Need Help with a Forum Seller

[slowandsteady]

I purchased a used Campy Record group recently (sans crank) and when the kit arrived I noticed the Barrell Adjuster on one of the calipers was split in two and the rubber adjuster part was missing altogether. I immediately e-mailed the seller who said he would find one for me and send it off to me asap. I told him there was no immediate rush but I would like to have the adjuster as it was costly to replace (about $30).

We have had several e-mails back and forth with me reminding him that he still has not supplied the part and him assuring me he would send it off soon. "I ran the rear brake w/out a barrel nut, just cable into that half bolt. I failed to mention it in my ad, so I feel culpable to remedy this."

Two months have passed and he has not sent the part. I have not heard from him after my last e-mail this past week. Granted he may be off racing or vacationing but most of us check e-mail even on vacation at least once a week...

The part costs about $30. Seller seems like a nice enough guy and the initial transaction was smooth but now I feel like I am simply being taken advantage of...

What say the forum to how I should proceed?
A) File a complaint with Paypal and request a $30 refund
B) Out him on this board
C) Give him some more time to make it right
D) Combination of the above
E) Other

[gauvink]

Call him out!! 2 months that is bs..

[dana_e]

is is funny what some guys think is used but OK

it is either pristine

or well used

missing bits, uncool

I bought some record brakes from a craigslist guy did not mention no barrell adjusters at all

was so jacked up I bought them anyway. so no big deal

but that is missing parts

whatevs

[Jason E]

before outing him, perhaps contact a moderator. They like to know the classifieds are working smoothly, as it benefits everyone. Perhaps they can whisper in his ear where you can not and make for a reasonable solution.

At least worth a try before the nuclear option of outing him...

Good luck sir.

[thwart]

Seller seems like a nice enough guy and the initial transaction was smooth Given the overall cost of the group, I don't know that a $30 Campagnolo MSRP part would be enough to 'go nuclear'. You may want to suggest an alternate method of compensation to the seller... and discuss the option of outing him here as well...

[AngryScientist]

IMO, life is too short to "sweat the small stuff".

if it were me, i would buy the part myself, and follow up with the seller to have him reimburse you the funds. give the seller a bit more time to pay you back, if he's a nice enough guy, he will. if he doesnt, you can out him in the feedback thread. but dont hold onto this and stew over it, really it isnt worth getting upset over.

that's my take on it.

[maunahaole]

Try to work it out with the seller, with help of the mods if necessary. In a way, it is fortunate that the disputed bit is a small replaceable and relatively inexpensive one. It is not as though you got sold a cracked frame or something like that. Your path the being made whole on the deal is an easy one. That said, I get your frustration.

[rugbysecondrow]

IMO, life is too short to "sweat the small stuff".

if it were me, i would buy the part myself, and follow up with the seller to have him reimburse you the funds. give the seller a bit more time to pay you back, if he's a nice enough guy, he will. if he doesnt, you can out him in the feedback thread. but dont hold onto this and stew over it, really it isnt worth getting upset over.

that's my take on it.


Agreed.

[djg21]

I'd leave the Mods out of it. They are not babysitters, and are not paid to mediate disputes between adults (presumably) who chose to assume the risks inherent in dealing online through this forum rather than at arm's length.

Contact the seller, give him a date by when you need the part and inform him that if he can't provide the part, you will buy one and send him a copy of the of the invoice so he can reimburse you expeditiously. If he doesn't reimburse you, you will be out a relatively small sum, and then you can "out" him.

As always, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!

[ultraman6970]

The problem with paypal is that maybe is too late for a complain too.

[jr59]

for 30 dollars???

[eddief]

call him at home in the middle of the night. let him know if he does not do the right thing, you will post his email address and phone number on the board and then we can all assist you to get this taken care of :).

i bought my used 09 Spec. S-Works Roubaix frameset used from an ebay auctioneer. We actually decided, via email, to do the transaction via paypal and outside ebay.

i swear, he threw this gorgeous frameset in bike carton with a bunch of newspaper and nothing at all around the tubes, and no fork or chain stay chocks. when i opened the box i could not believe my eyeballs.

all was good, thank god, except for a previously not discussed chip in the clear on the underside of the top tube. not sure how it happened, but the packing job certainly did not provide reasonable protection.

the seller said it was perfect when he put in the box and acknowledged it must have happened in shipping. he also did not ship it with the usual downtube cable adjusters.

he said he must have forgotten the adjusters and would send those via usps. the reused business envelope arrived a few days later, ripped by the mail service and no adjusters were in it. duh.

i too had to go back and forth for about 10 days until i threatened to open up a complaint on paypal. i also had his mailing address and phone number...which i never had to use as he finally gave me a more than fair refund via ebay.

sometimes it is about the principle and not the amount of money...even when transacting online.

worth the hassle cause i love the buit up bike.

[Don49]

Contact the seller, give him a date by when you need the part and inform him that if he can't provide the part, you will buy one and send him a copy of the of the invoice so he can reimburse you expeditiously.

+1

But I'd go ahead now and purchase the replacement part myself. Then email a copy of the receipt to the seller.

[FixedNotBroken]

I have only had positive transactions, lucky me. Granted I have only been a member since December 2010, i'm sorry this happened! Everyone here seems stand up.

[WickedWheels]

Suck it up. It's $30 and not the end of the world. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business online. This is not a retailer you're dealing with. It's a person and people are sometimes flawed. Don't waste any more time thinking about it.

[JeffS]

[deleted] - it's not worth stirring up drama over

[false_Aest]

Suck it up. It's $30 and not the end of the world. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business online. This is not a retailer you're dealing with. It's a person and people are sometimes flawed. Don't waste any more time thinking about it.


+ one

[slowandsteady]

I am not sweating it in any big way just upset with the principal and the fact that someone on this board is acting in such a manner.

I think I will proceed with the advice to purchase the part and ask for a refund. I actually already asked for the refund several days ago and the lack of response was what prompted this thread.

For those of you who said "it's only $30 not worth sweating it" I ask you to remember it's not YOUR $30 so it's easy to write off.

What if I sold you a stem or bar or caliper and you paid me $30. Then I never sent you the item...would you be ticked off at me? Would you ask for your money back? Would you "just let it go"? I paid for an item and have not received it.

I ask you; How would you feel in this situation? What would you do? What if this kind of behavior becomes commonplace in the classifieds? Be honest and think about if someone ripped you off for $30?

[soulspinner]

Just out him so no one else is out any cash in the future.

[victoryfactory]

I'd leave the Mods out of it. They are not babysitters, and are not paid to mediate disputes
As always, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!

So exactly what are they getting those huge moderator
salaries for?

VF

PS: You can catch more flies with a hand grenade than you
can with honey or vinegar.

PPS: let it go

[biker72]

Buy a new adjuster and install it on your bike.

File a claim with Pay Pal. 30 bucks is 30 bucks. This can take forever. (More frustration)

It's obvious to me that after 2 months the seller has no intention of sending you anything.

[poguemahone]

I purchased a used Campy Record group recently (sans crank)


What if I sold you a stem or bar or caliper and you paid me $30. Then I never sent you the item...would you be ticked off at me? .

A stem or a caliper is not a Campy record group. You're missing one part, a small one.

You are within your rights to ask for your money back, at least for the part. But how much of a deal did you get? How much more expensive would the group have been from another source? If you got a screaming deal, you might take it at that.

My take is this: buy the part, ask the seller for a refund in that amount. If that goes nowhere, walk away for your own piece of mind. Stressing over a small part of a deal goes nowhere.

Then go out and ride.

[forrestw]

I am not sweating it in any big way just upset with the principal

For those of you who said "it's only $30 not worth sweating it" I ask you to remember it's not YOUR $30 so it's easy to write off.

What if I sold you a stem or bar or caliper and you paid me $30. Then I never sent you the item...

2 notes, a principal is the head of a school or perhaps of a company, a principle may be a concept worth fighting for. Forum members have put way the eff more than $30 worth of their time into this conversation.

I'm sure your question was rhetorical but you asked when did I last get taken for $30. I purchased a record groupset from about 5 different sellers on ebay. I tore down the shift levers to lubricate them and found the RH index spring carrier was cracked, a common and non-critical failure in campy shifters, the part cost me $12. The front brake had a cracked collar on the shaft; at the time I didn't have access to a machine shop to make a new one and due to campy's change to selling assemblies a new shaft-cum-bushing cost me $80. So all told I was 'out' $92 and some time to do the fixing.

You weren't sold a $30 item, you bought a used groupset for whatever you paid that would have cost about $1500 new. I purchased my groupset (incl crank) for $1000 including the bits I had to buy for fixing, saving myself $1200 off the price of a new groupset. I didn't consider spending $100 while saving $1200 overall to be a bad deal.

[slowandsteady]

You weren't sold a $30 item, you bought a used groupset for whatever you paid that would have cost about $1500 new. I purchased my groupset (incl crank) for $1000 including the bits I had to buy for fixing, saving myself $1200 off the price of a new groupset. I didn't consider spending $100 while saving $1200 overall to be a bad deal.

This issue has nothing to do with how much I saved on a transaction - by your reasoning it is now perfectly acceptable to send partial shipments or broken items. Next time I buy a COMPLETE bike is it ok if the seller does not include the wheels? Leaves off the bars? sends it with a broken RD?

I bought an item advertised as complete (brake calipers). They were missing a part. The seller acknowledged he made a mistake in his ad and said he would make it right. He has not done so. This is the issue at hand.

[rugbysecondrow]

This issue has nothing to do with how much I saved on a transaction - by your reasoning it is now perfectly acceptable to send partial shipments or broken items. Next time I buy a COMPLETE bike is it ok if the seller does not include the wheels? Leaves off the bars? sends it with a broken RD?

I bought an item advertised as complete (brake calipers). They were missing a part. The seller acknowledged he made a mistake in his ad and said he would make it right. He has not done so. This is the issue at hand.


You are right. The grammarians aside, I think the point now is how much effort do you put forth to make yourself whole if that is even possible. For some, $30 may not be an issue, but it is the $30 part he shorted you PLUS what it costs to replace it, so maybe a $60-$80 dollar issue. I would be pissed if I were you but I am not sure I would let it bother me as much as it seems to bother you. That doesn't makeyou wrong, it just makes us different. If the money and the issue matter, than chase it down unitl it is resolved. Regardless of what you do, you can leave feedback in the feedback thread, that would seem to be an appropriate place for feedback on this seller.

Best of luck!

[Marz]

Surely the seller should do the RIGHT thing!

Wouldn't you?

[jr59]

I am not sweating it in any big way just upset with the principal and the fact that someone on this board is acting in such a manner.

I think I will proceed with the advice to purchase the part and ask for a refund. I actually already asked for the refund several days ago and the lack of response was what prompted this thread.

For those of you who said "it's only $30 not worth sweating it" I ask you to remember it's not YOUR $30 so it's easy to write off.

What if I sold you a stem or bar or caliper and you paid me $30. Then I never sent you the item...would you be ticked off at me? Would you ask for your money back? Would you "just let it go"? I paid for an item and have not received it.

I ask you; How would you feel in this situation? What would you do? What if this kind of behavior becomes commonplace in the classifieds? Be honest and think about if someone ripped you off for $30?


PLEASE!!

i'm out about 1550. on this board!
No I'm not happy about it.
Yet it is my problem, not this boards.

thats how I would feel about it!!!!!

BTW; No! At this time I'm not outing anyone.
So please don't ask!

[dekindy]

Did the seller post pictures? If he did, what is the problem?

[Aaron O]

A stem or a caliper is not a Campy record group. You're missing one part, a small one.

You are within your rights to ask for your money back, at least for the part. But how much of a deal did you get? How much more expensive would the group have been from another source? If you got a screaming deal, you might take it at that.

My take is this: buy the part, ask the seller for a refund in that amount. If that goes nowhere, walk away for your own piece of mind. Stressing over a small part of a deal goes nowhere.

Then go out and ride.That's exactly what I was going to say...if you got a huge price break, leave it be and be happy with the deal.

[Ken Robb]

PLEASE!!

i'm out about 1550. on this board!
No I'm not happy about it.
Yet it is my problem, not this boards.

thats how I would feel about it!!!!!

BTW; No! At this time I'm not outing anyone.
So please don't ask!

Oh, oh--now you may get many offers to sell you $300 Meivicis and $100 11 speed Record Gruppos. :)

[Pete Serotta]

That's exactly what I was going to say...if you got a huge price break, leave it be and be happy with the deal.

I do not know detail but there are "bunches" of stuff sold cheap by Forum IDs. This has been good for many people but not for a few.

My suggestion is send an email and keep a copy :D and also ask in a thread for a response from the ID who sold and list the specifics in thread. (no attacks though- - just facts,)

While the forum nor SEROTTA are in anyway responsible it is a way of educating others in the art of buying and in selling.

Low post count is more risky than known folks on the forum that have been around many years here and built a reputation.

WE all like deals but it has been known to happen "if a deal is too good to be completely accurate"...it is probably not as accurate as you are assuminig. :no: :no:

PETE :crap: :crap: