Ebay woes?

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 08:15

Hi guys

Ive been an active reader for a couple of years on here and after much research decided to buy a boat and join in.

Ive always been a fan of seariders and found one on ebay. It was an ex scottish fisheries with a 2 stroke 90. I was the only person to bid and won it. I was so pleased as finally I had a decent boat for the summer. Thats were it all goes wrong!

The seller contacted me to inform me he took the boat out one last time and it broke down at sea. Having been towed in he then said its going to a dealer and he thinks it is something like a broken water pump (I presume he meant impeller?) He informed me that he would be in a position to let me know whats going on with it this Tuesday.

I thought OK no real problems as I really want the boat and things like this may happen from time to time!? I had a word with my mate who happens to be a boat engineer for Yamaha. He said no issues lets find out who the mechanic is dealing with the repair and we can both carry out a site visit etc and discuss the way forward.

I sent the seller 4 emails asking for the contact details of his mechanic, the sellers phone number as I would like to talk to him and a final email last night asking for an update as he had promised to let me know by Tuesday whats going on.

OK so to date the seller has not responded to any of my attempted contact since telling me it was going into repair and would talk to me Tuesday. He wont phone me or supply details of who is fixing it?

What should I do? Ive contacted ebay but apparently boats are not covered under the ebay protection system (just as well as I have not paid a penny yet) which was news to me.

I am getting a bad feeling about this? Should I be concerned at this stage? Its very strange as he has good feedback and requested £200 deposit at end of auction. Do you think he is trying to back out by using this excuse? I have 100% feedback and dont want an unpaid strike but I also dont want to let it just go on and on and never get hold of the boat?

Ebay appears to be a mine field for scams and the such.

Thanks for your assistance

chewy · 09 May 2012, 08:23

He could be genuine, if it was me I'd email him asking whats happening with the SR and give him a date to get back to you by.
As a buyer you can leave negative feedback but the seller can only leave positive.

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 08:27

Thanks Chewy

Thats what I was thinking of doing next. I did not want to hassle him but I do feel a bit of communication is free and helps keeps things smooth when using ebay. I just dont like the way he wont respond to my emails. Makes me feel uneasy about the whole thing!

I will try again and give him a deadline to contact me.

Many thanks

chewy · 09 May 2012, 08:30

No worries.
He may be genuinely crap at responding to emails and you may get a bargain?

Fenlander · 09 May 2012, 08:39

I've looked at the listing and everyting looks genuine... type of stuff he's bought/sold, wording of the listing and photo backgrounds etc. Only thing he's actually not a very experienced seller with last sales deal almost 2yrs ago.

The story about the breakdown/repair seems plausible but I'd have wanted that backed up with good honest communications about the repair and where it was being done. If you want to be positive about this though so far the guy has only had one working day to resolve this since you won it.

Having said that in the 400 Ebay buys I've done for all sorts of stuff very similar stories have been offered a few times (cars/tractor equipment/lawnmowers) and on every occasion I've backed out and never got a unpaid strike or similar.

After all it now no longer meets the listing claims of "Excellent performance and extremely reliable".

BTW always use the Ebay message system to make contact with this guy, not his direct e.mail. If it came to a dispute then Ebay can look at the message trail to support your side.

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 08:46

Good advice guys. I have been using his private email but you're right I will send via eBay. I guess I can send my private copies in if needed. I too thought it looked OK but during discussion with mates get the feeling he may have been offered more outside of eBay or changed his mind - the lack of communication does not help any.

Cool - thanks guys

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 08:57

OK eBay message sent asking where we are with regards to engine repair and status of our transaction. I have requested a reply by the end of today. Keep my fingers crossed....

Rokraider · 09 May 2012, 09:10

It could be that the boat didn't make the price he wanted, so by suggesting it has had problems with overheating, he appears to be honest and able to withdraw from the auction, hoping you will drop out, leaving him free to try and get a better price.

If it is a genuine fault, you probably should be nervous of the deal anyway. If he has cooked the motor, it may need major surgery, rather than just a new impeller? if it hasn't been repaired properly you could end up with a lot more grief further down the road?

Boats&Outboards · 09 May 2012, 09:11

You can always obtain his contact number should you wish to call him. It's available via eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/ebayadvsea...dtype=9&_rdc=1

Enter the transaction number and eBay ID then you will be sent an email with his phone number. He will get one with yours too! It only works if you've had a transaction with the member though, in this case your fine.

At least then you can give him a call. Sounds like he wanted more for it then it sold for so has said this to you, else being reasonable he'd have called you to apologise. If you've paid a deposit you should be able to get that returned via PayPal again call them once you want to go down that route.

Don't worry about a strike. If he needs to cancel the sale tell him to send you a mutual cancellation form for you to legally withdraw from the purchase. Your still able to neg him if you choose, up to you. He cannot neg you regardless.

Hope it helps, let me know if you need contact number for eBay/PayPal

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 09:26

Thanks guys. Thats exactly what my mate said - possible cooked motor and/or did not get the price he wanted but then surely thats what the reserve price is for? I will wait to see if he responds by tonight. Then I will call him tomorrow

Appreciate all the help and advice

thomas · 09 May 2012, 09:45

Always be patient when buying boats, rush and you can get yourself into all sorts of trouble. You've not paid anything so nothing to worry about, boat seems a fair price so doubt he's trying to back out of the sale but on the other hand, do those engines break down?

Dhf · 09 May 2012, 11:52

The balls in your court now for how you want to proceed, I would'nt say this is any type of scam, But would agree he's inexperienced, otherwise he would have put more pics up and glamed it up more in the description. I would say he's gutted he did'nt put a higher starting price, And it seems he did'nt put a reserve on.... so maybe!!! he's trying to put you off... With the said incident, Thinking he can easily relist in a week or so with a higher start, Not mentioning anything in the new ad about cooling issue? If any!
However he may be telling the truth, In which case, Either way the item that you decided to bid on, Doesn't fit the descrition anymore, and you must ask yourself would you have bid if cooling trouble was mentioned,
Maybe some more experienced RIB valuation members than myself will be along soon and give you an idea of the value should be.
Just a thought of course.
Best luck.

Max... · 09 May 2012, 13:00

eBay tends to come in for a lot of flack -especially with newer and less frequent users but it's a giant marketplace like any other, just as in the old days of free ads, Auto Trader, local classifieds, newsagents windows etc you get bad deals and mostly good deals - nothing to do with the facility usually more just human beings dealing with each other!

I've had over 15,000 (mostly business selling) eBay transactions in 12 years and the number that cause problems are really, really minute.

eBay and Paypal have become increasingly weighted to the buyer over the past five years and the protection they offer is pretty good. As noted above though all correspondance must go via eBay messaging so the agent can review what has been said.

Having said all that - whenever selling a large private item (boat, car) etc it is *always* best to make it a classified ad or BIN with best offer, negotiate outside eBay and insist the buyer comes, inspects and pays cash - the deal is not done via eBay. In this way you just use it as the incredible far reaching advertising medium that it is.

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 14:32

OK he got back to me

Apparently its now ready for collection. The problem was a faulty battery earth and the impeller needed replacing? Ive asked why the impeller needed replacing but no answer yet?

Hopefully it will be OK!

Cheers

Boats&Outboards · 09 May 2012, 15:16

So they read Ribnet ?

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

matt h · 09 May 2012, 16:38

That was my old Rib ...think i can help on this one! pm you

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 16:48

Oh how the plot thickens ;-)

Matt - thanks for your PM makes a lot of sense now.

Will let you guys know how it goes tomorrow

Thanks everybody

chewy · 09 May 2012, 18:14

Have you got a link to the item?

Nick Hearne · 09 May 2012, 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy

Have you got a link to the item?

I thought I was the only one not knowing the boat in question!
Let's see it please

CornishAvon · 09 May 2012, 19:49

Im picking it up tomorrow. Finally the bloke came good but it was touch and go.

I will post some pictures tomorrow when I get it for all to see. I imagine you guys all have a lot better than me but its a start in the right direction. All I need now is some company for my first maiden voyage in case I cock something up/breakdown.....

Anybody out in Devon over the next couple of weeks and fancies a pint or 2?

Talk tomorrow

Cheers