Did I rip this dude off....

sizemoremk

Registered User
Ok guys, some of you may have read, I don't take kindly to being ripped off, and I certainly don't want to rip anyone elsle off, but I need a few opinions...

I sold some black leather front seats out of a 93 SC to a guy that posted a want ad for some sets at tccoa, and we did the deal through email alone.

Anyways, I sent him a link to several pictures, with closeups of the major imperfections (tears and such) and told him they were in decent condition, not perfect, and something along the lines of they are in good enough shape that I aint going to throw them away. I believe the seats were just as I represented them.

In fact this is the text of what I said about the seats in an email:
Hey guy, I have a pair of front tbird seats in decent shape here in Huntsville. AL

They are in decent shape altogether, but have what I believe to be easily repair imperfections.

The worst part would be the passenger side left bolster is hanging off, but that is due to the plastic attaching strip on the back, easily fixed.

Not the best but I don’t know if there are any SC seats in existence that are still in really good shape!

Both are the power seats with all the button, all buttons work but front tilt, but all positions can be obtained through the raise/lower button and the rear tilt….

I’m not looking to make a killing on these, and they are in good enough shape that I aint going to throw them away….

So if interested, make an offer, not sure how much shipping would be from Huntsville, AL; I wonder if greyhound would ship these???

Here are pics of the seats:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/p...198584&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Thanks for your time!


Here is the weird part, I shipped these seats to him halfway through June somewhere around the 17 I believe it was, and TODAY he emails me with a complaint, and seems to want some money back.

He says the seats are dried out too badly and the leather is "flaking off", but when they left here, there was certainly no leather flaking off. A couple of weeks before I took the seats out, I used some mcquires leather stuff on them, and they seemed to clean up very well, and still looked pretty dang good when I boxed them up.

He also said the driver seat would not move bac or forwards, but they moved my damn near 300 lbs a$$ just fine. I know because a previous prospective buyer had me put them back in and test the functionality, which was how I discoved the tilt issue.

I am curious if he put some kind of cleaner or something on the seat that mistkenly dried them out futher... I know for damn sure there was no leather flaking off when I sent them...

I asked him for some pics, so if I get them, I will post them for some more opinions....

I went back through our email correspondance, and can't see anywhere where I thought I could have been misleading, or mistaken about the condition.

I asked him if he could send me the email where I misrepresented the seats, and he said he no longer had the emails, but did have hard copies, and could fax them.

I know it sucks to get some parts or something off the internet, and they be very badly misrepresented, and I would hate to do this to someone esle, but I just don't think in this case, I have misrepresented anyting.

If he had emailed me the first week or so, maybe I could understand. But it seems like he got a month and a half down the road, and decided he was disappointed???

If I went back and looked at the emails and thoguht maybe I was misleading, I would go ahead and give him some money back...

He sent $195, which was $100 for the seats, and $95 for shipping. I think this was a fair deal, they were a PITA to box up and ship

Lets see if he can get some pics, and I'll see what ya'll think.

As of right now, I aint gonna feel guilty not sedning him anymore funds... unless he can find somewhere in our correspondance that I was misleading or mistaken...

Do ya'll think it was misleadig to condition the seats prior to taking the pics? I cleaned pretty much everything I sold... I think that would be pretty standard...

Well enough for now.... lets see what info he can give.... I'll send him a link to this post and see if he cares to respond or post some pics here...

Thanks guys!
 
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I'd wait to see the pics before making any decisions. As a long time seller here, at tccoa, and on a bunch of other boards, I have been in a couple similar situations before. If the person can actually show some sort of proof that the parts were misrepresented, then a refund/partial refund (depending on the circumstance) is considered. The fact that he just now decided that there is a problem, doesn't help his case at all.

From what you've said, you're handling the situation very well.

-Rod
 
I've had my seats redone before. If your customer viewed the pics that you just linked to, those 2 front seats were well worth the $95 paid. IMO, shipping is shipping is shipping and is irrelevant as far as what the seats are worth. They are 2 completely separate items. Now if a potential buyer wants to say to themselves "well it costs X+Y = Z with shipping and its not worth that total of Z to me", then that buyer should not make an offer.

As long as you didn't hide the facts, made it clear that this was not a try before you buy deal, IMO you've done nothing wrong and certainly didn't rip anybody off. I also know that there is some risk in not being able to touch whatever it is that I am buying and that "risk" is what factors into the price I'm willing to pay. If I don't want to take a chance, then I buy from a retail store and pay retail prices.. In the case of a set of seats, you can expect to pay around $800-$900 to have the 2 front seats professionally reupholstered in the original leather/vinyl combo and have OEM quality results.

I think they're worth what was paid for them. Feel free to point to my comments about this. :cool:
 
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I have been on the receiving end of being intentionally ripped off via the internet when it came to buying car parts. Unfortunately some people have no morals and strive to see what they can get for nothing. I'm not accusing this individual of trying to get these seats for nothing, but after the experiences I've had, I would be VERY leary.
One thing I practice is to ensure the delivery person is present when I receive a package. I open the package in the delivery person's presence so that in the event the item is not as described, I have a witness to back up my claim. It stands to reason if this person had spent that much money on those seats he would have made sure he inspected them closely upon receipt. It does not appear this was done. If I had spent that kind of money on those seats and they were as he has described to you, I would have refused them and had them shipped directly back to you, or at least filed a damaged goods claim on the spot. There are too many indications this person might be trying to intentionally deceive you. I hate to sound so cynical, but after the bad experiences I've had dealing with people via the internet for car parts, I am VERY leary of people I deal with. With that being said, I can honestly say everyone I've dealt with on this board have been totally honest and I have had no problems with anyone here when it came to parts for my SC. :D
You are handling this situation the right way. Take heart and keep the faith. Everything will work out. ;)
 
Working tracks and motors alone should be worth close to $100. The way I see it, he should have let you know before now. If they werent in satisfactory condition he should have let you know as soon as he received them. That being said, the absolute best I would offer him at this point would be that if he pays to have them shipped back, he gets his $100 back. If he had let you know sooner, it might be a different story.
 
titanium89scguy said:
if you have to question yourself now if you did or not and think then you did nothing wrong


I aint really questioning myself, I just wanted to air this out, possibly mediation???

Seems like there are alot of "someone ripped me off" threads here lately, so I thought this kinda fit.

As I told him, if he can show some pics of leather flaking off, or where I misrepresened the condition, or something, I'll send him some money back with an apology.

I've been ripped off a few times here lately, and would not do this to anyone.

I'm kinda hoping the responses to this thread will kinda help one of us decide we are wrong :cool:
 
seats just dont flake away usually, plus from the pics they look like crap, he got what he paid for, his boyfriend probably told him off :rolleyes:
 
this sounds a little too familiar with what mr DAN SMIT aka BLEED FORD BLUE did to me. THE DOOR PANELS ARE IN GREAT SHAPE. VERY CAREFULY PACKAGING. What do i get when i recieve them in the mail? Well i tell you what. I got broken door panels in multiple places. The shrink wrap was half assley put on. No support to prevent bending. So i got a complete refund after i immedieately sent him pictures. Then he tries to say that i exchanged mines for his and mines were the broken ones. My original door panles were in better condition then what he sent me. Well any-who. Get pictures first. Work it out. Try to catch him in his own lie. If he is lying.
 
One Man's treasure is another Man's trash

darkstar_one said:
this sounds a little too familiar with what mr DAN SMIT aka BLEED FORD BLUE did to me. THE DOOR PANELS ARE IN GREAT SHAPE. VERY CAREFULY PACKAGING. What do i get when i recieve them in the mail? Well i tell you what. I got broken door panels in multiple places. The shrink wrap was half assley put on. No support to prevent bending. So i got a complete refund after i immedieately sent him pictures. Then he tries to say that i exchanged mines for his and mines were the broken ones. My original door panles were in better condition then what he sent me. Well any-who. Get pictures first. Work it out. Try to catch him in his own lie. If he is lying.
It's all a matter of opnion here as the old saying goes, "One Man's treasure is another Man's trash". IMO, Good quality seats are going to go for a few cents more then the run of the mill used ones. If this guy paid less then $200.00 for something he can sit in and looks decent, then he may have gotten a good deal. If he was expecting anything better for that price, then he's kidding himself.

But I hear ya. Ebay is full of a lot of JUNK so you have to be selective about the sellers you deal with. I've gotten riped off three times, twice on Ebay and once here. One I remember, ebayer allfordproparts (who's ID has now been removed). I purchased a automatic shift handle and the #### sucker sent me one that looked like the dog chewed on it. I laughed so hard when I added negative feedback to his account I drooled on myself. :D
 
If this guy paid less then $200.00 for something he can sit in and looks decent, then he may have gotten a good deal. If he was expecting anything better for that price, then he's kidding himself

Beat me to the punch. If people exercised more common sense rather than looking for the ultimate deal all the time, situations like this wouldn't happen. I have bought so much stuff from people sight unseen. Some things I got a deal on, and other stuff I lost on. Price generally effects the overall quality of the product your getting. If it's real low, like these, and the seller is stating there is wear, then chances are there is. Where's the suprise?

I see none.


Skip
 
I am getting more sure that the claim is unfounded...

I have asked him if he could tell me which statement I made that was misrepresentative of the seats, and if he could send pics...

It appears he is going to do neither....
Michael it's obvious that I cannot reason with you on this no matter what I say or what "evidence" I send to you or tccoa. I am done wasting my time on this matter, so I am turning it to my attorney. When he has gone through everything, he will give you what you need.
thanks,
****
 
The guy bought used seats... I don't see anywhere that you offered a warranty? Tell him you ain't WalMart and if he doesn't like it to sue you. Feels an awful lot like a scam to my BS detector. To answer your original question - NO you didn't rip him off.

An attorney that would take a civil case worth $100... hahahahahahahaha. :rolleyes:
 
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sizemoremk said:
I am getting more sure that the claim is unfounded...

I have asked him if he could tell me which statement I made that was misrepresentative of the seats, and if he could send pics...

It appears he is going to do neither....

Better hope he doesn't get Jackie Chiles. :eek: :D
 
yeah it does seem like BS. I bet you he is gonna say that he wont ship the seats back because it would cost too much and that would be the end of ur money and ur nicely used seats. Hell, why doesnt he just repair them. Take them to an upholstery refinisher if you would give him a partial refund.... But yeah it does sound like a scam. Let him try to get his attorney. Its gonna cost him more than what the seats are worth. So the money he gets back is gonna go to his attorney... lol imagine he just fights u in court for his attorney. what a dream for an attorney. CALL LARRY H PARKER. He got somebody 1.2 million... thats what the commercial says.
 
Since I am an expert on getting ripped off, I may as well chime in as well. From reading your e-mail to the guy, I would say that you didn't misrepresent the seats at all. If the leather is flaking off, I would almost have to say that he used sandpaper to clean them. In all you get what you pay for, and $195 is not a bad deal for two OEM Thunderbird SC seats. It probably cost more to ship them than the $95 that you charged him. Let him call his attorney, he will most likely get laughed at :D
 
bustedbird said:
Since I am an expert on getting ripped off, I may as well chime in as well. From reading your e-mail to the guy, I would say that you didn't misrepresent the seats at all. If the leather is flaking off, I would almost have to say that he used sandpaper to clean them. In all you get what you pay for, and $195 is not a bad deal for two OEM Thunderbird SC seats. It probably cost more to ship them than the $95 that you charged him. Let him call his attorney, he will most likely get laughed at :D


It actually costed $93 and some change, but dealing with the retards at the greyhound station is worth another $50 easily :mad:
 
I am done wasting my time on this matter, so I am turning it to my attorney.

So he spends his time buying cheap seats off the internet, but now it's more cost effective for him to pay an attorney than to respond to you? :confused:
 
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Other than the one seats bolster they don't really look that bad. I think this guy is just being a cheap bastard. Its funny but true, an attorney will charge more than the cost of the seats to show up to the court house. Not to mention do you think they are going to subpoena you to go to his local courthose over $195.00. It wasn't like you lied and said they are perfect. If you even get contacted by a lawyer, print and fax all the emails between the two of you with date and time. Send him pictures of the seats. And he will probably realize its a waste of time and money.

Now if I were you I'd have told the guy that I went into great detail describing the seats, that they are used and you offered no gaurantee or warranty, and if he still wasn't happy to kiss your ***. People act like buying used parts means they are like new quality at an affordable price. What part of USED doesn't this guy get. You didn't misrepresent the seats.
 
Did I rip him off?

Yes you did, SHAME on you!
Now as your punishment send all of your extra SC parts to me. That should be punishment enough. :p
 
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