Got Screwed Out of $650 on eBay..Need (legal) Help Please!

[slow&rusty]

Gang - I bought this Turbo Kit off eBay, notice how nice everything looks in the picture but.... I got royally screwed!:



I paid just under $650 for it and was supposedly for my pre '89 Mazda 323.

The seller took his sweet time sending it to me (several weeks). When I did receive it several weeks after winning it, here is what I sadly found:

Problem 1: The ECU which was supposedly re-programmed and be 100% compatible with my car to handle higher boost, is in fact an ECU off some other Mazda model (verified by the Mazda dealer yesterday after work) and is not compatible with my car (totally different pin arrangement) and has not in fact been re-programmed at all!! So he mis-represented the auction and had no clue what he was selling. I really wanted this ECU which is why I was looking forward to winning this auction, only to find out the ECU is not even for my car.

Problem 2: The intercooler was so badly wrapped (everything came in 1 box) that the heavy cast iron manifold was laying ontop of it severly damaged many rows of fins and tubes - deeming the intercooler totally useless. I would not be surprised if it has a few pin holes in it.

Problem 3: The seller used cheap "dress-up paint" to lipstick the pictures for his auction and the cheap paint is everywhere even all over the turbo in every thread and every crevice possible. If I were to install that manifold and turbo it would smoke from the paint burning off for ages and make a big huge mess in the process. I am worried that the cheap paint got into the oil and water cooling passages in the turbo. So I am very apprehensive to install it even.

Problem 4: I have called the seller and emailed him several times and have never heard back from him. Obviously he realizes he sold me $650 worth of crap and is ignoring me, now that he got his $$$. I paid him by Money Order BTW...! UG.

He is located in Arlington, TX. I am thinking of calling the Arlington PD and talking to them - do you think they would give me the time of day based ont he fact that is an eBay auction?

What other plans of action \ recourse do I have, short of me showing up at his door step with some convincing ways of re-imbursing me of the $$$....wink...wink?

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

Regards - Yasin

[ruf-porsche]

Originally posted by slow&rusty
He is located in Arlington, TX. I am thinking of calling the Arlington PD and talking to them - do you think they would give me the time of day based ont he fact that is an eBay auction?

Nope

Did the Ad state AS IS? Did you ask any questions before the auction ended?

Ebay, Buyer Beware.

[pwd72s]

Did you send the money order by mail? If so, may be considered postal fraud.

A bit of advice....stop buying on ebay. I've read too many articles in too many legit publications to not believe that it's the nation's biggest fencing operation.

[Dottore]

Originally posted by pwd72s
I've read too many articles in too many legit publications to not believe that it's the nation's biggest fencing operation.

Yup. Our local police estimate that up to 80% of the loot taken in burglaries in this town ends up on E-Bay.

[competentone]

Originally posted by slow&rusty
He is located in Arlington, TX. I am thinking of calling the Arlington PD and talking to them - do you think they would give me the time of day based ont he fact that is an eBay auction?

What other plans of action \ recourse do I have, short of me showing up at his door step with some convincing ways of re-imbursing me of the $$$....wink...wink?

The police will tell you it's a civil matter -- which is exactly what it is. Of course if you show up on his door step making threats, it might no longer be a civil matter, but the police will be arresting you, not him!

After the fact: but how was his feedback on eBay? Why did you pay with a MO and not PayPal where you would have more options?

Your options right now would appear to me to be: giving him bad feedback for the auction and pursuing him in small claims court.

Maybe someone can think of some other options.

[slow&rusty]

Originally posted by ruf-porsche
Nope

Did the Ad state AS IS? Did you ask any questions before the auction ended?

Ebay, Buyer Beware.

No the ad did not say "As-Is" and yes I called him and spoke to him at length before sending him the funds and he seemed a little hedgy but confirmed that all items were infact 101% compatible for my make and model car.

I did not pay via Paypal as he did not have a Paypal Account. He had a feedback of only 3 with 100% and was a fairly new registered user (jube of '06) - this part made my weary but I still went ahead - stupid me.....

How do I take it to small claims court? Can this be done in Colorado where I live, or does it have to be done in Texas where he lives?

Sad thing is I have sold many car parts on eBay (some very rare and quite expensive) and I have over 500 feedback with 100% - I pride myself with what I sell, I believe in Karma and I never sell, crap or junk....this sucks as its alot of $$$

Also I have got some great deals on eBay over the years in this past from other sellers and this just tarnsishes things for me.

Someone hug me.

Yasin

[slow&rusty]

oops

[asphaltgambler]

What method of payment did you use?

[Paul K]

http://cgi1.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?UserInformationRequest


In case you don't have all his details.

[slow&rusty]

I sent him a USPS Money Order and I already have all his contact info even his cell phone number...which he screens and does not answer when my tel. no displays on it.

[competentone]

Originally posted by slow&rusty
I sent him a USPS Money Order....

You might be able to scare him into refunding your money if he becomes concerned that the Postal Authorities are investigating him for fraud, but I still think you're going to be stuck with small claims court -- and you'll probably have to go to his location to file. There is no guarantee that you'll win either; if you bought it "as is" you bought it "as is." Unless you have evidence of the conversation with him where he "misrepresents" the items, any other conversations with him will be your word against his.

[Edit: My understanding is that most all casual sales are considered "as is" sales even if the advertisement -- in this case, the auction description -- doesn't say "as is." Of course if he is painting up old parts and trying to represent them as new, that could be fraud. But you're not clear if that's the case. Do you have a link to the auction? I'd be curious to see what the seller said in his description; we only have your view of it as described here.]

You're probably going to have to just treat this as one of life's little lessons. I'll bet you were hoping you were getting a set-up at a bargain price? How much would you have had to pay for the same parts locally? Sometimes bargains aren't really bargains.

[FenderGuy]

never pay by check i dont care where it comes from ...only use Credit card that way you have some sort of tool for dispute...i would say good bye to your ur money......Ebay doesnt care about what happens, they just care that the money rolls in

[jeffgrant]

Actually, eBay does a pretty good job of protecting the buyer, IF THE BUYER DOES AS THEY SUGGEST.

You paid by Money Order, to a newly registered user, with only 3 recent feedbacks.

All of these things are warning signs. If he doesn't have PayPal or Visa capabilities, it's probably because he doesn't want them, and it is generally a good idea to just walk away. (It's just THAT much easier or him to keep your money).

I really do feel for you, but if anything this is a very tough (and expensive) learning process.

As to the people that say "never buy stuff from eBay", well, I think that's a little too reactionary.

Properly educate yourself on how to buy stuff, use an escrow service, whatever, but just don't expect other people to look out for your best interests.

I buy old computer gear on-line all the time, and while some stuff has shown up slightly damaged due to poor packaging, the sellors have (in both cases) gone out of their way to make it up to me. But they also have over 3,000 transactions/feedbacks in their 3+ year history.

I'd still look into at least filing a small claims court action against him.

[jeffgrant]

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-buyer-tips.html

(I know it's too little, too late, but if anything, maybe will help out others on future purchases).

[K.B.]

Originally posted by slow&rusty
.......which he screens and does not answer when my tel. no displays on it.

Use the neighbors phone, work phone, cell phones with a different prefix. Pay your kid to sit for hours on end to keep calling over and over. Any Pelicans live in Texas that can help you?

[notfarnow]

Yep, I have 50 or so ebay transactions. I have only been truly disappointed once, when an pair of nice old binoculars didn't work (the seller said "yeah, well they're antique... so they don't work"!)

You'll learn to be cautious when buying... if I was looking to bid on that kit, I would have wanted close up picture of the turbo, intercooler etc... A shot from far away would set off my spidey senses.

I say pursue it anyway, a friend of mine up here in Canada was able to get the local cops in Vermont to pound on a guys door and scare him about fraud etc... until he refunded his money. Could have been a slow week for the cops, I know he had to do some sweet talking to get the cops involved, and the guy was "known to the local constabulary".

Hope you make out OK, $650 is one hell of a hard lesson, I wouldn't want to swallow that.

[cmccuist]

Yasin, is there anything at all salvagable from the auction? Could you reduce your losses by parting out the incompatible gear? That chip might be worth something to another Mazda owner. Or could you purchase another intercooler and still make the rig work? $650 does seem like a good deal for a turbo set-up. Maybe add the parts you need and go forward with the project.

I've sold a lot of stuff on eBay and bought a lot too. The problem with eBay is the sight-unseen nature of the business. Also, there are some crooks out there.

Sorry for the bad experience.

[slow&rusty]

Hi Guys - Thank-you all for your input and feedback - I do really appreciate it.

Here is my plan:

1) I am going to call the police dep't in Arlington, TX and at least see what they say - maybe it might be a slow week for them and they could flex some muscle for me?

2) Some of the items are in fact salveable and if re-sell them piece by piece I might re-coop some of the heavy financial hit I took on this transaction. For example, the turbo exhaust manifold is supposedly only 2years old and was bought brand new directly from Mazda and if I spend an hour or two removing the awful "dress-up" paint, it will probably fetch close to $75 to $100 on eBay etc etc. I have to see if I can sit at my Mazda dealership with one of their Techs and determine what car that ECU belongs to.

Oh by the way here is the EXACT description from his eBay ad...yes he typed it all in caps:

"FOR SALE A VERY NICE TURBO KIT THIS KIT IS A BOLT ON KIT FOR A MX-3,323 OR CAPRI WITH THE 1.6L DOHC MOTORS. THE TURBO EXHAUST MANIFOLD IS VERY RARE AND HARD TO FIND WITHOUT CRACKS THIS ONE WAS BOUGHT NEW 2 YEARS AGO FOR AROUND $300 JUST FOR THE MANIFOLD. I REPLACED THE VJ-14 TURBO WITH AN UPGRADED REBUILT VJ-11 WHICH IS A LITTLE BIGGER AND FLOWS BETTER THIS KIT WILL ADD SOME NICE HP GAINS TO YOUR NA MOTOR WITHOUT HARMING THE ENGINE UNLESS YOUR CRAZY WITH THE BOOST. ALL INCLUDED WITH THIS KIT IS THE IHI VJ-11 TURBO HOUSING HAS BEEN POLISHED TO MIRROR FINISH, RARE EXHAUST MANIFOLD,DOWNPIPE,BLOW OFF VALVE POLISHED,UPGRADED SET OF INJECTORS FOR MORE FUEL DELIVERY,REPROGRAMED ECU,ALL HEAT SHEILDS,MANDREL BENT ALUMINUM PIPING AND A BUNCH OF EXTRA PIPING,ALL OIL AND COOLANT LINES, WASTEGATE AND WASTEGATE ACCULATOR EVERYTHING SHOWN IN THE PICTURES IS WHAT YOU GET EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS THIS IS A NO RESERVE AUCTION BIDS START AT ONLY ONE CENT DONT LET THIS KIT GO YOU WONT FIND ONE ON EBAY FOR A VERY LONG TIME"

Wayne I am surprised at your response, I did not realize you would be of the mindset, to just "chalk it up to good old expereince"

Anyway we'll see what transpires.

Regards - Yasin

[serge944]

Yes, I think you're SOL.

I have gotten screwed on ebay from a buyer with 500 positive feedback, who has been selling watched on ebay for over a year. All of the sudden, 3 other people and I get screwed. Seller vanishes and closes his ebay account. A few hundred bucks isn't worth pursuing legally.

Point is: there are NO guarantees on ebay. Doesn't matter how cautious you are.

[rammstein]

All caps, bad grammar, poor spelling, and a total disregard for punctuation = don't expect any response from this guy. If he was too important to learn how to communicate, he is too important to conduct business properly.

In the spirit of mutilated English "Your screwed".