Bought an Electronic Drum Set on Craigslist, Just One Problem...

[barr08]

It stopped working!

Here's the story: I found a decent electronic drum set on a Craigslist post for $300. It's the set seen here, and it came in great condition with everything pictured. I called the guy and went to his house the next day. He is a family man, and I met his wife, 2 great kids, and even his dog. I tried the set out for a bit at his house, and it worked perfectly. I told him I would take it, we loaded the set into my SUV, and we parted ways.

So I get it back to my apartment and turn it on. For about 5 seconds, it worked like a charm, but suddenly the sounds turned to loud static. I unplugged the set for about 10 minutes, and plugged it back in. The static was gone, but now I am getting absolutely no sounds. I tried every output (phones, aux, midi) on both my and my friend's drum pads, but we never got any sound out of them.

Now I am in a pickle. I am a big CL fan, so this isn't my first rodeo. I know this guy has no obligation to me, as the set (as far as I could tell) was in good working order when he sold it to me. I can only assume that something went wrong in transit. I gave him a call this morning and left a voicemail asking him if this has ever happened before, and what kinds of things I could do to try to fix this thing. I am almost certain the problem is in the module (also called the brain) of the set - this is the electronic device that you plug all the components into, and it mixes everything together. Buying a new module would virtually erase any sort of bargain I was getting on this in the first place.

I will probably just have to deal with the hand that was dealt to me. The guy seems reasonable, but he is in no way obligated to reimburse me in any way, and we both know that.

I suppose my question is - what would you do in this situation?

 

[pilotError]

If your going to do Craigs List, you need to be prepared to eat it.

Hopefully the guy will call you back and you can find out if it's still under warranty. Maybe the company will honor it based on the serial number. You can always call the company and ask.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

How much of a hit would you be taking if you had to buy a new "brain"?

You could always look at it as getting to split the costs. You get the drums now and some time to save up for whatever you need to make them work...

Gotta look at the bright side!

 

[dankybear]

is there any warranty on the set?

 

[notjustjay]

I hate when this happens.

I suppose worst-case you could try to repair it, or failing that, eBay it "as is" for parts.

I once met a guy to buy a big laser printer. He'd advertised it in one of the local buy/sell newsgroups. Perhaps it should have tipped me off that he was eager to deliver it and met me in the parking lot of my workplace. Of course there was no way to test it out there but I trusted him. Big brute of a guy, but he seemed friendly. I brought it inside, it worked for a few pages, then I got a fuser error. Repeated attempts to call or email him were left unanswered. Finally in desperation I posted a reply in the newsgroup telling everyone that I got ripped off.

The next day I got an email from someone I didn't know, vaguely threatening me about "tarnishing his friend's good name, he's very upset about this", blah blah. He invited me to contact them again to meet up for a refund. Somehow this didn't feel right so I cut off contact and dumped the printer by the curb. A $500 mistake...

 

[eRondeau]

Sorry about your luck, but that why "stores" and "authorized dealers" exist. Because when you buy from them, you get a warranty. Buy from Vinnie over there on Elm Street and you take your chances.

 

[barr08]

Quick update on this - the guy called me back and said he has never had any issues like this. He is a really nice guy and seemed genuinely interested in resolving this.

The weirdest thing is, I let it sit unplugged for a few days, and I tried it out yesterday and it worked! It wasn't perfect, the first few times I tried, it worked for a bit and then stopped. After a while, it started working and stayed working (until I checked last this morning).

I am going to call him and let him know what happened. I suppose a mostly working set is better than a not working set. I don't know too much about electronics, aside from a 100 level electronics class I took in college, but fickle devices never cease to amaze and confuse me. They're like humans - they choose when they want to work and when they don't.

 

[Raid]

^ sounds like a cracked solder connection somewhere. Hopefully it is, cause the only tricky part of that fix is finding where it is. I'd start near where the unit heats up the most (other than the power supply!).

 

[barr08]

^ sounds like a cracked solder connection somewhere. Hopefully it is, cause the only tricky part of that fix is finding where it is. I'd start near where the unit heats up the most (other than the power supply!).

Perhaps I will take a chance and open this bad boy up. I suppose it can't hurt to poke around if I am really careful.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

The problem isnt really the drum kit. Its craiglist. EVERYBODY I know that has used craiglist (myself included) have been burned by people on it. I'm out £2500 because of a ****hole that uses it to get free work and stuff out of people. He's still on it to this day.

 

[barr08]

The problem isnt really the drum kit. Its craiglist. EVERYBODY I know that has used craiglist (myself included) have been burned by people on it. I'm out £2500 because of a ****hole that uses it to get free work and stuff out of people. He's still on it to this day.

High risk, high reward. There are times when people get screwed over, like me and you, but there are times when you can find the deal of a lifetime. I've had a number of very successful, very lucrative CL deals in the past. It's just the risk you take I suppose.