Being scammed?

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FrEaKy

FrEaKy

[H] Movie and TV Show Review Guy
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
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14,113
Did a deal with a fellow [H]'er back in January, we started the deal on the 12th for a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS and a 17" Dell monitor (non-widescreen). Tracking # and whatnot were provided and on Jan 21st he received the monitor and told me via e-mail it had arrived.

Last night (Feb 17th) I receive an e-mail stating that:

I hooked the monitor up to a machine I got today for the first time. It is clearly broken. It has a large spot with purple lines right in the center. I would like to return this item for my money back. I can send a photo if you need proof.
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Its been almost a full month since I received the e-mail stating it arrived.

What should I do?
 
Thats a a tough call....did you have a return policy listed with your sale thread?

A full month is a long time to wait to test something.


Its also possible it was damaged in shipping, but waiting as long as they did, that's not even a factor as no shipping company I know of will open a claim that long after delivery
 
I don't think you need to do anyhting actually. He's had WAY more then enough time to inspect the merchandise. He should have plugged that thing in the same day. It's been so long now it's impossible to say what damage is real and who caused it.

Even Best Buy only has a 14 day return policy.
 
I'm on the fence about this one. Sometimes I don't get around to testing parts for quite awhile, even a month or more, lol. The bad thing is it's probably too late to file any kind of insurance claim with the courier.
 
If the buyer has reputable heat and is known as a good trader, well I would probably suck it up minus shipping back and forth. If not then I would in no way give the money back.
 
He has 10 heat, and only 155 posts here on the forums. If it was a reputable trader, than yes, I might have sucked it up, but with only 10 heat, I am being lead to think he is scamming me.

I have no way of knowing what has gone on in the last month. Hes telling me he just opened it, but hes had it for a month, he might have been using it for a month and he didnt like something and pushed his finger on the LCD and it busted, who knows. I dont think it would be fair to just hear him tell me, OH well, you know, ive had it for a month, but uh, havent opened it yet, and uh, its busted.... I wants my money back!
 
I would check to see what the couriers policy is for damaged in shipping. If it is too late to file a shipping claim I would say the responsibility lies with the buyer. Because he waited you are out and cant even file a damage claim...

Yea, could be buyers remores, but it more sounds like damage in shipping, but without a way to rectify through the courier the responsibility is his...
 
I'd probably tell him tough luck, honestly. He should of tested it ASAP so an insurance claim could of been filed.

How do you know that he didn't drop it after recieving it and is now trying to get his money back? Not saying the buyer is shady (he might be a stand up guy), but you never know when dealing with people online. Just a tip for people that do sell displays to members, I would highly suggest taking picures of the monitor (or anything for that matter) working just before shipping it.

I sold a monitor to a guy on craigslist over the summer. He met me near my work, grabed the monitor and gave me the cash. Later that evening, he called me and told he that the screen was damaged on it and that he wanted his money back. Since the monitor was sitting in the car for a few hours, I figured that the heat might of done something to it and asked him to send me a picture of it and everything looked legit, I'd gladly give him his money back.

fast forward a week, he finally sends me a picture of it with a big gash on the screen that was NOT on there when I gave it to him :rolleyes:... I sent him back an email with a picture of the monitor working (with no physical damage) from just before I left to go meet up with him, and told him to be more careful with his electronics next time.
 
This is a tough call. He may have a genuine reason for not testing it out for a month. anything could have happened during shipping. its just an unfortunate situation. best solution is probably asking him to ship it back and you will refund the money less shipping cost

hope you get this resolved. good luck.
 
I generally don't get to testing things sometimes months later. However, I also know that if it is DOA its my own fault for not testing.

In fact I have some high end headphones that I never listed to. They have been there >6 months. If they are DOA, my own fault.

You may not be getting scammed, it may be legit, but I don't think you are responsible for it either. Seems like your buyer needs to own up too.

edit: You can file with the carrier to give the appearance that something is being done, but that is pretty much an empty gesture after a month.
 
It was shipped via USPS, I will start a claim, but above that, I do not think there is anything else I can do, nor be held responsible for.

It could be buyers remorse, and maybe he did have a genuine reason for not testing, but a month or more to me is just a little overboard, and the response should have been sooner.
 
FrEaKy said:
He has 10 heat, and only 155 posts here on the forums.
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I would just explain to him that things just do not work this way. It was his responsibility to test it in a timely manner and you are sorry for his loss. After that I would just be done with it and watch to make sure he did not leave me a negative.
 
Yeah a month is WAY to long specially with something like this which can be damage during shipping so easily...
I mean really, isnt the first logical thing to do is at least make sure it arrived fine?
I am not buying his story...
 
I don't think his lack of Heat should lead anyone to believe he is scamming you. I have low Heat myself, maybe even none. I never check it to see if anyone has left me anything or not. But I would not deceive anyone regardless of my Heat score. But as a reverse of that, I wouldn't just give someone money back because they do have good Heat. Where I work we ship stuff and receive stuff all the time. When it leaves our dock doors it is no longer our responsibility, as long as it left here in good shape. And the same goes for our supplier when shipping to us. All anyone can do is file a claim with the shipping company and it seems too late for that now. He should use that as a lesson to test his stuff when he gets it. That's tough to say, but no one can be held responsible forever. Only other thing to make yourself look good as well as not lose your money too is offer him half back.
 
Half Back after he had the monitor for a MONTH? How many things could happen to it while there for a full month....
no way dude, zero refund on this one is my call.
 
I wont even offer half back.

It doesnt make sense to me, and its a matter of principal now.

A month to have the product and no responses or replies back UNTIL last night, a month later. It is not right to do that to people. I have NO WAY of knowing that he didnt already open the package and use it for a bit. So theres no fairness in this situation.

I do not feel it is my responsibility anymore and now I just wait to see if he leaves me negative feedback. And in the event that he does, I will dispute it!
 
FrEaKy said:
I wont even offer half back.

It doesnt make sense to me, and its a matter of principal now.

A month to have the product and no responses or replies back UNTIL last night, a month later. It is not right to do that to people. I have NO WAY of knowing that he didnt already open the package and use it for a bit. So theres no fairness in this situation.

I do not feel it is my responsibility anymore and now I just wait to see if he leaves me negative feedback. And in the event that he does, I will dispute it!
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Right on...I am with you on this one.
 
For something as easy as a monitor to test I don't see any reason for the guy to have it sitting a month. If it was a main component and he was looking waiting to get other parts then maybe it would sit for a while, but even then anything longer than a week or two to test something falls on the buyer IMO.

If the claim with the courier doesn't go anywhere I would just tell the guy that it was working prior to shipping and its your responsibility to test the item in a timely manner so that an insurance claim can be filed. I wouldn't care if the guy had 1,000+ Heat or no Heat, a buyer can't expect to return a used item a month after purchase without raising suspicion.
 
FrEaKy said:
I wont even offer half back.

It doesnt make sense to me, and its a matter of principal now.

A month to have the product and no responses or replies back UNTIL last night, a month later. It is not right to do that to people. I have NO WAY of knowing that he didnt already open the package and use it for a bit. So theres no fairness in this situation.

I do not feel it is my responsibility anymore and now I just wait to see if he leaves me negative feedback. And in the event that he does, I will dispute it!
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+1

This is probably my worst trading nightmare and why I would always rather trade locally where the person can try the product out on the spot.

There should be no question - after a month - the seller should not be held responsible.
It is impossible to know if the buyer just used it and broke it.
 
you're not responsible for this matter... after a month is too long to not test it out...

Right now I bought a card from someone here and i havent got it yet, but since i dont have a monitor to test it out (sold my monitors for downgrade) and will not get a monitor probably in a few weeks... but if the card does not work, I will not ask the seller to give my money back.... i'll just choke it up and forget that i lost $55 bucks...

my point is, it's the buyer's responsibility to test out the merchandise ASAP and let you know if the merchandise is DOA or not..
 
if he gives you any fuss, point him to this thread so he can see that its a pretty general consensus that he waited too long, and not just your own personal opinion.
 
OP,

question: Are you Walmart?

If you answered "no" then walk. Walk away from this. The buyer is responsible for testing the goods when received. This is clear ... 30 days is a long time to complain ...
 
After a full month I don't think I would do anything... it's probably good to learn from this and post that DOA only applies within a particular time period. Given best buy and retailers that can actually return the stuff to the manufacturers set these limits it's perfectly fair to set them on here in your post. Most ebay stuff has a very short DOA period but I still buy from them... I just make sure I test it or I suck it up and realize that if I failed to test it within a reasonable time then it's my loss.
 
After 1 month, i personally wouldnt feel responsible at all. Anything could have happened during that month.
 
Buyer bought a used motherboard from me on ebay. More than 1 month after delivery he emailed me that he “for the first time had a chance to test it and found it non-working”. I clearly said no return policy. But he managed to get ebay believe it’s my fault and I had to return all his money.

It’s common sense that you immediately test the product out when you buy from here when you receive it, not after 1 month.
 
Well, I would suck it up and take the return due to the fact he can file a paypal claim and you as a seller have very little protection against an item not as described claim. If its past 45 days you are safe

Good luck
 
Tyson95 said:
Well, I would suck it up and take the return due to the fact he can file a paypal claim and you as a seller have very little protection against an item not as described claim. If its past 45 days you are safe

Good luck
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significantly not as described (SNAD) only works on eBay..... PayPal wont even consider it as a valid complaint outside of eBay
 
one30eight said:
If the buyer has reputable heat and is known as a good trader, well I would probably suck it up minus shipping back and forth. If not then I would in no way give the money back.
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This is good advice. Have the product sent back at his cost and packaged well. Then you can verify if the monitor is DOA.

I have been doing WCing pumps for a few years now. If anyone has an issue they are to send back the pump on their dime and if the pump did test dead, I would send a replacement. I would also inspect the pump for tampering too.

Out of 44 pumps, only one was returned for replacement. Since then I place the pumps on the tester station prior to shipping any out and the buyer and pump serial number are recorded in my log book. There would be people who would claim their pump went dead and send one that didn't match their s/n to get a free pump. BUT, so far, all the people who have dealt with me have been very honest.
 
I wouldnt refund a dime. It`s been a month. I did that once, but i didnt even bother to contact to seller. I still have the broken GTX280, will try to bake it one day. I always say 3-4 max 7 day grace period than you are on your own.

we are not newegg or manufacturer so we can give that kind of warranty.
 
bmaverick said:
I have been doing WCing pumps for a few years now. If anyone has an issue they are to send back the pump on their dime and if the pump did test dead, I would send a replacement. I would also inspect the pump for tampering too.

Out of 44 pumps, only one was returned for replacement. Since then I place the pumps on the tester station prior to shipping any out and the buyer and pump serial number are recorded in my log book. There would be people who would claim their pump went dead and send one that didn't match their s/n to get a free pump. BUT, so far, all the people who have dealt with me have been very honest.
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So, are you a dealer?

Per the rules:

(24) No Dealers or Vendors allowed. Rule Exception: If you have a great deal to bring to hardforum members, please email [email protected] with your product and deal and it will be decided on a case by case basis. If it is a good deal for the forum members, it will be allowed. You must be legitimate.
 
A month is entirely too long. I know stuff can come up, but a whole damn month? Not acceptable. He needs to cut his losses are realize if you buy something from a retail store and wait a month to test it, you are SOL
 
I would agree that a month is way too long to check on something, although I would help him out in trying to file a claim with the courier, its it goes through then its a win win situation for both of you, it doesn't he/she has to understand that waiting a whole month to check on something is his own carelessness.
 
Tough decision. I guess if you don't take it back, you wont rest in Peace:)

Judging from your post you seem kinda my kinda guy who will keep on having nightmares until the deal is 100% done right. I had a problem once few years back, on some other forum. Shipped 9800GT to a guy and made a dreaded mistake of not having money before shipping. When he received it, he started giving me lame excuses about card not performing well, driver issue, etc etc etc. It was a BIG headache for me, so that I even just let the card go. But In the end I received 70% of the agreed amount, even when he admitted the card was working fine. BUT at least i was satisfied that it was over.

I have a low heat, and 14-15 at eBay but they are all positive, and I am very honest, so that low score is not important. I haven't even checked the recent purchase. BUT i cannot ask the guy after 2 months if the stuff doesn't work, its mine now, whatever the outcome.

So here is what you can do, IF you are the kinda of person who is going to keep on thinking about this issue day and night, and have his mind disrupted over this, take it back and refund the guy minus the shipping. IF you are resilient and can forget about it the next morning :D tell him its his now, and he waited too long.

Remember peace of mind is more important than money.
 
TurK-FX said:
I wouldnt refund a dime. It`s been a month. I did that once, but i didnt even bother to contact to seller. I still have the broken GTX280, will try to bake it one day. I always say 3-4 max 7 day grace period than you are on your own.

we are not newegg or manufacturer so we can give that kind of warranty.
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Same here, 7 days max to check it out.
 
I agree with most here, a month...? get real, for all you know he used it two weeks, it got knocked off his desk and now that it doesn't work he wants his money back and wants to send you a product that isn't in the same condition as you sent it...

if I sold anything here I would put in the ad that "the product has to be tested and I have to be contacted if there are any problems within 7 days of delivery confirmation." or something of that nature...

the more I read about these gray areas in deals here the more I want to just keep buying and NOT sell anything here, wow, some of these "incidents" really have me questioning the character and intelligence of some of the posters here...

I know times are tough but they're tough on everyone, trying to get over on someone is bad enough, but at times like this it's even more reprehensible...
 
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