mac4mtbike

I bid on a front disc brake kit sold by Adventure Sports Unlimited on EBay. In the description picture there is a left brake lever, standard. When I received the item it came with a right brake lever. I did contact the seller, but I got not results. All I got was “you were sent exactly what was in the picture.”

So I’m asking for all bikers options on this subject. Am I correct in thinking I got cheated or is the seller correct? And if you agree with me do not buy any equipment from this EBay seller.

I'm made a web page to express my anger and to show examples.
Check it all out here.
https://home.comcast.net/~ihate_es11001/WHY_I_HATE.htm
The second page has all the e-mails back and forth.

Nachoman

Very creative website. I'm not into all the hate. But very creative.

Siu Blue Wind

That's messed up. That's why I don't buy over the internet ever. I like to be able to see and touch what I'm buying. Sure, it's probably more expensive. But it's the peace of mind that matters to me. And the waiting, and trying to deal with what you are trying to fix now. I'm sorry for what you are going through. People are mean.

Dr.Deltron

I'm with Nachoman as far as hate goes, so I didn't bother with your link. What I can tell you, as an experienced eBayer, is that sometimes you get the s**tty end of the stick. That's life! I've gotten the same treatment from some bike shops. Overall, if I weigh the "deals" vs. the "burns" on eBay, I've still come away with a stinkin' good deal. And the time & effort to try to right the bad situation just isn't worth it in the end. Let it go! Move forward without all that baggage, you'll ultimately be much better off.
AND..., of course, you can always put the bogus item back on eBay & get rid of it, if it causes that much strife.
STRESS RELEIF for buyers remorse? Try climbing your favorite hill 2 gears higher than you've ever used. (don't forget to gripe loud & long at that evil eBayer while you pedal!)

Been there, NOT doin' that again! Dr.D

Cadd

Nachoman, did you not read the e-mails? They advertized a front (left) brake for sale and sends mac4mtbike a RIGHT brake lever!

Maybe you'll start hating if it happened to you.

Dr.Deltron

Cadd! Read post #4. Stop the hate, it aint worth it!

EricDJ

Looking at that photo, it is a left handle in the picture, the shimano logo goes on top according to the directions and the fluid goes under that. The kits are identical in looks, just a handle difference and probably cable length. Maybe he got mixed up if he sold multiple sets. I don't know what the sku on the box says for front and rear kits in the SKU.

How did you pay. If by Paypal, fill out the dispute form on PayPal for a refund. The detailed process with links is here.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-b...ion-steps.html

Also do not leave the seller a feedback until this is resolved. Makes the process a lot better to deal with. Leaving a nasty remark will make him drag his feet. After the deal is worked out, do as you wish. For now, go into your my ebay page, click feedback on the left side of the page, then click "Go to Feedback Forum" and on that page choose "Reply to Feedback Received" and type in something like "I purchased a bike LEFT brake kit and seller sent RIGHT lever", this will make your feedback reflect your reply.

Now onto the feedback removal. Do not fill out the form for mutual feedback removal. Ebay changed their rules and it really doesn't remove it, it just ammends the remark to say mutually removed. First try the link at the bottom of this page before the other.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...ithdrawal.html

In truth, ebay will offer a single one time act of kindness and remove a negative. Tell them the situation, show them the site I didn't bother to read, and they might remove it completely.

Why I typed all this I don't know. Good luck.

EricDJ

By the way, tell the seller he used the same photo for the front and rear units. So It does look like he slipped and sent the wrong stuff.

https://search-completed.ebay.com/sea...&so=Show+Items

huhenio

I used to agree with you, but there is a number of reputable sellers out there that stand for their products and service.

Bike specific stuff ... it gets tricky but also bear in mind that there are people in this forum that will point your nose in the right direction.

Anyhow ... I keep my wife AWAY from unsupervised ebay shopping till she learns the ropes. I successfully bought a number of items - non bike related - with 90 percent of success. It is worthy of note that the said items are impossible to find locally and they are rather small. In case of need of returning the shipping charges are not really high.

operator

It happened, get over it. Just be glad it's something you can resell on ebay.

Ebay is always caveat emptor. Yes the seller is a POS, leave him negative feedback. If he has a lot of feedback and you none or little, leaving negative feedback and the ensuing retaliation might not be worth it to you.

I'd do it anyway.

Alternatively you could also force him to give you a refund for misrepresenting the auction. File a complaint with ebay, especially if you paid with paypal. They will probably force a settlement and you'll get your $ back.

jbonus

A little tact works wonders.

folder fanatic

I agree with you, Siu Blue Wind up to a point. While I do not actually buy the items off the 'net, I do most of my shopping in cyberspace. The actual purchase is either done through the old fashioned means of ordering from a catalog and shipping through the mail (not very glamerous, but still far more legally protected than the wild, wild west of cyberspace) or going to a real building and doing business. I still only purchase major items (like a complete bike) at an actual shop or if used, a residence, thrift store etc. like I always have. Scams may be older than the hills, but when money is involved even in our post modern era they get a new face lift.

FastFreddy

Mac—

I salute your effort in creating the webpage calling attention to this seller. They clearly were careless in either shipping the wrong item or posting the wrong description on eBay. But they really crossed the line when they refused to resolve this after being presented with clear evidence of the screw-up.

I hope you paid via paypal or visa – if you did you have a very good shot at getting this thing resolved in your favor.

If you have a physical address for the company you could also call the local police in their area and/or the local Better Business Bureau.

Good luck.

mac4mtbike

Thanks to all
I knew I was right but it is great to hear all the feed back. I will try to answer some questions. Yes the web sight is full of HATE for the seller but I still feel it is well justified. Besides it was good for me to express my feelings as I can not ride my bike right now. I did leave negative feed back for the guy but, I left my web page address in the feedback. That is a against eBay policy, which resulted in my feedback being removed and not allowing me to leave any at all.
I did not want a refund as I paid $52.00 for the brake kit and I would have lost $28 in shipping combined. So a PayPals refund is not helpful.

Here is an update; I will have sound on the web page this weekend. I was contacted by Comcast, they host the web page. I was told a third party was threatening legal action unless the web page is taken down. The third party found the web page offensive. Comcast checked out the web page and found nothing offensive and will not at this time remove the web sight. Thank you Comcast!!
I hope the guys at Adventure Sports Unlimited are pissed.
Remember do not buy from them

operator

Kind of beyond that aren't we.

Brian

Hee hee. When I was in Australia, all the levers were reversed. Can't tell you how many times I grabbed the wrong lever when I worked in a shop there. I did check your link though, and it's pretty obvious that the seller was not going to give you any satisfaction. Let it go, and chalk it up to experience. You either got a decent deal, or you learned a valuable lesson.

stargazer48

I rarely buy from eBay as I find I get much better sale prices from online stores than from eBay sellers who take advantage of naive shoppers. I also can bundle additional purchases to save on shipping. Plus stores like Nashbar and Performance, have "unlimited" money back with no questions asked.
I recently bought from Performance, their QR seatpost rack, a cateye enduro8 cyclocomputer and a topeak mountain morph pump with gauge for $68 (includes shipping) with the help of price matching and 10% discount.
Can't beat that.

Dave_m

I sympathise. Buying off eBay is wading through a minefield of cr*p shop soiled rubbish. Sometimes you're lucky enough to come across bargains from competent dealers selling good products. Sometimes even private sellers offer good deals. Personally, wouldn’t have gone to your extent to expel any anger but
I understand the disappointment & hassle all too well.

Brian

I hate it when you guys lump all ebay sellers into the same group. In Australia, I made my living buying and selling on ebay. Out of over 1,000 transactions, I had maybe 3 problems with sellers. Never had a problem with buyers. But you need to do a lot of homework before you buy, and you need to adjust your expectations. Some people sell anything on there, without knowing their product. But the reason people buy on ebay is that they're willing to take a little risk for a good buy.

Peek the Geek

While I haven't done nearly as many transactions, I agree with Expatriate. I've had great luck with eBay (both buying and selling). But I am careful.

-I ask questions before I buy. Usually to get all the information I need. Sometimes just to test the seller and make sure he's in possession of the item and knows what he's talking about. Either way, if the seller is non-responsive, I don't bid/buy. (I can't help but laugh at the people who, for some reason, e-mail a seller with questions AFTER having already put in a bid.)
-I only shop eBay if I'm getting a significant discount or I can't find the item anywhere else. If I have to spend only a few dollars more to get it locally or from a reputable online retailer, I will. Nothing baffles me more than these guys who bid up an item to within a few bucks of retail, especially if the item is not brand-spanking new.

catatonic

What bugs me is the people who use ebay as a store...I do think "buy it now" only auctions have no place in ebay, and should be at least sent to another site made just for that.

..I have had some misrepresentation of items, but I have sorted all of those out fiarly quickly...one was for some "record" cables, that turned out to be an older campy set, and not record at all...well, he was cool about it once he realized his mistake and offered to give me back the difference between my winning bid, and a winning bid he had on another pair of the cables I recieved....of course i accepted. I ended up getting some nice NOS late-90s campy deraileur cables and housing for $7 shipped. Not bad at all.

operator

That only works if you're in the states.
If I try (in Canada) to get those deals you get from performance/nashbar (would I love to) i'd get slapped by customs/duties/brokerage fees. To the tune of about 50% of the cost.

In that case, the only place to get any sort of sensible deals is ebay.

stargazer48

Good point. I take living and ordering online within the USA for granted.

DieselDan

Especailly the sales tax break when ordering from someone out of state. Kind of blows holes in the ingnorant theory that North Carolina and South Carolina are the same thing.

fmw

that's curious. I hate the auctions and I virtually refuse to buy something except from an established seller - someone who does it as a business - because that avoids exactly the issue being discussed here. I use buy it now almost all the time. Of course, I could care less what site they have it on.