In the last few weeks there seems to have been an epidemic of MRers who got burned on e-bay. There have been a number of posts with the same general theme, an e-bay regular who just had their first bad expierience there. Is that news? It would be more amazing to learn that everyone who buys and sells on e-bay is a fine upstanding citizen. Obviously there are going to be scam artists out there. You pays your money, you takes your chances. Sorry about your bad luck.
Its not just E-bay that people are [censored] about; but LHSs and internet stores.
- For every person who swears by E-bay, there is at least one who swears at E-bay. [%-)]
In the same week, you can hear people bragging about the great deals they found on E-bay for this or that thing; and you can hear people complaining about the great scam they got hit with by a seller or buyer.
[%-)] - For every person who swears by internet stores, there is at least one who swears at them. [%-)]
How often do we hear of someone getting a great deal for something; then about someone else who got ripped off or experienced less-than-stellar serice ?
[%-)] - For every person who swears by LHSs, there is at least one who swears at them. [%-)]
We’ve all heard of how horrible LHS staff/owners treat their customers and how ridiculous their pricing policies are. But we’ve also heard about the over-the-top customer service and friendly advice that LHS staff/owners offer.
[%-)]
Judging solely by the complaints one hears on these forums, it seems next to impossible to find a reliable, inexpensive, knowledgable, and courteous supplier.
[%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)] [%-)]
[sigh] I might just get better results by doing this … [banghead]
wi***hey’d all keep them to the same post, maybe set up an ebay coffee shop for them…
Danny! You hit on something that merits trying! I’m serious.
Since it’s your idea, why don’t you start an EBay Coffee Shop Thread. Detail the posting criteria and go from there.
I have some ebay stories myself, good and “not so good” but I don’t want to add one more ebay story to the forum. With an Ebay Coffee Shop thread, they can all go there. I think most of the guys here would support it. From time to time, we’ll just bump it to the front page so newbie’s will see it and post on there as well.
I hope you or someone here will go for it.
Here’s an idea… instead of flooding this “model railroad” forum with complaints and
comments that we can do nothing about, try posting them here:
eBay problems:
http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html
If you have a problem with an online dealer, look at their site and find the “contact us” link.
Email them with your problem.
If you have a problem with a LHS… call or return to the shop and take it up with them.
Bottom line is that we can not do much to resolve these disputes. Good luck, Dave
I agree that no matter who you do business with, there is no guarantee you won’t get cheated. The difference is that when you do business with an established LHS or internet retailer, if yo