Check this bumper out, a paypal PSA - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DieselPaul · #1 09-15-2010, 06:46 PM

I recently bought a bumper on a forum, looking for a perfect one. A replier sent me this picture,

Two weeks later I got this,

The PSA is that Paypal can do nothing to help out a buyer in a non-eBay transaction so I got burned on this piece of junk. Buyer beware I suppose.

I'll end with a quote from the seller,

Quote:

Just to reiterate, it is 100% rust free?

I understand it is used, but there is no point in replacing a rusty part with another rusty part.

-Paul

Quote:

there's no sense in shipping crap around the world. LOL

It may be rust free, but its total crap.

-=DeanstuD=- · #2 09-15-2010, 07:09 PM

That is why you have to lay your hands on something before you buy it. It is a lesson I think anyone over the age of 25 has learned by now.

What was the sellers response when you complained that it did not meet your expectations?

If you continue to make sight unseen purchases to peoples pay pal, don't use your own account. Make a new one and pay with your credit card, then your credit card company can help you out and paypal can go fly.

:EDIT: Sorry, in re reading, this sounds harsh. I don't mean to be hurtful. I empathize with you.

cirrusman · #3 09-15-2010, 08:27 PM

Always beware when you don't get a direct answer to your question...

Junkman · #4 09-15-2010, 08:29 PM

Dispute the charge with your credit card company - IF you back your pp account with a credit card. If it isn't backed with CC, close PP. All you have to do is tell the cc that the goods were fraudulently misrepresented. Charges will be reversed as soon as your dispute gets to the card company. Keeping one's bank account insulated from web scammers has become a necessity.

okto · #5 09-16-2010, 01:03 PM

You bought something based on a single low-res image and you're upset that it has imperfections? If you wanted a restoration-quality piece, you should have asked for a LOT more detailed images than that. I'd normally side with you, but this is a clear-cut case of caveat emptor.

glenlloyd · #6 09-16-2010, 02:47 PM

Ouch, that hurts. I understand the buyer beware, but if the seller didn't disclose the condition of the obviously broken mounting points when asked directly then the buyer has a valid complaint.

That's one reason I never sell anything that doesn't pass my own tough standard, at least not without disclosure, and even then it has to be a part that's pretty rare.

Sorry for your problem.

Steve A

Fulcrum525 · #7 09-16-2010, 02:51 PM

Wasn't this forum was it?

I bought one just like it from a member last year and it was in good condition....

TX76513 · #8 09-16-2010, 02:52 PM

This is sad sorry you got burned - what makes if worse there are people here that represent their products well.

FinnJohn · #9 09-16-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okto

You bought something based on a single low-res image and you're upset that it has imperfections? If you wanted a restoration-quality piece, you should have asked for a LOT more detailed images than that. I'd normally side with you, but this is a clear-cut case of caveat emptor.

I don't follow your logic. The misleading image, which can be proven to be an image of a completely different piece of merchandise, is low-rez and there's only one of it, and therefore it's the buyer's fault?

I also don't quite get why you think the buyer will care whom you side with.

winmutt · #10 09-16-2010, 03:02 PM

Should paid for shipping insurance, it would have covered this.

bigblockchev · #11 09-16-2010, 09:31 PM

If you go ANYTHING at all they will simply refuse. I had this happen with something I bought for my daughter, clearly black when it should have been brown. They said NO. The only recourse that you have is if the only account that Paypal has access to is your credit card. Then you simply ask for a charge back , but you can never use that credit card again with Paypal. Sucks that the vendor was dishonest. Mostly I trust people who are forum members.

vstech · #12 09-17-2010, 07:27 AM

Paypal has it's limitations for sure.
you can pay for a car with paypal, and as long as SOMETHING arrives to your mailbox, they don't care to pursue it.
how much was the bumper? where did they list the item for sale? lastly, are you still looking for a bumper?

JB3 · #13 09-17-2010, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigblockchev

If you go ANYTHING at all they will simply refuse. I had this happen with something I bought for my daughter, clearly black when it should have been brown. They said NO. The only recourse that you have is if the only account that Paypal has access to is your credit card. Then you simply ask for a charge back , but you can never use that credit card again with Paypal. Sucks that the vendor was dishonest. Mostly I trust people who are forum members.

I totally agree with this. How can the buyer be blamed for assuming he would get whats in the original picture, and assuming that another enthusiast would not screw him?
Also the whole buying things sight unseen is a necessary factor for rare parts. I just recently bought 200 dollars worth of stuff for my 115 out of michigan, its not realistic that I would drive 1200 miles to see the stuff first, I trusted the other enthusiast and forum member to be honest and in that transaction, I didn't even have a picture! It that circumstance, the seller was a standup guy, and sent what he said he had.
I think being able to get parts from other enthusiasts all around the world is one of the primary advantages to a forum like this, in addition to sharing information.

dieselpaul, you can have bumpers rechromed and repaired for unusually low cost if you put in a lot of work yourself, maybe this can be fixed like new.

rrgrassi · #14 09-17-2010, 10:22 AM

Because of horror stories like this, I only buy used stuff from members on THIS forum.

vstech · #15 09-17-2010, 10:34 AM

careful of that too!
there are some shady characters on this site...
overall though, the established members have been WONDERFUL here. I've seen plenty of spammers building up a post count, and pushing junk though.