Someone sold me a broken pedal in the Buy/Sell/Trade

[ChetMagongalo]

Never mind. He says the money was spent on bills, now he's broke and can't afford the refund, so he wants me to proceed with a paypal claim instead.

Honestly, I kinda feel bad for the guy now.

Ugh, what a mess.

You shouldn't feel bad for him in opinion. It is his responsibility as a seller to send you a working pedal unless he had pointed out it wasn't working (which is not the case). If he had ANY doubt in his mind that the pedal wasn't 100% working and that he might have to front money if the deal goes sour (which he should know he is short on money) then he has no business doing the transaction in the first place. Sure his situation might be shitty, but he shouldn't be dragging other people into it.

I hope everything works out from this.

[Casavettes]

Agreed
I also think the excuse of "sorry I've been busy" is just bullshit
It just means to me that you just don't feel like it really
If you're selling pedals online, it doesn't take long at all to package/ship and follow up on how everything went

[crohny]

Combine one and two. File a claim with paypal. Send the pedal to Brian to fix. I'm sure there's a way you can tell paypal it took you $30 to pay for shipping to get the item fixed. Then you get the pedal. Douchecanoe only gets $120.

This should NOT be done prior to filing a claim with paypal. File the claim, get your money back (include shipping charges in the claim) and buy a new one.

Agreed
I also think the excuse of "sorry I've been busy" is just bullshit
It just means to me that you just don't feel like it really
If you're selling pedals online, it doesn't take long at all to package/ship and follow up on how everything went

This is from a stand point of someone that sells on a regular basis. I don't know who the seller is and even if I did I probably wouldn't know if he is a seller on a regular basis anyway. If I had to base an opinion off the information in this thread I would assume the dude was broke and needed to get rid of shit to pay bills. Could be bullshit or not. I know I have been in those shoes before so who knows. Either way, if the dude has been working or legit busy or just isn't one to use the internet all the time how is being busy a bad response? It'd be one thing if the dude knew about the messages previously and just ignored them to not deal with it. That doesn't seem to be the case though. People fuck up, give the dude a break until we have a better idea of what's going on besides a one sided story.

[Chankgeez]

... People fuck up, give the dude a break until we have a better idea of what's going on besides a one sided story.

This is true, but for this to become not a one sided story, the seller has to be identified first. He/she can't tell their side of the story if they wish to remain anonymous. Either way, at this point I'd like to see the seller's identity exposed. Especially if it's someone who's been here a while and I'd be more likely to trust.

[Clean Channel]

if the dude has been working or legit busy or just isn't one to use the internet all the time how is being busy a bad response?

He uses the same screen across several forums, and he was logging in and posting on them over the weekend. It also showed in my ILF 'Outbox' that he had read my messages. For me, that's evidence enough he was deliberately ignoring my PMs.

And he uses the screen name on twitter, deviant art, etc etc. Definitely no stranger to the internet!

Doing a quick google of his screen name revealed all kinds of insight. On another popular forum (which has an embedded feedback system) one of his four feebacks is negative. Three good deals, one bad; not an encouraging ratio. The person wrote: "Sent my trade. Never received his and no response back to me."

Hmm, think I'll google every seller in the future before buying from them. If I find others have a complaint, I'll know to stay away.

[Clean Channel]

Just thought I'd quickly update...

So I filed the claim, mailed the pedal back, and today Paypal finally confirmed I will get my refund. Although I've been using Paypal regularly for years (a decade or so?), I've never had to use the resolution center before (as a buyer or a seller). Although it wasn't an entirely smooth process, if nothing else (aside from getting my refund) it was a good learning experience on how the process works and how effective/ineffective Paypal customer support is.

For example, one problem that arose was that the seller wanted me to ship the pedal back to a different address than the one Paypal wanted me to send to. I wasn't sure what to do, and it wasn't easy to get in touch with Paypal for an answer. Eventually I did manage to contact them, and they insisted I send to their listed address, not the one the seller gave me.

[Chankgeez]

... Eventually I did manage to contact them, and they insisted I send to their listed address, not the one the seller gave me.

I think that's standard policy with these types of things.

Glad to hear this seems to be working out just fine. Sorry you had to go through all the hassle.

[Forrrest]

glad it worked out/somewhat.
but as a canadian it's your duty to specify "USPS shipping quote. NO UPS, I will refuse the package!" never accept anything from UPS, their duty handling fees are ridiculous.