Give ebay seller bad feedback or not?

StereoSound

Bought a vintage hobby grade RC car from an ebay seller in Germany. The gearbox is cracked the whole way around. The car also doesn't Appear to turn on and assuming the electronics are banjaxed.

The seller stated the car had "signs of use". He didn't state it worked and he didn't state it didn't work, no mention of the gearbox cracked and needing replacing. You can't get parts for this RC anymore so I have to creatively " super glue" for such a better term to repair the gearbox. I'm abit disappointed with it. I paid with bank transfer so I have no PayPal buyers protection... I know this fcker probably won't give me a refund and to be honest I'd like to keep it and get it to run again. , he was also awkward when I asked him questions during bidding.

I'm not a fan of giving sellers bad feedback unless absolutely necessary. Does this guy deserve some? The car can be made to work by replacing the electronics and I guess the super glue job will technically keep the gearbox together for mild use.

It's broken, definitely deserves bad feedback

StereoSound

Should I contact them first or just give negative feedback and get on with my life?

It might be worth contacting him on the off chance you'll get a partial refund. I'd chance it tbh

TopTec

Definitely negative feedback... think of future buyers... The purpose of the system is to provide information to buyers which allows them to make a choice.

TT

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

archer22

It really depends on how much you paid for it and if you think it is worth that amount in it's current condition...you seem reasonably happy with it and consider it fixable.Plus your man did not make outright false claims.
If it were me in this case I would either give either a neutral or no feedback.

exaisle

Yes...was it priced appropriately...ie materially less than others of the same type in working condition. You didn't check with him if it was working and its a case of Buyer Beware.

Contact him first and mention the possibility of a return and refund because you're not happy with the item...then gauge his reaction. You always have the threat of bad feedback but use it as a last resort.

StereoSound

archer22 wrote: »

It really depends on how much you paid for it and if you think it is worth that amount in it's current condition...you seem reasonably happy with it and consider it fixable.Plus your man did not make outright false claims.
If it were me in this case I would either give either a neutral or no feedback.

I did pay less then what a lot of these go for. However since I thought I was buying a working item with no structual damage I am disappointed, however fixing stuff is half the fun. The electronics can be replaced easily with spares I can easily get, the cracked gearbox cannot be easily replaced so requires an alternative solution to remedy. Taking into account I did pay less then market value for this and too be honest I could have easily paid double what I did, therefore I have decided to leave neutral feedback and leave it at that.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

rubadub

archer22 wrote: »

It really depends on how much you paid for it

If this was an auction the price paid does not come into it at all, even if it was a "buy it now" be not declaring it was broken and selling cheap it is not acceptable, as you are deliberately misleading people.

Would any poster here knowingly sell a broken item by simply describing it as having "signs of use".

I would have left negative feedback. I would be disgusted to somehow find out he was frequently doing this and no previous buyers had left negative feedback. I always check out feedback beforehand.

-sort of off topic but missing parts can be 3d printed if you know anybody with one, some can be downloaded so no need to be drawn up. There is a guy in the arcade retro forum who was doing 3d prints for people.