here for that.

You can obviously guess that the display didn't turn up today. I emailed the chap asking for a delivery tracking number so I could see what its state was. I then get an email from another buyer who had bought the other 30" LCD off this guy (he had two for sale). Turned out he had cruddy comms from the seller and the seller just ended up refunding him out of the blue.

I get an email back from the seller whilst I was eating dinner. He says that he is on holiday and that a guy that works for him was supposed to send out the display but obviously didn't. He said that I was being over-zealous and that as per eBay regs, he had 7 to 14 days to make delivery. He then said that his guy was ok to send it out tomorrow and that if was happy with that, to reply in 10 minutes otherwise he would issue a refund.

After dinner, I see that the guy had send the above email about an hour ago. He had also issued the refund via PayPal, which of course shafted me for the fee so I am out of pocket anyway.

Now, I can understand that the guy is on holiday but I would think that one would not post an auction for something of that expense without thinking they could conduct the transaction appropriately. I guess I am holding people to the higher standard of customer service that I deliver and expect from others. However, a ten minute deadline (by email from a guy that takes 24+ hours to respond) before issuing a refund that I didn't agree to is ridiculous. I know what people are thinking, "just be happy you got the refund" but the product was significantly cheaper than others online. I think it is the principle of the thing as well. One cannot just refund a buyer because they could not be arsed with dealing with their obligations as a seller in an auction.

Anyway, I emailed him back saying I would still have it if he can guarantee delivery by Friday (I know that I probably should just walk away). If he doesn't like that then I will think myself lucky that I got a refund, email him to send me some extra money to cover the Paypal fee that I shouldn't have to pay on the refund due to his incompetence then nail him on feedback plus accept that he will probably retaliate with negative feedback for me as he is one of those bastards of sellers who do not leave feedback as soon as a buyer has paid for the product.

Oh well, rant over. Just needed to get that of my chest. Will just spend the extra dosh and get a new display from a reputable seller if this doesn't work out.

Atheist · Jun 5, 2007, 04:46 PM

To state the obvious... you get what you pay for. If he's selling it for "significantly cheaper" than others would, you should expect to get significantly less service.

Doofy · Jun 5, 2007, 05:26 PM

Smells like some kind of scam.

And this is why I avoid EvilBay like the plague.

Mastrap · Jun 5, 2007, 07:53 PM

Ebay is ok, as long as you know the rules. I've sold a lot of old tech stuff for good money.

imitchellg5 · Jun 5, 2007, 08:35 PM

Well, happy birthday!

Doofy · Jun 5, 2007, 08:41 PM

Yeah, happy birthday Jeb!

jebjeb · Jun 6, 2007, 01:25 AM

Thanks for birthday wishes!

After sleeping on it, I realize the guy is just a tosser. My wife said yesterday that for items like this I should just go and by the best product for a reasonable price and minimize the hassle. I love my wife! I am now wondering if I should just go and pick up an Apple 30" Cinema display for £1200 or a new Dell 3007 WFP-HC (the newer, faster panel) for about £850. £350 is lot to pay extra for the Apple.

For interest, the Dell on eBay was £450 whereas other used displays have been going for just over £600 (except for the odd one around the £450 mark).

I guess this a question that has been discussed many times here on 'NN. Will probably just go for the Dell.

alligator · Jun 6, 2007, 07:42 AM

I got the same response from my wife. I considered a Dell, and my wife actually said "But the Apple products usually work and look better, get the Apple LCD." I couldn't believe it. Treat this as a lesson learned and stay away from eBay unless you have no choice.

jebjeb · Jun 6, 2007, 12:13 PM

Well, I will be washing my hands of this guy after one more thing. The useless bugger "refunded" me by sending me the amount I paid back. Of course I got charged a PayPal fee for it as he didn't use the proper refund option. I will request that he sends me the difference, including extra to cover the fee that this transaction will also attract.

I have found a proper bricks and mortar retailer who has the brand new Dell 3007 WFP-HC for a good price. Three years warranty plus dead pixel guarentee. I prefer Apple products but the spec and reviews of this new model are better than the Apple display plus it is two thirds the price and with the longer warranty. Hard to ignore.

Should have it Friday. I shall chalk this experience up to stuffing around too much on price. My wife and I were talking about this last night and we realised that we spend a lot of time trying to find something a couple of percent cheaper than a price from a retailer that we already know and trust.

This is one of those things that happens so much more these days with the net. A decade ago we would just go to the local retailer, negotiate a price with them as they would want to keep us a future customer and get the product then and there. We would also then have someone who was perfectly willing to deal with any problems we experienced as well.

These days, all to often we try and save a few quid by dealing with some new retailer/seller and get burnt. I must remember this.