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Double Bass It Happened Right Here(rant)

A

antkiller

Feb 11, 2011
9
0
Devil's Garden, FL (swfl)
#1
Hi all, new to talk bass. I usually frequent the other double bass forum(it rhymes with doublebasschat.com). I'm a South Fl Upright player(roots,blues,pschobilly, rockabilly) . I was hunting the other site looking for some Garbos, when a member referred me to this site. I saw an E and A, contacted the seller, sent payment and am currently waiting for them to arrive. I continued my search and BLAMMO, a full set appears in the classifieds. So I in normal forum fashion I PM the owner and also post on the thread that the pm was sent. The seller also had some other strings that I was interested in. I was planning on discussing this during the string of emails that usually take place during these kind of transactions. Instead of getting that opportunity, I received a PM saying sorry they're sold. They ended up being sold to the person who PMed after me. I wrote the seller telling him I felt somewhat slighted. Only my second interaction on TB and already a negative experience. I understand that the seller has the right to sell or not sell to whomever he pleases, but I can't help feeling shafted. Am I wrong? Is there "forum sales etiquette"?
I'm a person that believes in "meant to be" scenarios. Those strings were not meant for me, nor any other items this person is selling. I refrained from giving negative feedback because of the "grey" area involved here and lack of transaction that occurred. If you are reading this right now "MR E. Strings", I hope you feel like a complete schmuck! I will be avoiding anything that you are affiliated with.
Call it whining, I call it venting. I feel a little better. I did find the remainder of the Garbo set (brand new), so all is well.
 
#3
I've bought and sold on these forums for years and have only had good experiences. I try to deal fairly with people on both ends of the transaction.

I don't know the details of your transaction, so I can't really say, but the seller is not obligated to "first come, first served". When you're talking about making a purchase, that doesn't mean a deal is done. If he felt more confident with the other sale or maybe it was a multi-part deal or someone he had traded with before, he had a right to make the choice he did.

There are no buyer or seller protections in place here like on eBay. Transactions aren't insured by some 3rd party market place, they're personal deals, usually with people we don't know and sometimes involving hundreds of dollars. Every dealing is a personal decision. You've been a member here for a week, you have 0 feedback, maybe he was more comfortable with the other deal for some reason.

People have sent me things and said, "send them back if you don't like them or Paypal me what you think is fair". I've traded numerous times, think about that, strangers on opposites of the country (or in different countries) agree to put a thing of value in the mail to each other on the same day and trust that the other one will do so. I've never been let down.

Glad you found another set of strings, hang around if you're so inclined and see if your experience improves. Talkbass is a good community for a lot of people and for some others it doesn't seem to fit.
 
#6
If you can't be sure that the purchaser of the strings didn't, in some way, get a hold of the seller prior to you then there's no proof to gripe about. In any case, the seller does have the right to sell to whomever they choose, as lousy as that can feel when you lost something you wanted to purchase. I sold a few things a couple of weeks ago and had to parse out a bunch of messages both email and PM to determine who actually got back to me first. I was diligent about being "fair". That said, I could have made a mistake...

I can understand being upset but I guarantee if you stick around the strings that you are looking for will show up in no time.
 
#7
Jason Sypher said:
If you can't be sure that the purchaser of the strings didn't, in some way, get a hold of the seller prior to you then there's no proof to gripe about. In any case, the seller does have the right to sell to whomever they choose, as lousy as that can feel when you lost something you wanted to purchase. I sold a few things a couple of weeks ago and had to parse out a bunch of messages both email and PM to determine who actually got back to me first. I was diligent about being "fair". That said, I could have made a mistake...

I can understand being upset but I guarantee if you stick around the strings that you are looking for will show up in no time.
Click to expand...

I can be pretty sure.. The purchaser also posted a "PM sent" message after me (specifying what strings he wanted and the PM from the seller said X strings and Z strings are sold) . There aren't any written rules about exchanges, but you took the time to entertain offers in chronological order. As should anyone else who is selling items. It just seems like the courteous thing to do. I did already find the strings I was looking for. The only reason I posted this rant was because it was only my second interaction on TB. At this point I am well over it. I have had countless transactions and interactions at the other site, with not one negative experience. While most of you have responded reasonably or neutrally, I'm sure some of your responses will be "well go back to the other site".. No problem..
 
#8
One bad apple. If we let ourselves judge thousands of people based on the actions of one we end up in a place of self-imposed ignorance and limit ourselves. I don't see anyone telling you to go to the other forum (and they won't). The fact is that this is a generally friendly group of people and the most comprehensive forum on the web. Don't imagine it's something it's not just because of one experience....
 
#11
Here's my kind of interesting experience over the last couple of weeks, part of which pertains to the OP. I found a used EA Micro on Ebay, being sold here in Chicago. I contacted the seller who turns out to be a TB member and agree on a price. He was going to deliver it to me at a gig, and then the 19" snow came. After things cleared up I contacted him about meeting and he decided not to sell after all. I was pissed, as we had a verbal agreement and was looking forward to the amp. I told him what he did was not right.

I started looking for another micro and found one here on the BG side. Transaction went smoothly, got the unit, used it one night and on the second night, it didn't work... then found out from the seller that he had sent it back to EA for the same problem a few months ago. And it turns out he was the 2nd owner, and now I'm thinking I got a lemon...

The happy ending is that EA generously took it back on the purchase of a new Doubler, and while I was hoping to save some dough by buying used, I've got a great new amp now, backed by a company that really stands behind it's products.
 

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