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Does anyone know anything about an Ebayer called tractor5000 ?

If so, please share via PM. I really could use some assistance :)

DD

PM sent

Thanks, Scott, the historical info was very helpful and will assist me in future in case this tool changes his handle yet again.

For everyone else, I guess you've been lucky enough not to deal with him. Once the entire scenario plays out, I may or may not share the experience here, but you can be sure I'll be adding another seller to my blocked list!

DD

Whew! Escalated, got my money back. Done. With. That. Seller.

DD

Can you share what went down and/or other aliases used that we should be on look out for?

Claimed parts to be NOS but had signs of use. I contacted him and he apologized, saying he must not have looked closely enough and meant no deception. His first (and ultimately last for nearly three weeks) message sounded genuine enough, so I sent a response, telling him I would be sending back the parts and requesting a full refund - and would be opening a case just to cover my six.

Since it's been ages since I had to do something like this, I neglected to check the specifics of the shipping requirements for sending back - I figured a US Customs Declaration number on the package would suffice to track. Anyway, I asked if he'd received the parts after waiting a couple weeks (giving time for the package to get to CA from Diego Garcia, what with part of the shipping process being via military aircraft). Every subsequent message I sent received no response, and he never responded to the "Item Not As Described" case as was required, either. Two days ago I got a message from Ebay asking about the case status, informing me the case would be closed on September 28th if no word from me. Well, that got me going.

I escalated this evening, and within 5 minutes of that, I got notice from Ebay that my purchase price/shipping was refunded. Just a couple of minutes later I got this message from the seller:

"I have received the bolts- upon inspection, I can not see enough evidence to pin these as "used", although I could see what you would consider signs of use. At any rate, I have sent you your refund. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Thank You
Scotty"

I did not reply for obvious reasons.

DD

EDIT: Rootboy was the one who suggested this seller may have used aliases in the past, but he's not 100% positive about that. And, yes, Scott: the name associated with the return address was that of a woman.

So you guys had differing opinions on what "used" means.. glad you got your money back. This is the main reason I don't sell on ebay. I'm not saying you did anything wrong DD cause I know you wouldn't but ebay definitely favors the buyer. Which is why I only buy there :)

Thanks - I'm glad I got my money back, too! If we had differing opinions, they concerned the description "NOS", since NOS means not used at all; no grey area there :)

DD

Well that's true. Seems like the kind of seller that uses NOS to sell an item that's close to NOS hoping that when the buyer receives it they will keep it to avoid having to deal with the hassle of sending it back and opening a claim etc etc.

So we gave it back or the seller did?

Glad this worked out. Anytime that I have a problem on Ebay, I immediately go to resolution center. That's what it's there for. I had a non-responsive seller who sold me a crashed frame earlier this year. He stopped responding, and I escalated the case. Had I looked prior to the sale, he had negative feedback and had trash-talked some of his buyers in response. That's not a very good business model.

We? I don't getcha...

DD

Thanks, TT - and from here on out, I'll be doing the same. It just burns me (and I know I'm not alone here) when someone describes something and hopes someone else will buy off on their judgement of said something. The main reason this practice irks me is that any buyer not happy can return it, sure, but has to eat return shipping. That's like paying for the opportunity to see the item in person in order to assess it, when an honest description and detailed photos could tell the story instead.

Two issues out of almost forty recent Ebay transactions; I guess that's not too bad :)

DD

oops. Yeah. By we i meant eBay.

-holiday76 works for ebay if that was confusing.

I'm not sure at all about different user names. There is a seller in Santa Barbara who I've heard has changed his user names and accounts several times, But I don't know if this seller is one of those. I did take a look at this seller's feedback after exchanging emails with D. Dude. Quit a few negatives. Mostly having to do with poor communications on problem sales.

What bothers me most about this issue is the cavalier use of the term "NOS". I've run into many sellers who seem to think if an item is lightly used they can claim it is NOS. I just don't get it. It's dishonest. And sellers who sell a lot of vintage parts should know the difference.

Ah, I see. Well, I'm assuming the seller refunded the money, as that's what he stated in his message (quoted in post #6 ).

DD

+1

You know, it's too bad this went south so badly with the misrepresentation and subsequent lack of communication. This seller has a lot of nice stuff, and pretty fairly priced, too (with a few high-and-right items, but what the hey); I could've seen myself as a repeat-buyer. Not anymore. Nice to see that Ebay had my six covered, I'll say that :)

DD

This is a great service posting threads like this. I'm new to Ebay and it's good to have a heads up on guys like this.

When buying on ebay, carefully scrutinize feedback. Use the sort button, and just look for feedback as a "seller". Feedback as a buyer is meaningless.

This particular seller has been active on ebay for over 10 years. Anyone active that long has figured out what is required to keep customers happy (and not get lousy feedback!!), yet he is still getting a ton of negative feedback! This is a pretty clear signal, AVOID!

7 neutrals and 13 negatives in the last six months = don't bid on this guy's auctions! And read some of those neutrals and negatives. Its one thing if the seller charges too much on shipping, or has heartburn from one buyer, but feedback like this:

"I haven't received the item nor any response from the seller regarding shipping."

"Have not recieved my order, no response from seller!"

"Did not ship after payment. Did not reply to emails. Did not receive item. Avoid"

"Poor comms, sent wrong item, Case filled, Refunded"

"Not happy. I bought WHITE buttons got GREEN buttons. Over a month to deliver"

"Spindle not for thick cups. No communication. Had use buyer protect. AVOID!"

"caution con man"

"Item was cracked and in bad condition."

Someone as active as this seller, for as long as they has been selling, should be working to attain and keep top rated plus seller status. This takes superb service, and the seller is rewarded by ebay with some sweet discounts! Good for both buyers and sellers.

bill

I've gotten a few items that the seller claimed to be NOS and the pictures looked that it could have supported that. When I got them they looked kind of rough to me and sellers always came back with, "well what do you expect, that's 20 years of shelf wear" or something similar. Usually, shipping things back is too much of a hassle, so I end up eating that premium I paid for NOS. I guess my definition of NOS includes a bit of mint or near mint that isn't implied for other people who think that if they put a hub in a drawer with sharp objects that got opened and shut until the decal is half missing and the thing is all scratched up and dinged is still NOS. Sure it was never actually laced to a rim as evidenced by pretty pristine spoke holes, but, at some point, that no longer counts as NOS to me.

/rant

^ This.

I feel your pain; the premium was $139 for a pair of brake caliper center bolts. They were definitely used, and that price was too much for used (and I should know - I bought a pair from our own miamijim for much less, used, and was perfectly happy with them).

There's shelfwear and there's abuse/improper storage. I've noticed a trend with some sellers recently pointing out that NOS does not mean perfect, etc, etc, yadda yadda yadda. Price should be keyed to condition, too.

"Well, yeah it's a bit marked up - I dropped my running chainsaw and it cut this NOS Campy front hub in half, but, you know - it's never been laced up, you know? And remember, they ain't making these anymore!"

Thrifty Bill: Yeah, I'm still a little rusty, I guess. Been off the 'Bay for awhile. Your best point was pointing out the fact the guy's been doing this for 10 years and is still having issues. You're right: he should've "gotten it" by now.

Live and learn - as long as this experience assists someone (Zinger, perhaps?), I guess the pain is worth it. All's well that ends well.

Now to find that Blocked Ebayer List thread...

DD

I wouldn't be surprised if eBay forced the seller to refund the money. In my experience eBay will do what's right, and if that line is blurred will normally side with the buyer.

Wait until tomorrow. There will be a thread about how ebay sucks if you are a seller. Can't leave feedback for buyers, high fees, yada, yada, yada ...

And I don't care if someone takes a hammer to it, NOS means new old stock. It does not mean mint, near mint or any other condition. That is why there are pictures and as a human, you have eyes. If the pictures on the listing aren't up to your standard, ask for more. If the buyer doesn't supply what you want, don't bid. If you do bid, ts.

well yeah. I joined this forum 5 years ago, not yesterday :thumb:

Doh, I get that - and that's precisely what my argument was all about: the item was USED; not damaged, or even pounded by a hammer - it had grease residue on it and marks in the spring channel consistent with use. Geez, I thought that was plainly spelled out above, but I must have been mistaken.

H76: I'm absolutely certain Ebay made the call on the seller; the case was found in my favor barely 5 minutes after I escalated with a detailed recap of the situation. They (you) did right by me, the seller has his parts back and can list again (I'd advise caution as to him listing them as NOS again, of course) and I'm only out a few bucks for return shipping. It's all good.

Btw, here's a dilemma: I've not yet left feedback. What do you guys think? Should I just let that sleeping dog lie, or tell the truth/shame the devil? BF C&V is one thing, but Ebay's another thing alltogether. Suggestions appreciated.

DD

Oh, and iab: regarding asking for pictures, this is the last exchange I had when I did just that:

ME: Since the box is open, could you please add some photos of the contents to the auction? Failing that, is it possible that you could email photos of the parts to me? I'm interested in the BIN as-is, but would like to confirm parts, condition - all that stuff. Thank you.

Jeff

SELLER: I've got a 100% rating on 571 E-Bay transactions confirming my honesty & integrity. If that isn't good enough for you, I would prefer that you didn't bid on this item.

ME: My question had nothing to do with honesty and integrity - don't know why you took it that way. I'd like to see what I get for my 200 bucks, that's all. Personally, I don't know why a seller would take three pics of the box but not the contents, but whatever. I can't bid on something I know no details about, so as you wish - I won't.

A little assistance to your potential buyers might result in a sale - may very well have done so here. It's too bad you had to consider my request for more pictures to detail what I would get for my money as an affront to your honesty/integrity. Lighten up a little :)

SELLER: The point is, that if I say that a model is complete & unbuilt...IT"S COMPLETE & UNBUILT. I've got 571 people to back that up. Besides, you wouldn't know whether the kit was complete or not just by looking at a few photos. I have nothing more to say on this subject, but somehow I have the feeling you have to have the last word.

Nope, I had nothing more to say, so he ended up having the last word. Note how he feels that since he's got a 100% rating that means I should trust him sight-unseen? And it's obvious he truly believes this, too.

I prefer to avoid this kind of thing; fact is, some people get worked up about how they're perceived with barely the slightest provocation. In my experience, especially domestically for almost 4 years, I've found these sorts of people to be the most downright untrustworthy on the planet.

DD

If someone takes a hammer to it, it's not new old stock anymore. That new part is gone. It might be unused, but if someone bangs the crap out of something and then posts a picture so only the unbanged side shows, it's not new anymore. A few scratches, bumps, a little shelf wear is one thing, but dinged and dented to heck and gone doesn't apply anymore just because someone didn't use something. If it's been abused, whether that's in the course of intended use or not, it's not new. I had the same fight when I bought a "new old stock" care bear for a niece's Christmas present. Picture only showed the front, said NOS, seller had good ratings and claimed it was left over from her toy store that went out of business. It arrived all mildewy, the back was threadbare, and the tags were all wrinkled and torn. She finally admitted that the facility she'd stored them in had gotten flooded, but it still had those wrinkled torn up tags, so that meant it was NOS. I call bull****. New​ old stock means new, not unused but beat to ****.

Not DD's issue, but my pet peave with people just throwing the word NOS around. A week or so back there was someone wanting to know the value of his NOS frame. Not the bike that he'd built up from the frame, but the frame itself after he tore the pieces off. I suppose if he never rode that frame, it'd still be NOS technically, but, once he built it up, to me, that's no longer NOS. To me, it looked like he'd ridden it too. Just saw it was a keyword that raised the value of things so he threw it on there.

Then why did you bid?

By your definition, nearly nothing would be NOS. In your case, you should bid on nothing listed as NOS.

Problem solved.