Screwed over royally on Ebay.

A

allenwr1505

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Messages
106
My roommate just bought a radeon 9700 off of Ebay, and when we got it we noticed that it had very heavy checkerboard artifacting. I thought that was kind of weird, because that sounds more characteristic of modded 9700s. 9700s that have artifacting that bad should be caught in the manufacturing process and either made 9500s or discarded. Well, I looked at the memory, and you guessed it, it was Infineon 3.3 ns, which means that this is a Radeon 9500 that has been hardware modded and passed on as a 9700. A bad 9700.

I think that my buddy is going to try to open an Ebay dispute, but is there anything else he can do?
 
Well I guess that's technically FRAUD...and I'm sure you could take it a few steps further in complaining on eBay....maybe get your money back.

BTW...bought three 9700 Pro's off eBay...2 died shortly after purchase.
 
Getting things resolved on ebay is a nightmare and generally won't get you anywhere. If he paid by CC, then I would handle it through them. If you pay for something and get something else in return your CC will refund your money and stick it back to the seller.
 
E-bay only cares about the seller.. The one that pays the fee.. The buyer can go screw themselves as far as e-bay is concerned.. As long as they pay the seller, so that ebay can get thier cut..

Gsboriqua has it right, use a credit card, and if there is a problem dispute it.. Much better chance of a speedy resolution in your favour..
 
Dudeyourlame said:
and yet another reason i will never use Ebay for anything
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Me neither. I know people that are addicted to it, but I'd rather spend the extra $20 and get it from a reputable dealer.

allenwr1505, I hope you get your money back.
 
If u used PP, their resolution center is another way to get refunded.

I know, Im in the process of fighting some deadbeat. I expect my refund any day now.
 
The moral of this story isn't "ebay is bad and don't use it"

Its "why the hell would you buy something from a random person on ebay?"

I have ordered some pretty expensive things on Ebay, recently my Sennheiser 595s headphones which retail for 249.99, I got mine for 180 with shipping.

But I didn't buy them from "someguy7170" or whatever, I used an ebay store with over 6000 positive feedback ratings. Came brand new in the box, have never been open, I have also got 2 car stereos the same way.

Though the guy that did this is scum I can't believe you would just buy from some random person over the internet in the firstplace.
 
First of all, I'm not the one that bought this card. My roommate did. Also, I popped off the heatsink to see if this is really a modded 9500, and it looks to me as though it really is a 9700. Unless someone modded this care very well, it doesn't look as if there is any evidence of soldering. If this is a real 9700, why are there checkerboard artifacts? I'm not talking about minor checkerboard patterns either. These checkerboard patterns are very prominent, and make gameplay impossible. I would think that if a 9700 did have checkerboard artifacts, it would be sold as a 9500. Do you guys think that this is a 9700 or a 9500? If it is a 9700, why does it have such bad checkerboarding?

If worse comes to worse, is it possible for me to turn this into a 9500? Perhaps if I flashed the bios that would do the trick.
 
I too have had good luck with E-Bay , but than again i buy from people with over 50 positive feedback and at least 90% positive....
 
Non-affiliated Lamp said:
You didn't specify whether you have updated the video drivers on that system. Check that first.
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Of course I did. I tried the Omega 4.8's, DNA 5.2's, Omega 5.1's, and ATI 5.3 Catalyst Control Center. Same problem for all of them.
 
allenwr1505 said:
First of all, I'm not the one that bought this card. My roommate did. Also, I popped off the heatsink to see if this is really a modded 9500, and it looks to me as though it really is a 9700. Unless someone modded this care very well, it doesn't look as if there is any evidence of soldering. If this is a real 9700, why are there checkerboard artifacts? I'm not talking about minor checkerboard patterns either. These checkerboard patterns are very prominent, and make gameplay impossible. I would think that if a 9700 did have checkerboard artifacts, it would be sold as a 9500. Do you guys think that this is a 9700 or a 9500? If it is a 9700, why does it have such bad checkerboarding?

If worse comes to worse, is it possible for me to turn this into a 9500? Perhaps if I flashed the bios that would do the trick.
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dude, you're all over the place. You tool the heatsink off? What's the chip say? Grab the sn# and call ATI tech support.

Also, and most importantly, what did the seller say? YOu can't say you've been screwed on ebay unless the seller has said they won't do a refund. And of course, as long as the item wasn't "as-is." I'm up to 63 transactions on ebay over 5 years. Never had one bad experience.
 
did ur friend purchase insurance? Better yet, could the seller have offered insurance with the auction and u overlooked it?
 
Pkirk618 said:
did ur friend purchase insurance? Better yet, could the seller have offered insurance with the auction and u overlooked it?
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Nope, no insurance was offered.
 
BigTaf said:
http://www.motherboardfaqs.com/ati/9x00_basics.htm

read the bottom of that page. Apparently its not uncommon for 9700s to have that type of ram. So your cards probably DOA, I would contact the seller and inform them of this, before filing a complaint or anything of that nature.
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that was the difference between np's and pro's.. that and the core was typically able to OC higher..
 
Okay - first of all, I'm the roommate that got screwed on eBay. The dang card was sold "as is", but the seller is being decent enough to send me a replacement card and has offered to refund as well. This one's pretty much fried I think. It should make a good wall ornament though.

(Oh and don't let his kid make you think that I bought it of my own voalition. He was egging me on the whole way.)
 
allenwr1505 said:
My roommate just bought a radeon 9700 off of Ebay, and when we got it we noticed that it had very heavy checkerboard artifacting. I thought that was kind of weird, because that sounds more characteristic of modded 9700s. 9700s that have artifacting that bad should be caught in the manufacturing process and either made 9500s or discarded. Well, I looked at the memory, and you guessed it, it was Infineon 3.3 ns, which means that this is a Radeon 9500 that has been hardware modded and passed on as a 9700. A bad 9700.

I think that my buddy is going to try to open an Ebay dispute, but is there anything else he can do?
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The memory is dying on that board. You've been royally screwed, as you say.

Complain to ebay, and leave bad feedback.
 
this thread just needs to be deleted. Especially the anti-ebay comments. I buy and sell stuff all the time on Ebay and only once had a problem- and it all comes down to following a few simple steps:

1. Read the description word for word (sold "as-is" is pretty risky - don't go buying an expensive video card on ebay unless the description mentions a warranty of some kind. Especially don't buy something sold "as-is" and then come into the forums somewhere and cry foul with your "i've been royally screwed" comments. What your title should have read was "I'm an EBAY NOOB and I screwed up, HELP ME" )

2. Don't buy from losers - learn how to weed out the bad from the good (6000 positive comments for example as previously mentioned is good - you probably won't have any problems with that seller).

3. Communication. If you have any doubts about something - email the seller before bidding to get your doubts cleared up. For example. "Hey what do you mean by as-is as stated in your auction?" - answer: "that means after you give me money, I send you the item and you are STUCK WITH IT"
 
If the seller is actively helping to remedy the situation then leaving negative feedback is the wrong thing to do. This isn't a perfect world. Sometimes cards get damaged in shipping or even during the installation process. In order to be fair you have to give folks a chance to make things right.

eBay is a great way to connect buyers and sellers across the country. However, buyers and sellers need to learn the nuances of the marketplace and educate themselves on making smart choices. There are a lot of checks and balances in the eBay marketplace compared to the local classified ads in your newspaper.

I can't imagine a situation on eBay that can't be easily resolved by contacting the seller, eBay, and the credit card company (in that order). Just don't let a seller jerk your chain for any length of time. Their life circumstances are not your problem.
 
Dude, 'as is' almost always means not working; at least for computer hardware. Why would they put 'as is' instead of spening time to test it to make sure it really works and sell it for more? It doesn't take much effort to run ati tool. People who buy these usually try to repair them on their own or RMA it back to the company. The fact that he's actually taking back the card means you guys are actually screwing him over.
 
InSanEeTy said:
Dude, 'as is' almost always means not working; at least for computer hardware. Why would they put 'as is' instead of spening time to test it to make sure it really works and sell it for more? It doesn't take much effort to run ati tool. People who buy these usually try to repair them on their own or RMA it back to the company. The fact that he's actually taking back the card means you guys are actually screwing him over.
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I Buy on ebay. I dont sell on ebay, but do sell some things to other people I dont know. I test my crap exhastivley to make sure its not going to fall apart on someone else. I still say "AS-IS". Its extremley easy to ruin electronic hardware, such as computers. Im not going to warrenty a complete computer system. I only offer "DOA". Im not responsible for broken hard drives after the computer has bounced and boinked for 15 miles of driving up a bumpy mountain road in the back of some guys truck.

If you notice, lots of sellers put "AS-IS, Garenteed NOT DOA for x days." That means, if it works, your stuck. If its fubared, you get most of your money back.

Would you be willing to offer a warrenty on an FX-55, knowing full well it worked when it was shipped, then pay out nearly 1000$ after some guy you dont know says its broke?
 
Some rules to live by on ebay are always make sure the seller has a return policy. Any items listed in "AS IS" condition should raise up a red flag. Second check their feedback... and make sure they have attained it through selling not just buying. And finally payment method....If they're only accepting money orders something isn't legit. This protects them from any type if credit card claim obviously. I've used ebays insursance policy and its a fairly big headache. As long as they proved they shipped something with a tracking # or receipt your probably not going to get your money back...since its just your words against theirs....
 
I buy on ebay and haven't had a problem yet that hasn't been resolved quickly with the buyer. As people said, if you buy from someone with not alot of feedback, you'll take a risk. Most likely you'll be ok, but there is always a risk involved.
I got my 9800 pro on ebay last year and its working like a champ. If your seller offered to replace it or refund then that is a good sign.
 
Everything I sell on ebay is 100% as is and where found with no return and no warranty.

The reason it has to be that way is becuase of buyers who dick with the product, break it, and then hold the feedback over my head as hostage. This happened 4 times in 5 months with products that were brand new in box items. They trashed it "modding" it and OC'ing it to death and blew it up, then demanded either money back or a replacement. I always said OK provided they sent me the old unit.

I wanted to to see for myself what these genii had done to my stuff. One guy tried to put a replacement heatsink on a 9500 Pro I sold BRAND NEW in the shrink wrap, removed the GPU shim, and busted the core, took the corner right off. Then wanted his money back. I gave in.

I have a 99.7% positive feedback going back to 1998 on ebay - but I quit offering warrantys and the like years ago becuase 20% of the stuff I sold was broken by buyers. Ya know what? I havent gotten a SINGLE complaint since I stopped. They know if they break it they are SOL so they dont touch it and treat it nice.

I know this is not going to be a popular opinion here, but frankly I dont give a shit. From a sellers perspective, when you do offer warrantys on things they tend to get abused by people who have no ethics. It may be a minority but the effect is the same. And that leads to sellers like me not even trying to do the right thing anymore. I always show a photo of the thing WORKING in my ads....if it's a video card, it has a picture showing, same with a monitor. If I can show it working in a picture I do.

But I'm not a store. Stores sell things at prices that reflect the estimated cost of returns to them, and I just cant do that selling a vid card here and a MB there. You shouldnt expect store services from individual sellers, they are NOT the same.
 
This isn't meant to be a bash ebay thread, or even a "give me adivce about ebay cause I'm an idiot thread." I DON'T CARE ABOUT EBAY. All I want to know is what's wrong with the card. Which is why I'm posting here. On a computer hardware forum - not a "let's complain about ebay forum."
 
Well....technically....if it's a computer or related part sold to you or sold by you on Ebay...then the corresponding category in the forum could be home to a "lets complain about ebay forum"......technically.... :cool: :D
 
lesman said:
Well....technically....if it's a computer or related part sold to you or sold by you on Ebay...then the corresponding category in the forum could be home to a "lets complain about ebay forum"......technically.... :cool: :D
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Yeah...apparently
 
I have a 9700 with that ram(have two 9700's)
They were bought Retail New. The card is doa or just plain bad.
 
Pkirk618 said:
did ur friend purchase insurance? Better yet, could the seller have offered insurance with the auction and u overlooked it?
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Last time I bothered with eBay (couple years ago) insurance was basically a scam since it was the seller's responsibility to make sure that it got there intact regardless.
 
bob said:
I Buy on ebay. I dont sell on ebay, but do sell some things to other people I dont know. I test my crap exhastivley to make sure its not going to fall apart on someone else. I still say "AS-IS". Its extremley easy to ruin electronic hardware, such as computers. Im not going to warrenty a complete computer system. I only offer "DOA". Im not responsible for broken hard drives after the computer has bounced and boinked for 15 miles of driving up a bumpy mountain road in the back of some guys truck.

If you notice, lots of sellers put "AS-IS, Garenteed NOT DOA for x days." That means, if it works, your stuck. If its fubared, you get most of your money back.

Would you be willing to offer a warrenty on an FX-55, knowing full well it worked when it was shipped, then pay out nearly 1000$ after some guy you dont know says its broke?
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If you sell on forums its different since people are more trusting of the seller than on ebay since they assume that the seller is knowlegable about hardware and doesn't want to do anything stupid to get him kicked out; this is moreso for forums that require a minimum amount of posts before selling or buying anything.

On forums you can get away with that because you set a fixed price, but on auctions only an idiot would put 'as is' even putting 'guarenteed not DOA for X days' beside it if the thing works properly. But when I see 'as is' on ebay its usually accompanied by ' not sure if it works or not', 'tried it on my computer but doesn't work, might work for you' or nothing.
On ebay I do put 'guarenteed not DOA for x-days' but never 'as is' those two words are a deal breaker for most people.

I would sell an FX-55 for that much as long as its insured.
 
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