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Was I In the Wrong Here?

gjbassist

gjbassist

Sep 7, 2005
6,039
3,131
60
Kansas City, MO
#1
I had my first negative experience as an Ebay seller yesterday and it's rubbing me the wrong way! I sold a Bad Ass II bridge to a guy in California. He received it on Saturday. Yesterday morning I get a message from him saying that the bridge was not in the condition I stated and he wanted me to refund half of the selling price. He even sent me a Paypal invoice for $35.
This was his first message:
"excellent shape wow what ru looking at
missing bolts it's all froze it's in horrible shape!
E strg side is in the wrong place request 50% refund
it needs mad work to be in the condition you STATED!"

I asked for more info as to what was "froze" and what bolts were missing.
He replied:
"On the Gstrg & Estrg side there are no adjuster bolts
the A & D of frozen you can't even turn them!"

This bridge came off a Geddy Lee Jazz that I had parted out. I had only had it for a few days and I never made any adjustments on the bridge. So I didn't notice any issues with it. I went back and looked at the photos I had taken of it. Sure enough you could see a little rust around the saddle adjustment screws on a couple of the saddles. Also it appeared that the heads of the other two may have been stripped out, which would keep them from turning.
I sent him back a message saying I was sorry that I didn't see the issues with the bridge. I told him that even though it wasn't as described I felt it was still worth more than $35. All it would take to fix it would be a few squirts of WD40 and a new set of adjustment screws that would only cost a couple of bucks. I told him I would rather he just sent the bridge back and I would refund the full amount including shipping! That way I could fix it and either resell it or keep it for myself.
This was his reply:
"Take a hike! lol i'm going to a gig!"

He wanted a partial refund. I offered a full refund and he told me to "take a hike"!

He left me negative feedback before I even had the chance to make things right. I had 100% positive feedback rating before this. :mad:
 
#3
Happened to me too. I had a buyer outright lie about the condition of an item that I sold, then he tried to extort MORE money out of me than he paid. (Refund plus $15 extra to ship it back!??) I reported him to ebay and guess what? They sided with him. eBay will virtually ALWAYS protect buyers. They only way a seller can protect himself/herself is if the buyer repeatedly does that and they see a pattern, otherwise you the seller are automatically the "bad guy". After I refunded him the full amount (and not extra) he left me bad feedback anyway just as an added insult. eBay wouldnt remove it. My one and only bad feedback in 10 years..
 
#4
Welcome to the new "haggling". Unlike flea markets where people kick tires until the seller relents, now you haggle AFTER the sale after you have the item in hand, and can manufacture any gripe you want, and lean on the seller (threatening feeback rating)...drives me nuts and is one of the main reasons I no longer use the service.
 
#5
This is why I refuse to deal with eBay. I can get and get rid of enough of what I need to locally or on specialized forums like this.

I don't think you were in the wrong. It seems like he was trying to force your hand into selling a bridge for $35 after the fact. Your offer of a full refund was more than reasonable.
 
#6
I think your both in the wrong but mostly you, how can you say something is in excellent shape, if you can see the rust and its 50% broken.

Second since it was broken, you want to Inconvenience him because of your mistake?

His wrong was asking for 35$ straight up, which is probably way too much (not knowing the sale price)
 
#9
Tony Flow MMMM said:
I think your both in the wrong but mostly you, how can you say something is in excellent shape, if you can see the rust and its 50% broken.

Second since it was broken, you want to Inconvenience him because of your mistake?
Click to expand...

As I said in my OP I was unaware of the problem until the seller pointed it out. I didn't see the rust before I shipped it to him.

TXLawDawg said:
Sounds like your lack of attention to detail is what has ultimately put you in this situation. I'd be rather upset as a buyer, too. Suck it up, provide the requested refund and pay better attention next time.
Click to expand...

I fully admit that I didn't notice the flaws in the bridge. As I stated in my OP I offered the buyer a full refund in exchange for returning the bridge. He turned it down!
 
#10
You made an honest mistake, and offered to refund his money. As a buyer, I would have been content taking you up on the refund if I was truly unhappy. He was trying to snake you out of more money so he gets a better deal. He knows he probably would have trouble finding one for $35 in that good of condition, so he told you to take a hike. He was wrong, in my eyes, for giving you negative feedback.

blech
 
#11
I sold a body on eBay that was described as blemished ,had pics of the blemishes on the posting and held nothing back .

The buyer wanted some money back .

I said no and never heard another word ....got zero feedback ,,,which is better than negative ....

I think I was being tested to see of I would cave in to his request.
 
#13
I think you were at least partially in the wrong. You should have inspected the piece a little better before you put it up for sale, and included what you found in the ad. That of course doesn't mean he's not being a jerk about it you just gave the guy the excuse for him to try to take ,advantage of your mistake and profit from it. Now you've gone and done the worst thing you could do to him by being reasonable. Probably why he got peeved and gave you a bad rating. Next time maybe you'll be a little more careful about giving stuff a more extensive lookover before you sell.
 
#14
Between him being so forward as to invoice you for a refund, and him communicating in an unprofessional manner, I would have told him to **** off. But that would still leave you with the matter of dealing with eBay.

I would have offered a full refund, if he paid return shipping. Giving him a nice bridge at half price is completely unreasonable.
 
#16
You made the mistake and offered to make it right.

Sounds like he was acting like a child, so, I kinda agree with Tony Flow that it's a bit of wrongness on both sides. Though at least you tried to correct it.

Always check things fully and cover postage. I'd avoid marking anything's condition as excellent unless it was in the box unused, just to cover myself.
 
#17
You offered a full refund and also offered to pay the return shipping, which is more than you were required to do. Definitely in the right in my opinion, he just wants it cheaper.


Seriously, some people on ebay are seriously messed up. I once had a lady order a pair of shoes in a specific size, confirmed the sizing, and then we posted them. Once she received them we got an irate email about how we were so stupid to ever think that these would fit her child, when we pointed out that she ordered the size specifically and that she could return them for a full refund if she wanted, she just left negative feedback that said "Seller sent shoes that they knew would be inadequate sizing for a 2 year old".

I was dumbfounded. When I contacted ebay they didn't want to know about it, despite the fact that the buyer was quite clearly in the wrong here in pretty much every way I can think of..
 
#19
gjbassist said:
I had my first negative experience as an Ebay seller yesterday and it's rubbing me the wrong way! I sold a Bad Ass II bridge to a guy in California. He received it on Saturday. Yesterday morning I get a message from him saying that the bridge was not in the condition I stated and he wanted me to refund half of the selling price. He even sent me a Paypal invoice for $35.
This was his first message:
"excellent shape wow what ru looking at
missing bolts it's all froze it's in horrible shape!
E strg side is in the wrong place request 50% refund
it needs mad work to be in the condition you STATED!"

I asked for more info as to what was "froze" and what bolts were missing.
He replied:
"On the Gstrg & Estrg side there are no adjuster bolts
the A & D of frozen you can't even turn them!"

This bridge came off a Geddy Lee Jazz that I had parted out. I had only had it for a few days and I never made any adjustments on the bridge. So I didn't notice any issues with it. I went back and looked at the photos I had taken of it. Sure enough you could see a little rust around the saddle adjustment screws on a couple of the saddles. Also it appeared that the heads of the other two may have been stripped out, which would keep them from turning.
I sent him back a message saying I was sorry that I didn't see the issues with the bridge. I told him that even though it wasn't as described I felt it was still worth more than $35. All it would take to fix it would be a few squirts of WD40 and a new set of adjustment screws that would only cost a couple of bucks. I told him I would rather he just sent the bridge back and I would refund the full amount including shipping! That way I could fix it and either resell it or keep it for myself.
This was his reply:
"Take a hike! lol i'm going to a gig!"

He wanted a partial refund. I offered a full refund and he told me to "take a hike"!

He left me negative feedback before I even had the chance to make things right. I had 100% positive feedback rating before this. :mad:
Click to expand...

As a buyer, you would look it over closely, to see if it has any problems, right? Why wouldn't you do the same, as a seller? You should have done this to protect yourself from this kind of claim, at the very least. If you listed it as 'Excellent condition', it should be in excellent condition regardless of who looks at it. Scratches, corrosion and missing/stripped screws makes this one 'fair' IMO, not 'excellent'.
 

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