BEWARE EBAY SELLER member446885...

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.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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>

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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!

 

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?

 

Seller's name is Keith Rock, Ferndown, UK. That's the one.

 

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.

 

Och av dealt with Keith on various occasions and, so far, had no bother up till now !!!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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"...

 

I'm awaiting receipt of my first purchase from him. We'll see...

 

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.

 

Paulo and Everyone

In response to your note about eBay and negative feedback to buyers, you are absolutely right.

Seller's only feedback comments should be based on whether the buyer paid in a timely manner and not retaliation for feedback left from buyer to seller. Therefore, starting in about 10 days, sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers. eBay is becoming quite buyer friendly.

I am a photographer and I also work part time at an eBay drop off store doing mostly product photography. I have been on eBay as a buyer and seller for 10 years (when item numbers were 6 digits long) and working at this store for 3 years. I am all too familiar with inaccurate listings and examples listed here on this forum.

A good rule of thumb: check out seller's feedback. See what feedback he's left for others - is his tone helpful or defensive? Email the seller a question - any random question and see how long it takes them to reply and the tone of the email. Email them again if you want more to go on.

Most transactions go smoothly. For those that don't, eBay and Paypal usually side with the buyer, even if it means a bit of work on your end.

Several complaints about the same seller will result in eBay shutting them down. This doesn't mean they can't open an account with a different name. It would involve a fair amount of work for the seller, having to provide new account information, different email, etc, but it can be done. In most cases, sellers like this one don't last that long, especially if buyers make eBay aware of what he is doing.

Good luck to all. Let's hope eBay continues to be a good resource for exceptional deals on camera equipment.

Lauren Lee

 

A seller's feedback rating is meaningless. Sellers invariably leave retaliatory feedback for honest comments from buyers. So most buyers will only leave positive feedback.

If you want proof, look at the feedback for "aestheticfossils". This guy recently sold me a worthless, broken Leica meter that the listing claimed "works as it should". When I asked for a refund, he threatened to sue me! His feedback rating is 100% positive!!! It just goes to show what a scammer and a bully can get away with.

The comment about "starting in about 10 days, sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers" is questionable. Ebay announced this nearly a year ago, and the scammers immediately went up in arms. If anyone can post a link to a recent posting on Ebay verifying they will really do this and give the date, it would be a service to us all.

 

EBAY = CAVEAT EMPTOR.

Let the buyer beware since he buys without recourse!

 

Hi all,
I recently saw a camera from "Rocky" that I was interested in. I asked him "what is the condition of the lens; i.e., scratches, fungus, fogging or, none of the above"? His answer was; "everything in the photograph is included and as is".... I sent another similar request, asking again. the same question.... Same answer. I "wrote him off" at that point..... I guess, from reading this thread, I did the right thing.

I have learned (luckely only once) that you need to ask the "right" questions to ebay sellers and, if you don't get the "right" answer, it's time to "move on".

 

I hope that someone from Ebay reads these postings! I have written to Ebay several times on these topics, feedback, buyers' rights etc. They answer with a polite kudos letter. That is all. As in any market there are many small good sellers on ebay. Unfortunately, some of the mud will stick on them too because of these big bullies.

 

Wow that's nice Michael I wish I could accept it but I live in Hong Kong. Thanks very much for the offer.

 

I bought also from that seller, several times. He is imprecise, often incorrect and doesn't stay to his words. I got an unreliable Praktica that he described as "excellent". He agreed upon some "nice extras" at the next purchase, no need to add that even when remembering him that, he forgot. I got a nice folder but for the wrong format. I got an agfa (in "perfect opt condition") that was so dirty that only after cleaning I found the lens was scratched and a diaphgram blade broken. I scrapped the camera after unsuccessful repair.

I believe the guy has a bad character but is mainly inaccurate, posting everything together with no checks. I also dislike that he usually sells the camera bodies without the lens and you can see the lens offered separately. Even caps and straps. Sometimes not, I don't know which criterion he uses.

I have a fine Canonet, a fine Rollei 35XF... so if it looks fine in the picture, it usually comes fine.

The advantage is he lists a lot of interesting stuff sometimes, starting with low bids.If the price goes beyond my risk feeling and the photo is uncertain, I stop. He had a Sonnar, a Rolleiflex, a Contax.. I stopped bidding if the price went over a threshold, even if it was still very good.

I did some bid on exposure meters recently, lost them all, maybe even on yours. I'm glad I lost, but I think you may just had bad luck. Items always corresponded to the photographs for me.

 

i see that he has had 716 ratings mutually withdrawn.

 

have a look at the photo posted above and then have a look at the photo from the listing. do you think they are the same. the photo in the listing looks to have red indicators while the photo above they appear to be black? or is this just white balance.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380011882987

 

look at this - he is selling the same light meter again.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Weston-Master-V-Cased-Light-Meter-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ380025227144QQihZ025QQcategoryZ4702QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

On this occasion, I think these are different meters. They show different film speed settings and different needle readings, and the first has a wear mark on the leather case that is not present in the second. As I believe this seller doesn't rigorously (or even cursorily) test what he sells, I can't see he's been changing the ASA values and taking readings.

 

It's not simply the number of negatives a seller has, it's the tone of his response to those negatives. This person referred to one person as a, "Turkish thief." Nice bit of racism there, wasn't it? I wouldn't accept a gift from someone with that many negatives in a 12 month period, much less place an order. Sorry for your bad experience . . . but let me tell you about the $200 Nikon FM I bought on ebay . . . .lol!!!

 

...ebay..

....the best buyer 'protection' is checking a sellers listings PROPERLY before you buy. This seller has quite clearly very poor listings, with poor descriptions and poor photos. It is there for all to see and yet many of you STILL bought from him....WHY? I am sorry to say that you deserve all you got....find the good listings and buy from those guys instead.

There is a good reason his listings are poor and that many people get poor goods...he has little time to do anything properly and the listings he has should easily have told you that simple fact.

The sellers with excellent listings, descriptions and photos are very easy to spot...and the reason they have good listings is because they DO have time to give to the 'project'.

sorry to be blunt, but you must use your eyes..

cheers.

 

I'm not sure why you think that people who bought in good faith, even if mistakenly, "deserve" to be ripped off by anyone. Especially for newish buyers, Ebay's feedback system is something that needs a sharp eye to understand, since historically at least it has discouraged the leaving of negative feedback. Some people in this thread have dealt with sellers who had 100% levels of good feedback and were still victims of shoddy trading.

Remember, too, that the purpose of this thread is to let other potential buyers know of their experiences in order that others may benefit from the knowledge. For that reason alone, it seems odd that you should seek to shoot the messengers.

 

have you heard of Craigslist? be safe deal with locals..... No fees!

I just sold my 70-200 2.8 IS

 

I think I have bought one item from this seller some time ago and it was OK ... in fact I've been lucky on eBay so far.

Jessica, I have a spare one of those which I think still works OK. You are welcome to it if you want.

 

*Richard - that is very nice. Yes please I would appreciate that very much. Let me know how much plus shipping to Hong Kong. I'm not sure how I'm going to send you the money though. Can I pay you thru paypal? If you want something from Hong Kong let me know and we'll trade.

*Mark Thomas - actually that's exactly the one I bought and it is not the same meter he's selling now.

You see I bought a lot of stuff from him, a nice Contaflex Super BC which is in good condition, vitomatic IIa, balda baldix - had to repair it myself but it's okay it's not a biggie, a nettar, and 10 other more cameras, filters, hoods, lenses, etc, etc. they're all fine until now. I was a bit shocked actually when I opened the box and saw the meter in a terrible condition I did not expected that all. I guess my luck have run out.

He offered a withdrawal but I'm not accepting it. It would not be right. I am not bidding for any of his items anymore. There are other polite and honest sellers out there. Goodbye Mr. Rocky!!!

 

He used to run a market stall near me a while ago. The items he sold were often dirty and non-functional, but face to face he was 'direct' and often would take a offer. The best stuff was always behind the counter. Perhaps he is taking advantage of the fact that the buyer cannot check the goods to now unload the dross he amassed?

 

Just to add a little spice I have emailed Keith Rock (member446885) with a link to this forum thread. He is entitled to a right to reply but given the track record highlighted in the above posts, I will be surprised if we hear anything. However if he reads it, who knows.....

 

Oh my. Add me to the wait and see list.

I just made a purchase from Rocky last week.
Initial communication has been fine. I'll post
the results when I see the purchase.

Waiting in Maryland...

 

I wonder if this is the "Rocky" that attends many of the camera fairs in the UK? If it is, the gear he offers at the fairs is, in my opinion, most optimistically described as "well-used bargains in need of attention" and is only rarely in tip-top condition. And that's being very generous .... Whatever the case, I have bought from both personas, just once - never again!

 

I agree that one needs to be careful with this seller but, for the items I have bought from him, his prices are low enough to be worth the risk. So far I haven't bought anything from him that was completely unusable.

Examples:

Pracktica LTL3 ($30 with shipping to NY) - The 50 mm lens didn't stop down, but the camera worked well and the meter was accurate and I had several other M42 lenses that I could use.

Praktica PLC3 ($22.50 with shipping) - The meter did not work, but that turned out to be an easy fix with a soldering iron and a short length of wire.

Tamron 80-210 adaptall ($14.25 with shipping) - Clean glass, but exterior cosmetics that KEH would have classed as bargain.

Pentacon electric 1.8/50 - ($30 with shipping) - glass was perfect and cosmetics were decent.

One other note - If you buy a lens from Rocky don't expect it come with front and rear caps. If you scan his offerings you will see that he sells those separately.

 

I guess it's a general truth that if your expectations are low you're less likely to be disappointed. If however you find you've been offloaded with some junk for which you paid a market-level price, and try to get fair redress, you are likely to take a rather less sanguine view of his business practices. Whilst there are plenty of scare stories about Ebay, there are enough decent sellers around who value their reputations for it to be worth my own time or money to deal with this one. caveat emptor is one useful piece of marketplace advice, but cave venditor is another.

 

Hi Jessica,

I'll check the postage cost. As it's a spare I'm happy to give it to you in the light of your bad luck. Yes... Paypal would be fine for the postage.

Cheers,

Richard

 

What member446885 needs to do now, is change his Ebay ID to JimiHendrix. That way he'll only get positive feedback from now on.

 

"I wonder if this is the "Rocky" that attends many of the camera fairs in the UK"

Yes, this is the one and same. He still has a stand at many UK camera fairs. Most of the gear is 'car boot' standard. His business philosophy is of the school: throw enough mud and some is sure to stick...

 

"I wonder if this is the "Rocky" that attends many of the camera fairs in the UK" - "Yes, this is the one and same".

Thanks for the valuable confirmation, Steven. Yes indeed, the overall quality of gear that I have seen on his stand has been pretty poor, and sometimes overpriced compared to other traders. Beyond that, his attitude generally has not inspired confidence in me. The only things I have bought from his stand are those that can hardly go wrong - like a strap or tripod screw: mechanical and electrical items seem too much of a gamble. AC

 

Well, my lens was in the condition I expected from the photo. Scruffy, but the glass was clean. There were no defects that one could spot by external examination.

Shipping was very slow, it was two weeks between him receiving payment and posting the item. It was wrapped in a lot of bubble wrap (no peanuts), which is good, the box was new, but of the lowest grade of cardboard (came rather mushed).

There was no proactive communication on his part, no notification of shipping, etc. Lots of friendly sellers, who cherish their reputation, do that.

 

Hi,

John...I am surprised you expected more. It is perfectly clear from his listings that he is a 'stack em high, sell em cheap' kind of dealer. He simply does not have enough time in the day to do any more than he does.

He lives (I believe) near Poole on the south coast and drives all over the UK to different camera fairs, which from that extreme south location must be a nightmare.

He was at the big London Photographica fair this last Sunday just gone. He had one of the largest tables and was surounded by his usual mountains of well-used gear...and had more people around his stand than any other...

cheers Steve.M.

 

Looks like eBay read our comments

Just check the new feedback policies!!!

 

A lot of scare comments posted here.

I just received my puchase from Rocky.

* Better than described.
* Perfectly packaged.
* Works as it should.
* Faster than I expected.

Will I bid on his stuff again? You bet!

When you look at the scope of his listings, it's obvious that this guy deals in volume... not hand-holding.

That's my $0.02

 

Not scare comments ; accounts of actual dealings.

You are fortunate, and there are bound to be many such positive transactions given the volume of trading he does. But "hand-holding"? I'm a fairly experienced amateur photographer, and don't need hand-holding. What I need is for the item sent to be the one ordered. I don't consider that expecting the lens I ordered to be for the camera it was sold for, and not some completely different camera, to be "hand-holding".

It's only fair and proper that those who have had good dealings should report this in the same thread, and you've rightly done that ; but once you've had one or, in my case, two unpleasant experiences with this guy, and seen what happens when you try to get redress, or your money back, your opinion could take on a different colour. Good as it is to get what you paid for, it's what's supposed to happen. A significant number of his customers don't get that, and given his practice of blacklisting those who won't leave him positive feedback, his feedback rating may underestimate that dis-satisfaction rate.

Jessica's original caution is still a propos.

 

I bid successfully on three items from him some time back, but he never sent them I had to surmise after 3 months, and I never received replies to my emails.

If one examines his feedback it is clear that the vast majority of his negatives are from members outside Britain. I guess he figures we are far enough away for comfort. The other trick is feedback inflation. It appears he "sends", say, 30 items to a (probably bogus) "buyer", then appends "great item, hope to trade again" or some other meaningless feed 30 times in sequence to his list, thus pushing the negatives way back off the screen, and -- he supposes -- off our radar. He never sent the 30 items I would alledge and the buyer is part of the ring I think.

I did get my money back by registering a complaint with the British Police in Bournemouth, closest I could get to Ferndown where Keith Rock (who he?) lives. I got cash (Euros) in 5 days! Hope this helps, it's worked for a few others around the world. Just google "Bournemouth" and "police". I know it sounds extreme, but the Brits are pretty hot on Ebay crime and I had tried emails, Ebay, Square Trade et cet.

British Chamber of Commerce were quite open to discussions too.

 

Last year I ordered a 28mm lens which was listed "in PERFECT CONDITION" from Mr. Rock. When it arrived, it was immediately obvious that the aperture blades were stuck and would not stop down. I contacted Mr. Rock and he claimed that it worked when he put it in the box and that it must have been damaged in shipment. I told him there were no signs of damage to the box and no breakage of any of the bubble wrap. He finally agreed after several e-mails to let me return the lens.

This is where I made a BIG mistake. I mailed it to him without requesting a delivery receipt! Dumb, DumB, DUMB!!! After 3 months of e-mails and denials on his part that the lens never arrived, I finally gave up. I considered leaving negative feedback and filing a dispute with ebay and paypal but as a very very low volume buyer, I didn't want to get the inevitable negative feedback from Mr. Rock. It was obvious that I would barely scratch his feedback percentage, but he could decimate mine.

I began watching his auctions for the lens to reappear at which point I was going to file a complaint regardless of what he might reply with. However, I soon realized that I had made another serious mistake. I'd lost the papers which I wrote the lens serial number on, so I could prove nothing.

I firmly believe that Mr. Rock sold the lens fraudulently and also received it back and later resold it to another sucker either on ebay or elsewhere. Avoid this fraud at all costs.

Also, it appears that he is trying to cover his tracks now. he has changed the name of his store to rockycamera and as of this moment has NO items for sale... Maybe someone finally caught up to him that he couldnt hide from... Thanks for the hints Graham. I may contact the Bournemouth police as well. The more people complain about this slug the better.

 

Correction... he does have current auctions and all are listed under "rockycamera". He seems to have left his previous alias behind. My previous searches showing ZERO listing were centered around his old ID (thought he had just changed the name). Right now he has 100% postitive feedback (likely self generated using his shadow buyers).

Be warned... rockycamera = the old member446885, aka K.G.Rock, aka Keith Rock.

Buyers Beware!!!

 

Hi,

Michael...I am an old hand with evilbay...this is what you should have done:

1. Any returns to sellers should always be sent via a 'signed for' service. In the UK, use 1st class recorded for items up to £36 and special delivery for items over £36.

2. If the item then 'goes missing' you can claim from the Royal mail. I had a similar instance where a lens was totally mis-described. It was worth £42...I sent back via 1st class and the seller (like Rocky) claimed it never reached him. I ended up claiming from Royal Mail and at least got £36 back.

3. You still SHOULD talk to your local trading standards office. They may take up the case and they should contact the Bournemouth office. However you could contact them directly yourself and see if this gets you anywhere. Even if it does not, if others complain..they may get the idea he is worth looking at more closely. They can issue warnings even without proof of wrong doing. The police are pointless....they will only get involved if there is 100% proveable fraud.

4. You should have left neg feedback...the concerns you had are unfounded. Any sensible ebayer can see through the retaliation neg you may have received. The f/b system is now changed, as of about two months ago, sellers can no longer leave any neg ot neut f/b for buyers. I totally disagree with the change, but it may have helped in this sitiuation.

I strongly suggest you start a new thread and re post your story with his new ebay ID.

cheers Steve.M.

 

member446885 is not the first name he has traded under on Ebay. I cannot remember what it was, but he's certainly changed his trading name several times.

Notice that his feedback as rockycamera, currently 100%, is all as a buyer, not a seller. He has been buying cheap bits and bobs priced at £0.99, £1 and so on, stuff that is clearly going to end up in a re-sale auction, bumping up a feedback score on the way.

Guess what he's doing...

 

Early in the history of Europe and Great Britain, there was a thing called the "market ouvert". It was an open market in the town square. The important thing about it was that any item sold there gave good title to the buyer, even if it was stolen.

The market ouvert does not exist any more, except as E-bay.

 

Keith Rock is somebody who will never be getting any of my money - he seems to have changed his ebay ID to rockycamera now, perhaps to start with a new sheet uncontaminated with negs.

 

"rockycamera"
Hah - guess that'll teach me to read to the end of the thread before throwing in my two Euros.

 

Keith Rock has now sold some items under his most recent name 'rocky camera'. It seems to be the old "nice lens cap, nice lens cap, nice...." routine. And some items appear as if they might have been multiple sales (same item, same buyer...or same item differerent buyer perhaps).

Odd, too, that the alias 'member 446885' does not show when one tries to call up previous ebay names from his profile. Covering his tracks excellently it would seem. Well none of this bodes well, so keep on your toes everyone. Just for the record, the Bournemouth police did open a file on him and did log a number of complaints.

 

Under the member446885 alias, he's recording a high number of positive feedbacks. One buyer has given 53
feedbacks in a row, all positive, all with the same text (including spelling errors). Hmm...

 

I did know the negative reputation of Rockycamera and bought two lens. They were both described as "optically perfect" but they both arrived with fungus yesterday. They were that dirty that I doubt they were properly checked for fungus, though the rest of the lenses seem fine and they were cheap. I mailed him through the paypal resolution process including a link to my photos of the lens fungus. Definitely a refund is in order, I am waiting for a reply so will see what happens until then I will reserve my judgements. One thing is the shipping cost is more than the lens cost (I am in Ecuador).

 

Sorry should have said I DIDNT know the negative reputation of Rockycamera before I bought the lens.

 

Well I got a part refund immediately as soon as I began a Paypal dispute. That was fair of him so I cant knock
the guy and I am pleased with the outcome

Obviously I think that his items should be checked more, because one faulty lens I can understand, but both of
them being faulty simply should not happen in the first place, because of that I left a neutral feedback.

 

You may not want to deal with him again, but be aware that he classes neutral feedback as negative feedback, and his 'T&Cs' say that he will ban anyone from his auctions who leaves him negative or neutral feedback.

 

Yes I was aware of that and no I would not buy from him again.

 

I had the misfortune to buy several of his items, 5 out of 7 items arrived broken. He insisted that they must have been damaged in shipping, however the items were missing pieces that were not in the packaging..obviously they were broken before they were shipped. I have learned my lesson and have blocked him from further searches.

 

I hope you took advantage of the new eBay feedback rules to leave appropriate feedback for your experience. It was this seller's practice always to leave retaliatory feedback, even for neutral comments.

 

I just found www.rockycameras.com -- quite a new site it would seem. In the section "about us" Keith Rock talks of his "excellent reputation" that he has "built up" on Ebay. I would of thought that 22 negatives in the last 12 months alone, combined with some prime examples of what I would alledge is feedback inflation (3 entire pages with the same comment "all fine"), might just give rise to immanent feelings of misgiving. But there you are, just the cynic in me.

 

Although this is a little late I still thought it worth posting my dealings with Mr. Keith Rock a.k.a. member446885...
The initial problem was when he listed a 200 m.m. lens as being a Pentax (under his make heading). When I received it it turned out to be a Hanimex, fearing that I may have made a mistake I relooked at the advertisement only to find that he always puts the camera 'Fit' under 'Make' and leaves his 'Fit' heading blank. He refused to give me a refund.
About a year later I was sufficiently crazy to deal with him again and ordered several items. When I received the parcel three of these items were missing. I sent him an email to let him know about this, waited for over two weeks and decided that it was time to try again. This time thinking that it would make life easier for him I sent three simultaneous emails each detailing one of the missing items. Another two weeks passed and I sent him an email asking him what was happening about this. A little later I received an email from him telling me that he had 'better things to do with his time than answering my emails' and also calling me an arse and a w**ker.
Feeling rather aggrieved at his attitude I posted my feedback which included the names that I had been called, considering them just about sufficient common parlance to publish. Within hours Ebay was on to me like a 'ton of bricks' for repeating what he had called me. This led to me having a lengthy argument with Ebay as they had decided to 'red card' me. No matter how I tried to rebalance this ridiculous situation I found that I couldn't win. Of course he also used some of his usual abusive (used to anyone who disputed anything with him) words as a reply to my statement which I had been forced to change to a rather limp 'Called me names that Ebay wouldn't allow me to publish'.
My dispute with Ebay continued until I eventually became so annoyed that I told them that I would leave to rid myself of this unjust 'red card' and rejoin. This lost me over 230 good comments and 100% good record, but I simply felt that I had to take some action. Though I must confess that my public reporting of these words may have been a little ill advised, my reasoning had been that I hear kids using them every day of the week, so who were they going to offend - I've played safe with one of them here as you can see - the other simply meaning backside surely isn't that bad?!* Naturally I then had to seek recompense from Mr. Keith rock via 'Paypal', which though rather drawn out eventually came out in my favour. Deal with this guy only if you enjoy unpleasantness and being conned, otherwise give him a very, very wide berth.

 

I would want to share another negative experience with this seller.
I had already purchased from this seller and fortunately without hassle excluding the long time of consignment and the packages done with cheap material.
Last December I have purchased a lens (Nikon 35 mm f2.5 E series) that has arrived not working (the type of breakdown could not be caused by the transport but it had already been put in sale broken). I have sent a mail to the seller that reply to me to send back the object and he would have refunded the paid price.
I have re-sent the object with signed for mail and I have attended around 1 month. Since then the seller has not answered to my emails and those anymore of paypal on which I had opened a claim. He wait until deadline for dispute expires.I have given him the negative feedback and he in answer has written to have sent me the reimbursement. Absolutely not true. I have never received some reimbursement from this “gentleman” that says only lies. Naturally I won't buy anymore from this seller.
Ebay has closed the claim saying that there have been no violations of the rule and I am waiting the result of the claim on paypal. Unfortunately is ebay that doesn't work well, because protects very more the sellers that the buyers.
Thank you and regards from Italy

 

Just an update. Keith Rock (who he?) is now trading under "ferndowncameras" on ebay. Same tricks, same negative feedback, as usual from buyers abroad (he's UK based). Pass this on to other forums, those of you who are members. Thanks.

 

Ferndowncameras: Last month I bought a black-rimmed Canon 50mm f1.2 in bad condition, but said to be a working item.

When it arrived, three of the aperture blades were ripped . I took them out, cleaned the lens up and shot a picture of the blades. Asked for a partial refund, which was given straight away. No need to take pride in that for Keith Rock though, since it was more than obvious that the lens was a non-working item, and as such deliberately listed wrongly.


Anybody got a Canon 50mm f1.2 in teribble condition available? It only needs to have three aperture blades straight...

 

He has sold a zuiko 50mm 1.8 with OIL inside, clearly seen.
I asked him a refund and I sent the lens back to him....
now: no refund. no lens. and NO FERNDOWNCAMERAS in ebay, he has dissapeared!!
how to find him, I mean how to know his new store in ebay????

 

Keith has hiw own website now:
http://www.rockycameras.com/
My personal experience with him has been a mixed fortunes of good and bad luck. Mostly good in my case. Luck me. But I would not recommend him either.

 

Keith has hiw own website now:
http://www.rockycameras.com/
My personal experience with him has been a mixed fortunes of good and bad luck. Mostly good in my case. Luck me. But I would not recommend him either.

 

Update: same old same old.....
Yes --avoid this slimeball at all costs. I bought a Yashica zoom desc. as`"perfect working order"--it was absolutely filthy and wouldn't focus. It took weeks of emails, texts and phone calls with no replies until I caught him on the phone at his warehouse of crap. I did eventually get a partial refund so I did better than my brother who I learned had been ripped off completely on a Nikon lens.
Steve Scarlett.