I've been buying/selling parts on this site for 8 years and have never dealt with a situation like this. I was just going to chalk it up as a bad experience - but felt it was worth mentioning since this could happen to ANYONE.

I recently sold a flashlight to a guy through a classified add. I posted a picture of the light on the classified add along with the details.



This person asked for a specific picture of the flashlight and I posted that too. I was a bit curious when he asked for the second pic since the first one showed the high quality of the part - now I know why he wanted the picture. He said that he wanted to replace a light that was stolen from his car. ( fair enough ) So I posted the pic he requested and he bought the light.



He gets the light and tells me that it is busted. Then goes on to tell me that "I have a spare from a flashlight I bought (with broken tabs ) a while back, so I totally want to keep it, but I was wondering if you could kick me back a few bucks because it's cracked.

Here's the pic he sent to try & prove his point:



Now,.....I know what I put in the box - the box was completely intact with no damage when he got it. After spending a premium to get a quality part just about EVERYONE would have been pissed off about getting a piece of crap rather than the quality part they expected and would have wanted a full refund. Instead of asking for a full refund the story changes from *replace mine that was stolen*,.... to *I want to keep yours to make the one I've got perfect.*

Seems to me like he asked for the second picture to ensure that the piece he needed was in good shape and then played games once receiving the good part by swapping his broken piece of crap and calling it mine. At first I told him he was out of luck - Then I sent this guy the partial refund he asked for to keep the piece,....... but it's been eating me up ever since. I've been a member here since 99' and have NEVER had anyone pull this stunt ! Be warned - this kind of thing can happen to ANYONE. Not really a big deal on a $50 total purchase, but if your sending out high dollar parts to people take precautions !

 

Its too bad theres people like that out there. Places like ebay are really bad. A lot of people have tried to scamming there.

 

Yep, happened to me on a fan shroud. I did the same thing, a partial refund to keep the peace, but the whole business still annoys the heck out of me because, simply, I got scammed.

JamesC

 

 

Dealing with the public opens you up to having to deal with some of the millions of scumbags out there in the world. I sell as little as possible, and only when I have to. So far, I've only had two transactions that made me hate people even more than I already do.

I wouldn't have given the refund, but I do understand what you mean about keeping the peace.

 

That's really pathetic, there are real lowlifes out there.

 

yea, i got burned on a set of trans am 85-90 tail light off ebay, the guy managed to take REALLY good pictures of them, the lighting made them look perfect. he talked them up as being really nice shape, almost perfect. I paid 160bux plus shipping for the set, and when i received them, they were total crap, they were separating worse than my old ones, and the reflectors were covered with black over spray from an obviously crappy paint job. Never could get ahold of the guys after that, and, and paypal as no help at all. You need so be so careful out there, there are so many ripoff artists out there its appalling.

John in RI, just looking at the second pic, i would have told him to pound sand, the cracked area looks heavily worn AFTER it was cracked, impossible to have come from shipping, and the light is dirty, as you can see from around the "on" marking, what was the guys user name? he is a scammer

 

I agree, it certainly doesn't look like the flashlight that was sold. It also looks like there is sandpaper scratches over the crack.

 

You know, I appreciate you leaving out my name, but people can read, and can see that I am the one who bought the light from you.

As is, that is exactly what I received, fresh from the box. I still have it sitting here, right where it's been since I took the photograph, right where I opened it after getting it in the mail and being all excited for getting a "mint condition" part.

I believe the same as most of you, that this damage can simply NOT have come from the shipping. The bubble wrap was undamaged, the cardboard uncrushed. This is what came out of the box though. With the batteries in, you can't see the crack. Flipped over and at the same angle as the second photo, you can't see the crack.

Hey, you want it back, I said you can have it back. Send me the other $35, and I'll sure as **** give this back. I'll just use the damaged flashlight that I have at home, 300 miles away, that came with my whole console from Dave at ThirdgenUSA. I figured it would be easier for you to kick me back a few bucks rather than to have to kick me back a full refund and me to ship the part back. But if that's what you want, that's what you can have.

Also, I never "swapped parts" my original flashlight that I purchased off of eBay a few months after I bought the car was stolen. I bought it, then ended up buying the whole console from Dave at ThirdGenUSA, and kept the better of the two flashlights(the eBay one), and stored the rest in a box at home in Kingman. After I moved to Tucson from Kingman, my car was stolen, my T-Tops damaged, and my flashlight stolen. Pictures of my smashed steering column and ripped weatherstripping are over on the SW forum. I have since been trying to replace my flashlight with another mint condition light, so I didn't have to drive home to pick up a small part that I knew wasn't in as good of condition as I wanted.

That's the full story, and the truth, and if John wants he can file mail fraud and I'll testify to that in court.

Oh, and the reason I wanted to see the other side is that all of the ones on eBay right now have damage on the side that says Camaro.

 

Letting this rest; Bitching, fighting, swearing, filing charges, name calling, is all a meaningless waste of energy. Who can prove they are right - no one. All I know is what I know,...... and all you know is all you know. I could have shipped you a Banana, you could have said a Banana was delivered..... Who's liying ??!?


You got the partial you asked for obviously feeling that the half flashlight you wanted was worth the remaining balance. I'm not getting my decade old reputation ruined over a measly $50 transaction,.......... that's worth the partial refund in my book. ( Still eats me up paying it )

My Warning Still stands - for everyone,............. this situation can happen TO anyone BY anyone.

 

John's been on the board for eight years and has 22 positive feedbacks on iTrader, the most I've ever seen. I am going to throw my lot in with the crowd that does not believe he'd send a damaged part...period.

 

Word on that

 

He might have sent it damaged, he might have not, either way it happened, it got here damaged. I would have immediately pursued some kind of claim with the post office after getting it, but the box is in great condition, as is the packing material, and they would have just told me that I was being screwed over and to pursue a mail fraud claim. (been in a similar situation before, where I was actively being screwed over, which is probably not the case with John)

Now, something certainly could have hit the box in a way to not leave damage to the box, but there's no way of knowing that. Heck, it could have been the fact that it was sent in a hot truck from a colder environment. It could have been anything, up to and including aliens and pixies. As far as I'm concerned, this is settled, and we both feel pretty crappy about the outcome.

 

Easily prove it, take a picture of both side by side and post it up, IF you cant do that then you obviously are in the wrong and ripped the man off.

Ive seen this trick so many times its sad.

 

Take a picture of both what? Both flashlights? I don't have the other one with me. It's at my parent's house. When I get it (will be going home for Thanksgiving), I will gladly take this picture you seek. If you mean both halves of this flashlight, I can do that too.

 

how convenient. yeah john he got you, thanks for posting this so everyone else is warned

 

Yes, how convenient. God forbid I go to a college, or anything, that's not in my hometown, where the bulk of my tools, car parts, and everything else still is. You know, because moving large amounts of crap three hundered miles from apartment to home every summer (in a Camaro!) is a wonderfully fun thing to do. I'll be going back there for Thanksgiving, and will get the flashlight, and post pictures. As it is, the only flashlight I have here is the one I bought from John.

And when it comes to reputations, I've met with Willie, talk suspension stuff over with Dean (AGood2.8 and many other names), been to BBQ's with Mr.TurboTA, Duck, and robertfrank, and I'm helping to set up a thirdgen get together down here in Tucson, and have talked with Synapsis and will hopefully meet the rest of the T-Town crew here on Friday.

I've met a lot of people from here on Thirdgen, so don't assume me to be some scumbag because of a transaction that you're not apart of and have no way of knowing what is actually happening other than the complaining of two people. I've been on here a year and a half, and am fairly active on the suspension, drivetrain, and electrical boards.

But whatever. There will be pictures of both lights up after Thanksgiving, just to please you guys! We love you! Goodnight!

 

*shakes head *

 

It does not really matter who is right or wrong here. I guess we should all take the warning and ensure that we offer shipping insurance so if by some chance the item gets damaged a claim can be made.

There are SOBs out there on both sides. I recently got a cluster from eBay and the Tach was busted and half the bulbs blown. When contacting the guy his response was oh I was selling it for a friend.. the listing said from his car in perfect condition.

I got back some money too. Luckly I found a perfect cluster from a fellow thirdgen member