Ugh, some ebay sellers!

[BatUtilityBelt]

So I bought this Eastwood Folkstar listed on ebay as used but "Like new". 4 days after the sale, the provided tracking number only said it was "printed", not picked up or en-route. So I asked the seller what was up with that, and he replied that he was still trying to find a shipping box "which is hard". Annoyed, I started my reply with "seriously?", and shouldn't have, but told him he could ask at any music store and they're always happy to get rid of guitar shipping boxes. He snarked back at me, so I ask if he wants to cancel the deal? The guitar ships with no response.

It arrived today and he apparently went to U-haul for an odd squarish box instead of a guitar shipping box, and he packed it weirder than I've ever seen any guitar packed.

The guitar is in a coffin case it barely fits, so the top of the headstock is pushed hard against the case frame (not a good thing if it takes a hit).

Looking it over, there is a long scratch on the back I was willing to ignore. There was a fair amount of dust on it and some rag fuzz on the bridge (hmm). There is what I would call greasy finger smear on the blend knob (this guitar has no pickup selector, but has a blend control to vary the signal from a bridge piezo and a neck humbucker). So far all stuff I would just clean up and move on from.

So I tune it and plug it in. The humbucker sounds fine, but the piezo has no signal, none at all. With the blend knob all the way piezo, there is almost no sound even with my amp all the way up, except what I think is a tiny amount of bleed from the humbucker.

So either the blend pot is bad, or there is a bad solder joint, or a broken wire, or the piezo is bad, or somehow dislodged. I'm not taking off the strings, tailpiecce, and resonator to find out because I probably need to return the guitar. I don't want to be accused of having done anything to it.

So I start a return explaining the piezo malfunction, and he starts claiming there was no way because he "had the guitar checked out" whatever that means. Odd he would have someone else check it out because in the listing he implied it was his guitar by saying he was "sticking with Stratocaster for now". He then suggested I didn't know how a piezo or the blend control worked, and told me to pay a shop to evaluate the issue. I gave him a flat no to that unless ebay instructs me to. I told him I have done a lot of work on my own guitars, and know more than the GC tech, not that they would involve themselves with an ebay deal anyway.

So I'm probably going to have to ask ebay to help with this return. It's not my first ebay return, but I have to say,,, watch out on ebay, you'll encounter all kinds of people and I think this guy knew he was sending something he misrepresented.

Greasy fingers.jpg

[uwmcscott]

Bummer - and yes, there are a lot of douchebags out there on Ebay/CL/Reverb unfortunately. If it's any consolation, Ebay usually sides with the buyer in these kinds of situations, unless it was specifially listed as-is/no returns.

[Razzle]

People sell their junk on eBay.

You’ll have to open a case, and wait. Usu takes a month or less

[Mossman]

Yeah, you've got nothing to worry about. Ebay always sides with the buyer... But some people just shouldn't sell on ebay. What kind of seller waits until an item is sold before they start thinking about how the hell they're going to ship it? Frickin' amateurs...

I've encountered some ebay sellers who were just... not right. I could tell you a story about one guy that I bought a busted vintage computer from that could be made into a movie!

[BatUtilityBelt]

Follow-up: The conversation with the seller went further south right away. Ebay finally let me turn the return request into a claim this morning, and within hours they agreed with me (decided in my favor). They gave me a return shipping label and I will take it to the post office Monday.

So lefties, watch out for a black Eastwood Folkstar showing back up on ebay in another week or so. It's definitely not "like new". If you want a fixer though, Eastwood agreed with me that it has one of these things wrong: a bad blend potentiometer, a bad solder joint, a broken wire, a bad piezo transducer, or a dislodged piezo transducer.

If the seller had been a decent guy, I might have taken a chance on fixing it myself, but I don't support people who misrepresent guitar conditions. Cheers!

[mickey]

Follow-up: The conversation with the seller went further south right away. Ebay finally let me turn the return request into a claim this morning, and within hours they agreed with me (decided in my favor). They gave me a return shipping label and I will take it to the post office Monday.

So lefties, watch out for a black Eastwood Folkstar showing back up on ebay in another week or so. It's definitely not "like new". If you want a fixer though, Eastwood agreed with me that it has one of these things wrong: a bad blend potentiometer, a bad solder joint, a broken wire, a bad piezo transducer, or a dislodged piezo transducer.

If the seller had been a decent guy, I might have taken a chance on fixing it myself, but I don't support people who misrepresent guitar conditions. Cheers!

I cannot support people who misrepresent ____________________________________ (fill in the blank.)
When I was about 7 years old I learned: "you lie, you are going to get caught."

[BatUtilityBelt]

I cannot support people who misrepresent ____________________________________ (fill in the blank.)
When I was about 7 years old I learned: "you lie, you are going to get caught."

I totally agree. It's not just guitars.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Finally, a cool follow-up! Sorry it's long, but it looks like a great ending...

Monday, Nov 30th, I took the guitar in the seller's packaging with Ebay's return label on it to the post office. They looked at the goofy shape and took out their tape measures: "Sorry, we can't accept it with this label because it is oversized". *Sigh*. I took it back home, and asked for an Ebay rep to call me. Ebay told me: No problem, we'll tell the seller to provide you an appropriate label. Give him a week for that process. I ask what if he doesn't comply? He's been uncooperative so far. Ebay says: If he doesn't, we will get you a refund and you can keep the guitar. Oh. I've heard of this before, but thought it was an urban legend. Ok.

So I waited out the week, then get on another call with Ebay. They say give him a couple more days. Two days later I get on yet one more call with Ebay, and I'm told it looked like the other Ebay representative did not handle the situation right, and the seller may not have received a request for the label. Let's start this over and give it another week. Ebay representative assures me he is requesting the seller send a proper shipping label. So I waited yet one more week, expecting I will have to call again tomorrow. Nope.

I just received two emails: one from Ebay, and one from PayPal saying I had a complete refund coming. I don't understand the seller acting that way, it makes no sense to me. But now I can personally confirm that if a seller tries to screw you around enough, Ebay will get you a full refund and let you keep the guitar. I apparently bought a guitar that needs a repair I'm sure I can do for $0 price + $0 shipping + $0 tax, and it only took a month to work out the details. I think I'll leave it in the seller's box a couple more days just in case Ebay discovers some slip-up in the process.

[fatjack]

Stupid never makes sense. Actually when the refund comes through , you were gifted a guitar that needs something fixed. Maybe just a bad solder joint. So you did ok , hope you enjoy it.

[Mossman]

Finally, a cool follow-up! Sorry it's long, but it looks like a great ending...

Monday, Nov 30th, I took the guitar in the seller's packaging with Ebay's return label on it to the post office. They looked at the goofy shape and took out their tape measures: "Sorry, we can't accept it with this label because it is oversized". *Sigh*. I took it back home, and asked for an Ebay rep to call me. Ebay told me: No problem, we'll tell the seller to provide you an appropriate label. Give him a week for that process. I ask what if he doesn't comply? He's been uncooperative so far. Ebay says: If he doesn't, we will get you a refund and you can keep the guitar. Oh. I've heard of this before, but thought it was an urban legend. Ok.

So I waited out the week, then get on another call with Ebay. They say give him a couple more days. Two days later I get on yet one more call with Ebay, and I'm told it looked like the other Ebay representative did not handle the situation right, and the seller may not have received a request for the label. Let's start this over and give it another week. Ebay representative assures me he is requesting the seller send a proper shipping label. So I waited yet one more week, expecting I will have to call again tomorrow. Nope.

I just received two emails: one from Ebay, and one from PayPal saying I had a complete refund coming. I don't understand the seller acting that way, it makes no sense to me. But now I can personally confirm that if a seller tries to screw you around enough, Ebay will get you a full refund and let you keep the guitar. I apparently bought a guitar that needs a repair I'm sure I can do for $0 price + $0 shipping + $0 tax, and it only took a month to work out the details. I think I'll leave it in the seller's box a couple more days just in case Ebay discovers some slip-up in the process.

That's awesome! I got a free Commodore 64 from one seller who refused to answer the door to sign for the package when I shipped it back to him. He probably thought that if he refused the package, then he wouldn't have to give me a refund, so I contacted ebay to let them know what kind of game he was playing. When they checked the tracking number and saw how many failed delivery attempts were made, they issued me a refund right there on the spot. Then, a couple of weeks later, the mailman dropped off a very familiar looking package with a label on it that read: "Undeliverable - Return to Sender". So I got my money back, plus a computer that I can either easily fix, or scavenge for spare parts.

This was particularly gratifying considering this seller was a border-line sociopath, who fought me tooth-and-nail and sent me multiple nasty-grams every day for a month that were full of ad-hominem attacks and unhinged nonsense.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[idiotsdelight]

It's all in ones approach. People that behave badly online are most likely argumenative like that in real life.

I just went through something similar. The seller gave inaccurate measurements on 2 different listings. He told me to get a label via ebay (careful here-Ebay deducts it from your PP). Theres no reason I should pay return shipping. Ebay agreed. Seller sent me a pm asking why I complained (I didnt) to ebay. I told ebay the facts. Besides, the seller was the one that told me no and to request the label from ebay. All the sellers messages seethe anger. Got no time for shitty people anymore.

[slowhand84]

So I bought this Eastwood Folkstar listed on ebay as used but "Like new". 4 days after the sale, the provided tracking number only said it was "printed", not picked up or en-route. So I asked the seller what was up with that, and he replied that he was still trying to find a shipping box "which is hard". Annoyed, I started my reply with "seriously?", and shouldn't have, but told him he could ask at any music store and they're always happy to get rid of guitar shipping boxes. He snarked back at me, so I ask if he wants to cancel the deal? The guitar ships with no response.

It arrived today and he apparently went to U-haul for an odd squarish box instead of a guitar shipping box, and he packed it weirder than I've ever seen any guitar packed.

The guitar is in a coffin case it barely fits, so the top of the headstock is pushed hard against the case frame (not a good thing if it takes a hit).

Looking it over, there is a long scratch on the back I was willing to ignore. There was a fair amount of dust on it and some rag fuzz on the bridge (hmm). There is what I would call greasy finger smear on the blend knob (this guitar has no pickup selector, but has a blend control to vary the signal from a bridge piezo and a neck humbucker). So far all stuff I would just clean up and move on from.

So I tune it and plug it in. The humbucker sounds fine, but the piezo has no signal, none at all. With the blend knob all the way piezo, there is almost no sound even with my amp all the way up, except what I think is a tiny amount of bleed from the humbucker.

So either the blend pot is bad, or there is a bad solder joint, or a broken wire, or the piezo is bad, or somehow dislodged. I'm not taking off the strings, tailpiecce, and resonator to find out because I probably need to return the guitar. I don't want to be accused of having done anything to it.

So I start a return explaining the piezo malfunction, and he starts claiming there was no way because he "had the guitar checked out" whatever that means. Odd he would have someone else check it out because in the listing he implied it was his guitar by saying he was "sticking with Stratocaster for now". He then suggested I didn't know how a piezo or the blend control worked, and told me to pay a shop to evaluate the issue. I gave him a flat no to that unless ebay instructs me to. I told him I have done a lot of work on my own guitars, and know more than the GC tech, not that they would involve themselves with an ebay deal anyway.

So I'm probably going to have to ask ebay to help with this return. It's not my first ebay return, but I have to say,,, watch out on ebay, you'll encounter all kinds of people and I think this guy knew he was sending something he misrepresented.Greasy fingers.jpg

Sorry to hear about this annoyance, stuff like this is the reason why I ONLY buy guitars from a place with an easy-peasy return policy (GC, 99% of the time) and just don't bother with private sellers anymore. Too many headaches.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Sorry to hear about this annoyance, stuff like this is the reason why I ONLY buy guitars from a place with an easy-peasy return policy (GC, 99% of the time) and just don't bother with private sellers anymore. Too many headaches.

It all worked out. Yes, it was a pain, but in this case it was more than worth the hassle. I had a case about a decade ago where the guitar went back and forth across the country several times before I got my refund, partly because of the seller and partly UPS screw ups. That one was not worth the hassle, but this case definitely was. And it teaches the seller to act better, I think.

[slowhand84]

Sorry to hear about this annoyance, stuff like this is the reason why I ONLY buy guitars from a place with an easy-peasy return policy (GC, 99% of the time) and just don't bother with private sellers anymore. Too many headaches.

It all worked out. Yes, it was a pain, but in this case it was more than worth the hassle. I had a case about a decade ago where the guitar went back and forth across the country several times before I got my refund, partly because of the seller and partly UPS screw ups. That one was not worth the hassle, but this case definitely was. And it teaches the seller to act better, I think.

While I can’t say I see how it’s worth the hassle to you given that you basically ended up doing a bunch of work & spending a bunch of time to end up right where you were before you purchased this guitar...I certainly hope the seller learned something!

[BatUtilityBelt]

While I can’t say I see how it’s worth the hassle to you given that you basically ended up doing a bunch of work & spending a bunch of time to end up right where you were before you purchased this guitar...I certainly hope the seller learned something!

I probably wasn't clear enough about it, but in the end, I got 100% refund and Ebay let me keep the guitar. So I think free guitar is worth the hassle. All I have to do is diagnose its piezo issue and I can make it 100% good.

[slowhand84]

While I can’t say I see how it’s worth the hassle to you given that you basically ended up doing a bunch of work & spending a bunch of time to end up right where you were before you purchased this guitar...I certainly hope the seller learned something!

I probably wasn't clear enough about it, but in the end, I got 100% refund and Ebay let me keep the guitar. So I think free guitar is worth the hassle. All I have to do is diagnose its piezo issue and I can make it 100% good.

Oh whoops, you were plenty clear but I just didn't see your follow up post up above. Can't beat a free guitar, even if the piezo can't be fixed that's still pretty sweet. Nice to know that eBay will protect a buyer in this type of scenario. Weird that the seller would drop the ball so hard on his end, but who knows what people have going on. Enjoy it!

[toomanycats]

While I can’t say I see how it’s worth the hassle to you given that you basically ended up doing a bunch of work & spending a bunch of time to end up right where you were before you purchased this guitar...I certainly hope the seller learned something!

I probably wasn't clear enough about it, but in the end, I got 100% refund and Ebay let me keep the guitar. So I think free guitar is worth the hassle. All I have to do is diagnose its piezo issue and I can make it 100% good.

I should probably know the answer to this question, as I have an Ebay account. I don't buy or sell too often, and never guitars.
But what happens at the sellers end when you get the %100 refund and keep the guitar?
Does he forfeit the guitar plus the money?
Is he penalized in some other way for making a false listing, and if so, how is he allowed to re-list it so soon?

[BatUtilityBelt]

I should probably know the answer to this question, as I have an Ebay account. I don't buy or sell too often, and never guitars.
But what happens at the sellers end when you get the %100 refund and keep the guitar?
Does he forfeit the guitar plus the money?
Is he penalized in some other way for making a false listing, and if so, how is he allowed to re-list it so soon?

I don't know much about it on the seller's end, I didn't get to see what Ebay communicated to him. I assume they were nice but made firm requests of him. From what I understand, he does forfeit both the guitar and the money in this case.

If it was just a difference of opinion, I would feel bad for the seller. But in this case, the seller was being a dick even before the guitar was shipped, and it just kept getting worse. I asked Ebay to jump in 3 or 4 times because he was either being insane (making things up, trying to make it confrontational) or not communicating at all. So of course I agree with Ebay that this type of seller needs a reality check.

[fatjack]

@toomanycats As I understand it if you rise to this level of stupidity , you lose the money and item. Then as further punishment, they can ban you suspend you for a period or more likely the third. Which is on any further sales they hold your money until sale is complete and buyer is satisfied. This can last for months , which is why sellers do not want unhappy customers.

[nomadh]

My wife sells inexpensive clothes on ebay everyday. I wa selling some PC motherboards for awhile at around $100 and did fine without any problem. But I hear about customers from her and how the rules are so against sellers no matter how reasonable. She told me don't dare sell a $1000 guitar through ebay. Just too many scammers. With The clueless people and scammers I'm not inclined to buy a guitar there either.

[redman]

Sounds like this guy is a nut case but I've had a couple of deals go south on Flea Bay and paying goods and services PayPal you have nothing to worry about. Just never pay someone you don't know Friends and Family you give up your recourse/

[golem]

Ugh. I'm sorry dude. I'm pretty miffed right now because a Chanel bag my wife bought on ebay is fake. They aren't accepting the return. Looks like I have to take it up with ebay.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Ugh. I'm sorry dude. I'm pretty miffed right now because a Chanel bag my wife bought on ebay is fake. They aren't accepting the return. Looks like I have to take it up with ebay.

Do take it up with Ebay, that can work. I've seen a bunch of counterfeit guitars on there, so I'm not surprised to hear about other fakes. Very sorry to hear about it though, it can take a while to work through it. It might test your patience, it did test mine. But stay calm, communicate well, and I think Ebay will see who's right.

[golem]

Ugh. I'm sorry dude. I'm pretty miffed right now because a Chanel bag my wife bought on ebay is fake. They aren't accepting the return. Looks like I have to take it up with ebay.

Do take it up with Ebay, that can work. I've seen a bunch of counterfeit guitars on there, so I'm not surprised to hear about other fakes. Very sorry to hear about it though, it can take a while to work through it. It might test your patience, it did test mine. But stay calm, communicate well, and I think Ebay will see who's right.

In this case, after them refusing to take the return several times I mentioned yesterday I'd just take it up with ebay and eventually get my return accepted that way as counterfeit goods are against the TOS. This morning I woke up to them having accepted my return as I suspect they realized ebay would rule in my favor and it'd just be wasting them time. But... the saga isn't over until they get the package and you get your $$$ right? So I'm still thinking about what I should do to cover my ass. Unfortunately, this is how people are. Some are awesome. Some are trying to screw you. Some are just dumb. I tend not to assume malice where I can assume incompetence (Hanlon's Razor?).

Has your situation been resolved, or are you still working on it? Nevermind.... after reading through the thread I found it. As a buyer, I like ebay, but as a seller ebay/paypal always seems like a risk.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Ugh. I'm sorry dude. I'm pretty miffed right now because a Chanel bag my wife bought on ebay is fake. They aren't accepting the return. Looks like I have to take it up with ebay.

Do take it up with Ebay, that can work. I've seen a bunch of counterfeit guitars on there, so I'm not surprised to hear about other fakes. Very sorry to hear about it though, it can take a while to work through it. It might test your patience, it did test mine. But stay calm, communicate well, and I think Ebay will see who's right.

In this case, after them refusing to take the return several times I mentioned yesterday I'd just take it up with ebay and eventually get my return accepted that way as counterfeit goods are against the TOS. This morning I woke up to them having accepted my return as I suspect they realized ebay would rule in my favor and it'd just be wasting them time. But... the saga isn't over until they get the package and you get your $$$ right? So I'm still thinking about what I should do to cover my ass. Unfortunately, this is how people are. Some are awesome. Some are trying to screw you. Some are just dumb. I tend not to assume malice where I can assume incompetence (Hanlon's Razor?).

Has your situation been resolved, or are you still working on it? Nevermind.... after reading through the thread I found it. As a buyer, I like ebay, but as a seller ebay/paypal always seems like a risk.

If the listing did not indicate the bag was a knockoff, then your reason for the return is that "the item does not match the description". Under that reason, Ebay says the seller is responsible for a full refund and pays return shipping. I would make sure the seller agrees with that, and that you can return it with tracking, so both you and Ebay can watch it.