Negative transactions

[S_Gokin]

thanks bro

this is the same way i used to contact them but for some reason she didn't replay back at all

[greengetterguy]

Oh dear....that's not good.

No worries bro.

Well now you atleast know they ARE getting your emails...
Let us know the outcome of your PayPal settlement.

[greengetterguy]

AE wants $58 shipping charge for one normal size Evolution Toys, one small ES figure, and a larger DX Macross Chogokin figure....express and economy is same price

Damn them.......I think im done with them.

[Philo Beddoe]

Sorry to hear that ggg. I'm starting to find a similar issue with NY. Items that shipped for $40 last time are now being shipped for $50.

The exchange rate has dropped a bit from approx 125Y/1$ to 116Y/1$ but still...it feels like they are tacking on extra just because they know it's much cheaper for us to buy from Japan than in recent years when the rate was closer to 80Y/1$.

[greengetterguy]

Thanks Philo...
But NY too?

I guess everyone is playing with shipping recently....
As you probably know, AI now has free shipping to us yanks, but i do notice their trademark super low price is Gone
I guess its a tough business with low profit margin, and they have to do to whatever to survive.

I understand that but they should atleast keep up with customer service.
AE solely lacks that...no strike that....they dont have any.
I got one more preorder from them and thats it. Im not ordering from them anymore especially if Aiko works there. Shes awful.

[Coletron]

Recently I was approached on RJ by tturbozx66 to buy a KOB that he did not want.  He private messaged me an extremely attractive price, so I was very interested.  When asked, he explained that the robot had only been on display behind glass and was in excellent condition.  He did tell me that the legs had been broken.  This made the deal a little less sweet, but it seemed to justify the unusually low price.  I recalled a recent post about 1 that had been repaired.  The collector in the picks looked skilled and quite credible, so I believed his description.  It still seemed like a good fit, as my son has a collection of flawed vintage robots that he treasures.  I knew he would love his own KOB.

Over the period of a few hours we texted pretty rapidly as I worked.  He'd get right back to me, and I was ready to buy.  But I wanted to see the black lions legs at their transformation points.  He directed me to 2 pics at Imgur.  The legs looked liked they had been transformed  quite a few times, and the back of 1 looked flawed.  I requested more pictures and questioned the odd leg.  He assured me that it was lighting, but ignored my request for pics of the lions.  I pressed him again for some photographic evidence of the 100% complete set.  All afternoon he'd gotten back immediately.  So I waited.  I figured he'd get back to me soon.  And I'd gotten my son's hopes up by telling him about the "big deal" I was working on.  So what if it had a few flaws? I was ready to buy this thing.  But I never heard from him again.

I figured it would be a PayPal transaction.  I've worked in business for 20 years and I know the value of reading any binding contract. So I read all of the fine print.  And what I read caused me to halt the negotiation, and I haven't contacted him since early yesterday.  I never heard from him again.

It wasn't scratches I was worried about.... 

Did you know that If you don't have pictures to document every part of an item that you buy, you have no protection against loss or misrepresentation?  

The only money you get is what you've got photographic evidence of.  In this case all I was given were 2 close up shots of the black lion's legs.  It didn't look like anything worth more than $20.  So if the lions were never sent out, or got lost, all I'd get is $20.  And he'd only be charged $20.  This may be something all sellers know, but as a 1st time buyer I had no idea.  I needed to inform people and document my experience.

[Coletron]

Posted by C. E.

[Mr. Ginrai]

I'm sorry that almost happened to you. It was very prudent of you to be diligent and use your instincts.

As always, buy and sell transactions on RJ are strictly between the parties involved - the forum is not responsible for anything. That being said, you must be an informed and an aware buyer - know what your are buying, how much it is generally worth, etc. before you pull the trigger. If you have no familiarity with a toy you really want, ask here on the forums before you just go out and spend your hard earned money. Unfortunately, some toys end up being less fun than they look - that's why we have forums, reviews, feedback, etc here and on other websites.

Use your due diligence and protect yourself properly using appropriate payment methods. If something seems too good to be true, or very shady, it probably is.

Just tell your son that after reviewing the pictures it had too much damage and he would not have been able to fix it or play with it at all. There will be another one to find a good deal on. He will better understand that than telling him it may have been a possible scam or bad deal.

[Coletron]

Thanks Mr. Ginrai for the sound advice. I mostly wanted to point out that if tturbozx66 would not have shipped the robot to me all, all he would have been responsible for is about $20. That's all he would have to pay back under PayPal rules. That is the value of the only item he gave me a pic of. Not much risk for a seller trying to make a question buck. And $20 is all I would get back. It just seems so easy for a seller who knows the PayPal rules to take advantage of someone who hasn't read all of the fine print.

[Coletron]

Typing error - It just seems so easy for a seller trying to make a quick buck.

[krimpov]

I may be jumping the gun here, but this transaction already doesn't sound good.


SHORT STORY :

ebay seller zhengwuxiaguang8 seemed reliable, but suddenly closed shop, made his feedback private and got 39 negatives in the last month. According to people on another forum, he's not answering his e-mails. Beware.


LONG STORY :

I ordered a Gigapower HQ03R Guttur (chrome version) from ebay seller zhengwuxiaguang8: registered in 2012, with over 1200 and nearly perfect feedback. Just 3-4 negatives, same for the neutrals. For a Chinese selling 3rd party and KO Transformers, that's actually quite good: people complain about receiving a fake when it was clearly identified as a knockoff and demand refunds when their Economy International shipping order hasn't arrived after just two weeks. Comments for those negatives seemed to confirm that it was just that; nothing fishy there so far.

My order was placed (and paid for) on July 28. Ebay says it should be delivered between August 16 and September 21: 12-36 business days. So there's still about two weeks left to wait before it has officially taken too long. If it was just that, I wouldn't be worried, but I decided to check his listings to see if he was carrying Grassor (Gigapower's "Slag"). Huh oh...

Nothing left in his store; nothing at all. Worst, he made his feedback private, which now has 39 negatives just in the past 30 days. On the bright side, he also got 13 positives in the same period, so not ALL hope is lost. I messaged him earlier today No answer yet, but it's still way too soon to say he isn't replying. However, some members of the TFW2005 forums who ordered Guttur and FansToys' Stomp were in the same situation and never got any reply from him, so it doesn't bode well. Anyway, I'll wait 48 hours and file a Paypal complaint if he doesn't answer, even if it's not past the "expected" max delivery date. The worst that could happen is Paypal telling me to wait until the 21^st.

I really hope I'm jumping the gun here, but everything points toward a scam.

It may not do any good to warn you, since he's not selling anything anymore (not under this name), but if you ordered something from him and are still waiting, you might want to look into it. And if he reopens his shop, well, you're old enough to make your own decisions.

[Mr. Ginrai]

File the PayPal claim now. Do not wait.

[krimpov]

Zhengwuxiaguang8 had until yesterday (September 17) to give his side of the story. To no surprise, he did not.

[krimpov]

Still no news from the seller scammer, but I did get a refund from Paypal. So it turned out relatively OK, except that I don't see any Guttur for under 200CAD (shipped) anymore.

You can see the Ebay listing here :
www.ebay.ca/itm/162097413909


There are some sellers offering that chrome Guttur right now, but none seem to offer any shipping options other than free (or cheap) very slow shipping without tracking (aka Scammer's Choice). Some of them also use the same pictures as my good friend Zhengwuxiaguang8. Most are quite new (2015-16). One registered a few years ago and has over 1000 feedback with a very good satisfaction percentage, but you could have said the exact same thing about that guy who just turned out to be a scammer.

I'm not saying they're all scammers, but I just can't tell which ones are or are not, and right now it's tough for me to trust any of them. That sucks. Not even sure I'm going to get that Guttur anymore. Maybe later. But if you've got pointers to a reliable source, at a similar price - because I'm not burning 300CAD for this thing -, I'm all hears.


PS : Attached some pictures used by this scammer.

[gettaliger]

I had some mega issues with megalopolis_collectibles . Bought 2 x funko Shoguns off them .Very poor communication towards the end of the ordeal, often waiting a week for a reply.  Benefit of the doubt bites me again..  2 months later ebay returned my $400..