Hi all, first time posting here and thought I'd share this kind of strange story.
Bit about my eBay activities:
- started on eBay during 2003
- Business Seller
- Above Average Seller
- Up until the last 4 weeks, I've had a pretty OK eBay experience
I used to be a busy eBayer up until 10 years ago when I decided to knock it on the head. Only returned every 5 years or so to clear out stuff I'd collected and no longer used. Recently made a return to this platform to clear surplus electronic drum gear which I no longer need - my my, how it's changed lolz
Approx 4 weeks ago, a very keen buyer bought most of my high value electronic drum gear. Came across as a nice guy, had his own eBay and Reverb shopfronts and very talkative in the messaging system. However, about 3 weeks ago, he started to complain about one of the items and how it was not working as expected. The item in question was sold as "fair condition for age and usage", I stated in the description that it had taken a beating and at nearly 3 years old had signs of cosmetic wear (I detailed that wear and tear in writing and photos). Despite all that, the item still operated as expected.
On recieving the buyer's complaint via eBay messaging, I requested photos of the item and photos of the item's settings in the module. Most of the time, issues are down to module configuration with regards to playing style. His reply was that he'd provide the photos later - but never did. About 10 hours later, he messaged to say he'd spent hours reading the manual and thought the item would perform better than it did. I passed on some settings tips and that was the last I heard from him...until 4 days before the 30 day return window closed.
He messaged again stating that the item had been tested and found to be faulty and damaged. He stated he could return the item but was willing to accept a partial refund. He also added that another item had a problem and "did you swap parts on this or something?". I decided not to reply but instead did some internet research on the Buyer. I found his FB page and found the following Public post made the day before he sent the message about the item being faulty and the other item that I allegedly swapped parts with:
The item in question is the trigger with the sticks lying on it and the floor tom trigger to it's furthest right. Upon seeing the FB post, I decided to not engage with the buyer, assumed he would soon put in an official return request and he did so on the 31st day after delivery.
The big BUT here is in the FB post. He made a reference to my former ekit triggers being powered by SD3 (Superior Drummer 3) which is a 3rd party drum emulation software on a Mac. I used SD3 myself but had no end of problems with the Roland digital triggers (what he bought from me) not working properly with that software. The issues he described to me were exactly the same known compatibility issues and are widely known across the Internet edrum communities and You Tube. Had he'd provided the "photos" I'd asked for then I would have told him that SD3 was the problem, not the items he'd bought from me.
For the entire Bank Holiday (which I went away on holiday) the whole thing was on my mind and I was resigned to the fact that my cash flow would take a hit. I came to the conclusion that perhaps I had sold him faulty/damaged gear and which was only discovered the day after he made that FB post. I'd already decided that I would accept a full return and refund once I'd got the item or items back. I've done this before over the years but it's only happened a few times in my 20 years on eBay. I don't dispute or argue, I just accept the buyer isn't happy and lets get it sorted PDQ. If the items came back, and I found them faulty then I would repair and relist as repaired/refurbished. Luckily, I'm very well connected with Roland support due to my custom over the years and dealing with them on warranty and advice, so I do have some support to fall back on.
When I got the return request, the buyer stated again "willing to accept a partial refund" but listed a different fault (the part in particular) as to what he put in the eBay message. I decided to contact Roland support who advised that the part's mentioned were not available as individual parts in that model. I was advised that if the issues reported were the case then the solution was the complete replacement of the item's internals (all one modular part) and at a cost of £320 - and there's no stock anywhere due to a component shortage.
My discussion with Roland got me thinking "why would anyone want a partial refund for a faulty item which is going to cost them more to fix and not to mention the massive wait time for the part". I decided to stick with plan A and provide a full refund on receipt of the item. Funds for over £300 were then put on hold as per usual. Return postage was issued to the buyer and I felt pretty bad about the possibility that I sold a faulty item to the buyer...of course, there was still the other item which he'd started to complain about.
10 hours after I accepted the return and issued the return label, the buyer then closed the return request.
The end...I do not know what happend. But there you go and I thought I'd share with you all
Cheers.
