Feeling Bad After Ebay Trade

[AndyHB 0]

Hi all,

I had a funny encounter today that has left me feeling a bit rubbish actually and I thought that I should write it down just so that I'm not bottling it up and all that.

I was after another re-re Hornet to match my new build. Ideally, I was after one with radio gear and ESC included so that I could have 2 runners to race with visiting mates. I found the following example on eBay - item number 280268978695 for 60 and I thought that was okay and it was on the way home from work so I thought I might as well.

Called on the guy and he seemed nice enough, we had a chat about our cars and I said that I wanted an identical car for fair racing etc and I had a quick look at the Hornet. The guy explained he had bought it already built off somebody else but not used it since. It was a quite a quick look I had as it looked fine, unrolled shell, unmarked chasis bottom, transmitter, motor and servos worked fine, so gave the man his 60 and exited.

Back in my car I was giving it a bit of further scrutiny just out of interest - just to see how somebody else had put it together and if there were any differences to my own etc. This was when I noticed the clanger. It was a GRASSHOPPER. Well, it has Grasshopper fixed mount to chasis. It does have the Hornet rear shocks and Hornet shell.

So I thought, I'll just pop back in, explain what was I'd discovered and as he knew I was after an identical Hornet - what about a refund? Would that be too much to ask for? As it was pretty much not as described. And he may well not have known it was not 100% Hornet. I'm not sure that he believed me, but he listened to my explanation. In response to my "so what can we do about this then?" he remarked that it "was a hornet and sold as is", to which I said, it was sold as a Hornet, which it Isn't. He reiterated again that it was a Hornet in a slightly "don't mess" voice and promptly closed the door in my face. At that point I'm feeling a bit odd, what to do. Bang on door again..? or what? I just left. bit cowardly, but you hear so much **** these days about the way people react that I figured it's not really worth it.

Also turned out the battery is a bit of a dud too.

So what to do now? bit of a bad taste around this car now, but the car, for what it is, is in good order. Am I over-reacting? Can I turn it into a Hornet easily? is it just a case of replacing the Hornet D parts D11 and D12 and the 2 MD12 springs and MD14 long shaft.? Or is there more to it than that?

I just hate the way some people are not willing to be fair and decent. What is their beef with the world?!

And as to the eBay feedback. What is my position? Can I leave negative feedback these days without fearing the sellers wrath on my own feedback?

Any thoughts on this appreciated.

Andy

[terry.sc 16]

Andy

It sounds like as the chap says he bought the car as it is from someone else and passed it on believing it is a complete Hornet.

It's an easy fix, just replace the gearbox mounts with the Hornet parts and that's it.

And you will be pleased to know that sellers can't leave you negative feedback Just make sure the feedback you leave is accurate.

[KEV THE REV 2319]

I see by his ad that he added a lot of extra info in to give more of an idea , so he sounds genuine enough and he probably can't understand why you were miffed at it .I understand your concern with it all ,and its not worth getting into a row over it so you did the right thing and hey its only a car and life goes on ,at least you have a good rtr Hornet and not sold a pup so you can cheer yourself up when your thrashing your mates with it ( not literally - LOL ) stay happy mate and don't ponder on it now you've got it off your chest

[WillyChang 1814]

dunno about you but i find the GH fixed hinge won't let it slap around like the H springy slot = drives better

[Tamiya1/10 382]

I guess you will have to read his discription again and see if it does state sold as is.

Also, you had a chance to physically look at the model and is in pretty good shape, which most buyers don't have that opportunity at all.

Based on the above I would say the seller has more ground to not offer you a refund. Mind you, you know where he lives (but he may have you plate numbers)...not suggesting or implying you should do something but if I was the seller and felt I had cheated you I would likely give the refund since I don't know what you will do (unless I own the street and not afraid anyone trying to mess with me), if I felt I was up front with you and the mistake was yours and seeing you are a resonable person you will not likely to anything just to get me back, right?

[ryanbored 3]

Take him to the small claims court. Pay a top solicitor and MAKE him take it back! Or just put it down to experience and get over it. I'm not being nasty, but I have found in this hobby you win some, and you lose some.

Take the moral high ground and fix up how you want it, or sell it on as it is. Crying over spilt milk an all that.

Mind you I want a cigarette and hate evryone at the moment, so what do I know?!

Peace.

[Tamiya1/10 382]

Mind you I want a cigarette and hate evryone at the moment, so what do I know?!

Peace.

Take / put on a couple of patches and call me in the morning.

Dr.

[AndyHB 0]

I think that I'm not too bothered about the car itself, as it is in good condition. However, what flames me is the manner in which the guy conducted himself.

The main issue that I have with this trade is that when I mentioned the problem, instead of entering into an adult conversation about what we could do about it, he closed the door in my face. Closing a door on an argument does not resolve it in any way.

Imagine for a moment if our roles were reversed and he had bought something from me only to discover it was not quite as described. What would he expect of me? I can confidently say that I would have offered him the option of cancelling the trade if that is what he would have wanted. In my opinion that is the decent thing to do. Closing the door in my face prevented us from having any such discussion and as such I am inclined to give him negative feedback at the moment.

It's just a decency thing. Be nice to your fellow man and he will be good to you. And vice versa.

[WillyChang 1814]

yea right... you'd believe in the tooth fairy too then

How about this - sold a pair of TT01s newbuilt RTR to a guy & his mate.

Guy is 110% happy with his his... but says his mate started whinging.

"car won't start"

"steering doesn't go straight"

"car won't stop"

"battery doesn't charge"

"battery doesn't last long enough"

"car doesn't go fast enough"

etc etc + "I WANT MY MONEY BACK" after 2 wks later

umm NO!

typical Buyer's Remorse and like heck anyone will give any refund on a now-USED toy car

Think about it on seller's view too... you could well have broken the car after you've taken delivery then tried to blame the seller for faulty goods.

[Tamiya1/10 382]

The main issue that I have with this trade is that when I mentioned the problem, instead of entering into an adult conversation about what we could do about it, he closed the door in my face. Closing a door on an argument does not resolve it in any way.

It's just a decency thing. Be nice to your fellow man and he will be good to you. And vice versa.

This world is full of interesting people, some nice, some not so nice, some friendly, some just mean....

The key point is you stick with your standards and need not to go down to their level.

Just chaulk one up for experience and the other guy properly need the money, every penny of it.

Next time don't hand over the money so fast and take your time looking at it or even ask a friend to come along 2 pairs of eyes are always better.

[Mad Ax 9325]

I think this is just experience. You had the opportunity to handle the thing up close and inspect it before you parted with your money. You didn't notice a problem until the deal had been done. Maybe the guy was trying to screw you over, maybe he genuinely didn't realise (I didn't realise those parts were different until I read this thread!)

From his point of view, maybe he was afraid that having done the deal, you were going to get problematic and start demanding refunds or discounts. As far as he's concerned (if he wasn't aware of the fault) then he's done a deal in good faith and is now facing a backlash over it. In your original post, you say "you hear so much **** these days about the way people react that I figured it's not really worth it." Well, maybe he's heard the same **** about how people react and was just as afraid as you were.

Aggression is usually a sign of fear. If he got aggressive and slammed the door, he was probably afraid: maybe afraid that you'd found he'd scammed you, or maybe afraid that he'd sold something in good faith and was going to be forced to refund or discount it. I return to my post in the "ebay lines and what they mean" thread - that the current ebay trend of buyers buying and then demanding refunds is what has caused most sellers to write stuff like "I don't know anything about it" and "it was fine last time I tested it" so that they can't be held responsible. In the good old days of local ads papers, these things didnt' happen because people checked stuff over thoroughly before buying and accepted it was their problem if they didn't notice a fault until later.

If I was you I'd not worry about it - you got a running Hornet for 60 which isn't bad, and it'll only cost a few quid to get the extra parts tree if you want to convert it. Certainly not worth losing any sleep over, IMO. Now, if the motor had fallen apart in your lap or the battery leaked all over your passenger seat on the way home, maybe it'd be different - but for a couple of parts that a n00b couldn't tell between anyway, it's not worth the bother.

I presume it has the Hornet 540 motor?