First off, I just wanted to say that I am posting in this forum, because the people here generally come from a higher caliber of grammer and etiquette and I don't mind reading their responses. If the moderators feel it is out of place, then move it to the appopriate place.

I finally decided to invest in a short shifter after taking apart the stock one to find the 3" of lateral play when in any gear. It turns out that Honda's system of o-rings and yokes are inherently prone to excessive clearance issues and an aftermarket shifter that uses bearings instead of o-rings would be much improved...even if it means I will purchase a no-name brand.

I decided to look on EBAY for a shifter and found a no-name product that looked like it had some detail and quality instilled into it, so I bought it. I clearly bid on a silver/polished shifter but later was informed by the seller that I was going to receive a nasty BLUE anodized shifter.

After emailing him, and realizing that he was a jerk and didn't care what color I got I decided to get proactive on him. I made a webpage that I would put in his feedback that documents the situation in full, which will hopefully destroy his reputation as a seller. Since I showed him the webpage, the seller is now bending over backwards to help me and is paying the additional shipping per my request. I thought people might enjoy this, so I decided to post it up. Here's the link:


[/B]www.kettering.edu/~thor3026/consumerreports[/B]


[Modified by mojoGSR92, 12:10 AM 8/19/2001]

 

thx, but if he's willing to bend over backwards, i see no point in this thread...oh, btw, v0dka and redbull is da shiet!!!!!!

 

If yer so worried about customer service, and getting the correct part ... why not purchase your equipment from a company or vendor that specializes in such things .... rather than a secondary market like Ebay?

Ebay has always been known for shifty sales / transactions.

I mean .. its $30 ... and at worst you'll get free shipping. Its not like you dropped $300 on a C'z short shifter and you got a Hot-Pink one in the mail.

You might have even wanted to drop the guy an email ahead of time to see if he even has the products in stock before you decided to purchase it with 'buy it now'

I dunno .. just some observations.

 

ITyp3R:

Well, if you must know I am posting this both because I am proud (I made this in about 3 hours) and to give other people ideas of what they can do if a seller on the internet is trying to pull a fast one on them.

The guy is only doing me favors now because of a valid threat (my webpage which would detroy any bit left of a decent reputation and deservedly so) which he previously called an unreasonable threat. The guy has used excuses before, like he was trying to use on me, and i stopped him in his tracks. I think all of those statements make this reason enough to post it up to you guys.


[Modified by mojoGSR92, 12:06 AM 8/19/2001]

 

Sinitron:
I'm not "worried" about customer service, but with buying products from anyone you expect a certain common courtesy; an unwritten etiquette if you will. This guy was just plainly a conartist trying to push another one of his excuses on me

I know it is only a $30 shifter but I couldn't see any huge engineering advances from a DC sports to a no-name brand, and I am currently a college student. On more critical pieces I am willing to shell out a lot of money but a shifter, when all that I do is auto-x and daily drive it, I think it would be a good place to cut down on my expenditures. Even though it is only a $30 shifter, I am arguing based on principle and not on money. If I was arguing based on money alone, I would have given up on this a long time ago.

As for having the products in stock, he tried to blame me that I didn't read his description because he later told me that supplies were limited. In his EBAY description, he says absolutely nothing about supplies being limited and said this was my mistake. The description clearly details a POLISHED/SILVER shifter and by not sending me that product or having it in stock (this wasn't one of those auctions where you specify which color, and there may be limited quantities) he has effectively and blatantly tried to sell me a product which he cannot possibly ship out. And since he is now going to send me a polished shifter, it sounds more like an issue of laziness and thinking that the customer won't care.

Once again, this was an issue based on principle and not on money. I think this guy needed his head corrected and no way in hell was I going to end up with a blue shifter in my all black interior. I hope this clears up all of the observations.


[Modified by mojoGSR92, 12:07 AM 8/19/2001]

 

MojoGSR92, I congratulate you on the fine web-site. It's about time somebody did something about the abuse some bidders receive on eBay. Absolutely right, he was lazy and figured you'd just roll over and take what he sent you, thinking you'd be too psyched about having a new short shifter to care enough to do anything about it. I have a feeling he has gotten away with this before, so he probably thinks it's ok to keep doing it. You've carefully documented yourself with all the links, and it looks like something that would even hold up in court (based on the professional and thourough way in which you represent your case). I'll reference your page whenever I buy automotive parts from eBay in the future. Nice job.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone. I did want to say thanks to Yellow R #01-0468 because I was beginning to think this was a flame-fest with me getting burned. Feel free to use the link, but I haven't recieved my shifter yet (it was shipped by ground from California and this has all occurred in the span of less than two weeks) so the situation isn't yet completely resolved.

I think the real kicker for him is that I only have 2 items that I've bid on off of ebay but I'd obverved my friend's habits on there long before I ever started buying. I may technically be a "newbie" to EBAY but I'm not about to take crap from somebody who probably thinks all import guys inherently don't care about the details. I think I am also going to add screen shots of the emails I recieved from him and also add mine to further validate my claims. I will later post up my emails to him which really let him know I'm getting serious. I basically told him that if the situation was not rectified that I would file with EBAY, PAYPAL, or both even if it results in me losing money, based purely on the principal of the whole thing.

One question though, for what reason will you be referencing my page? To show other sellers what can happen if they screw up, or possibly as guidelines for what to keep track of when you are buying things so you don't get conned? I was just curious. Again, thanks for the negative and positive feedback and keep it coming.


[Modified by mojoGSR92, 4:21 AM 8/19/2001]

 

Hey mojo, I've got over a hundred positive feedbacks on eBay, and I'd have a lot more except there are so many unscrupulous sellers and buyers out there. I'm just tired of the young kids and older irresponsible users out there. It's nice to see someone take matters into their own hands with the skill and determination you have to set those punks straight. When I mentioned referencing your page, I just meant that I'd check out the eBay user names you have listed there to see if that's who I'm buying from. That way I can decide whether or not to bid from a particular seller if I see that you've had problems with them before. eBay needs more people like you, so keep up the good work. I don't know why people are flaming you efforts, you're doing this forum a favor by posting your findings for all to see.