Re: Dodgy Ebay seller - what to do?

Lionel wrote:

> I've just bought a fancy lens via Ebay that was described as being in
> fairly good condition ("some signs of use"), but turned out to have
> major body damage on the side of the lens that wasn't shown in the ad
> photos, as well as an internal rattle, & various scrapes in the metal at
> the front of the lens.

Unfortunately, it's a bit of Caveat Emptor.

In this case, the photo's of the item looked great, the feedback of the
seller were satisfactory, and I'd have suspected little was wrong with the
item.
If you're in Melbourne, and the seller is in Melbourne, I'd have asked to
view the lense prior to purchase, or at least to pick it up from him & pay
then. Harder if you're not in Melbourne, but you say "this guy is local to
me".

The only 2nd hand lenses I've looked at I've asked for additional photo's,
and sample images taken with the lense. A trick here is to get them to write
the ebay item number on a piece of paper, and then photograph the lense
beside that number - so you know that's the one they're talking about, and
not a 'borrowed' photo from the canon/nikon/pentax/whatever website.

In terms of fraud, you've got little to stand on in terms of Vic Police.
Your better option is to follow ebay guidelines...
- leave negative feedback
- follow their fraud protection service
- pickup their $300 (or whatever it is) fraud refund thingy

But in the end, it's 2nd hand, and they're never as good as new - regardless
of what the seller says. Sucks, but that's the way it goes.

Andrew.




ahennell