Last week, I bought a replacement battery for one a laptop that I am fixing. In an effort to be thrifty, I decided to buy the battery from eBay which in hindsight was a dumb thing to do. Now, I'm stuck in customer service hell.

Normally, I have had issued with eBay sellers not shipping in a timely manner. This time, the shipping was quick, but the it was missing the end cap that snaps the battery into the case and prevents it from falling out. So, I contact the seller and tell them about this, and they tell me that the battery doesn't come with a cap. Annoyed, I took pictures and drew diagrams of what was missing and replied back to the seller. They then apologize and offered me $3 for inconveniencing me. Yes, they offered me $3 for selling me what is essentially a defective product. I ask if they would take it back and give me my money back. They said they would do minus a restocking fee and that I would have to pay for priority shipping for the return shipping, which cost as much as the battery. To say the least, I will not be doing a return.

I asked if they would sell me the missing part. At this point, I'm willing to pay for the missing part. They replied back asking me why I couldn't use the original end cap from he original battery. I couldn't do that because the laptop was already missing to begin with. The only way to get that part is to get a new battery. But it irks me that these people didn't answer my question. They just fired off their own questions to where I now have to fix their defective product with my own parts.

I'm still trying to figure out how to respond to them. I just know that this will drag on and I'll still end up losing. *sigh*

Labels: computer repair, eBay, laptops

Today has been a day of disappointments.

After having a bad morning at the doctor's office (Is there really a good day at the doctor's office?), I spent most of the work day anticipating the arrival of what should have been a "Mint-In-Box" Trendmasters Lion Voltron that I had won on eBay. As I watched the tracking data plot it's course from one side of the country to where I lived, I was deliriously excited when it said it was on my front porch.

At first, I was impressed at the amount of packing material used by the seller. (I think a forest may have been cut down just to fill up the over-sized box). Later I realized that it was likely an attempt to hide something. When I opened the box, I noticed some big scratches and a couple of cracked pieces on the Black Lion. Then, I found that the tip of the Blue Lion's tail had been broken off. This was obviously not "Mint-In-Box." I've been a collector for a very long time and I can say that this Voltron is probably a "C5" or lower on the C Scale.

Lessons Learned: Ask lots of questions to the seller about an item and look at the pictures closely before making a bid. Don't hesitate to ask for more pictures or demand more details about an item especially if the item is pricey. Contact the seller and eBay if you feel you've been deceived. Beware of no return policies. (Unfortunately, my purchase had a no return policy)

Labels: anime, eBay, japanese, robots, things that piss me off, Voltron