so, it affects all of us. I recently got a good deal on a Virus TI. The guy I bought it from seemed legit, he had 100% positive feedback from selling many high-end electronics and music gear, and communicated well during the transaction. In his numerous photos and description the synth was in perfect working order with only one or two noticeable, negligible, cosmetic flaws. However, when I received the package from UPS in a very disheveled box, the board had significantly more dings and dents, plus, some small piece rattling around when the board was tilted.
When I plugged it in, it seemed to work fine for awhile, but then I got my first stuck note. Then another. I thought maybe it was user error, related to midi perhaps. So, I unplugged all midi cables, rebooted and eventually ran into the same problems. Then came the clincher, I opened a simple patch I’d made earlier and when I turned the filter cutoff knob, nothing happened. I scrolled through numerous sounds and menu options, no explanation for why the filter just stopped working. After another reboot, it worked for awhile, but eventually the same problems surfaced.
I contacted the seller, who was very polite and concerned and promised that we’d “get to the bottom of it.” However, his profile specifically states that he doesn’t take returns. I’m also not sure if he purchased the insurance from UPS. Luckily, I do have the buyer protection on ebay, but is that enough?
Has anyone else ever had a similar problem with any major gear? Any advice or consolation to offer? (I really don’t need to just lose this money, yikes)
I’m really sorry to hear about that. I’ve never had a similar experience, and hearing about it makes me want to steer clear of ebay in the future. I don’t have any words of wisdom, but I do hope this gets sorted out for the better, on your behalf. Good luck to you, and if nothing else, thanks for sharing the experience.
Just a couple of days ago, I received a keyboard with a stucky note. I’m confident the seller was honest when saying it has happened a couple of times since he bought it -five years ago- and when he says he has not used the keyboard for three years. He states that did not bothered him since he was MIDI-sequencing it.
Sad to hear about your misfortune. I would claim a refund from Paypal for “item not as described” or “defective item”.
I usually steer clear of sellers that don’t accept returns, despite their 100% feedback ratings. Ratings can be faked or falsified easily.
Even whole accounts can be faked. Just recently, there was a seller from UK with a shining reputation of thousands of sales (he was qualified as a Super Seller), and 100% rating. It turned out to be a fraudulent account that was removed only a day after many complaints. He was selling all sorts of classic vintage synths at ridiculously low starting bids, and was using photos from previous listings from other legit sellers that had ended. The clues were that he had the same text with all his ads (where he only changed the name of the synths), and he was asking to contact him personally via gmail for payments, not Paypal.
Yes, there are occasionally good deals on eBay, but when it’s seems too good to be true, it usually isn’t.
I have a bunch of gear webpages with pics. To stop unscrupulous sellers from using my contents, I overlaid my URL onto the pic where it isn’t easily PS’d out, and I “seeded” the text so it can’t be used to promote the item IE “the memorymoog is a great synth but it has awful tuning problems”. Some idiots lifted the text without removing the “seed” and the item did not sell. Small wonder.
Problem is Ebay will say; Make a claim to Paypal and they will reimburse you - problem is they generally dont pay out the full amount (from a fraudulent deal I lost 530.00 GBP and Paypal "awarded me just 150 GBP?!
dont know who the real crooks are anymore? to date I’ve lost probably 1700.00 on Ebay scams,legally they’re untouchable as far as claiming money back! Shambles!
The only time I had to ask Paypal for a full refund, I got it within 48 hours.
I guess it depends on a lot of factors… I must admit to being a bit “chilly” when it comes to buying expensive things off eBay though… That’s why I never did, really. The maximum price I paid so far for something was about $100 (not including shipping).
Thing is …If you read the small print, minimum reimbursement is 150GBP up to 500GBP completely at Paypals discretion, so suppose you’ve bought a Memorymoog at say 3000 GBP, Paypal award you 500 compensation?! completely Sucks! I’ve written to Ebay, slamming their policies - no reply: Big rubber ears!
It’s after all a glorified market place full of pitfalls! (as I found out to my detriment!)
Well, good news. I talked to the seller today and he’s agreed to a full refund and return. He swore the synth was in good shape when it left, and I emailed him the photos of the board and the shoddy box, and he was horrified. He called me within the hour to apologize and offer me a refund.
What measures should I take to insure he sends my money when he receives the synth?
I’ve never had a problem with getting refunds from sellers who trust their goods to UPS, but then I feel I’ve always been lucky in that regard. I’d say, the only thing the seller failed to do was properly pack the synth the first time. Packing something to survive UPS’ abuse almost requires an engineering degree, anyway. You should see what they did to my Taurus 3 road case!
looks like that rode in the boxcar with the elephants! que terrible! thank goodness you’re getting a refund, but that still leaves you Moogless, and for that I’m sorry! There’re plenty more out there of course- buena suerte!
