ebay nightmare

[chrisatpsu]

asking for your show files ...  is that extortion?

[tbone321]

If it is going to cost you $40.00 to ship it back and forth + the time required to fix it.  Why don't you just offer to either take the unit back for a refund (including shipping) or discount the defective unit by $30.00.  Then he can sell it to his neighbor and possibly make a small profit for himself.  As for the sequences, you need to make it clear to him that:

A- you cannot legally send him the music (copyright issues).
B - that unless he has exactly the same setup that you do, (and he doesn't) your shows will probably not work all that well or look all that good in his displays but you are willing to send him a few (minus the music) so that he can learn from them and perhaps edit them to work with his setup.

Then I would contact the complaint resolution department and show them that you have made a best effort to resolve the issue and the buyer is being unreasonable and that they need to take some action.  I am wondering if he is trying to get these sequences for his neighbor.  It seems that his neighbor already has a LOR setup (the reason he is willing or able to sell the unit to him) and is looking for an easy way to boost up his sequence count.

[taybrynn]

Chris, thats how I initially took it.  Especially when he asked for 40.  I also don't know that evem after he gets the sequences that he couldn't just claim the original problem still exists ... and basically I gave him whatever for no reason.

tbone, I agree with everything your saying.

I have not found any way to speak to a HUMAN at ebay.  Thats the real problem here, there is no customer service # that I can find anywhere.

THis particular controller has longer cords on it.  i.e. could be considerably more useful when placed in the right location, perhaps, saving extension cords maybe.   BUt still, seems like it all could be solved with $10 100' cat5 just to make it the last one ... the range on LOR is like 4000' ft.

[DonFL]

I agree with your concern about using the sequences as "resolution". Seems like tossing in sequences, or any other item to recitfy an issue with the auctioned item, just complicates matters, and puts you at a disadvantage. His complaint was the jack on the controller, seems like that should be the focal point of the resolution: either you repair it, or you refund his money. That protects you as far as being able to truly bring the issue to closure. Its not the cheapest way, but its definitely the safest way as far as avoiding any other crap from the guy.

[MrChristmas2000]

Chris, thats how I initially took it.  Especially when he asked for 40.  I also don't know that evem after he gets the sequences that he couldn't just claim the original problem still exists ... and basically I gave him whatever for no reason.

tbone, I agree with everything your saying.

I have not found any way to speak to a HUMAN at ebay.  Thats the real problem here, there is no customer service # that I can find anywhere.

THis particular controller has longer cords on it.  i.e. could be considerably more useful when placed in the right location, perhaps, saving extension cords maybe.   BUt still, seems like it all could be solved with $10 100' cat5 just to make it the last one ... the range on LOR is like 4000' ft.

Here is what I found on their contact us page:http://www.ebayinc.com/contact_us

eBay Inc. Headquarters
Whitman Campus
2065 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, California 95125
(800) 322-9266
(408) 376-7400

In lieu of that try their investor relations department, those people are very sensitive to customer relations (usually).
Investor Relations
IR Hotline: (408) 376-7493

Hope that helps.

[taybrynn]

Thanks -- you guys are amazing!

[bcstuff]

The best site to find a way to speak with a human for any business.

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[t.jo13]

Contact eBay and ask for a claims specialist. Ask them for the items to be returned for a full refund to the buyer. They will generate a shipping label and the buyer will have a certain amount of time to ship the item back or PayPal will charge his account. I had purchased a fishing pole and it arrived' broken they sent me a shipping label with a small window for me to ship. Anther option as already stated is to offer a discount for the one board  if he refuses request for him to return items though the resoulotion center if he refuses to ship boards back at your cost then he is scamming you. Don't do anything out of the resolution center.

[taybrynn]

Hmmm ... He's not interested in my fix offer or the refund offer.   I haven't explained that the audio cannot just be distributed.   Most of sequences use edited down songs, not full versions ... If theat matters.   Here is the latest reply, which friendlier, but seems to point to a lot of confusion on his part :   " Thanks for realizing that I am new to the Christmas light thing and don't know hardly anything about it! My neighbor seems like he can just use the 1 for right now, so I think that we will go the 12 sequence option. Are some of your sequences more LOR friendly? I am trying to learn about this and thought that I read that you can put the sequence from a disc onto a memory card, and then play through a mini director with mp3 player without a computer. I would have to find that next! LOL. Is that true, and would that work with your sequences? Sorry for picking your brain and for the bad start. Thank you for trying to help me resolve the issue! You seem like a nice and knowledgable guy. My kids are really excited about Christmas more than ever now!"

[Richard]

This might not be of any help but that controller does not have to be at the end of the network chain.  You can line up a RJ11 (phone) cable in the center of a RJ45 (Cat 5) plug of the controller before the damaged unit and use the RJ11 input on the damaged unit.  You then use the one good RJ45 port to go to the next controller in the chain.  I use this method for two of my controllers and it works fine.  You just have to make sure pins 4&5 are aligned (LOR uses pins 4&5 for data).  The easiest test for this is to use the Hardware utility in LOR and see if it finds the unit. If it doesn't work the first time, unplug it and try realigning (the RJ11 cable in the RJ45 port). 

This is probably more complicated then what you want to get into with your buyer, but I wanted to throw that option out there for you.

[DonFL]

Hmmm ... He's not interested in my fix offer or the refund offer.   

Thats the point I'd put it in ebay's hands as t.jo13 suggests. Even if the controller worked perfectly, you didn't sign up to be a free consulting service for this guy.

If you've already made an offer of free sequences to him, that just further complicates things...he'll expect unlimited support, etc...and it now makes it tougher to take those out of the equation. 

[taybrynn]

Well I did promise 2 of my own sequences as part of the auction.

[t.jo13]

Here is another situation I ran into resently. I bought a label printer that was stated as fully functional, when it arrived the spools and test labels were missing . I filed a claim as not as described and the seller offered a refund for the cost for me to buy it elsewhere. Case closed. I would make an offer for the price of the part and some for the small repair. It is fully functional be except for the daisy chainning. (Petty)  and stand behind  the 2 sequences only. If he refuses then you have no choice but to involve a claims specialist . He could carry it on for ever. I have a good friend that has sold on eBay successfully for years and within the last year he has quite a few similar situations to the point that he set buying restrictions like no buyer under 50 transactions and so on.  Just my 2 cents

Joe

[DonFL]

Well I did promise 2 of my own sequences as part of the auction.

My point was, anything above that, to "settle" the case, I'd steer away from.

I would think ebay would see a fix or refund offer as more than fair..what else could they expect you to do?

[taybrynn]

Thanks again everyone ... I heard nothing over the weekend from the buyer ...