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A local TB'er ripped me off!!

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#163
5544 said:
If you went to the local music shop, would they find it normal if you took a part the bass before buying it?
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No they would not find it normal. But as a seller on TB/Reverb it's a bit different. If I had sold this bass to 4String, I would have already met with him and undone the deal. I could look at the situation and see that he got a messed up bass. I sold a Ric and took it back for little more than a scratch and small dent. I believe the buyer and that I missed the scratch and dent when I boxed it up. I certainly wouldn't accuse him of putting the scratch there and then blaming it on me. Some things are just grey areas a seller needs to stand behind what he sells or His reputation goes way down hill.
 
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#164
I'm sure it's been mentioned in the 9 pages of this thread, but contact Leo at Lakland and tell him what happened. They are pretty awesome about helping out. It may cost you (or you may have to send it to Carl), but it will be done right and you can move on. Dwelling on being ripped off like this won't get you anywhere. Just get it resolved and play the heck out of that bass. Have the last laugh that no busted truss rod is going to stop you from rockin' that Lakie.
 
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#165
5544 said:
If you went to the local music shop, would they find it normal if you took a part the bass before buying it?
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That's great that you are playing Devil's Advocate, however there is this:

4string4ever said:
When i first went to adjust it, it was frozen. Not wanting to risk breaking it, I called Lakland and asked their advice. The tech on the ihine referred me to Carl Pedigo, evidently a highly regarded luthier in Chicago. He advised me to remove the neck and then remove the nut from the truss rod. Once I got the neck off, the nut unscrewed relatively easily, at which point it came off after only 3 turns. There was 1/4" inch of truss rod, the end being pointy and rusty. It obviously had been broken long before, and a different nut attached.
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I think this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. He called Lakland, they told him to take off the neck and back out the truss rod nut. Sure, a call to the seller first may have been in order, but the buyer was working off the assumption that the deal was a solid one and the seller sold him a bass in good working order, which is not the case. Continuing to argue that he should have done something after the fact isn't constructive at all. Also, having purchased used basses from online sources in the past, I can tell you that one of the first things I do is check for truss rod function. Never had a problem, but I don't want to get saddled with a bass that can't be played, so I will check.

@4string4ever - Perhaps after you get the cost of repair or replacement, you can ask the seller to pay for that? It is very suspicious that he deleted the classified post, and he seems to do a lot of selling here, but he won't have much luck selling if there's even a hint that he sold a busted bass, with prior knowledge, and attempted to cover it up. He could help himself if he helps you solve this issue.
 
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#168
4string4ever said:
I could do that, but I'll let Reverb, PayPal and my Credit card company all have a whack at it before going that far. And who knows, maybe I'll just pay to get it fixed. It IS a very sweet bass, being an 03 skyline, and feels great in my hands. Better sounding than any fender Jazz I've ever played. I'd honestly like to keep it. Well, ok in good working order.
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If you paid with a credit card skip right to them and file the claim. Good chance your CC company will issue a charge-back/be able to help. Paypal will be of no use sadly.

I went through a similar situation, purchasing from ebay then finding out the seller was local-ish. Got home to find the electronics were wasted. Discover issued a charge-back and quickly. Sorry to hear about all this. Hope it all works out...
 
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#169
He has not deleted his account, @bassMG is an active member and has been here for over 5 years.

Oddly he did delete the deal thread and has also deleted some of his other deal threads. Nor does he have much activity shown for a member in long standing.

There is always the chance that he honestly did not know of the damage. I actually doubt the guy set up shop to sell basses with broken truss rods to unsuspecting buyers. His activity on the site is a little out of the ordinary though.
 
#170
4string4ever said:
When i first went to adjust it, it was frozen. Not wanting to risk breaking it, I called Lakland and asked their advice. The tech on the ihine referred me to Carl Pedigo, evidently a highly regarded luthier in Chicago. He advised me to remove the neck and then remove the nut from the truss rod. Once I got the neck off, the nut unscrewed relatively easily, at which point it came off after only 3 turns. There was 1/4" inch of truss rod, the end being pointy and rusty. It obviously had been broken long before, and a different nut attached.
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Can the truss rod be frozen and broken at the same time? This seems odd. I think perhaps you did manage to break it through your efforts to adjust it. It may have been hopelessly seized and on the verge of breaking.

4string4ever said:
I also can't underdtand how, If it was not already broken, how it was frozen when I went to adjust it, and the end was sheared off and rusty??
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I don't think this is possible, If the rod is sheared off it can't also be frozen, are you being 100% honest?

4string4ever said:
That's how I feel about Reverb....they aren't being terribly cooperative. They make me feel like the one whose doing wrong. They asked for a photo, and after I submitted 3, they insisted that I take the beck to a luthier and get an estimate for repair..
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Sorry to play devil's advocate but your description of the problem is a little sketchy.
 
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#171
crucislancer said:
That's great that you are playing Devil's Advocate, however there is this:



I think this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. He called Lakland, they told him to take off the neck and back out the truss rod nut. Sure, a call to the seller first may have been in order, but the buyer was working off the assumption that the deal was a solid one and the seller sold him a bass in good working order, which is not the case. Continuing to argue that he should have done something after the fact isn't constructive at all. Also, having purchased used basses from online sources in the past, I can tell you that one of the first things I do is check for truss rod function. Never had a problem, but I don't want to get saddled with a bass that can't be played, so I will check.

@4string4ever - Perhaps after you get the cost of repair or replacement, you can ask the seller to pay for that? It is very suspicious that he deleted the classified post, and he seems to do a lot of selling here, but he won't have much luck selling if there's even a hint that he sold a busted bass, with prior knowledge, and attempted to cover it up. He could help himself if he helps you solve this issue.
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I have watched enough Law & Order to realize when someone going in with blinders on, they will be blindsided by the obvious.

I've also been burned enough times in my life to trust nobody when it comes to giving someone my hard earned money.
 
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#173
That's a shame OP! Hopefully this doesn't sour you on ALL TalkBass deals...

I had a similar situation when I met a guy years ago from Craigslist to but his Gibson Les Paul Standard. He said it was in great condition and so I gave it a once over, paid him and left. Two days later my tech calls me and tells me that te truss rod is broken, and when I bring this up with that dirtbag he responds that he "finds that really hard to believe". Bad move on my part trusting a stranger, but there aren't any refunds from face-to-face deals and I sure wasn't going to track him down and force a refund (and possibly had them him call the cops on me). $600 repair bill and an expensive lesson learned.

OP, I will say that having worked with Carl Pedigo besides that if you do decide to repair the bass just send it to him. Awesome guy that know his stuff and is very reasonable for the expertise you get.
 
#175
BigBobbyBass said:
It looks like the seller just used TB hock gear. I'll probably not do business with someone on here that contributes nothing..
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What exactly is contributing in your book then? A lot of message boards require people to sign up before they are able to view images. For all you know, they seller does a lot more reading than posting.
 
#177
Double E said:
Can the truss rod be frozen and broken at the same time? This seems odd. I think perhaps you did manage to break it through your efforts to adjust it. It may have been hopelessly seized and on the verge of breaking.



I don't think this is possible, If the rod is sheared off it can't also be frozen, are you being 100% honest?



Sorry to play devil's advocate but your description of the problem is a little sketchy.
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when I say it was frozen, I'm describing that the nut would not turn either way in the course of a normal truss rod adjustment (neck attached). So then I removed the neck, I have a better angle, better access, better leverage, and the nut unscrews from the rod, albeit stiffly. Nothing broke while was performing the action. The nut looked newer than the truss rod, and the rod itself was uncharacteristically short, and rusty on the end. I submit that once upon a time it was broken, the old nut containing the broken piece, and a new nut attached to what was left of the threads.
 
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#179
interp said:
So sorry to hear this. Really unusual. In my experience, dealing with TBers has been a consistently excellent experience. Hope you get satisfaction.
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I'll be taking it to a local shop today, then I'll know the lay of the land.

So if anyone here considers doing business with that particular member, bear in mind the negative feedback he got from me, and be extra cautious. I don't want anyone here to suffer what I did with that guy.
 
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