I agree there are definitely issues with buyers out there, but I think that alot of us who are buyers are a little on edge because of the dodgy sellers out there. If you were to check out my feedback on ebay, you'd see that all my neg feedback was from when retaliatory feedback could be left by dodgy sellers, and I'm talking about people like Wheeljackslab, who tends to be a domestic "dr jeckyl" and international "mr hyde."
Let me give you my history of bad run-ins, leaving out things shipped to the wrong address and sellers who sold me something damaged but tried to do the right thing:
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RippleItem #: 6009943497
I bought a MASK Firecracker figure off him, and when I got him, I discovered that he'd used the helmet of the pilot to hide paint damage to the figure while also having a damaged rear gun which was also not shown. As the guy refused paypal for international sellers, I couldn't get my money back, and on top of that, the guy left me neg feedback in retaliation for the ebay complaint.
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JgalloItem #: 5974788546
I bought a MISB Transformers Thunderclash from him and when he sent me the invoice, shipping was more than what he'd quoted in the auction. When I queried it with him, he claimed postage had just gone up and that he couldn't be expected to update all his listings. I then took it to ebay, as a seller isn't allowed to change the terms and conditions of the auction, the seller was forced to change the shipping price to what it was in the auction. As he'd cooperated, I left him +ve feedback. Today I found neg feedback where he'd claimed I was full of threats and problems, which is complete crap.
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dtatomic (this user has since changed their name to
dtacustomz)
Item #: 6028734496
I won a MASK Raven from him on ebay, and was quoted double the standard shipping costs. I contacted the seller over MSN messenger to discuss only sending the disk weapons which it came with as I really only needed those parts. Not only was the seller uncooperative about the shipping costs, but they claimed to be freaked out by me contacting them on msn (they actually flipped out completely when I pointed out that I could contact them over the phone under ebay's terms of use), refusing to sell the item and demanding that we both leave each other positive feedback. I refused. A few days later I contacted the seller, deciding to meet them half way, telling them I'd accept the whole item but there was no way I was letting them rip me off with shipping. They responded that he had gotten a new shipping amount from the post office, but now they were 2 hours away from home at university and had no way of getting the item to me, again demanding I leave feedback and not go ahead with the sale!
I stuck to my guns and he finally offered a different item in its place, Pirahna (http://www.albertpenello.com/mask/pir.jpg ) which while missing the windshield, was supposedly in working order with its figure. Deciding to be far more generous than ebay stipulates I had to be (according to ebay, I could have easily just stuck to my guns & demanded the original item), I let him send me this item instead.
When the item arrived, not only was the wrong figure provided (this was the figure he sent but the part for the submarine launching mechanism on the pack of the sidecar, which it & the sub form (on the first picture, it's the strut closest to you on the piece between the submarine & the bike). When I contacted the seller he said to send him pictures but that as far as he was concerned I'd just have to relist the item & hope for the best.
At this point I took out a paypal dispute as I could see that the seller had no intention of compensating me for the set in any way. Again with the dispute, I was too generous. Rather than demanding a full refund (which looking back I should have done) I said I'd settle for $17 out of the $20 I'd paid. After all I'd been sent a set which not only had the wrong figure supplied, but was essentially broken, & as far as tracking down an auction for the crucially damaged part goes, they never are sold alone. Also I fail to see why I should have to pay for shipping on an item which was anything but what I'd agreed to and that was as a stretch being nice. No sooner than I had filed the dispute though, that the seller had left me neg feedback & sent me two abusive emails. After the third, I sent back a blunt one essentially saying "no more Mr Nice Guy".
The guy tried falling back on the fact that the item wasn't insured, but the box was sealed and iundamaged, and the broken strut was nowhere to be found in the box, mmeaning that it was broken at the time it was being packed. In short, he's a buyer's worst nightmare.
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Wheeljackslab.
Item #: 6027507361 (Brainstorm)
Item #: 6027507393 (Slapdash)
It's interesting to note that all the positive things which I've heard people say about him seem to relate to domestic dealings, and here in the fan community in Australia, I have yet to hear of a single positive experience people have had with him.
A few months ago, I made the mistake of buying a G1 Brainstorm and Slapdash from him. First off, he'd said no paypal payments for international sellers with the auction yet had listed Bidpay as an option, which to be frank, was the only reason I bid on both items. When the auction ended I discovered that he hadn't done his homework on Bidpay and they had since shut down. This left me in a position of trying to find a relatively safe alternative to sending cash or a cheque, and in the process of doing so, he left me with a paymeny not received dispute on both items. It's also worth noting that in his auction listings, he'd mentioned Slapdash but had a picture of Triggerhappy. When I messaged him to confirm that it was Slapdash and not Triggerhappy, he assured me it was Slapdahs.
Fortunately at the same time, I'd managed to find a payment method which did at least cover me to some extent. I informed him on both items and both non paying bidder disputes were closed. About a week after this, I read the TFW2005 bad buyers thread and so I emailed him politely asking for clarification over concerns i had with his packing methods after reading about another Australian member's misfortunes over a G1 Shockwave he had acquired through him, only to be greeted not by the usual helpful and friendly tone of his emails, but by what was essentially a rant about how he ALWAYS packs Shockwave well and about "bad buyers". He also told me point blank that he indulges in retaliatory feedback on ebay. I should have realised that this would be the calm before the storm.
About a week and a half later (I can check dates on all of this later on if need be), Brainstorm arrived but not Slapdash, and one of the wingjoints on Brainstorm was VERY badly worn! I emailed him about both items and was told that because I didn't specify with the payment that it was for both auctions, it was my problem. With Brainstorm, he also insisted on me shipping it halfway round the world for me to inspect it so he could "consider" giving me a refund.
Now considering that this is exactly what had happened with this other member's Shockwave (literally arriving in pieces), naturally alarm bells went off. As for Slapdash, if it were a standard situation, then fair enough. However this was not a standard situation as he had unpaid item disputes on both items, and payment was sent to him for $110 (the quoted total for both shipped with insurance), where Brainstorm was worth $50 and Slapdash was worth $45. I learned from him at the end of things that he doesn't use any of the standard ebay tools, as in my ebay and his ebay inbox- things the average buyer would EXPECT from an ebay seller - at least when it doesn't suit him anyway.
He also insisted on me sending over a money order for the additional shipping amount- the cost of which was as much as the shipping amount i was sending, rather than allowing me to send it through ebay. When I brought up paying the $8 I believed it to be at that time (the guy is very good at being difficult and intimidating via emails to the point where if he catches you off guard, it's very easy to get flustered and not be thinking straight).
Considering that I had tried resolving things with the seller and had been given an unsatisfactory result, I followed standard ebay proceedures and filed an "item not as described" and "item not received" disupte for Brainstorm and Slapdash respectively. This resulted in a "how dare you be so unreasonable" response from him. He then turned around and insisted on charging me a 20% penalty on a refund for a "restocking fee" for Slapdash, or he would "allow me" to choose another item of the same value. He also insisted on sending me the refund through paypal- which while seemingly being "the devil incarnate" when he receives money- it's perfectly ok when he's the one sending it. The figure he claimed was short though, and when I argued that he accused me of trying to con him. I had to scan in and send him my carbon copy of the money order to which I got a response of "Well how was I suposed to know you'd payed me that much?!", and an extremely grudging acceptance of the new amount. When I asked again about Slapdash, he argued that I didn't have the credit according to his 20% rule, yet at the time, the Auction for Slapdash was still active and won by me.
Feeling intimidated, I caved in at the time and accepted another item (which I now regret) and he went offline. About 2-5 minutes later, the intimidation faded and I argued a new proposal. As the shipping difference with the extra amount was such that there was a dfference of $3 US as far as the shippinmg cost for Slapdash went, as both items were still active (It's also worth noting that at this point, he'd banned me from bidding on any of his items, as I discovered when checking on the other item) and I had a worn wing joint which was not as described; I suggested partial compensation for $3USD for the wing joint damage which would take care of the shipping and that way there'd be a reasonable compromise.
To make sure the message was there before he came back online and cancelled the emails, I sent him a message through the "contact seller" option (as that way it would be instantaneous) saying that I'd changed my mind on Punch (the other figure I'd caved in on with) and that I proposed the above idea of a partial compensation for Brainstorm in the way of a shipping difference to square things up.
He then demanded we stick to the 20% option. When I refused to play ball on it as post auction extra charges like that are against Ebay TOU, he got nasty saying take Punch or the refund - 20% and that as he was blocking my email address from his email account after the next email and a reply from him, if I gave him an answer other than either option not only would I get no reply from him, but he'd decide what course of action he would take and I'd just have to live with it.
He sent me a refund, minus 20% for a "restocking fee from having to cancel both auctions" to an email address which wasn't even linked to my paytpal account. At this point, I was through being reasonable, and so I not only bounced his refund back, but filed an additional charges complaint with ebay, a false contact info complaint (his listed phonenumber at the time was disconnected) and left neg feedback, to which he carried through on his retaliatory feedback veiled threat.
About a week later I got an email from him, claiming he'd refund me the full price of Slapdash but insisted on keeping the $6USD and that I had better take this refund because there would not be another.
So not only did I wind up losing a whole night's sleep on this, but am now out of pocket and have a transformer which was not as described with a bad precedent in terms of having faith that if I returned the item he would actually inspect it in good faith and play fair on a refund; I'm also out of pocket.
While I can't speak for his domestic dealings and he may well be a dream to deal with in them; with international dealings, I can honestly say that he's a nightmare to deal with. In short, if you'll be dealing with him internationally; avoid him like the plague!
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Bluepro14Item #: 6028998187
Won a complete set of UK Constructicons from him which I was told would take upto a month to get to me by standard airmail. A month later, no sign of them so I email the seller. The seller apologises saying that the reason they were late was because they request personal details from Paypal for accounts that show up as unverified. Now this would be on its own bad enough if it were just bad communication but the fact was that my account had just been verified at the time as I'd had to increase my Paypal limits, making the check unnecessary at best and at worst a blatent lie!
I emailed the seller voicing my displeasure at what had transpired and that I found their paypal verification explanation shaky at best as my account was verified. I received no reply. Recently I left neg feedback over the transaction considering the lateness of the item combined with not just a shaky excuse for it, but also piss poor communication on their part. The following morning I woke up to find myself on the receiving end of retaliatory feedback.
Unless you want woeful communication, late items and deceitful excuses for the lateness, then avoid this seller like the plague.
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remad7Item #: 170211982701
I bought a Centurions Doom Drones Strafer from the guy which was supposedly NRFB, only when I got it, I discovered that the tape holding down one of the tabs had been sliced apart, when the instruction booklet fell out the side of it.
I approached the seller about it only to have him be combative, abusive and libellous, threatening to name me personally in his ebay listings if I left him negative feedback, which I did.
However it seems that it wasn't an empty threat as the guy responded by listing my name, residential address and phone number in one of his item listings and slandering me. Fortunately eBay removed that listing promptly, however I don't trust him to stop there, and I'd strongly recommend no longer dealing with him, unless you want your personal contact details splashed across multiple eBay listings.
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ajmzekeincItem #: 270390233773
Bought a sealed Captain Power Dread Stalker from him. Auction stated flap was slightly bent. When I received it, the flip had been bent completely to ship to the point where the internal cardboard layers had completely snapped. Seller claimed they were doing me a favour by trying to keep shipping costs down and blamed me for not emailing them before the invoice to tell them I didn't want the packaging mutilated when the item was shipped.
Steer clear if you want anything boxed or carded from this guy!
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Primy101Item #: 120421860407
Bought a sealed Matt Trakker/Miles Mayhem 2-pack from him. Arrived today with the bubble holding the Spectrum mask dented in the top right corner and running almost the whole distance along the top- something not indicated in the item photo. In addition, the seller overcharged on shipping.
Box shows no sign of damage- meaning that the damage had to have taken place either during packing or before then. Seller is claiming that the item was sold "as is" and blaming it on shipping, claiming it's my fault for not having insurance (even though insurance wouldn't have covered this as the shipping box wasn't damaged).
Now the guy did send a partial refund to cover the damage, but only after I left him neg feedback.
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In short, I think the reason why alot of buyer tend to get paranoid out there with sellers is because of some of the horror stories like hte ones I've encountered here.
)? 4 of the figures were missing!
