Large Scale Central

EBay strikes again

General Discussion
#1

I have dealt with a Kentucky eBay seller for years and have purchased dozens of LGB items (locomotives and numerous pieces of rolling stock)from him. Most items matched the seller’s item listing description within reason, but more than a few were certainly silk purses made from a pig’s ear.

Well, today received my final item from him ($350.00 USD ‘Buy it Now’). I purchased a LGB #2119S Pennsy Mogul in (quote:) “looks new” (end quote) condition. Upon arrival the defects were readily evident. The supposedly ‘looks new’ loco had tread plating loss on all wheelsets, including tender wheels, indicative of a lot of use. The rear axle had stripped gear teeth, the analogue sound was disgusting and the ‘piece de resistance’, the tender had been butchered by a hamfisted individual who used a handsaw and a knife to remove parts of the tender body moulding. The deep score/cut marks were still evident on the body.

Sending the item back would have cost me $120 USD shipping. I was not prepared to spend money to return the item. Having a spare Mogul wheelset, I was able to correct the stripped gear issue and cosmetically improve the looks with a new set of wheels. Knowing nothing of Massoth sound boards, I proceeded to carefully adjust the numerous onboard trimpots and achieved an acceptable quality sound.

The tender is not repairable and I will have to live with the damage. I reported the damage to the seller and his reply was if I was to post negative feedback then I would be barred from his site. He receives at least 60 - 70 negatives a month and is well known for his eBay ‘attitude’ to members not happy with the items and service received from him. He said that because I ‘messed’ with the item, then he would not accept it as a return.

I trust many LGB purchasers know of the seller to whom I am referring and tread carefully if deciding to venture in that direction. I am to be barred from the site for having the audacity to express my dissatisfaction for wasting $470 USD of my money. I would never have purchased the item if the true condition was described, as I only purchase mint condition items for my collection. True to the legendary LGB quality, I now have the loco running as smoothly as the proverbial Swiss watch, albeit a little sorry for wear (and abuse).

Footnote: In the seller’s defence the last locomotive purchased, a few months ago, was a LGB #2056 mint condition Rio Grande Alco diesel. Item as described, however, one light bulb missing. This cost me $30 USD to repair as I had to purchase a pack of ten bulbs plus shipping. Eighteen months ago I purchased a supposedly ‘mint’ LGB #2085 Mallett for $405.00 USD plus $120.00 USD shipping. The item, when received, was worn out with all plating missing on the drive wheels and plating missing on the valve gear as well. The item never ran properly and would always short out my electronic controller. It only took two very expensive new Buhler motors to correct the fault and the loco now runs well. One wonders how the loco could have been listed untested. I should have learned my lesson last year with the Mallett purchase!

#2
Tim Brien said:
[i][/i] ... He receives at least 60 - 70 negatives a month and is well known for his eBay 'attitude' to members not happy with the items and service received from him. He said that because I 'messed' with the item, then he would not accept it as a return.... I should have learned my lesson last year with the Mallett purchase!
Sorry for your troubles but I think you knew what type of person you were dealing with and decided to gamble. Why not post the seller's eBay name here? He's already banning you. What else is there for you to loose?

Unfortunately eBay has really become biased toward sellers, so your recourse is rather limited. They even get around credit card purchase protections by insulating the seller from the credit card companies via PayPal.

#3

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice… So he won’t let you bid on his junk anymore? Since it seems you might be a somewhat slow learner, I’d thank him for that. Harsh? Life is a harsh teacher, maybe time to get used to that.

You can try reporting it to the “Safe Harbor” thing, and/or you can try filing a dispute through paypal, but feebay is slanted towards feebay, period. If you’re a buyer with a problem, tough sh#t. If your a seller with a toxic buyer, tough sh#t… as long as they got THEIR money. The guy who started it might have been a good guy, the conglomerate who bought it from him should wear masks.

#4

Sorry to hear your troubles Tim.
Personally I doubt I would have bought anything from anyone with that many negative feedbacks, if I see one I’ll research what caused it and if it looks like a consistant problem, forget it, too risky. I have found in my selling that being as honest as possible about the true condition is the ONLY way to be sure your selling to an informed audience, and if they claim they “didnt know” you were selling something as “parts only” you can point to the text in the listing.

Sounds like this buyer is intentionally decieving buyers and as such would be on my No Buy list, I’m surprised you’ve continued to buy from him even though it sounds like you’ve been screwed in the past and kinda knew he was not so trustworthy in his item descriptions so as much as it pains me to say it, you should have been warned before hand that this was a real risk.

Yes I know, Hope springs eternal …but Caviet Emptor. :wink:

BTW email me with the guys name, like to see if its anyone on my sh*tlist. :open_mouth:

#5

You’ve dealt with him for years?

Have you contacted him about this?

#6

Tim,
Since you opened the door…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350286393950

#7

And NEVER buy anything listed “As Pictured” if they don’t post high resolution pictures that are properly lit so you can actually see what you are buying.

#8

Tim,

You did the right thing bringing this eBay seller to our attention. One of the benefits of a forum like this one is to be able to warn other members about the many “bear traps” out there. I had a similar experience with another seller and after many, many emails to him and to eBay still got no satisfaction. So, it seems we are on our own to police our little marketplace. Thank you for bringing this seller to my attention, I will certainly be very careful before even thinking of doing business with him.

walt

#9

I scanned about 6 pages of his feedback.

Seems that everything he sells is “like new” or excellent condition, no matter what the actual condition.

Also seems to have a problem with shipping costs and communication.

I don’t like buying any loco when I don’t see the wheels and the seller says how it runs. In my opinion, there’s no reason (other than deception) not to apply power to a loco to see if it runs.

Regards, Greg

#10
Jon Radder said:
And NEVER buy anything listed "As Pictured" if they don't post high resolution pictures that are properly lit so you can actually see what you are buying.
As a seller, its best to show whats damaged/scratched/etc in one of the pictures, better to get a satisified customer and a lower selling price instead of a high ending bid and weeks wrangling an angry buyer.
#11
Quote:
... the analogue sound was disgusting
You mean it sounds [i]worse[/i] than the factory-installed screaming cats and trash cans? I wasn't sure that was possible. ;) And I'll take your word for it if it is. I needn't hear proof.

Later,

K

#12

Wow!

I’ve never seen that many negatives before in a sellers feedback.

Yikes I was even looking at a customized LGB D&RGW gondola he had ending today. Glad I decided against it.

#13

I know this guy he doesn’t communicate at all, as I have tried to wrench information on a couple of things from them and he doesn’t reply, or if he does he’s snide and not very customer friendly we’ll say!! Some of the items I’ve inquired about with him were put back on 2-3times after my inquiry so they didn’t sell, and I surely won’t buy from him now, even before this post! So again “buyer beware” I put him on my LONG list of never do business with this guy along with the first time sellers I have used that have been less than up front with me and the item arrives not as described. There is another Big seller that a couple of years ago that out of 3 purchases 2 were not near as described, the 3rd one I bought was one of the two, and I decided not to let that one go so I filed a dispute against this guy, and I won. Ended up getting more money back than I would have originally accepted from the seller himself, but he had his feet planted and was determined not to budge, so I budged him legally and through the proper channels. Couple years later I saw an item i though I had to have, without paying much attention to who the seller was, and I slapped in a bid, and it said the bid was retracted and that the seller had locked me out of his system. This after 2 years+ so I just don’t ever look at anything he sells anymore. You all know him or would know him he’s big on the evil bay syndicate with 155791 sales under his belt. Along another note just today after thinking I had this straightened out months ago, everytime I order something EAST of my pecos the UPPity co. always says my address is non-existant, and now today again paypal say’s I’m not a confirmed address. I called the uppity co. and they said they can’t help me, and found out through paypal that the item I ordered is on a list of top priority for them of suspicious items, that are often bogus or of a highly suspicious nature. Who’d a thunk it?? Been here since 1981??? and they say uppity say its not a valid address??? This after 225 + buys on the evil bay and god knows how many deliveries uppity has made here. Even know the driver personally he just laughs, and says it doesn’t surprise him at all!! Regal

#14

The seller, in question has a very high turnover per month, predominantly Lionel, American Flyer, ‘standard’ gauge 0-27 items. I have purchased at least one hundred LGB items from him in the past and as stated, the listing description is generally close to actual condition, although the truth is stretched a little to get a sale.

Due past service with the seller, I was reasonably comfortable dealing with him, irrespective of his feedback record. A friend in Florida received negative feedback because he used USPS and the item took two weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Britain.

I sell LGB items under another eBay member name and am fully aware, both as a buyer and a seller, the implications of potentially deceiving a customer in a listing description. I could have handled the wear and tear and kept my mouth shut, but when it came to the butchery applied to the tender body and the seller made no reference to it, then that is tantamount to deceit. I have established a reputation for only selling high quality LGB items and bidders know that if a photograph is not clear, then my reputation is not going to be tarnished by deceiving a bidder and so they bid with confidence. If anything, I downplay the quality of the item, so that the bidder is actually suprised by the quality of the item received.

#15

I have bought both LGB and Tinplate O from this seller in the past. Most have been OK, but caveat emptor for the reasons above of un-tested or un-tried.

The only problem I had was a mint early 1970s LGB loco that was missing the contact brushes behind the wheels? Probably why it was mint and never run before I got it… so I assume a factory defect!

It is a shame that Tim was approached the way that he was with a legit complaint about the product.

Now, while on the subject of eBay, what do you do if you paid for your item, never got it, and it appears by other feedback posted that the seller has died?

#16
Quote:
... what do you do if you paid for your item, never got it, and it appears by other feedback posted that the seller has died?
You sure he didn't take it with him? ;)

Short of sending a note to the seller’s e-mail in hopes that his family reads it to follow up loose ends, good question…

Later,

K

#17

Well, if you paid with pay pal let them handle it for you! If not you will have to try to reach the spouse if there is one or a relative of the deceased and see if they will help you. Depending on the item, and the price of it you might be better off to just write it off your wall of “bad things that have happened to me in my life” so to speak!! Regal

#18

The person has (had?) a large eBay shop and has (had?) a brick and mortar store and has a lot of large scale still listed and renewed (assumed automated) listings.

I found a phone #, I will try it later today. And as Jerry/Regal points out, if I value my time, I would be at a loss if I spent more than 15min on the issue!

#19

Garrett try letting pay pal handle it for you, at the very least they will probably refund your money to you!! Regal

#20
Garrett said:
I have bought both LGB and Tinplate O from this seller in the past. Most have been OK, but caveat emptor for the reasons above of un-tested or un-tried.

The only problem I had was a mint early 1970s LGB loco that was missing the contact brushes behind the wheels? Probably why it was mint and never run before I got it… so I assume a factory defect!

It is a shame that Tim was approached the way that he was with a legit complaint about the product.

Now, while on the subject of eBay, what do you do if you paid for your item, never got it, and it appears by other feedback posted that the seller has died?


My first wife used to sell painted canes on ebay. When she died suddenly I did not know anything about whose canes were done or still being worked on. I contacted everyone I had an email address for and explained the situation. Those that had sent checks I returned, those that paid with paypal I sent money orders. Generally everyone was understanding. There was one lady who wanted her cane. It waasn’t finished but she was addament that I ship it even though I returned her check. It took about 2 months to clear everything up.
My suggestion is to contact the spouse. Be understanding as their ebay business is not probablly on the top of their mind. If it’s been a while, press on to get a satisfactory resolution.