ebay shenannigans

[bikesandcars]

I'm having trouble being objective so I wanted to ask opinions here.

I sold a car on Ebay (Porsche 944). I took plenty of pictures of the car, and listed what I knew was wrong and what I had done to it. It was an 83 in rough shape cosmetically but appeared to be good mechanically. I had owned it for almost 3 years, but really hadn't done anything but timing belts and some odds and ends.

The buyer was reasonable when he picked it up, was a mechanic and seemed familiar with porsche's. I gave him a chance to inspect the car before he paid me and he took it. I left good feedback.

2 weeks later I got a rambling email about all the things that were wrong, wiring was messed up, water pump was broken, headlights didn't work....etc etc. The guy threatened to leave bad feedback and accused me of ripping him off.

The WP was fine when I sold it. The wiring was obviously a little strange by the pictures but most everything worked when sold (except rad fan which was noted in sale). Basically: Everything he complained about was addressed in the add, in person before the sale, or wasn't wrong when I sold him the car.

We had several email exchanges, which ended in him wanting me to buy him a water pump and me refusing based on his exaggerated cost claims (appeared to be trying to rip me off).

Fast forward: he left negative feedback. I tried to remove that negative feedback via Ebay's feedback extortion policy, they told me I should drop the issue. I'm continuing to fight but it looks like I'll have to deal with it.

Am I in the wrong for selling him a car that he had bad luck with? Or am I in the right for believing that a sale is as-is and that if the add is correct, once it leaves the driveway issues are no longer my fault.

 

[depletion]

There are pathological liars and narcissists out there. These are people that do not know the meaning of shame, so it is pointless to try to cajol them into better behavior. Negative feedback can work against buyers as well, can it not?

 

[Eastep]

everyone wants something for nothing, and alot of people expect far more for far less and will complain about being hung with a new rope. You described the car accurately, said it needs work,basically its a project car, the buyer knew this and is just pissed bec its more work then he imagined or is having buyers remorse. First off I would transfer the money from paypal to your bank (if you haven't), then contact ebay and see what they say. If you get the feeling Ebay/the buyer is about to screw you, close your account before they put it on hold and you have to buy back the car. I ran into a lady trying to screw me over on a high end Porsche/Bosch coffee maker deal that I had to ultimatly pay for a now broken item, until i could get he credit card company to do some research and re reimbursed me.

 

[bikesandcars]

Thanks for the replies, my bringing this up is part of the venting and recovery process. At this stage there isn't much left to do.

If I was a sheister I wouldn't feel bad and this wouldn't be necessary. What bothers me is I tried to have a good sale and still got crap.

The buyer waited 2 weeks to complain, at which point my feedback was already submitted positive. I appealed ebay and they said that...and i quote... " the buyer is unhappy with the deal.....your rating at 96% is still quite good, we suggest you leave a feedback reply to explain your side" [and we won't remove the buyer's negative feedback...go pound sand]

I left bad follow-up feedback on my previously good of him, and I violated the ebay policy (bad on top of good), received a nasty-gram from Ebay, and had my comments removed.

At this point my follow up comments on his negative are still holding.

Lessons learned: don't leave feedback until the other person does.

If ebay allows unhappy buyers to leave negative feedback just because they aren't happy (regardless of listing), how is that fair?

The guy signed a bill of sale "as-is" so he has no legal way to take me to small claims... he's just pissed he bought something that was over his head or not what he wanted and taking it out on me. I thought Ebay was supposed to protect from that crap.

 

[Eastep]

Ebay is a bunch of tards, they are the Wal-mart of the internet. The will Never protect the seller even though it clearly states in the seller contract they will. I sold a camcorder once that was in perfect shape (only sold bec I bought a new digital HD versus the mini DV I sold) The buyer received the camera, had it a week or more (in which time Alot can happen/be done to electronics) Told ebay it was received broken and eats tapes. I clearly stated in the auction SOLD AS IS , where you can choose to accept returns or not, I opted no returns, under the Item description category I listed it as USED. I had the item tracked and insured for $200 through USPS and packed by their standards for added insurance. Instead of going to the post office (which he could have) since it was insured he would have received a full refund no questions asked by USPS, but instead he wanted to screw me over. I sent him a very detailed and explicit email detailing the situation and that I know the scam he's running, and if he wished to follow through with it, I already had his info and depending on the mood I was in would either take him to court or just drop by. I never herd another word from him, the complaint was dropped via resolution center and I kept my money.

 

[fiatmonkey]

That's an interesting story. I have been bit more times than I wish to remember by eBay transactions however for me 5 times I was the buyer and only once the seller.

IMO - if you state what is wrong with the merchandise to the best of your knowledge then any of those things you state should/can not be argued by the buyer. It should be that simple.

I sold a Honda civic once and state EVERYTHING i knew wrong about the car. Buyer was ready to send me the the cash simply by my add (it was like a $600.00 "beater") but turned out he was only 25 miles away so I insisted he look at the car. He inspected it best to his abilities.

2 months later the alternator goes out. 2 months! and he wants some sort of recourse. This was a $600 car remember? I even offered to come and take a look and repair it or replace it with a used one I happened to have. He wanted no part of it and I told em to get a life and leave me alone. Never left me any feedback good or bad. So I guess I was lucky in that dept.

As for your experience (bikesandcars) I think you did all you could and this guy was a jerk off and one of many that shows the dark side of eBay and the flaws really.

-Tim