jessica_gaerlan Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I bought a lightmeter from him listed as "IN THIS LOT I OFFER AN ITEM IN EXC CONDITION .THIS IS A WORKING ITEM .THIS IS IN EXC COSMETIC CONDITION " and he sent me a lightmeter that is not working and with a broken glass . The item was wrapped with a thick roll of bubble wrap probably he thought for me to think that it's been damaged while in transit. The thing is, he forgot to wrap the pieces of broken glass with the lightmeter and the box was not deformed at all. WHAT A SCAM!!! He called me a liar while in fact he is the liar. He doesn't have a good reputation in ebay world so I guess I should not be surprised. It's sad 'coz I bought a lot of stuff from the guy and everything was fine then suddenly he sent me this useless item. I emailed him but never replied so I filed a dispute in Paypal. Paypal wants me to return the item through an online trackable shipping that would cost me US$59 just to return a useless item that cost me $28. So I gave the man a negative and of course he retaliated and called me a liar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_levine Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 As the Latin's used to say "caveat emptor". The guy sounds like a real jerk.Who would shuck someone's goobers, and ruin their own reputation for $28? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve m smith Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I have bought a few items in the past from him with no problems at all. However, the last thing I bought was advertised as a Mamiya C330 waist level finder. It was actually from a Kiev 66. <BR><BR> I emailed him and he politely replied along the lines of "I'm so very sorry, please return for a full refund". <BR><BR> I returned it but did not receive a refund or an answer to about a dozen e-mails over about a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_supplee Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Everyone who has had a bad deal with this seller should send a report to Ebay letting them know the incidentals. They may not be able to do much, but at least it will be known he is not dealing fairly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I have seen buyers get excited and give a neutral or negative that a Retina doesnt work; they want Ebay and Paypal to get involved; when the issue is the buyer didnt try loading film in the camera!<BR><BR> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subbarayan_prasanna Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 This seller has been reported earlier on PN, possibly, several times. Jessica, this seller takes umbrage under the ebay rules that say you can call someone an idiot, liar etc., but may not use any four letter words! I have had similar experience on ebay! Ebay also makes a lot of money out of such "Power Sellers" and so has little control over them. Anyway think of ebay as any open market place or Bazaar. It could happen to us in New York or in Istanbul or Kabul. It is no better or no worse than the real world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry thirsty Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 How could anyone not trust a seller whose every lens is =OPT PERFECT= ? ;-) The funny thing is, just last night I redid some of my saved searches to exclude him from the results because I got tired of seeing all his dubious listings cluttering up my screen week after week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_marvin Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 What is the seller's eBay ID? "446885" doesn't sound like an eBay ID and doesn't find the dealer using their advanced search function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subbarayan_prasanna Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Pay Pal's guarantees work well when the item does not reach you at all. I have had a couple of occasions when overseas purchases did not arrive. When I complained to Pay Pal within the stipulated time they arranged for a full refund promptly. But when the thing arrives in Bad shape and the mailing charges are way too high for overseas shipping then we have a problem. I once got an Exakta VXIIB in excellent cosmetic condition from a reputed seller. Very happily I gave a positive feed back. When I started using it I found the Shutter curtain torn and hanging loose! I had to fix the entire shutter thingee anew at home! Since then whatever I buy overseas I buy within my "write off as loss" limit. More than that I don't bid at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve salmons Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Hi Jessica,<br> I have had dealings with this guy and it does seem to be rather pot luck. Most of the stuff I have had has been fine but I have had a couple of duff items and after the last one I just decided never to buy anything from him again. I think part of the problem is that he lists large quantities of stuff with a standard description. I do not think he checks particularly carefully before listing and has a problem managing his after-sales effectively, especially complaints.<br> My advice is steer clear in future and write this one off to experience. It is a downside to Ebay unfortunately that you will occasionally get stung. I think you have to accept this as the nature of the beast or avoid Ebay and use a known dealer and accept the likeliehood of a higher price.<br> Best of luck either way but do not expect too much from EBAY or PAYPAL complaints processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subbarayan_prasanna Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Robert, that is the ID the seller uses on Ebay. He sells a lot and is UK based. You can go to UK ebay site and find the seller. Just look for "optically perfect" and "No Reserve" against the item of sale, all in Caps! You won't miss. Good for you Jerry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_wire Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 My Ebabe transactions now are limited to what I can afford to lose, based on a recent experience. PayPaw is a joke. The business plan for the scammers (Ebabe, Paypaw and Power Sellers) is maximum profit with no regard for the Buyer. You might be surprised if you knew the origin of many items for sale (stolen??). Don't be afraid to give negative feedback, Sellers hate it and will sometimes "deal" to have you remove it. Don't, let them eat their words and warn others of the Sellers who are "Crooked". Oh well, live and learn. Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I have used this seller, twice. On each occasion, I had a problem, the first relatively minor, though resolved at my expense. I put the first down to bad luck. The second was a mis-description, a set of wide/tele lenses sold as for the Yashica GSN. They didn't fit. He argued with me that the Yashica GSN must have changed size, since he'd tested them on a GSN before selling them. This was balderdash ; Yashica is what I collect and I couldn't fit these accessories on any of my GSNs, GX, MG1 or similar. They were TLR accessories. He took them back, but with considerable bad grace, and no postage refund was ever received. His custom on receiving negative or neutral feedback is generally something along the lines of 'Idiot. See my other Ebay feedback for accuracy.' If I'd had the sense to check more thoroughly, using Toolhaus.org, his feedback would alerted me to the likely problems in buying from him. All my Ebay stored searches are set to specifically exclude his Ebay name. I would never deal with 'Rocky' again, under any circumstances. I am not surprised to see, from this thread, that others have had similarly disagreeable experiences with this seller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralf_j. Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Jessica - I bought an Agfa folder with Solinar from him also listed with this opt perfect describtion. The camera had bent strust and would not fold properly and to repair it at home. This guys uses something called a Turbo Lister which only gives a non specifict describtion of the item. If you decide to buy from him , make sure you have convinced yourself that the item will be in "AS IS" condition at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Robert, it's a real Ebay id, member446885. Readers of the thread may be interested in this extract from his Ebay 'me' page: "it is my policy to ban ALL neutral and negative feedback leavers from all of my auctions" Verify for yourself if you don't believe it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_bellayr Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 The seller is: member446885 I have not purchased anything from him/her but was considering it. There are a lot of camera items "OPT PERFECT" Ferndown, UK. If that is the seller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Seller's name is Keith Rock, Ferndown, UK. That's the one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_the_waste Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I've done business with this person lots of times in the past. Mind you, I've never done anything that involved big money. Mostly filters or small negligible accessories with no problems to be had. The most I've spent was around $5.00 for a Praktica. The meter was off, but the camera worked. I still use it. I couldn't bitch about the price... Buyer beware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edthened Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Och av dealt with Keith on various occasions and, so far, had no bother up till now !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverscape Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Yikes...that just sucks. I've had mostly good luck on eBay. I've bought probably hundreds of things on eBay, and there were only 2 times where I feel like I was ripped off. Well, actually only one time because the other time the seller made an arrangement with me and made things right. I have a collection of old 8mm movie cameras. I got most of them on eBay, and they all work fine. But, one time I bought a camera where the description was full of outright lies. The seller claimed that he was experienced with all sorts of cameras, had used 16mm and 8mm, and made it seem like he was knowledgeable about them. So when he said this camera was in great condition, I believed him. And cosmetically, it did look in good condition. The lens looked fine, and everything else that I could see in the pictures looked fine. When I got the camera, there were problems that anyone who actually knew anything about a camera would have noticed right away. The pressure plate was completely worn out and didn't work anymore. The aperture was jammed and wouldn't go to f16. And a bunch of other smaller problems. But the point is, the camera was unsuable and anyone who actually had any experience with them would have noticed right away. This guy outright lied. I wish I could remember his screen name. I left negative feedback and wrote to him, but it never really went anywhere. I was ripped off. The other time, I bought an Argus C4. When it arrived, there was a pretty bad scratch on the lens (or maybe even a tiny chip) that I was sure would show up if I tried to take pictures with it. But I wrote to the seller, and he apologized and sent me another C4 (for free) that didn't work, but had a good lens. I just replaced the lens on mine and the camera works great. I think in that case, the seller just made an honest mistake...and at least he made things right. So I left positive feedback. If I buy a camera where they say they didn't test it, or if it seems like the person really doesn't know anything about cameras, then it's a gamble and I just make sure I am willing to lose that money. A good guide is how specific the description is. If the seller actually says things like the shutter is smooth, the lens looks clear with no scratches or fungus, film advance works, etc...in other words, if it seems like they at least know a few things about a camera, then there is a better chance that it will arrive in good condition. I bid on a Zeis Ikon Nettar (the first folding camera I've ever bought) recently because the description was more specific and detailed. He mentioned everything, including the condition of the bellows. If all they say is something like "an old camera in great condition" then it's a big gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex macphee Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Chris's remark that he left positive feedback after an honest mistake was rectified makes a noteworthy point. It is easy to leave positive feedback when nothing went wrong. Anyone can make an honest mistake, or unintentionally and unmischievously overlook a problem before sending out an item. What matters with a seller is how he dealt with the problem ; that usually tells your more about his reliability than any amount of positive feedback saying "no problem". This is my own approach. When one seller made a full refund for a non-working camera, I mentioned to him I intended to leave positive feedback, and asked if he'd any caveats on the form. All he asked was that I don't mention the full refund in case it encouraged mischievous returns from change-of-heart buyers, so I went with that. I've had my share of mendacious sellers. I bought a folder from one seller (not the subject of this thread), which had a particular lens I wanted mounted in the shutter I wanted. When it never arrived, after some weeks, I contacted him to ask if he'd posted it. He replied he had, but that if it didn't arrive in the next day or two, he'd refund me. No arrival. When I asked about a refund, he replied that he just happened to have a second model, having brought back a pair from an outing to Germany. Would that do? I agreed, and a few days later a camera arrived. I never believed the duplicate story, and a judicious examination of the auction photo showed that the lens serial number, just visible, was the same as that on the camera received. The shutter, "tested", didn't work. The lens, "excellent", was so thickly encrusted with white deposits it couldn't pass light. The lens was also jammed solid. So much for him having tested it with film. The camera arrived uninsured, though insurance was paid for. On querying it, he said he "self-insured". Clearly there have been people who've dealt with member446885 and had no significant problem. It's only when something goes wrong that the aggrieved buyer is going to experience what others have reported here and, as I can recall, elsewhere too. I'm sure there will be people who will continue to deal with him, and of course, the most I could say here is echo the old caution, caveat emptor. In the present case, it's a caution I observe myself most scrupulously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mharris Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Jessica I have that meter in perfect shape except it doesn't work. There is a guy that fixes them and I'll let you have it for free if you want. They are very nice looking in that brushed aluminum. I was going to get it fixed but never did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo_cortez Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I've already bought him some stuff and the only thing that came broken was a Fujica lens cap - I solve the problem with some glue and didn't leave feedback for the item. The rest (about 10 items) was OK...but maybe I was lucky. Anyway, eBay could be a safer place to buy if buyers could leave feedback without vindication risks - I got all my negative feedback after leaving negative or even neutral feedback for the sellers. As from time to time, everyone has to sell something, unhappy buyers usually avoid leaving negative feedback. If someone related to eBay is reading these lines, my suggestion is the following: every feedback left for a buyer after he left for the seller (with payment confirmation), simply shouldn't count on his feedback rating (but shouldn't also be erased). The main buyer's obligation is PAYING and not writing favorable words or turning the other cheek to someone who just sold him "crap"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_shriver Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I'm awaiting receipt of my first purchase from him. We'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_levine Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 You have to watch feedback. I rarely deal with anyone that isn't in the 99% bracket. 99% is a few mistakes,and a few cranky buyers that are never satisfied. 95% is 5 out of 100 people get ripped off! There is a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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