ripped off

steelem

I saw an advert last week for a specialized tarmac on ebay - the seller told me it was a medium 54 & had ksyrium sl wheels which is what i was after - so i met up with him with my 2k yesterday ( incidently he closed the ebay listing early and i agreed so he wouldnt get those charges how stupid of me!)

when i got bike back i noticed the wheels did not match 1 was sl the other was es - so i called him he said he would give me 400 pound back - this morning after calling specialized i have found out the bike is a 56 large - so i have called the seller back asking for a refund - & guess what the seller now says sold as seen - i am so mad its untrue - dont know what to do - the seller is also trading on ebay with the wheels his meant to be collecting from me & some other guy is gonna get stuffed

anyone got ideas what i can do would be appreciated


http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/tinkerscave&s ... X:SELLERID

Gazzaputt

Go round his house with a few mates?

Edit - he has a lot of bike stuff for sale. I'd check the bike isn't nicked.

kingrollo

steelem wrote:

I saw an advert last week for a specialized tarmac on ebay - the seller told me it was a medium 54 & had ksyrium sl wheels which is what i was after - so i met up with him with my 2k yesterday ( incidently he closed the ebay listing early and i agreed so he wouldnt get those charges how stupid of me!)

when i got bike back i noticed the wheels did not match 1 was sl the other was es - so i called him he said he would give me 400 pound back - this morning after calling specialized i have found out the bike is a 56 large - so i have called the seller back asking for a refund - & guess what the seller now says sold as seen - i am so mad its untrue - dont know what to do - the seller is also trading on ebay with the wheels his meant to be collecting from me & some other guy is gonna get stuffed

anyone got ideas what i can do would be appreciated


http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/tinkerscave&s ... X:SELLERID

Don't think there is much you can do - from what you have said the transaction took place outside ebay - so any protection they offer (which isn't much anyway) has gone.

In view of the fact 2k is involved - it might be worth logging it with the small claims courts - or getting a solictor to write you letter - and add the charges onto your settlement figure.


Its to late now - but I never spend big money on ebay - £2k - would get you a very nice new bike, warranty etc.

amaferanga

Next time you're about to spend £2k on a bike maybe check it over before you hand over the cash?

Radioactiveman

Next time you have £2k to spend, take five minutes to check the item out. Most bike have a size sticker on them to start with.

I dont blame the seller. you bought outside of ebay and hence get no protection. My advice is if you are not happy with it put it back on ebay and hope you cover your costs.

More money than sense springs to mind

bendertherobot

I do sympathise but, £2k on a Tarmac. I assume it was the Pro? I'd not pay £2k for an unmarked used one.

steelem

yes its a tarmac pro - the seller told me it was a sl2 - the sl2 & pro look the same i just didnt realise - i havent got an address fdor this guy to take thru the small claims court any ideas

danowat

So......to put this into context.

You paid £2000 (cash I assume), for a bike, from a guy you don't know, whos address you don't know, you didn't check the bike for size, you didn't check that the wheels were what were stated?.

I mean come on man, have you ever heard of the phrase "buyer beware"?, where did the sale take place?, why didn't you visit him at his address?

I doubt you'll get anywhere with small claims court unless you can prove that the guy went out of his way to con you.

stokepa31

get someone to pose as a buyer for his other items and insist on collecting from his address. turn up and threaten to kill him???

steelem

the bike had no size on it - thats why i called specialized - should i have had a measuring tape on me

the kysrium sl es look te same - io checked the front wheel which said sl thought nothing of it

the seller now wants the wheels back & pay me after collecting - can you believe this guy

steelem

good point ild love to kill him

elm37

the listing for the bike says that it has a 54cm top tube and is a size large - which is a 56cm. listing looks fine so nowt you can do. (expensive) lesson learned?

steelem

how did you find the listing?

kingrollo

You can easily get his address - get someone to buy one his cheap items - and get him to invoice you - via ebay - invoice will have sellers address

steelem

im gonna have to do that - i just cant believe whats happened.

cougie

You could sell it on ebay ?

steelem

i got 2 options

1. i take him to a small claims court

2. he gives me 400-00 for the wheel & gives me a new cassette which he has agreed on - if so ill then buy some wheels & sell on ebay

i got a feeling that he wont pay me - even though he has the wheels on ebay that are in my possession at the moment.. he says he will collect wheels tommorrow then pay me tommorrow night - so i have replied to say give me the money now & cassette then you can collect.. I have had no reply as yet

Slater

steelem wrote:

should i have had a measuring tape on me

Yes




It's not like he's shipped it to you and it's turned out to be not what you were expecting. You physically viewed it then handed over the money. He wasn't trying to hide anything because it was in front of your eyes to see.

moonshine

possession is 9/10 of the law.

if he wants the wheels, then cash at handover, accept nothing else.

wrt your bike buy. i'm afraid it is your fault. you had the opportunity to inspect before completing the deal. it is buyer beware - imagine if it was a private sale of a used car. you have absolutely no comeback, even if it breaks down 2 minutes following cash habdober.

If i had sold it to you in person ( and thereby you had the opportunity to inspect) , i wouldn't refund you. If it was completed at arm's length, through ebay, and it was misdescribed by me, then i would accept a return.

if it doesn't do you, then sell it on on ebay. you should have done research prior to purchase, by asking more questions.

TheRock!

steelem - hey dude - ok here's what we will do. Just get Vinnie, Mr T and The ROCK to go around and all will be sorted!

1) at the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the buyer to check the details of the bike before handing over the cash to the seller. If you are not sure things tally-up, or you are not satisfied with the details, then seek further verification from the seller and give them an opportunity to put it right. If they don8t, just walk away as simple as that. If they have alot of negative feedback, walk away!

But in this case the seller had good track record with no -ve feedback (100% to date with a few neutral comments). I'm sure you checked and hence placed your confidence on this fact. Had he got a tarnished track record with -ve feeback am sure you would have thought twice or even ran away let alone spend £2G's

2) hind sight is all well and good, so learn from this experience and try to salvage as best as you can. The seller is still on eBay which is good news as someone already suggested get a mate to buy a cheapo item and pay it via Paypal. Don7t delay. Like the Nike ad :arrow: Just Do It! No delays, do it right away Bcos you can never tell, he might just pack up and close his eBay a/c. Best you act fast! The chances are the seller will still be there since he hasn8t got one single -ve score since being with eBay as far back as 2008. Paypal invoice should give at least his full name and address? plus whatever you can get is a bonus to help you track down the person. You could argue that he missed sold you by giving the wrong info, but to be fair to the seller (lets give the benefit of the doubt, seller wasn8t out to con you, he might have just made a simple mistake with the size or just didn8t check properly), you didn8t do your homework to check it all out or at least have someone with you who knows more about bikes to check it out before the cash was handed over.

3) do me a favour :arrow: for future, if you ever have to purchase an expensive item again online from a "private seller" as opposed to a registered business seller esp. someone you don8t know regardless of how many +ve feedback record they have; for this amount of money, never ever go outside of eBay and always use Paypal for high priced items. At least that way, you are protected by Paypal. Otherwise you will get your fingers burnt badly.

And always always ask the seller questions via the eBay message channel so you have a msg trail as hard evidence for exact specs (frame size, colour, model name, serial number, condition, photos of the actual bike not a stock model etc) incase there's a mishap after the sale has taken place.

Forgot sake man, check all these details like Columbo would do to make sure they tally up. If they don8t, ask the seller for an explanation. If he does not give you all you need or they don8t tally up, no way should you be handing over your hard earned dosh willy nilly. Not even 1 penny. That's just plain stupid. Anyway, am sure you have learnt a very expensive lesson. But, don8t give up yet. The Rock and other forum members will try and help you as best we can.

4) The only chance of you getting back your money without re-selling your bike elsewhere is to prove that the seller mis-sold you. Even then, you have a weak case, becos it's a private seller (sold as seen basis) like buying a car for instance, unless the seller is a registered business which he isn8t, so there's very little comeback.

I would also strongly advise you to get in touch with eBay customer service team ASAP!!! Just Do It right away don8t wait don8t hesitate (phone them first and write to them afterwards whichever is easier 4U). Forward any eBay message trail to eBay customer service team and have them look into the seller account for any traces, assuming you have deleted them from your side, there could still be traces left on the eBay system which they could track down on your behalf to build your case. Worth a shot!

Also, have you got any traces of text messages on your phone or emails as there must have been some form of contact for you guyz to meet up and do the deal outside of eBay in the first place! Gather any hard evidence (email, eBay message, sms text, smoke signals! anything at all) that might help you in your case. Afterall, we are talking quite a lot of your hard earned cash! so you have no option but giving all this a try.

5) there should be a frame serial number on the bike, usually found under or near the bottom bracket (BB) area. If you can8t find it or don8t know exactly where it is located, just take the bike to your local bike shop (decent one at that) and have them locate the serial number 4U. Once you have it, check with Specialized directly and your local bobby at the station to make sure it's not a stolen bike!

6) remember 'Mr Wolf' from Pulp Fiction. Don8 panic, help is on its way to get you out of this mess. Just follow the advice above and do a bit of Columbo detective work with eBay customer service and your mate buying a cheap item from the seller to get seller address and alone be hold you could be on your way to recovery.

7) worst case scenario, say you don8t get any joy with any or all of the above, just put the Spesh back on sale (assuming it's not a stolen bike) with all the correct details on the frame size, colour, description, specs etc etc,

Am sure you will get a buyer should the bike be in VGC re-saleable condition with no damage. Since it's quite high-end model from the Tarmac family it should sell reasonably well. Ok, you may or you may not get all your 2K back from the resale you never know you might even get more! in which case a real bonus and all will be hunky dory. So check out how much a similiar model and condition is going for on eBay or in shops brandnew and price it accordingly and allow people to make best offers.

"If you think you can, you will is the motto here", so chin up, get into action right away and no delays. The faster you act the better chances of recovery. Lets try to get your money back either tracking the seller down and demand a full refund or sell the bike unless you really want to keep it of course but guess it's the wrong size (too small or too big) so no worries, the bike will sell since it's a higher end model as there's always be someone out there (maybe even on this forum) looking for the very bike you have right now in that size! So that's something you can do right away while you do all the other things suggested. Stick it up in the 'For Sale' section on this forum (no fees like eBay). Oh be sure read the rules otherwise it will only get deleted by the Mods.

Hey good luck man, and let us know how things pan out or you need any further advice or help. Lets get to work! chop chop...like Vinnie would say 'it's been emotional'

steelem

Thanks Rock - im moving into action right now

pinkbikini

The original listing (you can find it easily if you know the seller, steelem, which you provide in your original post) doesn't specify what wheels are on the bike. The whole description looks a bit wooly and random to me - you should have spent more time checking these things really, but that doesn't help you now.

So you give him the SL wheel back and you get £400. Or presumably you can take the other SL wheel for nothing? Not sure what the problem is here - is he refusing to give you the SL wheel that you've paid for?

From his point of view, you took the bike, for all he knows you've stacked it and are trying one on. He provided a poor/misleading description but onus was on you to check. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear. You could always sell it on eBay again, as suggested...

steelem

there is no other sl wheel - & he is selling sl wheels as we speak but they are the wheels that i have - 1 is SL the other ES - so he is misleading some other poor fXXXX

we spoke about 10 times on the phone he assured me the size / spec etc etc

he even said this morning that the frame is a medium - yet speciaized tell me its a large

the guy is a fux wit who talks alot of sxxx & yes this all my fault i should have checked

antfly

When you get his address take him to the small claims court. I think you can apply online.

mroli

It sounds to me like you've bought a nicked bike too if the Buyer knows so little about it. It is your moral obligation to check with the police and see if it is stolen. If so, they will be interested in the seller and you may get your money back that way. It may be that they will just take the bike off of you anway or you don't get your money back - either way it is a moral decision that you should make.

mrushton

Don't the ES wheels have a red spoke per wheel?

Yes, you should have taken a tape measure. Whenever I've sold a bike I've photographed the size sticker and if there isn't one photographed a tape measure on the tt.

STEFANOS4784

Alarm bells would sound after i read;

tinkerscave wrote:

bike is a large and suit a 5 foot 12 plus rider

What groupset did it end up coming with?

steelem

sram red / sram force brakes - rear cassette 105 - which should have been sram - the seller said he would replace cassette but im not holding any hope on this

EKIMIKE

At least you'll never make the same mistakes again.

steelem

yep - wont trust another cyclist again - especially when the guy i dealt with runs majorca holidays - cyclemallorca that i had seen in cycling weekly a few times - the guy seemed to know everything after my ordeal - he knows abosulte shit

what a dix i have been

1. being sold an sl2 frame that wasnt
2. being sold a medium frame that was a large
3. being sold kysrium sl wheels that dont match

how these sellers can still trade h& have no consious is beyond me - i feel sick

kingrollo

steelem wrote:

yep - wont trust another cyclist again - especially when the guy i dealt with runs majorca holidays - cyclemallorca that i had seen in cycling weekly a few times - the guy seemed to know everything after my ordeal - he knows abosulte shoot

what a dix i have been

1. being sold an sl2 frame that wasnt
2. being sold a medium frame that was a large
3. being sold kysrium sl wheels that dont match

how these sellers can still trade h& have no consious is beyond me - i feel sick

Don't worry to much. Unpleasant as it is - you still have a bike - that is rideable and saleable.
.....take your fustrations out on a 1 in 4 hill !