STEAMED!!!!!!!

[Calamity Jane]

Over the last number of months I have collected 3 Dicro 45 colour heads and a D.A.T.A. module.

Dichro #1 came from Lenoard at a good price because it had a problem or two. This unit had the software to work with the D.A.T.A. module but has a problem in the lamp circuit.

Dichro #2 was an e-bay item, fully working, but it didn't come cheap and it didn't have the D.A.T.A. software.

Dichro #3 was a more recent e-bay item that was supposedly working. It arrived poorly packed and NOT working so the seller got a negative feedback. The display does not light and the lamp comes on as soon as power is switched on.

Today I did some playing around with my collection of Dichros. I swapped the processor boards between unit #1 and #2 - now I have a unit that works with my D.AT.A. module - NEAT!!!

I also had a look at Dichro #3 and I found 2 pins on the processor had been bent over - somebody was playing with this unit and screwed it up! THERE'S NO WAY that this unit was working at the time it was listed on e-bay!!!!!!!!!!

I have sent an e-mail to e-bay advising them of my findings and I will warn all my friends on this board to NOT deal with "pano3".

"Pano3" either has absolutely NO knowledge of things photographic or is inclined to misrepresent his auction items.

. . . still got 2 Dichros to fix but at least I have 1 fully-working full-blown colour head :-)

I just can't abide liars!!!!

[Sam]

I'm sorry to hear that you got burned. Ive been burned before too. Your not the first and will certainly not be the last. I've grown so fed up with it that Ive been buying from Midwest at a higher cost but getting top notch equipment.

[Kevin Crisp]

Calamity: This kind of reminds me of a piece of stereo equipment I bought which came with the wrong amperage and blown fuse on one side. A few suggestions from an Ebay veteran: In addition to reading the description, ASK QUESTIONS of the seller. Does the lens have fungus? (I know, it is "clean," but I want a record you told me before I bid that it didn't have any.) Have you plugged this in and verified that it works? If somebody tells you "yes" to that, you are in a much stronger position to demand your money back. Think a bit cynically about what isn't in the description. No fungus, no separation, etc. doesn't mean no scratches or cleaning marks. Does this lens look good when you shine a light through it? I just won't deal with someone without a long and positive feedback record, and I avoid sellers who just signed up in January of '05. People who claim they know absolutely nothing about something very specialized and expensive concern me too. Another will come along. From what I read of others' complaints to Ebay, don't expect them to put their Calamity is Upset department on the case; you're on your own. With some precautions, the Ebay problems can be very rare, I've been ripped off once (for $20) by someone and that was just one in 350+ transactions. There have been other problems with items which were inaccurately described, and the sellers in every case except one have been concerned about making it right, sometimes spending more than my auction price to fix an item. (That was a Leica IIIf).

[David F. Stein]

Did you give #3 an opportunity for a refund, remediation?