cooker-I was unclear on the $105.Look at #7 in my 1 st post.When he sent the $255 I figured it was over with for me.Now at the time I originally wanted $300 from him-half the value of the bike.We bargained a bit and settled on $255 and he just threw in"and if I get more from UPS,I'll send you more." I told him whatever he got from UPS was his,I was happy as it stood.Heck,I figured I was SOL;I sure wasn't going to sue him for $300;the only hold I had on him was bad feedback,and he would retaliate with bad feedback,so that is no hold at all.Then out of the blue 10 days ago,he sent $105 via Paypal??Why??I don't know,best guess is that he said he would send more,he was a man of his word,so he sent more??
Heck,I was extremely surprised,but since my wife and I are out of work-New Orleans-Katrina-I was happy to see the $$.
The guy strikes me as a straight shooter.It would cost $800 to get a new frame-$500 for a used frame the UPS screwed up seems about right.Now,if he actually got $800 or more for the frame,he is getting greedy,and is trying to pull a fast one.
I would just as soon give him the $105 back,but I really don't want to seem to be colluding with him to defraud UPS-SINCE I'M NOT!!I don't want to be seen as getting caught with my hand in the cookie jar.This baby isn't mine.
velomad-yes,I suspect that our situations are identical.We paid for something that was screwed up by UPS.The seller paid us what we figured was an ok amount to make us happy.The seller neglected to tell us or UPS that they no longer owned the item,and apparently agreed to "sell" something they no longer owned.
OK I just talked with UPS's collection agent-pleasant enough person.
The real story is that they paid him $595+$22 for the actual original shipping charge-over $600,not the "about $500" he said,unless $617 is about $500.
So he was paid $655+$617=$1272 his out of pocket is $355+$22(actual shipping charge)=$377.
He has $895 in his pocket for a bike he sold for $600+$33=$633 .The $33 is his profit on shipping,I don't begrudge him that,the $55 shipping was clearly stated-he can charge whatever he wants as long as he is upfront about it.He has $262 more in his pocket because of the dinging of the bike.If he pays the $119,he will be $143 to the better.
Hmmm,I wish he had given me the straight story-that he got $617 not "about $500."
I will just let it sit for a while,and think on it.Thanks for all the ideas.Charlie