Hi guys

Another eBay dispute brewing…. Would appreciate your thoughts

I sold a pair of Shimano M535 caliper & levers brakes on Ebay – the same buyer won both items. The front went for £21 and rear for £23.

Both were in excellent working order, and I only sold as upgraded to some higher spec brakes.

The buyer mailed me this morning : “morning.. i have a problem with the brakes… both boxes when opened were soaked with brake fluid.., the calipers and levers are all leaking.., possibly damaged in transit rattling round the box. all will now have to be stripped , re-hosed with new seals and bled through.. any thoughts? “

I’m very surprised one let alone both should leak (no sign of leaking when on the bike) so I can only assume the boxes were shaken up in transit.

I can only assume the leak came from the reservoir, so I don’t really get the bit about stripping/re-hosing etc. Surely a clean down with IPA and bleeding should be sufficient? The rear didn’t ship with pads and the fronts needed replacing anyway (the eBay add stated this).

As a good will gesture, I’ve offer the guy £15 compensation. I await his response.

Am I being reasonable?

Sometimes selling stuff on eBay is more hassle that it’s worth!

Sounds odd that calipers and levers on both brakes, in seperated boxes have been damaged in transit. Your offer of £15 compensation seems fair considering there are no pads to contaminate.

any thoughts?

“Yeah, thank god I got shot of ’em.”

😆

ask for photos etc as I reckon they are taking the piss simply to get money back as ebay always sides with the buyer- it seems highly unlikely that both would leak and all the seals and hoses be ruined
I dont believe a word they are saying tbh

Just say you will have them back is what i would do and iirc they need to pay the postage but you need to reimburse them the full price they paid you [ ie including postage]

I reckon it is utter BS tbh

I’d want photo’s before doing anything.
I’d also want a better explanation of what’s actually leaking.

Brakes that get rattled all over the place on a mountain bike don’t suddenly just start leaking just because the postie has chucked the box around a bit.
And for it to happen to both….I smell BS.

I’d love to see how they manage to replace the seals, given they aren’t available like all Shimano brakes.
Also why are they replacing the hoses? Sounds like they’re haggling for a dispute.
I expect its just got fluid leaking out of the reservoir.

I can smell the bs from here. What a load of crap.
I would defo tell him to package them back up and send them back to you anyway and you’ll give him a refund. See what he says then. People try it on all the time. The problem you have is that you probably have no way of identifying the brakes as yours so he could send you his shagged out old pair of brakes that he needed to replace.

Ask for photos, but unfotunately not the be-all, things can be made to look bad but be a simply 2 minute fix.

Though (and with utmost respect) How good is/was your packing of the items:

a) Chuck it in a box an hope, they’re used anyway.

or

b) Check all the components are ‘tight’ and sent out with appropriate pad spacers etc and pretend like your making a bubblewrap , card and tape pass-the-parcel with goods fully imobilized inside and assuming that post/courier is going to drop kick it across the depot

a = I’d be less suspicious of buyer
b= very suspicious indeed.

I am consistently surprised at how some of the 2nd hand stuff I buy on ebay is so appallingly packed and blatantly caused scuffs etc in transit, but having said that (and some what contradictory) I do expect and accept it a little

BS. Both brakes develop a leak in transit? Right ho. As above, they’ve probably had (or are designed for) much harsher treatment than postie can give them.

£15 is way too much to offer IMO. I’d be asking for photos and then offer a full refund on return, he’s trying it on.

Sometimes selling stuff on eBay is more hassle that it’s worth!

This. I try to avoid it as much as possible these days, just not worth the aggro as a seller, especially with the fees.

i find it a bit odd that both brakes would leak….i once sent an old deore lever and caliper in the post and it got to its destination without any problems….i’d be asking for pictures too, but having said that they could quite easily make it look like they’ve been leaking simply by pouring some brake fluid on them or opening the reservoir to let the fluid out just to get some money back…
but if it has been damaged by royal mails handling of the package is it the responsibility of the sender or recipient to claim for any damage to the items?

I can smell the bs from here. What a load of crap.

Ditto. I had a similar problem once when I sold a set of brakes on fleabay. The buyer made all sorts of accusations yet couldn’t prove a single one. I checked his history and he had previous of doing this sort of thing. In the end I just ignored him. He didn’t start a dispute or anything (funny, I would have if things were as bad as he claimed) he just left negative feedback, which has now gone from my profile. It was a pain, I rarely sell on fleabay now.

for instance I got some bars fairly recently packed in nothing more than a cheap bin liner and some tape.
Two thin layers of poly bag protecting the (shiney) bars from dints and scratches.

Postie had then managed to fit them through the letter box and it had dropped 1m onto a hard floor. Lord knows what happened thru the network.

sigh

Would appreciate your thoughts

Ebay = A bigger PITA than a life behind bars.

but if it has been damaged by royal mails handling of the package is it the responsibility of the sender or recipient to claim for any damage to the items?

Its seller responsibility. Also assumes you’ve truthfully answered the usual “anything of value in this parcel?” type question and paid accordingly.

Bit late now as you’ve already offered compensation, but I’d be tempted to get the buyer to post them back.

If they genuinely are leaking a possible cause would be because the levers got pressed causing the pistons to pop out if they were no pads/travel spacers/bit of cardboard inbetween to stop movement.

Did you put anything between the pads/pistons prior to packing?
If it is the above cause a good clean,refill and bleed is all they would need,no need for seals(which are not available) or hoses.

Or they could just be taking the p!ss.

Thanks for your responses guys – appreciated. Should have posted here before contacting him..

Should have asked for pics, but as already suggested kicking the box around a bit and a liberal spraying of WD-40 and I’m no further forward i.e. still not admissible proof. I will ask for pics and some more info before refunding anything though out of principal.

At the end of the day, like most transactions on eBay there’s a degree of trust required from both parties. He may be posting (up here for all I know) of some w@nker whose sold pair of leaking old brakes.

I packed the brakes (separately) in the Shimano box my new brakes came in. It was a fairly sturdy box although with hindsight I perhaps should have taped the brakes down and put some form of spacer in the caliper. Hindsight’s a great thing though!

At the end of the day I could do without the hassle of getting them returned/relisting/responding to a dozen ‘will you end it now for some derisory sum questions’/packing up again and shipping so would rather resolve it amicably.

levers in a two seperate boxes designed for brakes both being pressed so often that the pistons popped out – how exactly would that happen ?
this ever happened to anyone and also needing new seals and new re hosed
It is scam 100% I would just ask for them back tbh