Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I recently bid on and won this item - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT - which I appreciate is a used item several years old but the seller missed the fact that there was a 4" cut in this cover. Needless to say I wouldn't have bid so high had I been aware of this.
To his credit I have since contacted the seller and he said that he wasn't aware of it being damaged and offered to refund me £50.00 of the purchase price or return the cover and he would refund my money. I've been trying to find one of these covers for some time and I'm aware that they don't come up very often so it probably would have still fetched a reasonable price. To this end I've responded that I would have only bid up to £150.00 on it with the cut in it and suggested that a £35.00 refund would be amicable.

Cant you report this to Ebay? I am sure they would take a dim view and suspend the seller if they felt there was a case to answer.

I have also been stung a bit on Ebay today ... although not as badly. I bought that S4 body kit with the side strips that was supposed to be new and never fitted.
In fairness I was suspicious as it looked used, but even asked if it was new and got a reply.
However its not new and has been fitted to a car and one of the side strips has been damaged when pulled off the car sadly.
Just can't work out which side is damaged as my car is in being worked on. It might be ok as one of mine is in good condition, but I was planning on selling it and the body kit on (I only needed the side strips) as it cost less than one new large side strip.
I have dropped the seller an email as its not on really? Hopefully we can sort something out.

By coincidence I also bought something from Databac (the spare wheel cover) as mine was damaged. Its ok to be fair.
I was watching the bidding go up in the last minute from that cover you got! Went mad! I was also a bidder but stopped sub £100

Regards
Paul

I would contact the seller because from the feedback he seems ok.



Nick

I agree ... as I said my item was ok from same seller and things do happen. I sell a lot on Ebay and seen some really weird things happen including boxes I have sent turning up empty.
The material those covers are made from can be fragile. H emight have cut it in error on packing it up or something.

Fingers crossed for you! Paypal will look after you anyway whatever happens.

Regards
Paul

I've contacted the seller and I'm awaiting a response, I suppose it's possible he cut it while cutting the bubble wrap or tape that he put round it, still a bit of a pi**er as I don't have one and was hoping to get one in sound condition. I also tried to bid on the wheel cover but left it a few seconds to late and my damn computer initially blocked my bid as a cookie for some reason, by the time I'd sorted it out the bidding had ended. Lucky for you Watchcam as I tried to enter a bid of £50.00 for the wheel cover so you got it cheaper than you might have done!
I suppose my other option now is that if the hardware for the cover is in tact then I could treat myself to one of those lovely leather covers that Paul Champagne does in the States, a nice black leather one with the 928 GTS in red leather to match my interior.

Paul's work is fantastic .... I would be tempted

eBay are actually loath to take action against sellers (=customers!) unless someone leans on them very heavily over something like a pirated brand, but even then it has to be on a big scale for them to do anything about it.

However if you paid via PayPal, then it's fairly easy to get the payment reversed in your favour after going through the formal dispute/arbitration procedure.

I bought a super quality brand new vinyl 928 luggage cover from seller on eBay but can't find listing now (it was some months ago). He pops up occasionally when he's manufactured another batch. I'd say it's better than original as the thin cloth original is prone to discolour/tear. The only drawback of the one I bought is that on the reverse side the material is labelled "Ty-Nam Plastics Factory"! No concours points for that then.

I could tell you about quite a few times I have been done by Ebay having sold stuff that has become a problem. Got done for over £400 (in one deal) in 2008 by Ebay who took money from me even though I could proof the stuff had been sent. Never saw a penny of it back either as the post office do everything they can not to pay out as well.
Although I am on Ebay all the time buying and selling I hate them with a passion. They give zero support to sellers when the chips are down, but at least as a buyer I know I am well protected.
Generally I have no issues at all trading both ways on Ebay ... but this last couple of weeks I have had three issues as a buyer. (More than I have had in three years I would say) Maybe it says something about the times we live in at the moment.

Yes that's my point!

It's easy (too easy?) to get payment reversed against a seller, but it's actually very hard to get a seller's account closed.

Oh for sure ... couldn't agree with you more.

One of the biggest mistakes I think Ebay made was not allowing sellers to give buyers ratings anymore.

It means buyers can go round ripping off sellers all day long without anyone realising they are trading with a dangerous buyer. Of course Ebay say that anyone found doing it will be dealt with ... blah blah blah, but the reality is they are still there doing it.

Having said that I am very aware there are plenty of dodgy sellers out there, but I am convinced for every dodgy seller there will be 8 or 10 dodgy buyers Sellers have too much too lose.

Thankfully my time on ebay is mostly pleasureable and many a 928 part has been happily received from friendly Ebayers. I also really enjoy the hunt for the bargain and the elusive part. I have made quite a few friends through ebay as well.

On a different subject .... where has my spell checker disappeared too? Using Firefox as normal but its disappeared. Apologies in advance .. have been using spell checkers for so long now my spelling without one has diminished somewhat!

I think we have very similar views on eBay Paul.

It's easy to moan about changes to eBay's terms and charges (e.g. at one point you could avoid PayPal's userous commission, but that has now been transferred to ebay commission regardless of payment method accepted), the toothlessness of the ratings system etc

But at the end of the day it's a fantastic system. Have found some brilliant items/tools there for my 928 alone (not to mention my first 928 which set me on the path to insanity), let alone other categories in which I have an interest. I've also been able to get rid of stuff for which there was no other practical outlet. I tend to treat it as the largest shop in the world and can find things there which are otherwise unobtainable. It's also almost always been a great pleasure to meet people face-to-face for some transactions (those transactions tend to be more in the original eBay spirit I think).

I agree it's deteriorated in terms of the risks which buyers and sellers face, and more indefinably interms of atmosphere/culture, but I would miss it hugely if it ceased to exist. I think the deterioration we've both noted just puts a greater premium on being able to use your ebay skill and experience to avoid problems as far as possible.

No doubt ... its brilliant. Found my 928 on there as well

I've edited my original post as it appears I jumped in with both feet, the seller has responded stating he was unaware of the cut in the cover and offered a partial refund for the damage or return the cover and he would refund my money in full, can't really ask for better than that so I must apologise having jumped the gun.
I'm just trying to convince the wife that the 928 budget should extend to one of these - http://www.designpaulchampagne.com/928Luggage.html - a perfect match for my car which is also black piped with red!

Have you considered making your own? Remove the rods and elastics and then use the old one as a template. My wife has just made me one - and it is really really good. We didn't bother with the extra bits that cover luggage if the seats are down because we have never used them and you can tell by the colour that they have never been used - admittedly I thought they were map pockets for about two years!. It cost £3 for a piece of poly-carbon canvas, and £3 for five metres of nylon Petersham from a haberdashery on the local market - your wife will know what it is.

As soon as I work out how I'll put pictures up.