Dealing with *some* Ebay sellers!

[ol' boy]

Yeah, I saw what I -thought- were the same lights in supercheap the other day rated at 36W and that's what I was expecting which would have been ok.
As soon as I took the things out of the mailing bag I was sus on the cheap arse looking boxes. when I opened the box and saw the leads that had more in common with a Human hair that electrical wiring, I knew they were going to be crap.

They have requested a return and given me a number. I sent a reply saing I was in quarantine for 12 more days and couldn't go out and that I wasn't paying to return the lights that they tried to rip me off with. Also left Neg feedback saying the lights were only 6W and beware of the ripoff. Havent heard back yet. Hoping rather than stuff round might bring them to the party offering for me to keep the lights if I change feedback.

The return everything seems to be a new strategy. Maybe another hurdle to make people forget about it and just keep them.
That can be played too. If they do get enough returns and starts costing them money they may well drop it.

Seems to be an evolving game!

Do you have a link to these lights?

[wotnot]

Disks are cheap as ship now anyway and it's a 5 Minute job to change each one. I really couldn't care less if I had to replace the disks every year. Cheap compared to other costs of having an accident and if that saves my life or my family from injury, They are bloody cheap and more than worth the cost.

Discs are crap these days anyhow.. I'm not sure when it happened (the 90's I believe)...but it was in the lead up to this - "*Prohibitions on the use of asbestos-containing products came into effect across Australia on 31 December 2003, and replacement brake pads, brake shoes and clutch plates fitted to vehicles in Victoria after this date must be asbestos free." As that loomed on the horizon, manufacturers had to rethink braking systems, including the metallurgy of the discs ~ now-a-days brake discs/rotors are cast from a softer steel formula, and whereas years ago you could get your discs machined/skimmed a few times, now there's hardly any material allowed in the casting for this sort of service ; by the time they need resurfacing, they've already under serviceable limits.

Even now you have to be thinking about it, when it comes to buying replacement discs/rotors ... and yes, there's many sellers on ebay pedaling those as well. I know ~ I've been caught out by this, and in fact, that rotten brake rotor is still on the car ~ I wasn't attentive enough when fitting it to the car, but it's not exactly something I'd ever need to check/think about in decades past -- the core of the casting was either not formed properly, or moved during the pour, resulting in the cooling channels in the center of the disc being on an eccentric plane relative to the outside disc working surfaces ... ( /me re-reads that a few times )... best I can do ; I'll take a vid when swap it out for a new set to show what to look out for. They are RDA products as well, I believe...but perhaps I haven't looked at that as closely as I should do, 'coz they were bought off ebay....hmm, note to self ; do that.

*

[george65]

manufacturers had to rethink braking systems, including the metallurgy of the discs ~ now-a-days brake discs/rotors are cast from a softer steel formula,

Could be they are all made in China anyway where they all seem to use a technology where the main additive they use with the iron or or scarp metal is Butter.
Only possible way they could get it so soft and weak.

I'm forever in trepidation Loosening or tightening anything for fear of snapping it, even when I think I have just started to pull it down.

[george65]

These are the type of lights I ordered.



As can be seen, there are many different people flogging them all with the same BS description. I notice some ads have 5W in the picture but list them as 200W in the main headline and blurb.

I went out and tested the things last Night in the yard. Really quite poor Lights. Won't even hit the back fence 100M away. Have a bit of a hot spot in the middle, poor colour balance, uneven spread, really very substandard bits of rubbish. Amazing how they play them up though. I think on a vehicle these things would barely make a difference if at all and be outshone and overpowered by the cars standard headlights if it was made in the last 20 years.

Probably OK for a Bicycle, at half an amp draw on 12V a 7 Ah battery would last a real long time. On anything motorised, no where near enough reach or spread to be useful. Wouldn't even be that great for shining in the back of a ute. The other ones rated at 48W but were in fact 24V and being sold for $8.99 are loads better and actualy useful lights than these pieces of crap. I have ordered another pair of those to see if I can get a refund on those. Only Double rated instead of about 33X like these useless things they charged $25 for.

The seller got back to me and has offered $5 refund and keep the lights. I said that's an insult seeing you tried to rip me off in the first place and have wasted my time. I won't settle for anything less than a full refund. They never mentioned the Neg feedback. Probably haven't even realised. Yet.

If they do refund and let me keep the lights, I certainly won't have gained anything this time round.

There is a LED light bar that is over rated which I'll try for when I get some money back. I have another one on the truck I bought years ago which fell short of it's rating. I got a partial refund on that but I wasn't real upset it wasn't as specified. The thing is about half what it should have been but the reflection off road signs is blinding so I think anything more would have been a drawback not an advantage. It lights the road like daylight and has great spread and reach. Actualy very useful and I like it a lot.

I Thought these small lights may have been useful but I came a cropper. Ah well. Maybe screwing the pricks round selling them will be all I get out of it but good enough I spose.

I'll go out the mailbox and see if anything else has arrived.

[ol' boy]

These are the type of lights I ordered.



As can be seen, there are many different people flogging them all with the same BS description. I notice some ads have 5W in the picture but list them as 200W in the main headline and blurb.

Honestly, after some of the posts you've made here and your dislike of the Chinese products on eBay as mentioned earlier in this thread.
I'd have thought you'd know better.

How can you even fit 200Watt of LED in that form factor?

It has never been done


In saying this, i have fallen for a cheap Chinese copy of an Denso Alternator
They all go for around $150 - $170 AUD, 120Amp, and some claim 5 Year Warranty

Genuine Bosch is $300 and Genuine Toyota is $900 to $1200 depending who you ask (which is a Denso)


Lets see what turns up and if it dies after the first puddle or engine bay clean
After reading this thread, i contacted the seller and confirmed the product will be dispatched from Sydney this afternoon with tracking.
I am probably making a big mistake dropping a cheap Chinese COVID-19 Alternator in a vehicle that goes to remote places.
Others have used them for 100,000ks and still going, pot luck i guess.
A well sealed quality 390Amp Alternator would cost $1800 landed from the USA....



So, as much as i hate Chinese manufacturing, it is hard to argue the price vs reliable factor

eBay seller was prompt with communication so far, although his dodgy warranty logo is a pisser

[george65]

Honestly, after some of the posts you've made here and your dislike of the Chinese products on eBay as mentioned earlier in this thread.
I'd have thought you'd know better.

How can you even fit 200Watt of LED in that form factor?

I never thought they were 200W for a second. That's what this whole thread is about.

I bought another set of lights that are supposed to be 200W and they are also due today or tomorrow.
I'm taking bets those 200W lights will be somewhere in the 18-30W range when measured. In order to be 200W they would have to be 10W Leds and I'd bet my house they aren't going to have anything that quality!

It probably pays to read what's going on before jumping to conclusions.
Said here and on another thread I KNEW the lights weren't 200W which is why I bought them, so I could claim not as advertised and they would refund me and hopefully let me keep the product as has happened before. This is about scamming the scammers by knowing what they are up to and calling them on it.

I also admitted I didn't expect the lights to be that crap but I didn't think for a second they would be near 200W because I am not that damn stupid to think A, it was possible to put that much power in such a pissant light or B, that even if they could, they would sell a pair for 25 Bucks. I also know enough about electrics to see problems with amp draw and heat dissipation weren't going to make those things a reality.

I'm waiting on some 48W lights to arrive which I also know damn well won't be 48w and again, as explained, is why I bought them. When they prove me right I'll have a dummy spit to the seller and for the price I paid I'm fairly Confident they will just say keep them. I bought these before and they refunded them and they aren't bad lights, just not what they said they were.

While these little sleeze balls keep ripping people off, I'm going to make it a sport taking advantage of their greed and turning it back on them.

These " 200W" lights may not have been what I was hoping for ( never imagined they would be THAT bad) but the more you play the game the better you get at it and I'm learning all the time! :0)

[george65]

No response from battery scammers. Left neg feedback seeing if that will shake them loose.

I notice my previous neg feedback is gone as was another I saw a few days back also saying they sent an undersized battery. Their feedback rate is now 99.9%. Obviously when deliberate scammers and con men can have a rating like this and feedback disappears, it's useless.

That seemed to be the only thing they cared about but now if they have got a work around on that, it's going to be open slather.
Whats the next thing, getting around CC chargebacks?

If I don't get satisfactory responses I'll use the return item Function now I already have left feedback and see if that bothers them any.

Definitely a change of attitude here. Last time this was easy. There is a definite resistance this time. Something has changed and they are no longer worried about being caught out like they were.

[VroomVroom]

These are the type of lights I ordered.

I bought a pair of those - no good as spotties but perfect as additional reversing lights , facing downwards.

[wotnot]

No response from battery scammers.


Definitely a change of attitude here. Last time this was easy. There is a definite resistance this time. Something has changed and they are no longer worried about being caught out like they were.

The odds go down on all race horses who can win the race ~ the odds go down for all buyers who continually leave negative response.

If you think their software kits/management software(s) don't tally buyers who leave negative feedback, think again...m'kay? Never just think you're up against people here ; that is in error. You might have say 100 shonky sellers, all using the same toolkit backend. You are up against technology here, databases and the like ; don't ever think this sport is personal - often it's not.

Regardless of what you think about this sport, the same thing applies for -any- game --- familiarize yourself with the rules. The *sellers* rules, m'kay? Buyers can request negative feedback for a number of reasons. This is why I'm always very polite & succinct when dealing with these douchebags --- I'm not being polite for their sake ; I'm doing that so the ebay folks cannot substantiate any reason to remove my feedback ~ once you descend into anger & cuss words, you're actually giving them a reason to remove your feedback ; can't put it more simply than that.

Right now is a bad time considering what's going on in the world ~ some of these shonky sellers may have suffered loss of family members back in China due to the current health crisis, for all we know their supply chains has fallen apart, and they're left holding the bag full of crap -- I can think of multiple scenarios, in the current world situation, than can/may be reflected in a change of seller attitudes.

Still here waiting for the lights George...

[ol' boy]

I guess, a lot of the eBay sellers people are talking about here, sell 1000's of items a day
Too much Negative feedback will curb thier sales

And who does that directly affect ???? eBay

[ol' boy]

And after being promised my Alternator was coming from Sydney, NSW.
I get this today...

Hi,

Pls be advised that estimated delivery date will be extended due to the coronavirus outbreak, which is out of our control. We apologize for any delays than promised. If there is no attempted delivery for your shipment for a long time. Pls get back to us or contact the couriers company directly.

As for contactless delivery, where drivers will take pictures of items instead of requesting for signatures.

PLEASE PAY HIGH ATTENTATION TO PREVENTIVE ACTIONS and STAY SAFE. WE WILL DEFEAT COVID-19!!!

Regards

[wotnot]

I guess, a lot of sellers people are talking about here, sell 1000's of items a day
Too much Negative feedback will curb thier sales

And who does that directly affect ???? eBay

I think it highly polemical as to whether or not any of this activity actually affects ebay in any measurable way, and 'guessing' is not really part of any strategy I use.

You have to read it all, follow every link, but if you want to remove guess-work -->

Interestingly enough, concepts like this here targeting shonky sellers by way of buyers collaborating & sharing experiences is not against the rules (doing such to elevate a seller's rating is)

What -isn't- actually written (although it may be and I haven't found it yet), is that when a dispute is raised, the entirety of exchanged messages trying to resolve the (a) problem are reviewed -- example drawn from this thread : the seller replying with 5% incremental refund offers is allowed, and ebay will merely see that as the seller doing the right thing ~ the moment the buyer starts going off the deep end and calling them every effen'cee for this sort of adversarial resolution process, is the moment that ebay consider the buyer as being unreasonable or not respectful of the resolution process. That's a good way to have your (negative/neutral) feedback removed, due to objection lodged by the seller.

I have been ultra patient & polite in all such exchanges, because I *know* I'm not responding to the seller ; I'm responding as aligned with the ebay T&C's -- I have always obtained the refund/replacement I was seeking ; it works because the seller *cannot* dispute the resolution process, attitude/disposition of the buyer, or anything else.

[george65]

Well, here is a turn up for the books!

Just got a phone call from someone, a very good English speaker, about my neg feed back for the battery.
Asked if I had sent the battery back yet? I said no, as I said in my email I had been away and I had just got back from cutting my trip short and I wasn't going anywhere at the moment so they could send someone to come get it because I wasn't going out for that!

Said they had read my feedback, wanted to resolve the matter and If I would send an email saying I would remove the neg feedback they could get a refund issued within an hour or so and keep the battery or send it back, up to me.

On further questioning the guy, they (he) are some 3rd party that is paid to follow up on neg feedback and resolve the issue and get it removed. Said he could see I had bought from them before and wasn't happy ( forgot to ask where that feedback went which I DIDn't remove) and wasn't just trying to scam them. I said it's the other way round, whoever you are working for is deliberately sending the wrong size batteries out trying to rip people off. This isn't the first time it's happened to me and I saw the other day others complaining of the same thing.
I said I bought the second battery and didn't even realise it was the same people or I wouldn't have used them. Much!

He inferred the seller used a 3rd party supplier and it was them who was sending out the goods but said I will issue a report into this because this is just going to cost them money and potentially put them out of business then there is my fees as well so it has to be fixed.

Also said he had been through all my feedback and buying history and seen the messages I had sent the seller.

I am wondering if this guy just goes through different sellers accounts and offers to have neg feedback removed or is more " contracted" by different co's as it were. Given till this morning these shonks had 100% feedback, I'd say he's on the job regularly. He did say he worked for a number of companies doing this.
Certainly explains a lot and I suspect maybe he's worked out a way to get fleabay to remove neg feed back even if he makes up some BS to have it done or says they have refunded etc. so He looks valuable to his clients.

They are going to send me the refund and something to reverse the feedback. He was quite clear about sending the email saying I'd remove the neg feedback if refunded. I'll change the feedback and see what happens. Not particularly happy about being bought off as it were. I guess I could change it to positive and still say the same thing and they refunded? Might leave it as is and put refunded at the end and see if I get another call? If I do Ill ask where my other neg feedback went to and what else I can find out about this guy.
I wasn't too subtle with him and he was obviously skilled at handling customer complaints. Very professional without being dismissive as well as genuine but I am a suspect type and put that down more to appearances than fact.

By the same token, at least this guy -may- encourage them to lift their game and stop their scam or the suppliers. Not exactly sure if it's a drop ship or a direct thing, guy could have been trying to save face for his client which I suspect is the more likely scenario, but it's clear this is costing them money.

I have sent the email carefully worded to say I'll -change- the feedback if the matter is resolved with a refund so I'll wait and see what happens.

Looks like leaving feedback, particularly good feedback when it's deserved rather than not worrying about it, is important with screwing the scammers. I usually get around to doing it sooner or later once I have used the product where it's not just going in the parts storage but when I do that It's often something I have got before and want to keep spares of for different projects.

Got a lot of them on the way and if they slow down I don't think it will be on the china end. Took a week to get a small packet from Melbourne week before last and other thing in the last couple of weeks have been a week from china and forever once they got here. Pretty much par for the course long before the whoo hoo flu set in.

My other lights are supposed to be delivered by thursday so see how they go.
Can get onto ordering the next scam item now. :0)


Once I get the refund, I'll put up the seller details if anyone else wants a battery. Seems you'll either get what you ordered or a refund and the battery you didn't order for nothing.
I'd really be interested to see which one and what happens.

Anyway, this is a new one I haven't come across before and an interesting twist.
The game keeps changing. :0)

[wotnot]

I am wondering if this guy just goes through different sellers accounts and offers to have neg feedback removed or is more " contracted" by different co's as it were. Given till this morning these shonks had 100% feedback, I'd say he's on the job regularly. He did say he worked for a number of companies doing this.
Certainly explains a lot and I suspect maybe he's worked out a way to get fleabay to remove neg feed back even if he makes up some BS to have it done or says they have refunded etc. so He looks valuable to his clients.

Interesting indeed ~ yet another angle we really haven't considered so far ; lots of good info being collated here =)

[george65]

Interestingly enough, concepts like this here targeting shonky sellers by way of buyers collaborating & sharing experiences is not against the rules (doing such to elevate a seller's rating is)

I really couldn't care if it was against the " Rules". Selling goods deliberately misrepresented is in fact against the law of the land and if they weren't breaking that law, then this wouldn't be happening in the first place. Only works if they are misrepresenting what they are selling.
Might have said it before, I don't play by the rules that someone chooses not to abide by and take advantage of me in the first place. I have no problem stooping to the lowest depts against those that have wronged me and have been told endlessly by people that I am ruthless and just go for the throat and that's in real life situations. A product of an unfortunate past that never leaves one but does come in handy at times. :0)

the moment the buyer starts going off the deep end and calling them every effen'cee for this sort of adversarial resolution process, is the moment that ebay consider the buyer as being unreasonable or not respectful of the resolution process. That's a good way to have your (negative/neutral) feedback removed, due to objection lodged by the seller.

This is good insight. I can say I have never been abusive and called people names ETC, HOWEVER, I can well see how in this day and age even being direct which I am could be made out to offend the snowflakes and work to their end in this case.
Patience with idiots and con men is certainly not my virtue but it well may behove me to put what I think are my girly pants on when dealing with as you point out, not just the sellers but the Cupcakes in fleabag doing the reviews and making the decisions.

Thanks for the explanation and the tip. It will definitely be something that I will remember in future.

[wotnot]

Just got a phone call from someone, a very good English speaker, about my neg feed back for the battery

Playing by the rules, that is not ~ that is contact occurring *outside* the normal online channels ; ebay will know nothing of this interaction, and nor will they have any record of same.

If that had happened to me, I'd already be online having a chat with ebay about it >B^(

[ol' boy]

..

[george65]

Playing by the rules, that is not ~ that is contact occurring *outside* the normal online channels ; ebay will know nothing of this interaction, and nor will they have any record of same.

If that had happened to me, I'd already be online having a chat with ebay about it >B^(

Hmm, I was a bit surprised they phoned me at home. thought I only had my mobile listed and will Check that.

As for contacting ebay, I'll consider that. Other than it being contact outside ebay which I know they frown upon, is there any other reason or thought you'd be unhappy with it? Might be something I'm missing here.

[wotnot]

Might be something I'm missing here.

... I'm wondering just how far -my- buyer information is being distributed to which other parties ; someone has your phone# and it's not the seller. As said, I very much do play by the rules, and that said, I should only ever expect to receive a phonecall from the buyer and/or ebay, not from any other 3rd-party.

[george65]

... I'm wondering just how far -my- buyer information is being distributed to which other parties

This is a good point.
I got another call yesterday afternoon saying the refund had been made and the reverse feedback form had been sent and had I seen them? I said no, hadn't checked and the guy said leave it with you. Also got an email from someone called Over Stocked notifying me about the refund as well as pay pal.

I'll let fleabay know today if I can work out where to send the email.