Manufacturer, Retailer, Survey and Consumer Feedback - phantom headset from Ultimate Bikes eBay store

I hate to make a rare post just to rip on someone, but I need to vent on this with fellow online bike parts buying folks.
I bought a silver 1-1/8 FSA Orbit UF headset with Buy-It-Now from the eBay store "Ultimate Bikes", eBay ID "amcycle", and it turns out they were auctioning something they don't even have.
Here's a link to the item:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=260195468559

I used PayPal to pay immediately after the auction. The first communication I got (that wasn't an automated response) was this odd email message on May 7, (8 days after the end of the auction):


Dear Doug:

Whats up?

The delay on silver UF headsets remains. Can I mail you black?

Thank you very much

Joe
American Cycle Express

http://americancycle.com/page.cfm?pageID=75
https://www.paypal.com send payments to sales@americanxxxxx.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
US dollars or British Pounds only
email: sales@americanxxxxx.com
Website: www.americancycle.com
Website: www.acebmx.com


This informal message erroneously assumes that I had some knowledge of a delay with the headset that they had up for auction.

On May 9, I replied this way:


Joe,
I was unaware of a delay on silver UF headsets. I'm not interested in black.
Can you Paypal me back the $43.99? I'll keep looking.
Thanks
Doug

I waited 3 days and didn't hear back, so I filled out the email form on their website, http://americancycle.com. In the “Question” field, I filled out the following. (starting to get noticeably upset):


I bought this on eBay on April 29th, but apparently, you don't even have one. What do you plan to do?


The next day May 13, a conciliatory reply, but still no money.


We can give you black or refund you. You can suggest a different headset too?
We just want you to be happy.

Thank you very much

Joe
American Cycle Express

http://americancycle.com/page.cfm?pageID=75
https://www.paypal.com send payments to sales@americanxxxxx.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
US dollars or British Pounds only
email: sales@americanxxxxx.com
Website: www.americancycle.com
Website: www.acebmx.com


The same day, I replied:


Hi:
I'll take the refund because I really want this headset in silver. You can do PayPal to xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com.
Thanks

Well, I'm still waiting. It's 15 days after I paid for this thing that they never had. I'm sure I can get my money eventually, but it's becoming a pain in my rear.
Thanks for sharing. :troll:

I hate it when this happens on eBay! I sent them an email asking them to get you taken care of. Maybe a bit of notoriety will help realize the importance of Customer Service.

File a dispute with PAYPAL ASAP , Do not wait another day, The longer you leave it the less chance you have of getting your money back, Don't let these guys give you the run around its your money,
Good luck and let us know how you get on

I sent them an email asking them to get you taken care of. Maybe a bit of notoriety will help realize the importance of Customer Service.

Hey, thanks. I feel better already.

May 16, 2008, so far no action taken by the "seller", so I filed a dispute with PayPal today. What a pain. Check out this formal dispute opening:


Since you are unable to fulfill your obligation to provide me with the headset I have purchased from you, and you have not followed through with the refund I have requested more than once, I have no choice but to use these channels. I expect a refund of $43.99 immediately.

Well, they sent my refund today, after getting the official dispute from PayPal.
I ended up getting the headset I wanted from Cambriabike for $5.00 less!

yea cambriabike is the way to go seriously!! I found that out the hard way buying from other places

Sorry to hear about your raw deal but thanks for allowing us to learn through it. Now I know to go to cambriabike.com
Ernest

Once upon a time, I was able to make a good living selling on ebay. Today, I think that it is one of the biggest internet scams out there. There is very little in the way of buyer protection, and it's not an exaggeration by any means to say that roughly half of my last twenty or so transactions were absolutely awful. From misrepresentation, to careless errors, to outright lies, sellers will continue to get away with ripping people off, so long as they generate seller's fees, and Paypal gets their cut.