Was I caught?

[Steve W-O]

I bought an old Futaba TX which was described as follows:-

 

classic old vintage transmitter
made by Futaba

this transmitter is quite old, for spares or repair only

switches on ok and the power meter swings about halfway on the battery guage

not recommended for flight, would be ok for a boat or a car

could be used for a simulator

Immediately on unpacking it, I saw that the antenna was missing, the gear switch is missing, one gimble has been broken and glued, and the trainer port socket is damaged.

 

I sent the seller a message pointing these out, and saying I was diaspointed, his reply was that it was correctly listed as spares or repairs.

 

I agree with that, however I think an honest person would have pointed out the obvious faults, especially as he went to the rouble of stating that it switched on, and that it would be OK for a boat or car, which obviously it wouldn't be, and suggesting it could be used with a sim, again, it can't.

 

And surely if you buy something for spares you expect all the spare to be there?

 

The photo on the auction conveniently did not show the aerial, so I think the ommision was intentional.

 

I shall probably leave negative feedback, simply because he mentioned the attractive points, so had obvioulsy looked at it,and ommited the glaring missing/broken parts.

 

[Martyn K]

If you have contacted the seller and he has not offered a refund then leave a neg. Prolly not worth reporting it to eBay disputes due to the value.

 

I would say "item not complete - not as described"

 

Martyn

[Simon B]

If you buy it as spares or repair then you don't expect all the bits to be there, but you do expect it to be as listed. If it's not then, before you leave negative feedback, start a dispute in the resolution centre section of my ebay. They will almost certainly rule in your favour and he'll have to reimburse you for posting the item back and give you a full refund.

[Steve W-O]

Posted by Simon B on 30/01/2012 12:35:46:
If you buy it as spares or repair then you don't expect all the bits to be there, but you do expect it to be as listed. If it's not then, before you leave negative feedback, start a dispute in the resolution centre section of my ebay. They will almost certainly rule in your favour and he'll have to reimburse you for posting the item back and give you a full refund.

 

 

 

Yes and no.

 

He did go as far as to say it switched on, and suggest what it could be used for, so I would expect him to have mentioned the missing parts, especially when as obvious as an antenna missing, ans a hole in the top of the case where the gear switch should be, or to have photgraphed it in a way that showed the faults, not in a way that hides them.

 

What was mentioned was carefully selected, the way I see it..

 

I may well open a dispute, but that does not alter the feedback deserved.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I would say that on the basis of that description you have a reasonable expectation that the device is complete. OK you accept that it is not fully fuctional, and might accept that some parts are heavily worn - maybe even broken - but I think they should be there,

 

There is a telling remark in his description "not recommended for flight but OK for a car or boat". In one sense this would suggest that he knows something about this kit - ie he intuitively understands that the safety threashold is higher in flying. I would suggest that might only occur to a flyer. A "bod in the street" doesn't think like that. Having said that of course its use on a boat or car would be out of order as it is presumably 35MHz.

 

My point is - he should know better than to hide the fact that its antenae is broken, key swithches are missing and the buddy box connector is knackered - he must know this severally degrades the useability - even for spares.

 

BEB

[Allan Bowker]

Open a dispute, get your money refunded and then leave negative feedback.

 

The advert sounds like it was completely misleading in the single fact that the transmitter is not suitable for a car or boat as the antenna is missing.

 

You can back up your complaint with the other stuff, like broken gimble, etc that wasn't mentioned.

 

 

[IanR]

Steve, you've been done, mate. In my opinion, what you do about it depends on how much you've lost, but at minimum you must leave negative feedback. What did this git's feedback (or whatever its called - you know what I mean) look like when you bought.

 

Regards
Ian

[Steve W-O]

Well, I am glad to see that the general opinion is similar to mine.

 

I was genuinely disapointed, as I wanted something as old as possible for my vintage builds, and this is an early FM version (gold series, early 80s I think) which is about as old as I could go and still be safe.

[IanR]

Steve, Forgot to PS...

 

I have an old Futaba, early 35MHz I think, somwhere (moved house since I last knew where it was). If I can find it, you can have it. I mean gratis, of course.

 

Regards

Ian

[Steve W-O]

Posted by IanR on 30/01/2012 13:18:00:

Steve, Forgot to PS...

 

I have an old Futaba, early 35MHz I think, somwhere (moved house since I last knew where it was). If I can find it, you can have it. I mean gratis, of course.

 

Regards

Ian

Thanks Ian, very kind of you, let me know and I will send you the postage.

Thanks

[Steve W-O]

duplicate

Edited By Steve W-O on 30/01/2012 13:29:45

[IanR]

Steve, give me a couple of days.

 

Regards

Ian

[EZ-Hawk]

Hi Steve, regardless of whatever the seller says / condition etc etc, under the distance selling regulations you are entitled to return ANY item within 7 days for ANY reason you may so wish!. Ebay actually states this at the end of some of their listings!!

 

Good luck

 

Dave

[Steve W-O]

Posted by EZ-Hawk on 30/01/2012 13:44:29:

Hi Steve, regardless of whatever the seller says / condition etc etc, under the distance selling regulations you are entitled to return ANY item within 7 days for ANY reason you may so wish!. Ebay actually states this at the end of some of their listings!!

 

Good luck

 

Dave

 

 

Only applies to BIN, not auctions, unfortunately.

[Olly P]

And not suitable for sim - trainer port banjaxed, therefore not as described so send it back/complain to ebay!

[John Cole]

Give negative feedback and then get your money back, preferably from PayPal. If you negate the transaction you can no longer give feedback. Guess how I know.

[Simon B]

I wasn't saying don't leave negative feedback, but before you do that bit ensure you start the dispute.

[Steve W-O]

Posted by Simon B on 30/01/2012 16:39:03:
I wasn't saying don't leave negative feedback, but before you do that bit ensure you start the dispute.

Yes, I agree, have opened a dispute through ebay, not paypal (with paypal you can't get back the return postage)

 

 

 

And I won't cancel the transaction, the only time I would do that is if he had rewfunded without question and told me to bin the TX. My wife sells phones a lot, and if she has a problem, that is what she does, it's not worth the hassle of bad deals, I have done the same, you have to accept that even with the best intentions and thorough checking, sometimes things don't go your way.

 

I think it is the lousy attitude that gets my back up more than the disappointment of the item

[IanR]

Steve

 

My nephew has the TX but never used it. I'll collect it from him this weekend. How do I get in touch with you, privately, to get address details?

 

Ian

 

[Pete B]

Steve doesn't have a public profile, so you can't just click on his name on the left-hand column, as usual.

 

What you need to do is go to 'My Messages', then 'Compose new message' and put 'steve' in the 'To' field. A drop-down list of forum names will appear. Select 'Steve W-O' and fire off your message........

 

He will get an email to draw attention to the fact that he has a PM.

Pete

Edited By Pete B on 03/02/2012 15:53:28

[Steve W-O]

I have enabled my profile. I was surprised to hear I did not have one, as I had entered it ages ago, but never clicked the box to enable it. Doh!

 

Thanks Ian.

 

Let me update on the ebay one, the seller did apologise, and said that normally he did list the obvious problems on his spares and repairs auctions. I accepted that it was an unfortunate hiccup, and he gave me a partial refund, which met roughly half way. So thank you to the seller, and I left him positive, which does reflect the outcome.

 

I had a quick look at it when I came home from work, I won't be using it at all like it is, I am very tempted to just use the case, and transplant a 2.4GHz insides into it, so I have an 80s box on 2.4, fun project, but I must finish my planes first, so that will be very much in the future!

[Bob Moore]

You have been stitched up and I think it's great that people are offering you spare tx's they have, but unless you dispute this the seller will do it time and time again.

 

As said, unfortunately once they agree to refund you can't give negs. I bought an engine described as never flown, but it had clearly been clamped in a vice (you could see the marks on it.) I got refunded.

 

A good seller will probably say bin it and just refund you.

[Steve W-O]

Posted by Bob Moore on 03/02/2012 16:47:22:

You have been stitched up and I think it's great that people are offering you spare tx's they have, but unless you dispute this the seller will do it time and time again.

 

As said, unfortunately once they agree to refund you can't give negs. I bought an engine described as never flown, but it had clearly been clamped in a vice (you could see the marks on it.) I got refunded.

 

A good seller will probably say bin it and just refund you.

 

 

 

Bob, I agree with you that this may be common, but this seller has 100% feedback, and he was after the initial comms, very helpful. It was disputed, and I could have escalated it if I was not happy with the result.

 

I could have left negative feedback, the transaction was still valid, but the issue was resolved, I paid what I would have been prepared to pay for it as it is, so I need to be fair. Admittedly I can't use it as hoped, but later in the year I will be able to modify it as I have in mind.

[Bob Moore]

Fair enough. If he was helpful that does help, but it wasn't very well described. Maybe he'll be more careful next time Hope you get it sorted anyway mate.