eBay Honesty

[wodbutchr]

Hi,
I just received a parts saw I bought on eBay. Description said

nice 024 AVS Wood Boss Chain Saw with 16" Bar for parts or repair,It will start but won't Stay Running,It is complete and a good saw for repair.

Sold As-Is No Warranty,Or Returns

Turns out the saw is mismatched with other models, is rusted out (presumably was left corroding on dirt for a long time), all parts have serious defects beside normal scuffs & wear (cracks, missing chips,...), scored, is a no-runner, missing parts and leaks gas. Looks like it was assembled from bits out of a garbage container.

Does that happen often? What are your recourses? Should I just swallow it?
Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Lawn Masters]

Raise holy hell with the seller, leave negative feedback if they refuse to refund your money. thats a MAJOR misrepresentation of product, and should NOT BE TOLERATED.

 

[Caledonian]

Did you get it cheap enough?

Is it worth it for any of the parts?

If not, contact ebay, if you used 'PayPal' to pay, ask for your money back.

imho

 

[kf_tree]

file a a claim/ dispute with ebay if you used pay pal even better. you may need to take it to a stihl dealer and have them write a note on condition of saw and cost to repair.you will also need proof of payment. if the seller does not cooperate don't sweat it ebay will get you some of your money back if the seller will not take the saw back. i will never buy a used saw on ebay again.

 

[West Texas]

Sometimes you can scare the guy into a refund; by just telling him if he does not, you are going to PayPal for a refund and to eBay with a complaint. Give him 24hrs to deposit it in your PayPal account; and, if he doesn't then do what you promised. Take it to PayPal and eBay; but, in both cases you have to convince them you've tried to resolve it with the seller. You can include copies of your emails, etc. Or tell them he refused to answer your emails.. Document your case, and PayPal will stand behind you. Just be patient. Been there and done that.

 

[wodbutchr]

Hi,
I got it for US$81. There are some good parts:
nuts& screws, flywheel, carb ?, 16" bar and chain, brake, fuel line, dirty spark plug, coil, studs.

Deceptive marketing and not "nice saw" and not "good for repair" and not "will start but won't Stay Running":

- cracked piston
- scored cylinder
- corroded crank case
- rusted and deformed/bashed muffler (not from a 024)
- missing fuel filter and air valve
- missing various screws
- air filter felt peeled off, air filter cover from 026
- cracked/deformed clutch cover
- cracked/patched engine cover
- cracked pull rope handle

Maybe I am expecting too much out of $81 but I was happy buying another one, with scored cyl and missing parts as advertised.

 

[tony marks]

ebay honesty is like any other honesty. im amazed at how little money people will trade their integrity for.of course if they dont have integrity to start with ,i guess nothing lost.
in dealing with people i try them on little things first to see if i can trust them..
i still get clipped once an a while.

 

[jensen 32000]

I got to say, that I have bought a lot of ebay items, and 99% of the time I have felt that items were as described or better. I bought one saw that said great compression, and it had bad piston, cylinder and cracked crank. I got a partial refund that better reflected the value of the actual saw's condition. It kind of saves the loss of the shipping costs=(compromise). It came from Alaska! Good Luck! Mike.

 

[JeffHK454]

I just got done with a 40 plus day battle with a seller that resulted in my refund of $453. This guy was a crook and had no defense so I got my money pretty easily , but your case might not be as easy.

I was told by ebay that "as-is" makes a claim on the condition of your item difficult because it's a judgment call. Your best bet is to work with the seller and let him know that you will give him negative feedback , any ebayer worth a darn will bend over backwards to keep a positive rating.

Good luck , Jeff

 

[Dadatwins]

I would contact the seller and ask about refund, pics posted on ebay show the carb cover did not match the saw, kind of hard to say if you got a bad deal. The description on ebay does not match what you describe here so an email to the seller might help. Saw parted out is probably worth more than the 81.00 you spent in my opinion. good luck.

 

[Fish]

I agree, I strive to keep my %100 rating, so I am very honest about describing what I am selling. I would probably be more successful if I could "lie" better, on e-bay, and life in general.

I usually part out the saws if they are worth the time, lesser brands I sell as is, but am very honest about their condition. Generally, Stihls are the only ones I part out.

 

[klickitatsacket]

I sell quite a bit using ebay and find that 95% of the buyers are honost people. I found that 99% of the people were even more honost when I started marking everything with ultraviolet ink. We had to start doing this becasue people whould take our good parts off of a saw and replace them with their crappy parts and claim it was like that when they recieved it. I have also had people do this then take to a shop and get an estimate to have it fixed.Usually the only people I have problems with now are the ones who over pay for something and when they find out, make up some bull shoot. Our policy is send it back for a refund. End of story. IF they fried it with straight gas or switched out parts and I remind them that it is marked, it usually ends the discussion and they are instantly happy with their purchase.

I had a guy who spent $440 on a 041 AV that was in average condition. 3 Weeks later I get an email stating he wanted his money back because the rope broke in the first week. I told him he bought a used saw but would be happy to send him a new rope for free. He refused so I said send the saw back and I would refund the purchase price. He replied that he wanted $150 back (for a pull rope that broke) I refused and he filed with ebay. I told ebay that I would refund his money if he returned the saw. It took 2 weeks to clear it up and to unfreeze the money as he refused to send the saw back.
(this last little story is actually 2 differant but very simuylar instances rolled together to keep from getting into a pi$$ing match with anyone)
I agree that there are crooks and idiots on both sides of ebay but for the most part most are honost and if there is a problem the seller is so worried about his or her feedback that they will bend over to make you happy. Thsi does not mean though that the buyer does not have the responsibility to ask lots of questions. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Chris J.]

I'm going to send back a saw & eat the shipping . The main listing said parts, but the description said will run. The only way the saw might run is if God starts it.

Homemade West Coast handle. Two crude repairs to handle. Extremely low compression. Chain brake handle & mechanism missing. Damaged bar cover (to accomidate West Coast handle). Carb boot completely shot. A broken cooling fin. And who knows what else.

Chris J.

 

[klickitatsacket]

Knot Whole I agre that this is crap and you should be given your maoney back. If the seller is honost you will. If not burn him.

 

[Happyjack]

Yeah don't take that crap! Pursue it and don't let up until you get your money back. Document your emails and file with paypal and ebay. It's a shame that you purchased something from a scumbag. Like every one says 95% of the people are honest on ebay. I bought my ms440 off ebay from a pawn shop no less. I knew I was taking a big gamble from the start. The saw turned out to be a gem and I paid $300 for it.

 

[scotchguy]

Feedback Rating

I have a question for all the guys who were unhappy with their eBay purchases.

What was the feedback score of the 'dishonest' seller?

Come on now ... be honest?

Personally, I've bought small things for sellers with low scores. However, I bought my saws from people with scores up in the 100's and I've been more than happy with price and performance.

 

[DanManofStihl]

My first 066 magnum I got off of ebay for $400 that was the best investment ever the people who owned the pawn shop had it BIN for that price they were really happy and so was I. I also got taken on a 066 that the seller said ran great and had excellent compression I got it and it only had 80 pounds and the oiler was seized it cost over $150 to get a new one and get it installed. The seller agreed to pay for half of the oiler though. I couldnt get a refund because it said as is no refund. Good luck on getting your money back though. Ebay really sucks sometimes and it excellent other times.

 

[SandMan]

For the most part I agree that if you only buy from a seller with a score at or near 100% you have a better chance of getting a square deal. I'd advise everyone to dig deeper into the feedback to check for legit seller positives. If you find someone who has a 100% but only for making 10 purchases in the last month for insignificant items, that should be a red flag. More than one or two negatives for misrepresentation should be a red flag. On the flip side, you might find an honest seller who was burned by a d!ckhead buyer.

I recently picked up a running 066 for $239 right after it popped up as a 'buy it now'. Since it was listed by a pawn shop about 1-1/2 hours away and on the way to some of my work, I figured if I was really unhappy I could make a 'friendly' visit or at the worst part it out. Saw looks a little beat on the outside, may have spent some time rolling around in the back of a truck. Jug looks original on the outside but the piston and cylinder look barely broken in. Bar and clutch measure little wear. Only thing screwed up was the chain brake handle and a missing outer spike. Sent $20 to a helpful member of this site and got the parts I needed.

I'd consider a strong running 066 w/ lots of life on wear parts delivered and fully functional for less than $300 a decent deal. Maybe not such a good deal for someone who doesn't want to do their own repairs. Though I have been mildly burned a couple times, like a moth I keep circling back to the ebay bug zapper. Know when to walk and don't get caught up in the closing bidding frenzy...

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I also look at how a seller RESPONDS to negative feedback. If his only response is to call names and generally rant, I'll pass.

 

[West Texas]

I've bought at least ten chainsaws and two parts saws on ebay; only been burned once, and it was by an individual in Alaska. He sold me a 'running saw' that was like someone else said, only God could run. I've had superb results with Pawn Shops and Auction Houses that have a 100% feedback rating.