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Thread: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    12

    Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    Well,

    I guess my luck finally ran out with fleebay. I recently picked up a used Epson 3800 and Nikon 9000 from two separate sellers. The Epson 3800 came with the door busted off. Incredibly, the guy used only one layer of bubble wrap with some foam peanuts surrounding that one layer (and not nearly enough) in the original box. I wanted this printer for a dedicated BW printer while using my other 3800 (purchased new) for continuing to print color. I noticed that when I try to put the door back in its place I have to slightly warp it to fit in the door well. Which, is totally not the case with my original 3800. So, I'm wondering is the chassis bent? I haven't powered it up because I'm disgusted with the crappy job with the packing and not sure if I'm going to pursue damage reimbursement with Fedex or ask the seller to refund my money.

    On to the 9000: This seller packed this thing like it was going to be shot to Mars and then bounced around on the surface a few times till things settled down. Unfortunately, it still got damaged! The front face was busted off of the scanner liked it was dropped on that end or the seller misrepresented the item. My question is has anybody gotten repairs done on their 9000 (assuming Nikon will repair it)? I figure if it can be looked at and repaired for a reasonable rate I may as well get Nikon to clean the CCD and optics as well. On a side note I have owned both the Coolscan V and a 9000ED in the past. This damaged unit seems to power up normally and I stuck a film tray in the mouth and it does the initial grab OK (I took the cover off and put the face back on as best I could before testing that aspect). Any hints as to what to do or past repair expenses shared concerning this scanner will be appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Greg

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Payson, AZ
    Posts
    163

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    FEDEX will decline to pay any claim if it wasn't well packed. I know from experience.

    If you paid with Paypal you can file a dispute. Paypal usually sides with buyers in cases like this.

    IOW kick some ass !

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    1,545

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    Beyond what Doug mentioned, if you paid by credit card of any sort...even through Paypal report this to your card company...communicate to the seller in regard to the poor packing and inform them of the damage sustained...and what you plan to do about it.

    Donald Miller

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Sonora, California
    Posts
    1,475

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    the first step of course, is to simply contact the seller and ask for a full return of your payment. Yes, you eat shipping...bummer. Chalk it up as a cheap education. Lesson: buy big bulky, fragile stuff locally.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    154

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    My friend just had his 9000 scanner fixed by Nikon. Cost $450.00. Had a fried board do to lightning.
    John V.
    ScanHi-End Moderator

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Chicago, IL
    Posts
    1,424

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    I bought a Nikon 8000 on eBay once. It was also packed incredibly well in a gigantic box. I turned it on, and it made sounds, but clearly it was not able to scan anything. I reported the problem to the seller, and she filed a claim with UPS (it was insured). UPS came to pick up the item, and she refunded me in full, the same day.

    I think these 8000 and 9000 scanners are relatively delicate. It doesn't matter how well you pack them -- if they take a few big jolts during the trip, it's enough to throw something internal out of whack.

    My advice would be to contact the seller immediately and see if you can work something out...

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    12

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    Thanks all for your suggestions.

    The guy who sold the printer followed through with his end of the bargain and refunded my money and original shipping costs.

    The Nikon seller well, do the sounds of crickets mean anything?

    Guess I'll be contacting Nikon soon for repairs.

    Thanks Again,

    G

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    52

    Thumbs up Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    The Nikon scanners in the original packaging ship well. They actually hang the scanner between 2 sheets of plastic to absorb shock. My 9000 has been no problem... learning to use it to its limits.... Well that's another story. I do love what it can do though.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Santa Cruz Mountains
    Posts
    116

    Re: Crappy Ebay Purchases: Need Advice.

    I have bought and sold on Ebay for years.
    Sold a lot of surplus lab supplies and microscopy related items.

    My 2 cents of both sides:

    As a Seller:
    On the selling end I've had some customers that were dissatisfied or tried to take advantage of a situation where they questioned the physical condition of an item.
    In all of those cases, my policy was usually "satisfaction guaranteed".
    I.E. If you don't like it, send it back and I'll refund less the shipping.
    If the item is misrepresented, I offer negotiation, or complete refund + some extra $$ for the time spent.
    My bad seller memory:
    I remember selling a large 18" tall 10" OD Pyrex vacuum bell jar that cost $675 new.
    Buyer won the auction for $50 +shipping. I spent $40 to ship the item.
    And these items used are the same as used generally because there is no wear unless you scratch or crack the thing.
    Anyway, he emailed me to tell me he wanted to get a refund.
    I called him, and he said the bell Jar was listed as 12" tall not 18".
    He was quite rude, raised his voice concerning how I cheated him and took up at least 15 to 30 minutes of his time (which equates to money)
    So I refunded him for everything, told him to keep the item, and also provided $25 additionally to pay him for his time spent

    If it's my fault, well, I gotta take the hit and pay more attention.
    In any event, to avoid the bogus shipping damage claims from anyone I ship to I absolutely use new boxes and padding. Often the items are double boxed.
    If the item was in it's original box, I often placed the original into another box with peanut foam.

    As a Buyer:
    My wife and I have been stiffed at least a dozen times over the years.
    Biggest items were:
    Tabloid printer $1500
    LF Camera $865
    Magneplanar 2.7QR speakers $900
    Zeiss Light section microscope $1200
    Leica stereozoom microscope $400
    Vintage microscope lenses $1000
    Our bad buyer memories:
    We were unable to resolve the bogus purchases of the Tabloid printer and two of the microscopes.
    In each case, the seller ask we make a claim for the damage via UPS or FedeX.
    Furthermore, the sellers for two of those items (printer and microscope) kept the money from the claim and from us.
    We wrestled with these Ebay related issues for quite a while.
    And even though most payments were PayPal that did not mean they were covered.

    The last bogus MISREPRESENTED item was a Cambo Legend camera system.
    It was shipped REALY poorly.
    But the Standards could not have been damaged from shipping. The rack and pinion for shift on each had multiple breaks on the teeth along the 60 or so mm of movement.
    I made every attempt to get as much information as possible so I could contact the seller.
    He was surprised I got ahold of him.
    We acted quickly to resolve this, and even though he couldn't fathom why the item was non-operational, he refunded us for the item.
    Likewise, as a good faith gesture,... we asked him to wait until he inspected the returned merchandise before refunding the $60 in return shipping.
    Also, we used two new boxes (inner-outer) and lots of padding to insure NIL chance of return shipping damage!

    IMHO you should take every resource possible to get complaints into Ebay/ PayPal, etc,...
    Look up names, address, whatever it takes to get what you want.
    And follow some of the guidelines I've mentioned to avoid the discrepancies.

    Good luck,
    Bill

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