So I sold a set 17 monoblocks with tires on a Facebook group. Used PayPal to complete transaction. Originally quoted shipping through ups but buyer wanted cheaper so I went through greyhound shipping. I wrapped, cardboarded and banded all the wheels individually. Anyways shipping takes a week. These wheels were repainted and cleared but never refurbished. Looked good, buyer was sent pics. With brsnd new tires I sold these for about a 1/3 of the refurb wheels you find on eBay. Anyways after a week I get a message from the buyer saying there is some damage and one might be bent. He wants money back towards having them repaired. I put insurance on them for the value of the sale. I have contacted greyhoubd twice with no response towards a claim. So I'm trying to decide what to do here.

If it was me, I'd refer him to the insurance carrier to process his claim. Also, remind the buyer that HE was the one that wanted you to go the CHEAP ROUTE when it came to shipping. You need to have a professional crating company crate the goodies because greyhound might run over your package with one of their oversize BUSES!!!! In reality, I'd insist on crating the wheels regardless of which shipping carrier the buyer wanted to use......tell him he'll need to pay for crating services or he can drive over to your house and pick up the goodies.

I used to be in the piano business and new pianos arrived at our store from the manufacturer CRATED. It took several hours just to uncrate a piano; that said, the crating protected the piano from damage in transit. We always had a lot of nice lumber left over after uncrating a piano.....

As another poster suggested, it looks like the receiver of the goods is the one to file the claim. This came for Greyhounds "terms and conditions".



Concealed and/or Exterior Loss or Damage shall be reported in writing to the Delivering Carrier at destination within seven (7) days after delivery of the Property, and the Carrier shall be given the privilege of making an inspection of the Property. A Claim involving concealed and/or exterior Loss or Damage must be filed within one-hundred eighty (180) days after delivery of the Property.

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96 E300d

He can dispute the transaction with PayPal and again with his card company if a card is backing his PayPal.

He will claim as will the carrier that you are responsible for proper packaging. He could have refused the package but didn't. Now, you have a cluster headache on your hands. What was the delivered price? I would empty my PayPal account if you have that option.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I had them up for 700. Shipping was around 160. I split the PayPal fee. Cleared 670 to the account after shipping.

I'd ask the buyer to take multiple close-up photographs documenting the damage. Remind the buyer he got the wheels at a low price compared to other sellers. Then, just to be a good guy, you could offer a partial refund, say $100. Or, tell the buyer you need to start an insurance claim and as WE ALL KNOW, insurance claims can take some time......

When it comes to shipping, I've had many deals go south. I'm at the point now of driving to pick up the goods even if it means traveling 1000 miles or more. It's the only way you know for sure you aren't getting screwed.

I paid for 700 in insurance. Would rather use that.

Was the outside of the package damaged? If not, I doubt insurance will cover as without external damage to the package, the shipping company did nothing wrong. Does your guy have a pic of the package?

Regardless, bending a wheel with a inflated, mounted tire takes much more force than would ever be seen in shipping. RE: If the cardboard was intact, there was not enough shipping force involved.


Please expand on this, repaint and clear is a refurbished wheel. Fixing a bent wheel is, fixing a bent wheel.

Did you spin any of the wheels and check them with a dial indicator prior to shipping? I've run across several wheels that looked good but wobbled when spun. I take a balancer spindle and some stands to the wrecker yards when shopping for wheels. ( Though the main salvage yard I deal with takes returns without question. )

Did he send you a detailed pic of the damaged wheel? I'd carefully look at the provided pic and your personal pre shipment pics. There are always subtle differences between wheels ( scratches, runs, casting flaws ) so if the damaged wheel doesn't match any of your pics, there may be something going on here.

Did your guy send you a detailed map of the bend? I'd be looking for something like " 0.080 inch lateral run out on the inner flange over 6" circumference." not " the wheelz be $#@!$#@!$# "

Are these wheels going on a MB or something else? If going on something else, he might not be seating the wheel fully on the hub. ( Like a center bore or rotor mounting bolt issue. )

Has your guy gotten an estimate for the repair or is he pulling a number out of the air?

I'd find a wheel shop near his location and deal with / pay them for the repair not the guy that bought them. This way he isn't making a profit in the transaction or even worse submitting a false claim. ( This works unless the wheel shop is willing to lie for him. )

Either the wheel was bent before you shipped or the buyer is playing with you. It's just too unlikely that a tire and wheel assembly could be damaged in a Greyhoud luggage bay, but I guess you never know. In any event, your liability is limited to the cost of the transaction.



I'm not familiar with Greyhound's practices, but nobody's going to honor a claim without proof. A photo at the very least. Most carriers will want to inspect the item and the shipping cartons. And if there's an insurance settlement, they may get to keep the part. They absolutely won't pay more than the value stated on your receipt.



But your biggest problem is Paypal. Paypal can lock up the cash until the dispute is settled. Depending on how the transaction was done, they can even settle in favor of one party or the other. So you can't do anything rash, like walk away from the transaction or lose your cool. This may come down to how much you want to give away in order to preserve your reputation.



I would contact the customer and assure him that you are working on a settlement. Tell him that you need photos and a fair estimate of damage. When you have a good idea of what the problem is, and understand what your insurance will do, figure out a fair offer and see where it goes.



No matter what else happens, document everything with receipts and an e-mail thread so that you can prove good faith intentions to Paypal.

I just went through a month long ordeal after shipping a complete vintage Pre-merger AMG ground effects for a 126 SEC. Greyhound customer service is the worst I've ever experienced so brace yourself for long wait times and almost unintelligible English as a fourth language skills!

As far as insurance it could take numerous months and I'm sure there will be many hoops to jump through.

Regarding PayPal you're at there mercy, but as long as it's not connected to an eBay transaction you will be treated relatively fairly.

If it were me I would consider responding to the buyer that you need the damaged goods returned for a full refund. You will end up eating the shipping X 2 but you'll at least get the goods back. If you don't do that and try to hard ass it you might end up with PayPal giving the purchaser a full refund and you'll never get the wheels back either.

I would contact PayPal and explain the issue and that you want to do the "right thing" that way you gain some leverage that they can bring to bear towards the purchaser and that might help reduce the screwing you're likely to be taking.

I'd then contact the purchaser, start explaining the "I'll make good, just return the "damaged goods for a refund" that puts him in the spot to make the next move and if he's trying to scam you you can maybe then use his greed at getting the wheels at a rip-off discount to your advantage.

Been doing this parts stuff for quite a few years now and the scamming scumbags are legion of late. Good luck and hope it turns out not too bad for you in the end.

A original monoblock is not painted. It matte finish on the center with a polished lip. Look on eBay right now and you see many examples for sale going between 2k and 2500 plus 400 shipping without tires. I picked these up last summer. They have brand new tires mounted on them dot is from 2015. Someone spent some tines prepping them and had them either painted white or powercoated white not sure. Anyways the color was awful and they were on a Volkswagen. I took them to a tire shop and the valve stems checked balanced. Paid 50 was a quick job no receipt. I decided respray them, spent a quite a bit of time masking and prepping them. Bought some nice paint and 2 part epoxy clear from automotive touch up. 2 codes of Nissan gunmetal base and then 2 coats of epoxy clear. Light polish and wax. I ran them on my w210 before I decided i went to dark on the silver. I had no issues with balance at any speed. I bought a another thing of paint in mercedes silver and was going to respray but decided put them up for sale first. This guy immediately was interested and flat out told me the condition on the tires was most important. Bench why I know the dot date.

This. Greyhound is cheap for a reason. Heavy items should always be crated; cardboard is obviously not strong enough to provide protection for heavy wheels.

Have you ever seen shipping carts for DHL, Fed/Ex, USPS, UPS, etc. sitting out in the RAIN? Do you know what happens to cardboard when it gets WET?

Based on your posting style that has everything run together and somewhat random, it seems like you are texting while driving. If this the style being used to communicate with the buyer, this transaction is doomed to failure due to missing or misunderstood information.

Just to be sure we are talking about the same wheels, look at my post 2 here for 15 and 17" Monoblock with thick spoke wheels, these are the " Original Monoblock " wheels 15" monoblocks- fit '85 300sd

If these are the wheels you have, ( or even the somewhat thinner spoke version ) the centers are in fact painted and cleared, I've stripped and refinished a few sets.



But did the shop use a dial indicator to check the flanges for bends? A square block can be balanced but it is still square. A bent wheel won't always be noticeable when driving a car especially one as isolated as a 90's + MB

If you didn't get the flanges checked with a dial indicator, you have no way in knowing if the wheels were bent or not. Filing a claim for wheels that may have been damaged prior to shipment is fraud.

Wow cut me deep with your comments. Not driving, using my phone. I don't currently have access to a pc in the lab I'm in that helps You? As for the wheels, no the are the later style of monoblocks from the w210 e55 era. I think aero 2s. Not sure what it really matters, the point was they were no advertised as perfect. Only repainted.