I'll keep this as brief as I can seeing as the amount of email I have on the subject is extensive, but the purpose of this post is purely feedback on a recent purchase from the classifieds. In hindsight, there are things I should have spotted and been wary of but hindsight's a wonderful thing.
So I bought a pair of brakes from an STW forum member and to get straight to the crux, the original advert stated;
"Used, but very very good condition, don't think they have any marks or real signs of wear on them anywhere"
The pictures in the advert show an immaculate pair of brakes, albeit does state "not my pictures" (not "Not my brakes").
So from this, I'm under the impression that these brakes are immaculate (hindsight: should have asked for pictures for confirmation, but people on STW are honest, right?). So the ensuing bit of haggling over extra money for a pair of 160mm Avid rotors, plus extra again to swap one of those for a 'nearly new' 180mm rotor (actually £11 extra, for what turned out to be a seemingly well used Super Star rotor [£13 retail]) was agreed on the impression that this is an immaculate pair of brakes without "any marks or real signs of wear on them anywhere". I think it is important to recognise at this poiint that this sentence started with "don't think...." - throwing a nice bit of ambiguity in there.
So the brakes arrive, and they're dirty for starters. No big deal. But after a wipe down it turns out that actually there are marks and signs of wear all over them. Scratched levers - on the carbon blades and quite deep scratches on the lever body from where, I'd say, the bike has taken a tumble. But worse are the callipers - lots of scratches and on one at least, heavily pitted paint work.
After pointing this out to the seller, his reply was "Its just a bit of dirt" followed by accusations of going looking with a microscope. And more "Most of the lever ones look more like irregularities in the carbon then actual damage. The pitted calliper also looks more like a rough paint job then damage. The other calliper however does look a little scratched. It does look completely superficial, and also upon mounting to the bike would be almost impossible to see."
At this stage I had offered my opinion on what the brakes were actually worth and asked for either a refund to that amount OR a full refund (less his postage costs) on return of the brakes, the latter option as I'm not trying to screw the guy over myself but if he believes they are worth that much then he's welcome to sell them on again. This was refused point blank, despite his claimed disappointment that we're both not happy with the situation. I can tell you who I think is a lot happier from this sale.
Finally, I was offered £10 on the basis that its a done deal and I don't slander the guy on the internet. Well, £10 is neither here nor there and I never had any intention of 'slandering' the guy but if he chooses to advertise and sell goods dishonestly on an online forum, I'm well within my rights to share my experiences.
It doesn't sit well with me being seemingly so pedantic about some scratches which ultimately don't matter to the performance of the brakes, but that's quite a lot of money I've paid for a set of brakes. A seller has a responsibility to be open and honest about the condition of their goods and if this was the retail world no one would stand for it, so how is it acceptable through classifieds?
In my opinion, its really not.
Note to the seller: sorry if this isn't the good karma you were after - seems ironic asking for that to me.
