burnt by ebay

[Charlieh]

suppose i had it coming, i get quite a bit of kit of ebay, as normally i have a good idea what im after and only bid appropriately with some caution, well i bought a big stihl clearing saw the other day with a knackered gearbox, but sold as running. got it today engine is solid

 

spoken to the bloke and have agreed to have a peek inside to see what the damage is and either return (i pay postage ) and get money refunded or meet half way on new parts

 

either way im seriously hacked about them lying in the listing, also as i now have very very very strong suspicions about them being a machinery dealers (although they deny this quite badly i have cross checked emaill addys and phone numbers and somethings not right)

 

what would everyone else do? should i just return it and demand the refund? i know even if i get a new p+c for it its still going to be cheap for what it is.

 

oh well of to the workshop to see what the damage is! good job i had a free evening

[christreeroot]

Bummer that - get your money back........

 

What i have learnt with ebay is bid at the last minute if the price seems cheap then, then ? it... Many people have cottoned on how easy it is to rip people off on there... Shame really as ebay is generally brill but like everything let down by not nice people.

[ecolojim]

open a paypal dispute?

[Charlieh]

oh well the piston is scored quite badly, looks like they knew the score as the spark plug was loose and several of the bolts including the exhaust ones were pretty loose (so had been out recently)

 

further inspection shows a clogged airfilter so i guess they have just run it and its leaned out to much, problem is i cant get the cylinder off as it the p+c appear to have welded together!

 

time for another phone call!

[andythesquirel]

Sorry to hear about this mate. It appears you have been well and truly conned.

 

It's a shame because e-bay is generally very good to use. Just a small minority using it to make a quick profit can ruin it for the rest of us.

 

As I also buy quite a lot of equipment of e-bay, I fear its only a matter of time before I get Burnt.

 

Let us know how you get on with the so called sellers!

[Charlieh]

right an hour and a half after i started i have had the strimmer down to component parts, it turns out that it wasnt the piston that was siezed as i first assumed!

 

i stripped the clutch and everything right back and there was a small (1mm x 5mm) peice of metal that had wedged its self between the flywheel and the crankcase, thus stopping everything turning, stripped her down quick blast with the cylinder hone to clean things up stick it back together and it fired on the 5th pull, I have to say given the looseness of certain bolts i still think they recon they sold me a duff strimmer, just need a new set of piston rings and a missing e clip and we are good to go she sounds pretty meaty as well!

[Mac McLennan]

If you paid by Paypal......Get your money back

 

Item not as described.

[andythesquirel]

Charlie, glad to hear its working and looking promising. I have to agree with you, that if the bolts were loose, the seller's knew it was seized. Good for you that you are clearly a better mechanic.

 

I think i'd still give em a piece of my mind though!

[Charlieh]

seriously i wont send any of my tools to the local stihl or husky dealers. I DONT TRUST THEM! (probably less so than sellers on ebay)

 

They tried to get me to scrap an 020T i was doing up as it was knackered, needed about £200 spending on it apparently, got the bits i needed for £45 (genuine stihl) and fixed it up, and i know for a fact its still going strong!

 

I think dealers are just a bit to keen to shift units rather than provide proper maintenance. It will have cost someone as this is a FS420 (predecessor to the FS 550 its the same engine and many parts are shared) and although its getting on a bit for occasional semi pro use its ideal for what i need it for on brambles and bracken,

 

but yes i am very relieved its going! once more we have scraped through and got a bargin, maybe the next one i will get burnt on....

 

(wife in back ground: there isnt going to be a next one )

[David oakman]

Clever man i wish you lived nearer you could service all my saws and strimmers as a mechanic i am not, i would like to learn i will have to read drivelinks web site:001_smile: