How do I deal with this guy?

[My Name Is BoB]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8175725620&ssPage Name=STRK:MEWN:IT

I bought this gamecube through paypal, got it in a few days, then opened it up to find it had crap all over it, and 2 controller ports not working. It had a disc read error like stated, but I'm not worried about that because I can fix that. I sent him this email.

"I am emailing you concerning the gamecube that you sent me. It had coke spilled all over it, causing 2 of the controller ports to not function(player 1 and 4), which was not described in the auction. Also, I cannot use the gamecube for spare parts (as stated in your auction) because they are damaged. Since you did not describe the unit as damaged (only malfunctioning) you misrepresented the true condition of the unit. Because you sold the unit under false pretenses, I believe you should refund all of the money I paid (plus return shipping).

Hopefully we can get this sorted out,

Andrew"

He then replies with this

"Thanks for the email Andrew,

When I put the Gamecube on the auction I was not aware that anything had been spilled on the system. In fact up to about a week before I put the gamecube on Ebay it was working fine and occasionally not reading disc's. It then got to the point where it would not read any disc, and give me a disc error. As far as the game port not working, we have never had any problems with the Game port #1 and we have never used game port #4 so I am not sure about this.
This is how I feel about the situation. For one I know nothing about how a game cube works so I wouldn't have any direct knowledge about if the parts were damaged or not. I don't feel that I misrepresented the auction at all as I didn't have any knowledge about how the Gamecube was broken or I would have fixed it myself. As far as offering a refund, first of all I don't feel I owe you a refund because I clearly stated in the auction that the item was broken and that it was AS IS. I might be able to offer some type of a refund, but as far as refunding shipping costs or return shipping costs that is not going to happen. NO seller that I have ever dealt with before pays for shipping both ways, no refunds shipping in general. Please email me back if you would like.

Dax"

So what should I do now?

[swetooth9]

just get as much money as you can get out of the refund..it was AS IS, wasn't it?

[Eviltude]

All I could suggest would be to talk to an ebay official or whatever they call em there. I have never bought or sold on ebay so i dont know all the rules and stuff but im pretty sure someone who works there could help ya out.

[Ugamer_X]

Get whatever money he's willing to give you back, then stick him with a negative.

[Storamin]

All I could suggest would be to talk to an ebay official or whatever they call em there. I have never bought or sold on ebay so i dont know all the rules and stuff but im pretty sure someone who works there could help ya out.
Key thought being: Never dealt with an ebay official.

If you payed with Paypal then chargeback. After that tell him to pay for shipping back or you'll just keep the gamecube.

[My Name Is BoB]

just get as much money as you can get out of the refund..it was AS IS, wasn't it?

Yeah it was as is, so does that mean I can lie on my auctions, then say as-is, and I'm good to go?

[zionoverfire]

Well you bought it as is, I'd leave him a nice big negative and move on.

[zionoverfire]

Yeah it was as is, so does that mean I can lie on my auctions, then say as-is, and I'm good to go?

Auctions that have items in as-is condition rarely sell as high so by doing this you take a large chunk out of your profits.

[anonymouswhoami]

Sorry OP, but the auction did state AS IS and NO REFUNDS. He did send you what was promised - a non-working Gamecube, so he didn't commit fraud and is under no obligation to refund your money. You should have asked numerous questions about the condition/history of the unit before placing a bid. He didn't necessarily lie about the condition of the unit, just omitted some details. Seeing the words AS IS should raise red flags every time.

[Samurai X]

Yeah it was as is, so does that mean I can lie on my auctions, then say as-is, and I'm good to go?

No, it's this type of thinking that has the world turned into the piece of shit it is,i buy in ebay all the time so dont go screw with it , besides everything has it's limits , in this case you should get the refund hes willing to give you and then leave him a positive, because it would be very low of you to leave him a negative after he even resolved the problem and gave you a refund.

[jboy]

Sorry OP, but the auction did state AS IS and NO REFUNDS. He did send you what was promised - a non-working Gamecube, so he didn't commit fraud and is under no obligation to refund your money. You should have asked numerous questions about the condition/history of the unit before placing a bid. He didn't necessarily lie about the condition of the unit, just omitted some details. Seeing the words AS IS should raise red flags every time.

Exactly. You got what you paid for.

[smalien1]

All I could suggest would be to talk to an ebay official or whatever they call em there. I have never bought or sold on ebay so i dont know all the rules and stuff but im pretty sure someone who works there could help ya out.
Key thought being: Never dealt with an ebay official.

If you payed with Paypal then chargeback. After that tell him to pay for shipping back or you'll just keep the gamecube.

Yeah, thats good.

[evilmax17]

I'd suck it up, and learn to ask questions about auctions. If you asked him before bidding on the exact condition of the product, and THEN he failed to mention the ports, then he's at fault. From this end, both parties are equally at fault.

Just leave him a neutral saying "Product was not exactly as described, but the seller was willing to work it out."

[JimmieMac]

How much did you pay? Was it really worth it now that Gamecubes are damn near free with all the deals they've been having. And you bought it with a know disk read error?

I mean, some body here would have traded you one, did you even ask us? Did you? Why did you go right to ebay? You make me sick. Get off my property.

[SevereTireDamage]

I'm sorry to tell you this as well, but I'd side with the seller's story. He rather clearly does indicate in the auction that the system is broken, doesn't work or read discs, and being sold "AS IS." There's not much of a case for deception here.

[zewone]

Aren't you the guy that gets shitty deal on Ebay? I think I saw you make another post like this. My advice: Try to get back whatever money he offers you and then stay away from buying online used items.

[moiety]

He covered himself by stating "as is". When you are faced with auctions that state "as is", an alarm should go off in your head - you should've ask questions, asked him to give you a detailed description of what worked, what didn't, etc. Because he wrote "as is", you can't accuse him of misrepresenting. It sucks, but that's the *magic* of that one little phrase.

[rodeojones903]

Hate to say it but im with the seller on this one. You knew it was broken and that the sale was as is. If you buy a car as is, and then in a few days something goes wrong you cant go back to the seller complaining you didnt tell me about this or that.

[mbstuff]

Also, how do you even test the controller ports if the discs won't read and you can't play the games? I agree with the others in this thread. You should not leave negative feedback for the seller, as he represented the condition of the gamecube pretty well and clearly- broken means you should consider everything about the cube to be malfunctioning, you're basically bidding on a hunk of plastic, metal, and rubber. Also, he wrote, in large capital letters, no refunds and no returns. When you agree to an ebay sale, you agree to the conditions described in the auction.

That said, the seller seems like a reasonable sort, and he is willing to give you a few dollars. I'd suggest something like a five dollar refund, telling him you can't use the cube for the parts you wanted. If the gamecube really is worthless to you, eat the shipping costs and get a refund on the auction amount. He seems like he could be pushed into doing that too.

[Unassuming Local Guy]

Also, how do you even test the controller ports if the discs won't read and you can't play the games?

I'm sure it still boots into the "dash." Try turning your Gamecube on without a game. :wink:

[wubb]

I'd say his (semi-implied) offer to refund your bid amount (so not your original S+H or the return S+H) is more than fair.

Basically you bought a broken Gamecube and it turned out to be 'more broken' than you had hoped. IMO, anything being sold as 'broken' is understood to be a crapshoot as far as how much it is screwed up.

Only thing you can sort of fault the seller for is not mentioning the cube had a sticky substance all over it. That is kind of shady, but I don't think that will be enough to win a PayPal chargeback. You might get a CC chargeback, but CCs will often grant chargebacks with not much fuss at all. Anyway, I think doing a chargeback would be inappropriate in this situation.

Just my 2 cents.

[mozby]

I think him refunding you your money minus the shipping is pretty fair, given he basically spelled out that the GC was a peice of non-working crap to begin with, and that it was AS-IS. My advice is find the cheapest way to ship it back to him, with some sort of tracking or delivery confirmation if possible -at least maybe you can save on the return shipping.

I would definately make sure he leaves you positive feedback before you leave him any feedback -you've got 100% and this putz ain't worth losing it.

[video_gamer324]

You are bidding on a broken gamecube Black. The gamecube powers up but will not play games as it gives me a disk read error. I am selling this gamecube (AS IS, NO RETURNS OR REFUNDS) you can either fix it yourself or use it for parts. I am including the orginal power supply and AV connections.

The seller is fine until he makes the claim that you can use it for parts. You cannot make false claims like that and cover yourself by selling "as-is." Suppose someone sells you a car and says that it will allow you to cruise the highway at over 100 MPH. You try it out and find that the car breaks down before you can even exceed 30 MPH. Are you entitled to a refund, even if the car was sold to you as-is? Of course you are. It's a common misconception that the seller is completely covered when they sell something as-is, but if they make any claims that simply aren't true, then they become liable.

[YoshiFan1]

Notice the seller says: "insurance or delivery confirmation is extra and optional."

Did you pay for delivery confirmation?

If not, and no tracking was used, you would win a Paypal dispute since the seller has no way to prove they actually sent it.

(I'm not encouraging or discouraging doing this, just mentioning it's possible since it sounds like the seller didn't use delivery confirmation)

[Owen]

The seller probably has the guys emails stating he recieved it and it is broken, so he would be commiting mail fraud if he claims he did not recieve it.

[YoshiFan1]

I could be wrong about this, but even if he does a chargeback that with the claim the item was not as described (or another reason besides it not being received), I still think Paypal asks for the tracking #.

[Scorch]

You should've seen a red flag when it said it was broken, yet theres a disclaimer stating that there are no returns or refunds.

[My Name Is BoB]

When you buy a broken car with a problem with brakes, you expect it have the problem stated. Not some piece of crap with no wheels. I have 6 gamecubes already. I don't need another one. I bought it to fix it, which is now beyond repair. When someone says as-is, it usually means as-is described in the auction, not as-is stated in the auction plus a few major extra problems. If you look at what he's been selling, it looks like he hit up some garage sales. He probably got it for a dollar from some guy telling him it didn't work, but failed to mention the other problems with it.

I bought a gamecube that had a disc read error. Not one that was unusable for anything. The gamecube INSIDE is covered in coke, and I'm not exactly happy about that.

That as-is comment eariler by me was extreme sarcasm. If you didn't catch that, just don't bother posting here anymore.

[dracula]

again i side with the seller as well, he clearly said no refunds, and item was broken/nonworking and sold as is, so there you go. you just bought a broken gamecube.

[dafoomie]

As-Is does not absolve you of your responsibility to accurately respresent the condition of your item. Not knowing the status of the controller ports is one thing, but having Coke spilled on it is completely unacceptable.

Its kind of a big deal for electronics to have Coke spilled all over it, its the seller's responsibility to accurately describe the condition of the item to the best of his ability. It doesn't take a genius to notice Coke all over everything.

Its like paying for a Gamecube as-is, and recieving a toaster. The item was misrepresented. Its not what was described and its not what he paid for.

[MorPhiend]

How much did you pay? Was it really worth it now that Gamecubes are damn near free with all the deals they've been having. And you bought it with a know disk read error?

I mean, some body here would have traded you one, did you even ask us? Did you? Why did you go right to ebay? You make me sick. Get off my property.
:rofl:

Jimmie never ceases to amuse. (I just don't look forward to the day where I am the brunt of his humor.)

But on topic, I think you are both at fault. If there really is Coke all over, the guy is a moron. But at the same time, it says "AS IS" and "NO RETURNS OR REFUNDS" in big, capital letters. That right there would scare me (even more than eBay does anyhow). You really should have asked questions.

But like Jimmie said, you could have gotten one by much better means (yes, you already have six, but obviously you wanted a seventh, and there are better means). For crying out loud, there are so many Nintendo haters around who buy a new GCN everytime a must have comes out (that even they can't resist), then sell it off when they are done. It has to be the easiest and cheapest system to obtain in the history of videogames.

And like zewone said, you seem to get "swindled" on eBay a lot. It reminds me of the movie Liar Liar, when Jim Carey's client wants legal advice over the phone from jail and Jim hollers, "STOP BREAKING THE LAW!!!" Some people just never learn...

That being said, I think that the seller has been more than fair in offering you a rfund, leaving you only with shipping cost. This way, he is out only time and effort, and you (hopefully) will finally learn a well needed lesson in the enigma that is eBay (I can't believe how many people remain devoted to that place).

[wubb]

The thing can be used for parts. At the very least you have a AV cable and AC adapter to use, you could probaly reuse the grey power button, some of the controller ports, etc etc.

Saying you can fix it yourself is not making any claim at all as to how easy it would be to fix. I'm sure it could be fixed, it's just that apparently it will be very difficult and probably cost prohibitive (maybe needs new parts, etc) to fix this cube since it didn't turn out to be a simple problem.

After thinking about it some more, I would have been POed myself to find it covered in dried soda and not have that mentioned in the auction. (Though it's tricky when you are complaining about something the seller failed to mention... - he didn't say 'Cube is in great shape, it just gets dirty disc errors.') If not for that little wrinkle I would say you have no grounds to complain on this one at all.

I'd call this similar to buying a current gen game that doesn't mention whether or not the case and manual is included and when you get it, the game is disc only. Most people would assume current stuff is complete unless listed otherwise, but technically the guy didn't say one way or the other.

I suppose if you feel really strongly you could dispute it as not as described mentioning it wasn't disclosed that the thing had soda spilled and caked all over and inside it and see if that gets you anywhere. If he does agree to refund your bid amount, the most you'll get from a dispute is the extra $6 from your original shipping, and you'll still have to pay to ship it back to him. Up to you if that is worth it.

Just 2 more of my cents :)

And Blustrk98 - if you check the feedback the seller has already left + for the OP. Might be about to learn firsthand why many sellers don't leave feedback first...

[gaelan]

did he give you dc#?

[My Name Is BoB]

And like zewone said, you seem to get "swindled" on eBay a lot. It reminds me of the movie Liar Liar, when Jim Carey's client wants legal advice over the phone from jail and Jim hollers, "STOP BREAKING THE LAW!!!" Some people just never learn...

I have no idea what you're talking about here. You must be confusing me with someone else. I'll probably just ask him for a refund and I'll pay shipping for it.

[screwkick]

It always amazes me how people take such shitty care of their gaming stuff, especially game systems. Some look like an ass was wiped with them.

Demand your money back.