A little help? Ebay dispute over mac "beep."

[totusprodeo]

I recently sold a macbook on ebay and now there are accusations that I was misleading the buyer. Anyone mac savvy care to chime in here? Tell me if I am in the wrong or if this buyer is just trying to get a sweet deal.

The full (completed) e-bay sale is linked below for reference.

This is a 2008 white macbook that got hit with a cup of coffee and was being sold "as is" for "parts/repair"

I stated (entirely honestly):
"I plugged the laptop in today (with no RAM or hard drive installed) and powered it on, the fans ran and there was a lovely BEEEP that emanated from the speakers at a regular interval (probably trying to indicate that I had forgotten the hard drive). So that's nice. "

The buyer claims:
"This laptop spins up the fan and HD but there is NO sound or video whatsoever. Yes, when no ram is installed a laptop will make that "beep"sound…BUT it also implies
that if good ram is installed and the board is cleaned thoroughly it, most likely, will boot up. This is not the case here."

Was I implying any of those things that the buyer claims?

Any advice help or further questions would be appreciated.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MacBook-White-F...ViewItem&pt=Apple_Laptops&hash=item2eacebc997

 

[Hellhammer]

You sold it as it is i.e. broken and no refunds/returns allowed so IMO there is nothing wrong. You can't promise that it'll work when he gets it and buying broken ones are always like playing Russian Roulette.

Only thing I would consider is giving like 50$ back but keeping the rest as you don't take returns

 

[Tom71]

Tell him to get lost.

 

[totusprodeo]

Would it be worth asking him to send a video demonstrating the lack of "beep?"

 

[Hellhammer]

Would it be worth asking him to send a video demonstrating the lack of "beep?"

If that is important to you, yes. I would just tell him that you bought a broken one, you got a broken one. No returns or refunds allowed. He knew it when he bought it

 

[Tom71]

Why would you want to go further into this? If you do this, you eventually have to pay back money.

You stated what happened quite clearly. He thought it's not a big of a deal and he's lucky getting a machine that he can fix by himself and now he's upset that he can't do that.

But that shouldn't be your problem. He can assume whatever he wants.

 

[UngratefulNinja]

Would it be worth asking him to send a video demonstrating the lack of "beep?"

I feel like if you do that, you are placing importance on the beep, giving him ammunition against you. I think it'd be better to say what someone mentioned above- you sold it broken, as is.

 

[totusprodeo]

The issue becomes this:
Buyer feels like I mis-represented the item.
Buyer leaves poor feedback.
My ebay rating goes down.

Or is this not an issue?

 

[GoCubsGo]

The issue becomes this:
Buyer feels like I mis-represented the item.
Buyer leaves poor feedback.
My ebay rating goes down.

Or is this not an issue?

**** your rating, be more worried about PayPal refunding this doucher. Look, sold as-is ... broken, yeah he should be up a creek but PayPal and eBay people are on crack and it's possible (not probable) that you get shafted in this. Going forward broken item is sold as is, best of your knowledge it doesn't work, bid accordingly. The more **** you write the more crap they have to come back on you with.

 

[chrysrobyn]

I recently sold a macbook on ebay and now there are accusations that I was misleading the buyer. Anyone mac savvy care to chime in here? Tell me if I am in the wrong or if this buyer is just trying to get a sweet deal.

This isn't about being Mac-savvy, it's about eBay being customer conscious. I sold an iSight in box, as-is. I said I didn't test it because I thought it was important to be new. It was obviously never opened. Since it didn't work when the customer opened it, he filed a dispute with PayPal. He claimed that it was, as claimed, never opened, but it was nonetheless defective. PayPal ruled in his favor and pulled the money from my account.

I'd like to see how your case turns out, but I will not be surprised to see the buyer send back your "parts" machine and you be required to refund the purchase price (minus shipping). Problems like this is why shipping is so high on many items. Buyers rightly consider the purchase price to be shipping plus end price, but rarely consider that the end price is the only part "up for grabs" in a return or dispute.

 

[Tom71]

The issue becomes this:
Buyer feels like I mis-represented the item.
Buyer leaves poor feedback.
My ebay rating goes down.

Or is this not an issue?

Yes perhaps. The question is what is worth more to you? A good rating, or money? (Not talking about fairness here...) Plus you can leave feedback on his rating, if he gives you a bad one.

I doubt that PayPal would reverse the transaction...

 

[mstrze]

I doubt that PayPal would reverse the transaction...

Agreed. It is pretty clear from your description that this machine doesn't work after you have described that it had coffee spilled on/in it.

PayPal/eBay can read the original description and determine that you in no way misrepresented your item. They would even remove any negative feedback I would imagine.

 

[totusprodeo]

I guess the mac savvy portion of the post was geared towards the question:
If the computer, with no ram and no hard drive installed "beeps" when powered up, does that imply that "if good ram is installed and the board is cleaned thoroughly it, most likely, will boot up"

 

[totusprodeo]

thanks all for your responses so far, this is good info.

 

[mstrze]

I guess the mac savvy portion of the post was geared towards the question:
If the computer, with no ram and no hard drive installed "beeps" when powered up, does that imply that "if good ram is installed and the board is cleaned thoroughly it, most likely, will boot up"

I don't know the answer to this, but for a buyer to assume it would work after you spilled coffee on it is taking a huge chance. Sure he might be able to get it back into working order, but the thing had coffee spilled on it! LOL You advertised it for parts...you made no claim...even remotely...that it could work.

 

[Matthew9559]

You were clear in your auction listings. I wouldn't think twice about it. BTW, 1 negative feedback is worth $406 imo.

 

[chrispholt]

Your In The Clear

I'm pretty sure that when you sell an item on ebay saying it does not work, for repair or parts. The buyer assumes it does not work! Therefore you hold no responsibility if he cannot get it to work.

He is just upset that he cannot fix it and make a profit.

P.S I like your humour in the ebay listing

 

[totusprodeo]

Conclusion

Thanks all for your input. After a lengthy back and fourth and my agreeing to meet him half way in compensation because I didn't want the poor feedback, I finally received this message:

"I took one last look at this logic board under a magnifier. On the underside of the Ram slot that seemed the most flooded, corrupted, I found a "run" of solder from, most likely, overheating this square with 4 contacts. They seemed run together. So I took a sharp probe, with the magnifier at hand, and cleaned this circuit out so that each contact had a clean path. I put it back in and it BOOTED!"

Which is fantastic for everyone really. I've no idea how this all happened, but it was quite a learning experience. I think the best advice of the day came from jessica:

"Going forward broken item is sold as is, best of your knowledge it doesn't work, bid accordingly. The more **** you write the more crap they have to come back on you with."

Good advice. Thanks all. Cheers.
-dan

 

[Sun Baked]

Likely the coffee left enough residue to short a couple traces.

Problem with liquids that have stuff in em.

Almost want to dump those things in a sonic cleaner before they corrode, alas left with the cheap solution of alcohol.

 

[MrMacintoshBlog]

I thought it was a nice listing.

This is coming from some one who sells mac's on ebay.

I get this regularly, some one will complain about somthing not working and will ask for some sort of "compensation".

My policy is that any item i sell is in AS-IS condition (like you said in the listing). I also state that the BUYER pays return shipping.

At this point i will tell the buyer I am sorry that the item is not working so please send the item back and I will issue you a full refund. This usually gets them to back down on the whole "compensation part".



Also on the bad feedback part as long as everything is clearly stated in the listing you can actually dispute the feedback with ebay. They will review it and if everything is listed in your auction you can get the bad feedback taken away.

Its true the buyer has the seller by the BALLS, and as sellers we need to expect this kind of crap to continue. You do not have to live in fear of bad feedback you just have to protect yourself.


I am glad things were resolved.

 

[Tom71]

Thanks all for your input. After a lengthy back and fourth and my agreeing to meet him half way in compensation because I didn't want the poor feedback, I finally received this message:

"I took one last look at this logic board under a magnifier. On the underside of the Ram slot that seemed the most flooded, corrupted, I found a "run" of solder from, most likely, overheating this square with 4 contacts. They seemed run together. So I took a sharp probe, with the magnifier at hand, and cleaned this circuit out so that each contact had a clean path. I put it back in and it BOOTED!"

Which is fantastic for everyone really. I've no idea how this all happened, but it was quite a learning experience. I think the best advice of the day came from jessica:

"Going forward broken item is sold as is, best of your knowledge it doesn't work, bid accordingly. The more **** you write the more crap they have to come back on you with."

Good advice. Thanks all. Cheers.
-dan

Well it's good to hear that all is fine now. So you didn't lose any money and you didn't get the bad feedback

 

[Tom71]

My policy is that any item i sell is in AS-IS condition (like you said in the listing). I also state that the BUYER pays return shipping.

I just want to comment on the "as-is" part. In my opinion, as-is is a bit difficult in internet trades because, well, you can't really see the thing.

As-is works fine where you are having the item in your hand and you can examine it. To work without problems on the internet, perhaps a bit of extra information is always good - such as pictures etc.

Just my 2 cents,

Tom

 

[rrwrrw]

Ebay does not care about the seller. If the buyer disputes, you will lose (no matter how clear your listing was). Sorry, they stink...

 

[racer1441]

Ebay does not care about the seller. If the buyer disputes, you will lose (no matter how clear your listing was). Sorry, they stink...

Agreed. Best thing is to pull the money out of the pay pal account asap!

 

[quantum003]

Yes, this is why Ebay sucks. You did nothing wrong, he is an idiot. You clearly said as-is, but if the buyer makes enough ruckus you the seller just have to bend over and take it... you'll be lucky to get either your Macbook back or to hold on to any of the money at this point...