Let the buyer beware.

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m3a1
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Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by m3a1 » August 11th, 2018, 8:11 pm

So, I recently bought a distributor on eBay. Seller claimed it had been tested in his MUTT and that it worked perfectly and the seller had a good feedback rating. The price was what I considered to be a reasonable Buy-It-Now price, so I jumped on it.

What I got was something that had been dropped, thus the capacitor fitting on the lower housing and the spark plug wire fittings on the upper housing were dented and misshapen. The spring clip and the clamp were also bent and misshapen from mishandling. The top of the distributor shaft was so loose it had come up off the counterweight studs and the only good things I have to say are that the Prestolite and the USGI coil were working and that the wire lead for the capacitor was in fairly good shape, as was the USGI cap and rotor. Quality of the capacitor is unknown at this time.

I will say that I have the parts necessary to get every last bit of this into serviceable condition but this seller was.....umm.....rather a disappointment. No, I'm not going to name eBay seller names and happily, I have absolutely no reason to believe it was anyone on this site.

Just thought I'd share with y'all because it's something to think about. What am I doing about it? Well, I contacted the seller, laid it all out for him and I'm waiting to see what his explanation is. Withholding feedback until then.

Cheers,
TJ

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rickf
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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by rickf » August 12th, 2018, 9:22 am

If he is willing to make it right then I would say do nothing on here but if he is not willing to help then by all means mention the seller so others can be aware of who to watch out for. I am guessing this was not just shipping damage? Sounds more like a drop on concrete.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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m3a1
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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by m3a1 » August 12th, 2018, 10:49 am

I told the seller what was wrong with the item. Seller responded immediately and recommended that I send the whole thing back for a full refund. I asked for a refund of the stated shipping expense of only $25. As I have the salvage parts to make the item serviceable, I was far more interested in doing that. (Remember, I was in this for a complete distributor, rather than the expense of one so having the money back really only put me back to square one.)

Seller refunded twice that amount which I feel was very generous of him and I provided a positive feedback as I would any other seller who successfully completes a transaction with me. I don't know exactly what happened on his end but I do realize there are many things that can go wrong for a seller. Could be something as simple as having someone else packing things for him and they dropped it.

The moral of the story is, You catch more flies with honey.

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rickf
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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by rickf » August 12th, 2018, 3:35 pm

A lot of Ebay sellers do not do there own selling. They just send a pile of items to a broker and he does all the work and packaging and shipping. I know of two sellers that do that and yes, they have had issues like yours. that and things sent that should not have been sent. My buddy told me it is amazing hoe nobody complains when they get a 500.00 item by mistake instead of the 50.00 item they ordered. :roll: :roll:
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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m3a1
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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by m3a1 » August 12th, 2018, 11:27 pm

As we old timers used to say to the new police officers...."Be nice to the lady behind the counter and sometimes you'll get more meat in your taco." More wise words to live by!

Speaking of being nice, our very own 12Bravo offered to sell me yet another distributor with full internals and some other goodies (he made me quite a deal, I reckon) and I took him up on it.

Thank You 12Bravo!

Cheers,
TJ

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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by Surveyor » August 13th, 2018, 4:11 pm

Proud to know him. Despite the fact that he's from yankee country and went army back in the day I think he's good people. :wink:
1960 M151 Run #1
"There is one nut on a M151 that is very difficult to remove....." - K8icu
"She ain't a Cadillac and she ain't a Rolls, But there ain't nothin' wrong with the radio" - Aaron Tippin
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halftracknut
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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by halftracknut » August 13th, 2018, 10:00 pm

E- bay is a dice roll. ... I have had 2 really bad experiences ...went thru the refund deal....but also have got some good deals...
slowest mutt east of the missippi..

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rickf
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Re: Let the buyer beware.

Unread post by rickf » August 14th, 2018, 8:55 am

I have had bad experiences with E bay, Amazon and with an ammo dealer in Texas all within the last 6 months. It is getting bad buying online anymore. Too easy to get taken. I have gotten my money back each time but only because I am not working and I can spend hours on the phone.
1964 M151A1
1984 M1008
1967 M416
04/1952 M100
12/1952 M100- Departed
AN/TSQ-114A Trailblazer- Gone

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