Dealing with *some* Ebay sellers!

[wotnot]

wish i could remember the current name euro is using.

sunbridge solar pty ltd

[wotnot]

Right...so the ebay seller with the 'Oz' in their name, is also out of HK. One would have to observe that the 'no faking worries' image, seems itself to be rather unique, only the image size has been changed to try obfuscate the truth. Still... the reverse image search results, indicating the image was primarily used on aussie online sites...and only *4* such sites (including the ebay listing that has now removed the image) in the whole world are using it...I have to weigh the odds here ; surely this is all the same operation, the same targeted scam?

Lets see if I can put that to some sort of test. shall we? Time to make a BS cake, hand sifted words, quality ingredients, cooked to near perfection and covered with icing so thick, it'll make you barf...



Here's a pictorial representation of myself, after typing that last para;



"You cannot achieve the aim without suffering" ...but the idea obviously is, if this lot is really in league with each other, we might see some image takedowns on those other sites...maybe. Suits me, saves me having to pester them with the same sort of jibberjab to get that image removed, but rest assured, if they want me to introduce their online shopping stores & the image they contain, to the ACSC (and I can also report it to the Qld office of fair trading as well it seems), then so be it - I don't make threats, I do instead.

[wotnot]

Basic circuit for the 48W lights, sans the mode option (10K pulldown to Gnd to enable high current mode only) - the LED strings (as I later discovered) are composite parallel/strings, and the 6R2 resistors are load balance. Any description for these lights including the words \cree 3w gen2' LEDs is BS...Cree don't even make a Gen-II type LED in the package used on these lights. The LED driver IC I cannot find a datasheet on, but the current is set by a pair of 0.18 Ohm resistors (R180) yielding .09Ohm, so if anyone does find a datasheet for 56AA-A05G by Huixinchen Electronics, let us know what the CS pin is set to like this =) Oh, the inductor used is 470uH, which will be useful is a datasheet is ever found.

The term 'EP' behind the number '48' really does elude me...certainly not physics and the measurement of potential energy (expressed as Ep =), and sure doesn't look like an 'extended play' 48rpm record to me B^) It's certainly not an electrical measurement of watts, but given the descriptions are all including things like candela, lumens, and colour temperature, it's a sure bet they're basing this all on the Kruithof curve... --> ..so EP could be, effective/equivalent photometry, as percieved by the human eye, which is of course nonsense stated like that, and 'EP' could be as simple as 'Export Product'. model# W1048 ... I'll have to setup a light test, and find out what the actual luminous intensity numbers are.

Each LED contains 2 active elements ;




This is another problem and why I say go the adhesive thermally conductive pad instead of heatsink compound. As the surface hasn't been milled so the LED panel sits flat in/on the housing, you can put a whole teaspoon full of transfer paste on the back, and it still won't sit flat because of the cast molding, particularly at the corners;




Ergo, to 'fix' these, thermal pad, glue the lense piece in properly, and hope that the thermal management improvements give the LEDs an easier time and longer life. You're never going to replace the LEDs themselves, you could but it's not worth the mucking about. If you wanted to go the full mile, clamp the housing in your milling machine, and cut a flat surface for the LED carrier plate to fully contact, -then- the good old big dobs of Unick will actually work well.

Important thing to know, having now disassembled one (this is the thinner type with less case heatsink finning), I can factually say these 48W lights, are *not* 48watts -as-described- in any way shape or form.

Back to thread topic...although I convinced that one ebay seller to pull the 'no faking worries' image, it is still the case, perhaps, that they are selling 20W lights described as being anything but, right? So this means, those items are still out there for sale, and if my mission here was to ensure others don't get ripped off by this, than I have failed...sort of. At least now, prospective buyers won't be fooled by that image anymore, and they'll likely buy the lights at a lower price point than what this mod is offering... a pair for $75.99 ...that good'ole nintynine cent con =) So what can I do about that?

Well I'm not all that impressed with how they 'adjusted' (as they put it), the item listing, because it still contains this "We only provide GENUINE LED Light Bar with GENUINE OUTPUT AND BEST IMPORT QUALITY. AVOID THOSE CHEAP RIP OFF FROM THE MARKET" ...which of course was tied in with the image, which is now gone...so I'm kind of 'half done' with this seller yet. Now there's no image, to back up the claims made in clear text, that opens a few lines into the next corner.

One approach, is just to buy the lights at that price, say nothing, wait to they get here, test them, do the full refund/not as described/they pay postage thang...this time, using the ebay direct method, not member contact. That's kinda ok, but for all the while they have your money, is all the time they can play on the short term money market with it...and I really don't want them to make any profit here.

Another approach, is to buy the item, and **not** 'pay now', and instead use the 4days to pay period to give them a chance to answer your note sent to the seller at buy time...which would be "there are a lot of these lights on ebay that are fakes -- are you sure these lights are 48W types? If not, please cancel this order"...that script is only slightly different from a pre-purchase strafing, in that it demonstrates 'intent to purchase', and sometime with that carrot hung out in from of them, these sellers turn to the dark side for to get the money...I mean, get the right answer =)

Seeing as I've already tied them in knots however, I figure the best thing to do here, is once again put them between that rock and a tight place, they've carefully crufted for themselves for me to push them into... and lets see if they're adept enough to realize I'm the same buyer that needled them about that image...




Lets see how they handle that hot potato ...

[george65]

Lets see how they handle that hot potato ...

My bets?

1. They won't reply,
2., They wont answer the question,
3, They will give you some BS that the rating is theoretical when compared to Incandescent Brightness etc.

The seller of the lamp posts Finally got back to my mate I asked to send them about the lights and their Certification. Told me they were certified in other countries but not in Oz but guaranteed they were legal for sale.

Err, sorry but unless they are AS3000 Certified they are NOT legal for sale at all.

Got my 50W mains LED yesterday and the 1000W Spotlight.
More unboxing/ testing vids to do.
Going to have quite the Library of these fake Light Vids.

I am astounded that the last 2 items have turned up and are both from the same seller whom I have realised now goes under 5 Different names store fronts even though the locations are listed different as well! There is no getting away from these Crunts!
I can see interesting times ahead with Fleabay. Good Job I am doing these unboxing Vids/ tests. I can see me being accused of being the scammer but these will be hard to argue with.

Seems there is only one cheap light supplier/ distributor in Sydney and they are all the same one.
I am pretty certain that the store fronts must be owned by different sellers. The communications are vastly different. This should be an interesting week. I got nothing but Bullshit last week trying to talk to the different ones direct and the ones with the solar controller are outright pricks. Going to be satisfying getting the return on that one. Had to open some return cases and they are still Fking round with inane messages and ignoring my request for payment to return the items to the PO. Had to wait 5 or 7 days to get fleabag Involved so now the time is up.

I think I made a mistake trying to avoid the return requests. From now it will be request, one reply and then straight to return request then inevitably, ebay resolution.

[george65]

Wotnot,

Can you track down where this distributor is offering these store fronts for sale and if they are offering them in Oz/ English or only to other Chinese?
It would be very interesting to get an inside look at the setup and pricing of a pack of con artists we have been dealing with. I think there would be a lot of valuable and insightful information in being able to do that.

I wonder if these things are lump sum upfront from new or they just work on a commission and how the handling / orders are handled as to what the store owner and the distributor see?

[wotnot]

Keep in mind this is relative to UK law, but it's still a good watch

[wotnot]

Wotnot,

Can you track down where this distributor is offering these store fronts for sale and if they are offering them in Oz/ English or only to other Chinese?
It would be very interesting to get an inside look at the setup and pricing of a pack of con artists we have been dealing with. I think there would be a lot of valuable and insightful information in being able to do that.

I wonder if these things are lump sum upfront from new or they just work on a commission and how the handling / orders are handled as to what the store owner and the distributor see?

That'd be plural, distributors, and one place to look is....

Others, as you intimate, are harder to find because the sales pitch is either only in a certain language, or ads only appear in certain publications in those languages - even word of mouth is used.



...I could keep going for thousands of lines =)

[wotnot]

My bets?

1. They won't reply,
2., They wont answer the question,
3, They will give you some BS that the rating is theoretical when compared to Incandescent Brightness etc.

That could lead to;



So options 1 & 2 would be a pretty dumb move on their part...as for option 3, good luck with that attitude...because the description says ;





Which I will counter with;



Option 1 & 2 are actually no-ops ; I can wait 3 days and report the seller
Option 3 would put them against me, the person who has done a teardown on the lights, and has considerably more knowledge about the tech than they do.

I've left them one way out of the tight spot, now it's just a matter of waiting to see how savvy they are with eBay guidelines and policies....of which, I'm fairly well read -- after all, those docs happen to be written in English you know =)

[george65]

Keep in mind this is relative to UK law, but it's still a good watch

I watched the vid and a rambling follow up to it.
The problem with the light was clear on the nose on your face and I have had to deal with it before. The moron whom bought it tried to put a New, straight part on an Old and still bent car. These lights don't break from stones etc, they are a LOT tougher than glass, they break from impact which more times than not results in distortion of the support panels and mounting points. Backyarders NEVER get these right even if they recognise them at all. Prettyfunny if it wasn't so Damed annoying when some idiot brings back a part that came off a straight car claiming it " Doesen't Fit " On an acciden't damaged Vehicle they are repairing themselves. Even better when you say well take that white panel and put it on that blue car that's the same as yours and see if it fits that one? Oh, it does? Well clearly its your shitbox that's bent not the panel isn't it?

If the buyer didn't break the light putting it on, it soon became broken when he hit a bump or pot hole making the stresses already on the part greater till it broke under the load it should never have had.
Pitty the guy in the vid doesn't know about the special Epoxy you can get for headlights that can even reattach those broken mountings like new. Not cheap but it would have allowed him to repair the light and sell it as used. Spose that's what happens when sellers are flogging things they really have no knowledge of past what it actually is. In this case it's a headlight that looks like it's from a Hyundai, Maybe a Subi.

I didn't get ebays Policy at all there either way. The buyer obviously returned it for a Full refund so how would it have helped the seller to offer that which clearly would have been rejected? The policy/ suggestion served no one's interests. Flabag at it's Finest and predictable insanity. It's just hard and fast inflexible rules that only serve the interests of fleabag themselves.
At least they are consistent, They fk over everyone.


I then searched for Ebay BUYER protection on YT and got mostly hits on seller protection of which they all complain Fleabag give the buyers no protection. Look at a couple of Vids on BUYER protection and the sentiment is the same... For Buyers.
The common and united position is that Fleabag are an incompetent bunch of auto robot morons that don't listen to anyone's side, Just go by their Checkboxes and hard and fast rules no matter how inane or Illogical they are. Something we have already determined here and every vid of others experience shows.

This week will be real interesting. Will they side with me and my evidence? Do they, as one Vid espoused not even look at your buyer history unless it's very bad and will making repetitive " Not as described" claims work against me even if I have proof they are legitimate? I can't see how but I'm thinking real world Elalabay
Although buyers and sellers both think they are hard done by, another common agreement is that getting involved with Flea-bay resolution processes is a walk in LaLa fantasy parallel universe Planet Zorg and as we here have already determined, logic and common-sense are not principals that apply in that place.

In a way, although no where to the same degree, it largely reminds me of the law. It's NOT about truth and justice and all those principals, the Law is just a set of rules the game is played by no matter what anyone thinks or believes it should be. Clearly Fleabay is EXACTLY they same just with a much Bigger dose of insanity and frustration built in.

I think the first thing one should realise and be ones Greatest asset is that Logic does not apply and when every one tries to apply such Principals they will be putting themselves at great disadvantage.

The way to win here whatever the position is simply learn the rules as best you can and work within them. Often that is a long way from enough but what can you do?
The thing about returning broken things for sellers is just insane. I had to look at the date of the vid to see if this wasn't 10 or more years ago.
Sadly, it's very recent.

[george65]

Put in some more return requests and went to follow up on one from last week.
Went to the chat robot that was no help and requested agents help only to be told none available. Not the experience I got last time on this.

Is there a best way to get ebay help and what are the best links to follow?

[wotnot]

Put in some more return requests and went to follow up on one from last week.
Went to the chat robot that was no help and requested agents help only to be told none available. Not the experience I got last time on this.

Is there a best way to get ebay help and what are the best links to follow?

It's May Day...

[wotnot]

I didn't get ebays Policy at all there either way. The buyer obviously returned it for a Full refund so how would it have helped the seller to offer that which clearly would have been rejected? The policy/ suggestion served no one's interests. Flabag at it's Finest and predictable insanity. It's just hard and fast inflexible rules that only serve the interests of fleabag themselves.
At least they are consistent, They fk over everyone.

That's why I focused on a recent YT vid ~ perhaps ebay will revise guidelines & policies in the near future. I did actually full understand what ebay did there, and I see those ebay sellers in particular to be as naive as it gets ; they hadn't read and understood the guidelines and policies. If you *did* that much, you'd end up like old'mate Godzilla here, and walk away from the ebay platform. If I was a merchant/(re)seller, I'd do exactly the same thing ... for one reason only -- to put my business into a position where I didn't have to deal with ebay's guidelines & policies that have been fashioned to comply with AU consumer law ; then you're left with just AU consumer law and the fair trade practices office. It's that simple. You will still have to deal with that part of society that will try to rip you off, but I'd rather have something like that, speak for itself by way of evidence, than having to deal with the ebay platform which automatically returns the position in the buyer's favour, evidence or not.

Of course, what that couple got told 'from the office of the ebay president' is just as likely hogwash as anything else, and if it isn't, sometime in the future you'll receive an email advising a change/revision in ebay's returns policy.

In the case of LED lights however, the sellers are suffering the consequences of being lazy, and not taking the ebay platform seriously. Had they been diligent with the item listing, ensuring if it was true & correctly advertised, the ebay guidelines & policies wouldn't be of much use to me, a buyer, because of one thing - the item was as described. For instance, take those path lights yeah?...if they were actually AS3000 compliant, and you were selling to the AU market, then that is something I very much *would* include in my item listing, yes? To include that when it wasn't actually the case, puts the seller straight into the belly of the beast that is ebay guidelines and policies. That said, the new (Jan 2020) AS/NZ3000 revision is a bit different from previous releases, and you will need take note of..

If the item is for use in a house, or is to be sold over the internet to individuals without a registered ABN, then the product must comply with the requirements of the RCM, as detailed in AS/NZS 4417.2 and on . High risk electrical articles must be certified by a State regulator, or a JAS-ANZ accredited certifier like SAA.

This is your reference point for further reading :

I personally don't give credit to the notion that ebay phuqs everyone over -- my experience is, every ebay member who isn't familiar with the ebay guidelines & policies, their own locale/national consumer laws, and matters of civil law related to their country, or state/territory thereof, simply means they've entered the marketplace arena totally unprepared, with the least amount of effort possible, and they will get slit up a treat by *anyone* who's done the due diligence and research into the marketplace they've decided to become a part of... and that's buyers and sellers alike. I often summarize the situation with the analogy of the ocean being available for all to swim in, but you'd be an absolute idiot to go to the beach, jump into shark infested waters, while sporting a wound that's bleeding and putting the scent of food in the water for the next big noah to catch a whiff of, and bites off your leg --- what, do we blame the ocean for that? Of course not, you blame the idiot who jumped in the water without knowing the risks. Ebay, is just an ecommerce 'ocean' , nothing more.

[george65]

This is your reference point for further reading :

Thanks for that Don. Extremely helpful and insightful as usual.
I'll be drafting a message to them tonight/ tomorrow and sending it after my Sparky mate comes about lunchtime and looks over those path lights.

[Jma]

That was the same bunch of Clowns that I was talking about in the other thread that did my mates Install.
They have gone by various names now. They keep changing them obviously to try and evade their Reputation.

No surprises there really, when I looked into them about 4 or so years ago they were Eurosolar, but trading & registered as a different named company.

The Stupid errors they did on my mates place was a joke. The guys that put up the panels were German Back packers and had about 10 Min training they said.

There was 2 blokes that rocked up here to install everything were good, qualified and were quite happy to explain everything as they went.

Only thing they did do right was not install a rooftop isolator which they should have but I would have taken off and thrown to Buggery anyway. Caused more Fires than enough those things but still they are a requirement of the stupid solar regs.

I asked about that & thought it was a stupid place to put an isolator also, was told it was regulation and had to be on there & had to be on the roof.
Regs like that only come from one place, idiot politicians.

We took pics of everything and mate got out of paying the them the balance he owed which was lucky because normally these shonks want everything up front. They would ring and he would tell them they job still wasn't finished and he was waiting for them to send someone to hook it up. They called 3 times and that was it and they never came after him for it. I said in the end he did OK because the equipment he got was worth more than what he had paid. He got it signed off on and it's been OK since.
He still had the first wrong inverter so he got that as a spare.

Unfortunately I got mine through a Certigy EasyPay or whatever it's called plan.
I thought about just stopping the payments & when the inevitable complaints about lack of money arrived simply saying come & take this crap off my roof at your own expense, but it wouldn't have been the scum at eurosolar missing out as they already had their money, plus the govt. always sides against people who just stop payments, regardless of the circumstances.
I did however catch up with the lying piece of sh*t Indian salesman quite unexpectedly one afternoon in another village, explained a few things to him & haven't seen or heard of him out in this area since.

Have you got yours working correctly yet JMA? They have probably cross wired an array so in effect you only have a portion of the panels working. The hardware tends to work or it doesen't, it's probably the install that is Crook. If it's still not working get someone to Check all the DC cabling. It's easier than wiring Lights on a car, there is literally nothing to it but I guess it's still possible to stuff it up if you are clueless enough.

No idea George, it's working, but don't know if it's working to capacity or not though, I'm yet to see a credit on my power bills as promised.
Right from day 1 no one has actually put a laptop, multimeter or anything on any of the panels, wiring or the inverter to test any of it.
I couldn't believe the ACCC didn't make these germs at least send a tech out to test things correctly, if I wanted any testing done other than the figures I was asked to provide by reading from the inverter, I was informed I would have to pay for that testing myself.
When questioning the installers about zero testing after it was installed I was told "it was not required".
I didn't know at the time but apparently reputable companies test the panels and inverters after install in case adjustment or something is needed, not the eurosolar criminals though.
The Ergon (power company) blokes who came & inspected & fitted the new power meter told me that the panels were wired (I think) 'in sequence', the way they explained it was "if birdsh*t covers 1/8th of one panel the whole system then behaves as if each panel has 1/8th of it covered.
Thought that was a little weird but knowing nothing about them figured it must have been correct.

Wish I could remember the current name Euro is using. I think it might be Australian Solar but that could be one of their old names. Their list of names is long and all thoroughly disgraced. You can usually spot their ads because they use the same sort of format that stands out like dogs balls. All razamatazz and confidence inspiring with bright colours and cheap arse prices. Free would be too much to pay these twits.
This is one a bloodhound like Don would have a field day with. There is no way these Crunts should be allowed to do anything.
Should be Fking deported let alone not allowed to run a business.

I agree, these pieces of sh*t that consistently prove they are nothing but thieving scum, ducking, diving, dodging responsibilities, changing companies & ownership to dodge restrictions etc. etc. should be deported.
It is also another failure by these idiot politicians to put a stop to this type of rot, they know it goes on but do zero to stop it.

[wotnot]

I asked about that & thought it was a stupid place to put an isolator also, was told it was regulation and had to be on there & had to be on the roof.
Regs like that only come from one place, idiot politicians.

Nope, wrong - it's a form of 'field isolation switch', been around for I dunno...more than 70years...you get very used to the things in industry with 415v 3phase and higher ; it was extended to cover PV arrays because of the high voltage potentials involved. It has a very good reason & purpose to be mounted where it is, and is part of IEC 60947. Politicians had nothing to do with it ; electrical engineers did....and it's just one of those things that it wasn't implemented in AU until years after the rest of the world adopted it (2011 or so), so blame the politicians for that - this was in response to death/injuries caused by solar panel installations, when the power generation point couldn't be isolated from the field equipment (chargers/inverters).

Not on topic, so I'll leave this here =)

[george65]

I asked about that & thought it was a stupid place to put an isolator also, was told it was regulation and had to be on there & had to be on the roof.
Regs like that only come from one place, idiot politicians.

Yeah, it's a bad idea and has caused a LOT of fires due to water ingress causing corrosion and hot spots on terminals etc. One of the Fire Departments, Vic I think it is refuses to have them on any of their assets. I believe Oz is one of the very few places still to require them. It's a completely Dumb arse Idea anyway. Why would you have an isolator where no one can reach it without climbing on the roof?

I don't think it is the Pollies behind this, I thing it's the people in the solar industry whom are forever coming up with new rules and regulations to increasingly complicate a simple and straight forward job. Certainly you need safety regs but they have got to a point where you Can't comply to the letter of the regulations because some contravene others and you cant have both at the same time. They realise that the bun rush for solar is over so they prevent you from replacing failed inverters on old system so you have to get something completely new.
It's complete and utter BS but it keeps the industry ticking along.

Even 4MM solar cable is rated to 30 A and few if any inverters will handle that sort of current because everything is is wired in series with parallel Strings. Even with modern panels you are rarely going to go near 30A and if you do, then 6mm Wire would be employed. You can short this out and not cause a fire because the power of the panel drops when Off their Vmp.

I sure as hell would never have them on my arras. I need to isolate the power before the Isolator I turn it off and get on the roof and separate the connectors. Very rare to need to do that anyway. In case of a fire or something, NO fire depts will climb on roofs to shut down solar. They have stated that many times.
I put the isolators where anyone can get to them. Really don't want the wife or Daughter trying to climb up a ladder to turn something off on the roof. If there is a short between the panels and the isolator, Fine. Arrays are set up so cable has plenty of capacity, panels and roof is grounded, If the panels are on fire shutting the power off will do no good at all.

There are LOADS of documented cases of Rooftop isolators CAUSING fires and it's clear they are far more of a danger than a safety asset. Once they get to 5 years old, they can fail at ant time. Lots of people have had their systems crash because of the safety switches corroding and failing.

Wish I was near you mate. Be happy to come have a look at your system and run some tests. Not hard if you know how. If you have any electrically savvy mates all you need is a decent multimeter and you can find out a lot.

[Jma]

Nope, wrong - it's a form of 'field isolation switch', been around for I dunno...more than 70years...you get very used to the things in industry with 415v 3phase and higher ; it was extended to cover PV arrays because of the high voltage potentials involved. It has a very good reason & purpose to be mounted where it is, and is part of IEC 60947. Politicians had nothing to do with it ; electrical engineers did....and it's just one of those things that it wasn't implemented in AU until years after the rest of the world adopted it (2011 or so), so blame the politicians for that - this was in response to death/injuries caused by solar panel installations, when the power generation point couldn't be isolated from the field equipment (chargers/inverters).

Not on topic, so I'll leave this here =)

Ah ok, my lack of knowledge becomes apparent once again, thanks for the correction.

[Jma]

There are LOADS of documented cases of Rooftop isolators CAUSING fires and it's clear they are far more of a danger than a safety asset. Once they get to 5 years old, they can fail at ant time. Lots of people have had their systems crash because of the safety switches corroding and failing.

Wish I was near you mate. Be happy to come have a look at your system and run some tests. Not hard if you know how. If you have any electrically savvy mates all you need is a decent multimeter and you can find out a lot.

I've read similar about them but never seen or heard of anyone I know that's had it happen.
I have noticed with mine the plastic casing of the switch seems like it's weathered somewhat, it's been on there for nearly 6 years now.
Something as simple as having an easy to remove cover over them I guess could help with weathering issues.
Thanks for the offer to have a look, I wouldn't imagine it'd be too difficult, I haven't even bothered researching how to test any of it, cleaning the panels once or twice a year is about it so far.

[wotnot]

The next game, is like a shell game....not strictly ebay sellers... but I haven't done any back referencing - I *imagine* they have an ebay presence as well. They do however have the same offending image as part of their online store advertising (you know, the same image that ebay seller had in their listing...no faking worries...I'll show you no faking worries =) They have to be connected somehow, but it could be they just chose the same supplier of these lights out of shenzhen ...you just don't know. I don't really expect the ebay seller to tell the online sellers about the recent incursion from D.I.E.T. ...the 'Dalek Image Extermination Triad' as I've decided to name that arm of the octopus...because it would be advantageous for them to know they'll no longer get nicked, but the online sellers might..smart play, is to remain stuum.

You see, ebay to me is a real life, real time, real money, real items, MMO game. I feel quite sure, many sellers view and play it in exactly the same fashion. They have multiple store fronts, pretty good AI bots, staggering market data and research...they make for a formidable player adversary in this game. There's many 'boss' characters with unknown number of minion sellers out there on the playing field, and very little is really as it appears. Me?...all I have is myself, and those characters I create to help me.. me=my ebay ID, and the formal record it forms, there's the 3 Daleks, each one a little more evil than the next, and the entity of gcbfication in charge of YT edits (which is actually the noun formed by my IRC nick, which chats to minions in foreign lands). The playfield is global, and if you're not a polyglot, having contact with folks that cover all EU languages really helps. Knowing Chinese culture is a virtue I think, but you have to rewire your brain a bit to interpret how they conduct business. If you treat it any more serious than this, you *are* the game, quite literally.

In an ideal world, where every ebay buyer/seller was as honest as the day is long, the guidelines and policies work...sort of. There's still that chasm wherein the platform itself is fashioned for the US market, and has been adapted to comply with locale specific laws & regulations, that are nothing like the US model. The very fact the AU arm of ebay is registered in Switzerland might lend you half a clue. The UK ebay site as I've mentioned, has to by law include sellers name/address, but it's things like that which look like they make sense, due to the degree of public exposure it affords, that pretty much mean nothing all in the end. Even in the US example, it depends on which state you're in, and the fiscal size of the damages involved -- is it time to go to Judge Judy or not? I'm not deriding it, just drawing a parallel, it is what it is.

Back to the shell game... 3 online webstores all with the same image...are they connected or in touch with each other? Are they team players? I don't think so... after a bit of dig/whois it turns out each entity is in a different state. They certainly don't appear to share ethnicity, no concurrent time lines, a couple have closed/rolled over business names, one in particular is a new startup. One of the daleks got fairly agitated when it was discovered one of these operators is on the south side of Brissy...tempting...but, sigh, too far away with covid19 restrictions.

I thought initially if I could chose just one, the most likely candidate, that entity with the oldest registered business history, they might let the others know they'd better take down their offending images as well...but nah, there's no honour among these thieves, they'd just let each other get caught, on the one less competitor premise...I know I would. So I have to hit all 3 at once, and play reverse shell game ..last one to comply gets left hiding the ball.

Ok, lets not get sloppy... do the back reference, and find their ebay presence... oh FFS!!...Nooooo!!...hahaha, rotfl... you gotta do this =) I noticed they described the lights somewhat uniquely... "2PCS 48W LED Work Lights FLOOD Lamp Off Road 12V 24V Boat Camping Fishing 80w" ....so I fed that into an ebay search, and got ;




...bwahaha... every single one, contains that bloody no faking worries image....ffs...

See, this is why it's worth the time to get your proven working script in really good order...I mean, tight... now that one seller/store front has acquiesced to that script, they have set a precedent example which I will highlight, I just have to alter it a tiny bit to bring it to current time (I can now only claim the previous ticket has been closed, but I really don't want to open another eBay customer support ticket on the same issue)....( <- there, I just typed what I'll c&p into into the script in alteration =)... damn, that was unexpected...

I was going to type a nice 'do it now' to the online sellers, in fact I already drafted it...but I figure now, in light of the above, I'll hand that over to the YT division to see what vid masterpiece might result.

Maybe other lights and PU bricks arrive tomorrow...and the game goes on....oh, and hi J

[george65]

I have noticed with mine the plastic casing of the switch seems like it's weathered somewhat, it's been on there for nearly 6 years now.

Ya know it would be well worth it at this stage to get someone out and check your System. The switch is old enough to potential cause problems now. Complete shutdown of the system or a fire are real likely candidates. If there is a problem and they correct it you may well be ahead in the savings on power you may make when the thing is working properly. OTOH, the peace of mind might be worth it alone.

Now might also be a good time because I would assume that things would be on the quiet side so they may not be flat out with installs and be happy to come out for jobs like this. When the Chinaah flu is over they are likely to be flat out again and not interested.

I think it would be worth having the setup inspected properly and that isolator replaced. Often they put little covers over them like a sunshade to try and keep The sun off and the direct water out. Better still, Have the damn thing removed all together.