sooni

I purchased the Hylix Zero Carbon+Ti Seatpost-27.2. There was no way to tighten the clamp without slipping, even with carbon paste. I weigh 140 pounds.

Started a return with ebay seller "lan28033" or paypal alias "Liu Liqiang". He told me to ship the item back. When I gave him the quote for shipping with tracking he instructed me to send it back without tracking, which I did after he sent me the refund ( I know stupid).

Sent the item back because it was useless and was asked to close the ebay case. Stupid me didn't realize he sent me the money on paypal as a "buyer" instead of refunding my purchase.

6 months later this scammer started a dispute with paypal posing as the "buyer" and won the case because I did not provide tracking even though I was specifically instructed not to. To make matters worse, I paid for the return shipping out of pocket (I know stupid), and was charged a "dispute fee" by paypal because he told them I was the seller!

The tolerances are garbage and the seller even admitted that he needs to work on his clamp. So he sent me a product he knew was faulty.

Also, be careful with sellers who manipulate paypal.

shelbyfv

Chinese carbon seatpost at "bargain" price? Yep.

Koyote

It turned out about as expected.

leob1

Ebay is the land of the scam.

chaadster

Dang, that’s a scam alright. It’s kind of amazing that people have the time to dick around like that, for what I presume is basically chimp change, but then I guess if I could make $30 for every 30 minutes I spend dicking around on BikeForums...

sooni

I purchased the Hylix Zero Carbon+Ti Seatpost-27.2. There was no way to tighten the clamp without slipping, even with carbon paste. I weigh 140 pounds.

Started a return with ebay seller "lan28033" or paypal alias "Liu Liqiang". He admitted the item was faulty and told me to ship itback. When I gave him the quote for shipping with tracking he instructed me to send it back without tracking, which I did after he sent me the refund ( I know stupid).

Sent the item back because it was useless and was asked to close the ebay case. Stupid me didn't realize he sent me the money on paypal as a "buyer" instead of refunding my purchase.

6 months later this scammer started a dispute with paypal posing as the "buyer" and won the case because I did not provide tracking even though I was specifically instructed not to. To make matters worse, I paid for the return shipping out of pocket (I know stupid), and was charged a "dispute fee" by paypal because he told them I was the seller!

Just a heads up for anyone who thinks they can save a few bucks. The tolerances are garbage.

Also, be careful with sellers who manipulate paypal.

kylecycler

This guy - liukang1985 - do you think? Similar name, ebay uk, could be another alias, or not, in which case it wouldn't be fair to tar him with the same brush but I kinda doubt it. 99.3% Positive Feedback FWIW, which quite possibly doesn't count for much. Very similar stock, though not the same, but 4 pages' worth, same as your friend...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hylix-Car...-/301853613597

Just happened to see your post on Weightweenies - fair enough putting the word out. There's another post on there discussing the same seller(s):

https://weightweenies.starbike.com/f...p?f=3&t=141982

What happened to you, though, is different from faulty goods or poor packaging or whatever - a scam is a scam. Live and learn, huh? And don't blame yourself, you're not the scammer. Just might mean you never let yourself get scammed again.

I got conned out of all my savings at the time years ago when I was young and naive by someone I thought was a friend, also got my cheque book stolen and all the cheques cashed by someone else the same (choose your friends, don't just let them choose you - it's safer!).

Actually, though, from what I've ssen on other forums about Hylix products they're not necessarily bad - IIRC someone on the Singletrack Forum in the UK had bought a fork which was fine. You maybe even saw a good review yourself. Luck of the draw.

shelbyfv

Duplicate thread in General https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...ebay-scam.html

sooni

I wouldn't have made a peep had I been let down by the quality of a chinese ebay seatpost. That was a risk I was willing to take.

Having to pay for it + return shipping + dispute fee really bothers me.

"sorry for the late response...my daughter is in the hospital... I have sent the refund so please close the case.. Please use cheapest shipping to send back."

Total scumbag.

Had I known that this seller behaved like this I would have tried some other generic brand. I hope others take heed.

shelbyfv

But wasn't it a quality issue that prompted you to return it?

sooni

Yes I returned it due to the quality issue. I am not sure how that is not clear in the original post.

I meant to say that I would not have made posts on the internet about a poorly made sub $100 bike part.

It is the gross behaviour from the seller after the purchase that I am trying to broadcast.

sooni

Thank you. The post was originally meant for this forum. I thought it disappeared, hence the duplicate.

cb400bill

Threads don't disappear.

Merged duplicate threads.

Seattle Forrest

Can somebody help me understand the appeal of ebay? Buying things of unknown provence that may not have been properly cared for from strangers on a platform with a reputation for scammers?

I'm not trying to be a dick and I'm not implying anything. I just don't see why this seems like a good idea.

chaadster

Man, if after 25 years of eBay growing into one of the worlds’ most successful and largest online marketplaces you still don’t get it, no, I don’t think anyone can. I’m not trying to be a *total* dick, but I am trying to imply that your summation of eBay is rubbish.

The takeaway anyone should have from the OP is to follow eBay guidelines and process for conflict resolution. I don’t believe this kind of thing can happen if process is followed properly. Don’t follow sellers’s instructions, follow eBay protocol.

sooni

Yes follow protocol line by line as the resolution process is robotic. No matter how many agents I spoke to or proof I showed that I was the buyer, that the product was defective and that I was told to ship in such a manner it came down to the method the seller used to refund. Very sneaky.

This could have been something bigger like a bike frame and the outcome would have been the same.

MattTheHat 

Not sure why the hate for eBay. I’ve been buying and selling on eBay for 24 years. Thousands of transactions. Absolutely zero scams. You can get scammed anywhere. When the item is cheap, no matter the source, that’s your first clue to avoid. And imported adds another layer for things to go wrong and take longer. I personally avoid both.

The takeaway is always ship or return with a tracking number! This is life 101. Really, how is eBay going to make a determination of something being returned without a tracking number? Only ship without a tracking number if you’re willing to eat the loss. And then please don’t blame other people. Sleazy as they may be.

chaadster

The protocol breach happened before you had to prove you were the buyer; it should never have gotten to the role reversal scenario in the first place. The way the return was handled was the “gotcha.” I’m assuming here, as I don’t know anything beyond what you’ve said, but I’ve used eBay and PayPal plenty, including dispute resolution, and can only imagine you were tricked into going outside eBay protocol by following the seller’s return instructions instead of eBay’s, setting up the situation where it became a separate transaction instead of a return/refund.

indyfabz

I was wondering about that. I don’t use PayPal much, and I haven’t bought anything from eBay in probably a decade or more, but it seems hard to believe that the seller could pose as the buyer in a structured transaction/refund through eBay channels themselves.

chaadster

Yeah, no, it cannot happen. Accountability is the entire reason eBay works, otherwise it would totally be scam central, which it is not. The OP made a bad move and got burned, but eBay cannot protect people from themselves.

rosefarts

I've had two hylix forks. One great, one garbage.

FWIW, none of the weird low price point knockoff stuff is meant to be returned. Either keep it as a monument to poor quality or throw it away.

sooni

The refund was processed through paypal, as a purchase (which i did not notice until the dispute), but at the time the ebay case was still open.

I saw the money in my account and thought it was ok to close the ebay case at that point.

indyfabz

Out of curiosity, how much are you out, and how much were you expecting to save on the transaction, scan aside?

tyrion

Ian28033 has 98.1% approval rating.

https://www.ebay.com/str/lan28033

I don't buy stuff from sellers with that low of a rating, only from sellers with 99.5% or better. The high approval rating tells me they're working hard to be a good seller and an indication of a good business person.

I have yet to feel ripped off by an ebay seller.

sooni

Seatpost shipped was 61 USD

+ return shipping $20
+ paypal dispute fee $16

Total = $97 USD

The plan was to put a cheap carbon post on my commuter to soften the ride, and switch to zero setback. I was not expecting a lifetime of use, maybe a year or two at best.

I did not get a single ride out of it before it started to fail. No amount of torque or carbon paste could stop the clamp from slipping.

In the ebay dispute the seller said he was still working on the design, whatever that means.

I had seen some recommendations on various forums so I gave it a shot.