[TowerTalk] Returning disputed items, was: BANISHMENT FROM TOWER TALK

[David J Rodman MD]

I only want to discuss returning disputed items.  My point has nothing 
to do with Tower Talk or either party in the previous discussion.

At one point, I purchased a radio from a vendor on eBay.  The vendor 
used "canned" messages describing the radios he sold from time to time.  
At the time I made the purchase, about a year ago, he allowed credit 
cards to make payment to PayPal.  Let me say, the equipment clearly was 
NOT as described.  Numerous faults were found, including a broken 
crystal filter and a repainted cabinet.  I made the attempt to return 
the equipment in a friendly manner.   My messages were returned with 
short responses indicated the gear was as advertised and no credit would 
be issued and no compensation would follow.  PayPal was unable to 
"arbitrate" the situation as the seller can refuse to participate.  
After some investigation, I determined this practice was common for the 
vendor and he used unscrupulous tactics to bid up his own products.  As 
a matter of fact, I proved and reported to eBay, he bought his own 
equipment with one eBay ID and sold with another.  In each case, he gave 
himself glowing feedback!  I was able to trace many other people who 
were victimized and reported the incidents to the Better Business Bureau 
and his state Attorney General (as well as eBay).

Ultimately what saved me and allowed me to return the equipment was the 
credit card agreement.  The only thing the credit card needed to see was 
my ATTEMPT to return the merchandise.  He propmtly returned it to me 
stating "REFUSED". After seeing this, and documenting the shipment 
receipts, the card company issued the full credit.  He was left holding 
the bag and issued a call tag to pick up the gear.  In his last message 
to me, the snot said "well done".  He also added my email addresss to a 
"spam" mail list for which I started to receive dozens of emails about 
pornographic and other unsolicited subjects.

My wife is a big eBay user and was very helpful in tracking this down.  
Ultimately, using the card gives one significant economic clout.  But 
one has to do the walk in order to satisify company.  I tried to correct 
the problem directly.  Now, I see he posts private auctions on eBay.  
This would make it much harder to track down other people with problems. 

I hope others find my story helpful.  I am always sorry to hear about 
hams getting mixed up with problem transactions and sorrier when it 
happend to me.