eBay experience - Am I crazy?

[derekcohen]

I recently won an auction for a fielding plane on eBay.

Here is the link ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EOIBSA:US:1123

The Seller stated

A great collectors and users plane

A very solid plane in what looks like a fruitwood but with an adjustable metal slide. Some 10"(25 cm.) long with a 2 1/4" bladein good condition.

Ready for immediate use or display

and supplied these pictures ..

The pictures were not great, I thought from the blade looked a little short (as the wedge appeared to be near the top) but the Seller had a 99.5% record with 374 sales, so I accepted his word that the plane would be a user.

For a skew fielding plane it was quite cheap ($30 USD + $15 USD postage from VIC to WA).

The plane arrived yesterday, and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Here are pictures of this "user" that is "ready for immediate use" ...

The blade and cap iron together:



The blade ...



The wedge ...



The mouth:



I wrote to the Seller ...

This plane has nil life left in the blade. It is in as poor a condition as it could ever be possible to be and still fit in the plane! It does not look like it has been used for many, many years. The fence is an add on (not original). There is no way that this plane is ever going to be used to build furniture (which is what I do). Your advert is simply untrue.

Please reply. I am most disappointed, as you can gather from the tone of my reply. This plane needs to be returned with a full refund.

Regards

He wrote back ...

Hello Derek.
We have a problem of perception here.

I see you are a pediatrician. I have been a professional furniture maker for over 30 years. Specialising in hand made commision work. So, with all due respect , I do happen to know a bit about hand tools.

The panel plane is an old continental plane. It is in very good shape for its age As you say it has not been used for many years, I can not see that is an objective problem

The fence is the original and I got it in France with that one on it. The metal fence is often on continental planes. The blade is not new, or I would have said it was a replacement, but it is in good condition as I stated.

What I am saying is that I completely disagree with your post- purchase opinion of the plane

I see that you have 99.5 % feedback as I do. You ask for full refund for what seems to me to be an unwarranted complaint,

If you pay to mail the plane back to me in the good condition that I sent it to you in, I will send you your refund ie you pay the postage to have had your "look" at the plane.

Sorry, have not had a problem like this to deal with. But I do believe that Ebay buying is not an optional purchase arrangement

I wrote again ...

I am a very experienced woodworker. Ignore my day time job. Look at the www link I gave you.

The fact is that your advertising on this plane was false. I do not know about other tools you have sold. You stated "blade in good condition ... Ready for immediate use" - the fact remains that it will never be able to be used - it is ground up to the slot. I wanted a user, not something to put on a shelf.

Please reconsider, otherwise I shall contact Paypal.

And he replied ...

I wont get into discussion about experience in woodwork, my 30 professional life stands. I did look at your link and feedback before emailing you this morning

I believe that your complaint is unwarranted. The blade is perfectly useable although it is not new. Your other complaints are demonstrably unfounded ie the " replaced" fence and " not used for years"

I have made you an offer . That is you return the plane to me, you have not actually mentioned this, and I will refund your purchase price and the initial postage that you paid. That I believe is a fair offer in these circumstances. I do not want unhappy customers but you ask me to go too far.

I take your last paragraph as a direct threat and may react accordingly

That is where it ended. I emailed him to say that I would be returning plane, which IU shall to first post tomorrow. I am paying a second lot of postage, and I expect to get back the money I laid out for the plane and the original postage. It is not the money (this is a very small amount) - it is the principle. Am I crazy for getting so ?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Lignum]

He wrote

I have made you an offer . That is you return the plane to me, you have not actually mentioned this, and I will refund your purchase price and the initial postage that you paid. That I believe is a fair offer in these circumstances. I do not want unhappy customers but you ask me to go too far.

So i dont see what the problem is.

[derekcohen]

Actually, I did ask to return the plane "for a full refund" in my first email. He balked at this, offering only the cost of the plane. Later, when I threatened contacting Paypal, he acted as if I had not asked for a refund at all, and then offered to pay the full amount.

It is not the money. I was really angry at the obvious deceipt and then his avoidance of accepting responsibility for this.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[woodbe]

I can see the problem, and I know nothing about planes.

The big issue with deals like this is that there is not enough at stake. Add to that, the photos on ebay are rarely high enough resolution to decide if the article is good, and sometimes they are of a different article altogether.

Life's too short. Ebay is a lottery. I had a similar thing happen with some photo gear from asia - the seller agreed to refund, but claimed the item I sent back never arrived.. In the end, it's not worth giving yourself high blood pressure because some lowlife decides to scam you for a few bucks. I let karma sort him out later

When I think about it, I've bought lots of stuff on ebay, and I've only stuffed up twice. Once was my own fault (Nintendo US cartridges don't work in Aussie Nintendo 64's. Duh!) and the other was the photo gear shonk. Not bad average, maybe 1% failures, which just goes to show that people are generally honest.

woodbe.

[Gooner]

Sorry to tell you but I think the seller is being rather reasonable about this.

(I don't know much about planes either).

I assme you saw some photos before buying?

[Pat]

Derek, in the original photo's, I had a hard time finding the blade. In the other photos you posted I can see why. Less than 1/2" if blade, ready to use? Rust. I think there is a difference of opinion between the sellers "user" and the rest of the word's "user".

Can it be rescued by getting another blade from an old woodie and skewing that blade? New wedge while your at it.

I now try to avoid buying stuff I cannot inspect before handing over the pancakes.

Caveat emptor

[JDarvall]

bloody charlatans eh !.. he sounds like the type who will defend himself to the very end. I mean....look !..... he's calling pictorial evidence of shyt, excellent !!!!! .... the deciet must really annoy you Derek.

My sympathies. I know what it feels like. I had a recent situation too like that too. Being told that pictorial shyt was excellent. Bet he's going to fail to accept he's wrong too and push the focus onto your personality next...just to take the focus off himself. Some people are just pricks arn't they !

[mic-d]

He seems like a reasonable ebay seller to me Derek, just a difference of opinion. Caveat emptor. Lifes too short.

Cheers
Michael

[seriph1]

get the refund - got on with life - try not to be too discouraged with a single experience as it is not indicative of most eBay sellers in my opinion (1000 transactions - 100% +ve feedback) - I always ask for additional pics if the originals are inadequate. When I don't get them or they reveal a substandard item, I hang on to my dollars and tell the seller why.

Crappy plane though!

[jmk89]

Derek

I think that the description is misleading, at least as regards the plane being a user straight away and the blade. I'm not confident of the mouth and the fence points - I suspect that the photos the seller put up show as much as your photos.

However, the cutter is no good (although you might have been able to tell that from the seller's photo because the iron has almost disappeared behind the wedge). The telling point though is the wedge - no way that could be seen and no way you can use that plane with that wedge.

One of the problems is the different expectations that we have in AUstralia as opposed to in theUS - s52 has almost reversed caveat emptor and consumers expect that sellers will at least allow you to conduct a real inspection. Different consumer protection laws lead to different expectations from buyers and standards of behaviour from sellers. It is almost cultural for US sellers to "puff" their goods in ways we would consider misleading.

Cheers

Jeremy

[OLDPHART]

What the seller has done is referred to in the legal fraternity as "puffing",I think he has written it up in the hope he will catch some inexperienced buyer and maybe get hundreds of bucks for it.It didn't work

[Driver]

Derek

That looks like a rip-off to me. That plane is not "...ready for immediate use..." The photos don't show the significant defects and the description is, at the very least, misleading.

I reckon you're justified in feeling aggrieved.

I've bought a few tools on eBay; from Australia, the US and the UK. Mostly positive experiences with a couple of minor disappointments but nothing quite so blatantly misrepresentative as this.

Good luck.

Col

[Big Shed]

Derek, don't forget to send it registered mail, well worth the extra $2.50, and no arguments about the item getting "lost".

[pawnhead]

He hasn't said that it was 'excellent' as stated by apricot. AFAIK, he's simply told a bit of a porky by stating that the blade was 'in good condition'. If it was sharp, then you could probably use it straight away, and get a couple of more sharpens out of it before tossing it in the bin, or turning some pens out of the block of wood that you've still got. If you were spending more than 30 bills on it then you'd be wise to ask for some more detailed pics of everything before forking out your readies. As others have stated, 'Caveat Emptor'.

Sometimes I get caught up in 'the principle' type arguments as well. You have to take a breath an weigh up the importance of the issue.
1. How important/influential is the dude that you're up against.
2. How much money have you lost.
3. How much time/frustration will you invest chasing it up.
4. How much satisfaction will you get from a favourable outcome.
5. How much dissatisfaction will you suffer from an unfavourable outcome.

Then ask yourself: Is it worth it?

Life's too short to waste on some things, but sometimes it's quite satisfying to get a 'win'.

edit: Be thankful that you didn't hand over your bank details to a Nigerian 'Prince'. There's a lot of them out there, and almost as many suckers to go with them.

[Waldo]

G'day Derek,

You're fully justified for my 2¢. The plane is shot.