Ebay BS
 

Today I got the latest crank from ebay for my Acura K20A2 motor for the lotus 7 replica.

I took it over to my favorite machinist for an evaluation. Although it was round one journal was so worn it was nearly an eighth of an inch smaller than the other three....way too worn to turn down to a bearing size that is available.

I filed to return it to the seller, telling him of the problem and immediately got a response accusing me of trying to cheat him out of his perfect crank, wanting to return my old junk crank. Very aggressive. So I reiterated the facts and will pursue it with ebay and paypal. Jerk.

Actually bad experiences like this are fairly rare in my experience.

I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

In the mean time we are sending my original crank off to the repairer to get it welded up so it can be turned to the right size.

The guy is probably poor and the sale meant a lot to him. And maybe he had no idea about the condition v specs, because he isn't that good. You might try asking him that if you returned the item could he inspect it himself to determine A) that it was the item he sent and B) the dimensions v spec.

Now this is kinda sneaky because once he agrees to the return he is toast :D

How do his other auctions look? I always consider that when buying a used anything.

Right now - tonight- I am looking at an expensive MB part (new even) but the guy can't come up with good part number info. So I emailed him.

He doesn't have a bad rep but this listing and another similar have been up since 2014. He just ain't bright enough to give away what he has it seems.

this brings up something that happened to me 20 some years ago.we had some big block chevy blocks for sale.this guy came down from wisconsin probably 400 miles and checks em out.brought his mic's and bore gauge etc.these were bare blocks with cranks rods and pistons removed but went with the blocks.i told him they were what they were,as is.i think i was asking like 150 bucks each.so he buys one and off he goes.
well about 2 weeks later he calls and says the block was cracked and wants his money back.i told him they were as is.well about 2 weeks later here he comes driving in the driveway.drops his tailgate and shows me the crack.problem was it wasn't the block i sold him.and i told him so and to get the hell outta here.i don't know what he was trying to pull but it cost him a good day of driving plus gas.idiot!

Who pays Tom's shipping fees?
The poor dumb guy gets the crank back and it costs Tom to get his money back.
Nope, use the Ebay insurance/Paypal insurance.. Get it returned and have the buyer pay for the return.

I did this with a 250.00 battery-powered impact wrench and the guy prepaid the shipping.

I sent him another straightforward request and statement of the fact that my machinist measured the crank. He responded promptly again and said to send the crank back and he'd refund the money. I said, sure, send me the prepaid postage label.

We'll see if he sends it.

If he doesn't I'll pursue it with ebay and paypal.

Thankfully it is not upsetting me....its just like WTF?

The crank is really an interesting piece. though the bearing appears round and does not look all that bad it is nearly 1/8" too small and way beyond any available oversize bearings. It was represented as being taken from a running engine. I cannot fathom for the life of me how the engine could have run with it so badly worn without breaking the rod.

Tom, check ebays current return policy. I think the seller gets dinged for shipping now somehow. Or you get your original shipping cost back. Anyways at worse you do not get dinged for shipping twice.

Or if the guy is a decent sort that made a misteak. He might refund and you throw it in the garbage by agreement. This does take a guy that can think though and evaluate situations.

Ebay can be a crapshoot in general. I had a fairly expensive item arrive that the vendor stated was working. It was not.

As soon as I contacted the vendor he offered to deduct 50.00 from the purchase price. I told him the defective part was worth well over 200.00 so that was not going to work. That was in the period of initial buyer protection so he had to take it back at least.

At the time I really did not like his attitude and wondered if he might claim the unit that came back was not the one he sent. There are a lot of good people that use ebay to buy and sell. Unfortunatly there are also others.

I know deep down inside me you wanted to say journal :D

Of course.;)

Click on the return item tab. Click the reason that item defective. eBay will give the seller a few days to accept the return, if he doesn't, eBay will approve it. You can print the label directly off of eBay on his dime.

Once the item gets delivered, you will get all of your money back. All of it.

eBay has changed. As a buyer, you are very well protected.

X2
Since the guy already went out of his way to attack you, likely more nonsense in the future if he has the crank and your money. Just do it through ebay

Sounds great! thanks very much!

The only detail to getting Ebay to help is to follow their instructions and do everything needed promptly.

I ordered a wire harness recently and evidently i ordered the wrong one. The model had 2 types of wiring harnesses. I provided the VIN to get the part i ultimately ordered, so they should have gotten it right. I contacted the seller and they gave me a line about no responsibility for fitment. In turn I contacted Ebay and Ebay provided instructions to return. Once I had the shipping info I sent the tracking number and within about a week I had a full refund.

PayPal typically takes the buyer's side. As link said follow directions/timelines to the T. When I sold a lot of old collectible stuff I marked it all with a UV marking pen in case I had a sketchy return.

Yes it is much more dangerous to be a seller on ebay today than a buyer. Ebay or paypal have a signifigant profit increaser in place for American items shipped to Canada.

The American seller in general is unaware of what they are doing. It has made a major dent in the volume of my ebay purchases.

Barry,
There is no requirement to do this, but I told the guy that I would not only return it but give him a bad evaluation, thereby increasing his fees FOREVER to Ebay (the gift that keeps on giving!) or he could do the honorable thing and pay, since he admitted he had never checked the unit over, even though he said he had in his description.

It can't hurt to try the "gift that keeps on giving " approach.
My suggestion is to tell him that not threaten him.