eBay Bike Buying SCAM, PayPal not helpful either...

[Walastik]

I think the seller is furious inside because I actually offered $1,000 on first inspection, and I was willing to up that to $1,100 on the spot, but he thought he could get more, although he's only had a $1,250 buy it now price, I actually bidded $1,100 on eBay but no one bidded higher than the final price

You inspected the bike before you won the auction and picked it up in the dark ?

Was the inspection also in the dark ?

Did the seller change the handlebar and cassette between the inspection and when you picked the bike up ?

oh snap...

[fxcat]

thanks for the reply guys, for some of you it seems the norm for not getting what you bidded for in a public auction, and somehow the recommendation of inspecting the item in a better light would change the fact somehow?! But the truth is you still didn't get what you bidded for! The middleman that's getting paid doesn't care either...

so anyway thanks for some of your helpful advice, some are good, some are... hmm... but I think there's no point discussing further... I'll miss you too James, but I think I know where I'd rather spend my spare time...

[MichaelB]

thanks for the reply guys, for some of you it seems the norm for not getting what you bidded for in a public auction, and somehow the recommendation of inspecting the item in a better light would change the fact somehow?! But the truth is you still didn't get what you bidded for! The middleman that's getting paid doesn't care either...

so anyway thanks for some of your helpful advice, some are good, some are... hmm... but I think there's no point discussing further... I'll miss you too James, but I think I know where I'd rather spend my spare time...

Oh, one final thing, the past tense of bid, is bid. Not bidded. There is no such word.

You bid at an auction.

Your bid is accepted.

Your bid has won.

Despite the offer to refund your bid, you refuse.

Yet, you still don't understand the concept of a bid is final.

I think that when you belatedly mentioned you made a higher offer on inspection prior to the end of the auction (didn't notice any issue) which was refused, and then won the auction with a lower bid, still didn't inspect and/or notice the issue until later. Put in a claim to ebay and then won that right to have a refund, yet refused. Still think that you have been hard done by due to potential deceit, honest mistake or one of lifes unpleasant experiences, but won't accept ANY culpability.

Meh.





and finally

[fxcat]

Oh, one final thing, the past tense of bid, is bid. Not bidded. There is no such word.

You bid at an auction.

Your bid is accepted.

Your bid has won.

bla bla bla

wow! Mr BB, you are so intelligent, correcting spelling and grammer mistakes on an internet forum, you must feel really proud, but yet fail to understand the concept of contracts and sellers "assuming responsibility" for their listing which is declared on each auctions, do you realise some people have better things to do in life, than to run around all day getting refunds for things that aren't sold as described? Sometimes people rather have the seller fix their mistake instead? Especially when it's intentional??

Like in this case I rather the seller just send me the god damned dura-ace cassette, but instead he tries to persuade me to accept the 105 and tries to convince me that I've got a "great deal", then when I refuse to accept the dud deal, he gets abusive and wants me to return the bike and refund me instead? So go figure?!?! That is when I opened a case hoping to get a couple hundred so I can bid for the missing items on eBay instead, but PayPal also decides to reverse the deal in his favour, ie. helping the seller?!

But I understand it when people have different opinions, especially when they have different beliefs and values, no need to be funny...

I thought I should point out the problem here with PayPal and eBay, posting here would never help me get back what was missing...
BUT I thought it will be helpful for any members who are looking to bid for a bike in the near future, so I post my experience..
I guess "SOME" minority people like to try to impress themselves in a virtual cyberspace, so they can feel "superior" to cater for their ego, but can't really do it in the real world, I've seen it all!!
These people in the real world, they have no achievements and no importance, they are very small and actually VERY POLITE in the real world, but the only words they get to say all day is "yes boss" and "sorry boss"

[Ross]

fxcat, as myself and others have already pointed out to you it's not a perfect world out there, there are some good people and some not so good people. In the non-perfect world we live in some people may exagerate or mislead about the product they are selling (used [and new] car salesman are notorious for it and also politicians lie about stuff every day ["there will be no carbon tax"]). Therefore you as a buyer has to have some smarts about you and be prepared (as much as you can be) for this and do the reaearch or due dillegence yourself before buying the bike to make sure you are getting what is advertised. You failed to do this and it turned out there were a couple of fairly minor discrepencies between the description and what it was in real life.

According to what you posted you went and saw the bike before actually buying it (presumably during the day) and tried to lowball the guy (he declined your generous offer) and for some reason only known to yourself you didn't inspect the bike. Then when you finally placed the winning bid and went to pick it up you went at night time to collect, didn't bring a torch or think to inspect the bike in front of the car headlights. It wasn't even the next day in the daylight, it was after you took the bike to the shop they noticed that the cassette was a 105 not a DA and that the handlebars weren't carbon. Reasonably minor things (I'd be more concerned about the handlebars than the cassette myself). Then you confronted the seller about it and he offered to give your money back which you declined for some reason. Then you opened a dispute with Paypal and they sided with the seller and said no refund. You then come to this forum and expect sympathy. It's not like there was a catastrophic crack in the frame or the guy advertised as a Colanago and it turned out to be an Azzurri.

As I said, the issues were pretty minor, a DA cassette is not going to make you any faster on the bike, it is less durable than the 105 (which the seller told you). The ONLY advantage to a DA cassette is it weighs a few grams less than a 105. Big deal. The advertised carbon bars that turned out to be alloy is probably a bigger deal, but still not worth getting all in a lather about. Again, the difference between the alloy and carbon is a few grams, not going to make any difference to the performance of the bike.

To put it bluntly, you are very naive and gullible. You should of checked the bike out thoroughly before buying it or at the very least when you went to pick it up. If you don't have the expertise (not everyone does) get someone else to look at it for you. You need to help yourself. It's a bit like saying "Why haven't I won Lotto yet"' when you haven't actually bought a ticket. My other example I posted earlier to a similar situation would be to walk around Kings Cross at 4am in the morning with a bunch of $50 notes sticking out of your pocket. Chances are someone would either pickpocket them or bash you over the head (or worse) and steal them. If you have any sort of common sense you just don't go around doing that...or buying things without checking them out properly first.

[Fixie82]

Wow can you even go further than a 'beyond epic facepalm"?

Fxcat - after reading through all of this I'm not sure you really understand about purchasing second hand, yes even from Ebay. There is a responsibility from the seller to describe things as accurately as possible and there is also a responsibility for the buyer to be aware and knowledgeable about the item they are buying. I saw this ad myself and noticed from the provided pictures that the handlebar was not carbon, it also looked like a bit of a "bitsa" bike with a lot of parts on it that were not matching of the original build. It screamed a put together and sell for profit attempt to me, not saying it was at all but that was the impression I got anyway.

I really dig these old Kestrel frames and was interested in picking it up but it was this very, very obvious information (and yes I am talking about the handlebars here, seriously how did you not see from the pics they weren't carbon? picking it up in the dark has nothing to do with this) that turned me off it at this price. Even for relatively newcomers to the sport it is easy enough with google to do your research properly, don't say you didnt have time for it either as it seems you inspected the bike TWICE before paying.

You got a great resolution from Ebay and they sided with YOU, not the buyer. Its how Ebay works, you should read all the info in the resolution centre before commenting again. They are not there to hand out arbitrary of partial refunds or reimbursement for perceived losses, you bought something, it wasn't as described, you got a refund. What more is there to it? Yes its a good warning for people to be careful, but that should really be commonsense. Just like it should be commonsense that they will not refund you the amount for new products to replace the not as described items.

I would hardly call this a scam, you really need to stop overreacting.

[JustJames]

Based on the way this thread has run so far, I'm really looking forward to fxcat's other-worldly response pointing out that the entire world is wrong and that he is right.

With any luck, that will bring some cheer to my Monday.

[boss]

Can we all just leave this thread alone and stop giving fxcat oxygen? Nothing new is being said, we have all gone over the same points and it has not changed his opinion. He's not going to accept our discussion points.

"A wise man told me don't argue with fools, because people from a distance can't tell who is who."

[calvinlsyd]

this could be an non-honest sell from the very beginning, however you need to suck it up because there were ways to prevent this happened.

You always check the item you buy regardless a bike or anything else. See if it match what you was attempting to buy.
If its not what you want, you need to open a case on paypal and get your money back (well before you have accepted the item).

there was a few occasions happened to me but ebay/paypal dealt with it fairly and i get my money back every time.

if its a bike - try it, arrange a time to check the bike out before you place a bid or pay for the item.
if it was a car this wont happen because you would be more careful, but you should be careful regardless.

i hope youve learnt a lesson and i think there were ways to prevent this happened to you.


Cheers

a person who bought his bike on ebay second hand - full carbon merida 905 - it was a good deal

[zakka101]

insert that photo of michael jackson eating popcorn at the start of the thriller music video.

this is classic BNA!

[black4tress]

This thread is so comical....
OP needs to get his/her head out of the sand!!!

[ldrcycles]

This is the thread that doesn't ennnd, yes it goes on and on my friends....

[AUbicycles]

Chill!

We are all on the same side - lets not get too uptight about the meaning of words - and I cast my glare across the forum not at anyone inparticular.

What I would love to see come out of this is a series of tips for buying bikes or gear off ebay - I promise that I will put these into the FAQ section as a permanent thread because they do get read by a lot of visitors and the result is everyone has contributed. (Christopher... you're so upbeat!)

Cheers
Christopher