Hello all. Some may have seen the post where this bike was discussed but wanted to warn everyone about this dodgy seller.
I got a Orange Prestige from him via best offer and arranged to pick it up the next day. I was met by his pleasant wife who wheeled the bike out and let me have a look at it before I took it away. All seemed OK on initial look, it was a mix up of old parts that had obviously been well used but it was described as such.
I got home and whilst putting the rear wheel back on I noticed a suspicious mark towards the bottom of the seat tube. Upon closer inspection I started to think it was a crack. I had things to do so put it away for the night and contacted the seller to thank his wife but also to let him know I think I had found the damage and would further inspect the next day. I got a response saying he had cleaned it prior to sale and had not seen a crack. I responded that I would have a better look the next day.
So, as I said I would I had a better look, scrapped a little paint off and sure enough it had rusted through from the inside. Most likely water down the seat tube left for years and with it being Prestige tubes it wouldn't have taken much to eat through. I had the bike on the work stand and could now also see behind the chain rings that the crack went right round the tube. I took pictures and sent them to 'kev'. I had not up to this point mentioned anything about a resolution, just that the frame was toast.
His response to this was to accuse me of damaging the frame (Even though the pics clearly showed it to have rusted through!), to have had the chance to check at his house, to have taken the bike to bits (I removed the wheels to fit it in the car) and said that he knows what he's doing with bikes so would have noticed.
I replied saying I was surprised at his response and questioning him on how he thought I had damaged it and to ask what exactly did he think I had time to do to it bearing in mind I emailed him within a couple of hours of picking it up. From that point I heard nothing.
My initial thought was to take it back to his house and throw it through his window. I could have contacted ebay and got the money back but that would mean having to go out of my way to return it and possibly have a row with the p***k and to be honest I can get my money back splitting it so I decided to settle for negative feedback and to warn you lot.
Rant over.
I'd still try and get money back through eBay personally
Still contact eBay I'd say.
As above, they might even sort you without having to return it
Oh, and the 'slight knock' to the back wheel turned out to be a massive flat spot. 👿
Yeah, probably should go down the ebay route but I could use some of the parts. I shouldn't lose out so not worried about that but just wanted to warn people as the bloke acted like a bell. To be honest, the more I think about his aggressive and blunt response the more I think he knew it was mince. 👿
Does it have Bombers?
You bought through ebay. Sort it through ebay. Simple way of doing these things don't try and make it more complicated
Nah, no bombers, fully rigid.
You lot are probably right.
Disappointing when sellers behave like that, but understandable when you see the levels of paranoia about being scammed on this site sometimes.
The seller is probably a Daily Mail-reading dick who thinks he's in the right and you must be trying it on because the world's full of people trying to rip him off.
Stay calm and deploy the ebay resolution process.
Get on to eBay.
Disappointing folk do that - I try to be open about the state of things, especially if older - but not everyone is.
I would have thought eBay would side With the seller tbh as you collected in person.
Aye, start a return via ebay - you can upload pics etc. to help your case, any buffoon would know that you hadn't caused it to rust through overnight & it's pretty clearly not as described
firestarter - Member
I would have thought eBay would side With the seller tbh as you collected in person.
Sadly, I agree.
Definitely worth getting in touch with eBay, they are often very good at sorting this if you're the buyer. I mean, they tend to find in favour of the buyer and can force the seller to cover the return postage.
It's a much smaller item, but I bought a Garmin last year that simply didn't work and had a similar very rapid over-reaction from the seller. I opened a "item not as described" dispute (or whatever it was called) and sent it back, tracked and sent eBay a copy of the receipt and they ensured I got my money back and the money for the postage.
Another option to resolve things is a partial refund: if you want to keep it but you and the seller can agree what you _should_ have paid, you can resolve the eBay dispute by him partially refunding you.
Hope this helps! Good luck...
To be honest it's buyer beware really here. If you had to scrape off paint to find out the damage why would you think the seller would have noticed themselves??
Second hand private sale, you had chance to inspect there and then. eBay might side with you in the end but in all honesty I don't think they should.
Assuming you paid cash on collection here ? in which case your not likely to get anything back.
My experience of ebay is in any paypal transaction. If there are any issues ebay will always side heavily with the buyer (which is wrong IMO) , you've got 30 days to make a complaint and will always get a full refund.
Looks tidy for it's age - not sure the seller would even be aware it had rusted from the inside. And looking at his feedback he's not the dodgy sort. Not sure where you stand with this really.
You paid £66 and collected in person and your upset with seller 🙄
not sure the seller would even be aware it had rusted from the inside
Exactly. I sold a Specialized M4 frame many years ago and the buyer found a crack on the join between chain stay and bottom bracket that I hadn't noticed.
The difference is that I immediately refunded the buyer with an apology for any time wasted.
[i]You paid £66 and collected in person and your upset with seller[/i]
I would be, if I expected to get a usuable bike out of the transaction 🙄
Looks tidy for it's age - not sure the seller would even be aware it had rusted from the inside. And looking at his feedback he's not the dodgy sort. Not sure where you stand with this really.
Yep, looked tidy when I picked it up too until I noticed the crack and the flat spot on the wheel. Agree on the feedback which is why I was surprised by his response. Didn't ask for a refund, didn't ask for part refund, didn't get that far.
Agree it could easily have been missed and told him I was not accusing him of selling the bike knowing it was cracked. The warning for you lot is how he responds when something goes wrong.
You paid £66 and collected in person and your upset with seller
No, I paid £50 with a best offer. The cracked frame disappointed me, it was the response that upset me. Actually upset is the wrong word, pee'd off works better.
Ebay might side with me, they might not, I may not even bother but the point of the thread is to warn others that if you buy from him and something goes wrong you will regret dealing with the bloke.
To be honest it's buyer beware really here. If you had to scrape off paint to find out the damage why would you think the seller would have noticed themselves??
Not really as I noticed what defo looked like a crack before further inspection. The small bit of paint I removed was just to confirm, which it did. I didn't want to send him pictures only to be met with 'Nah, that's not a crack' so provided evidence.
He might well not have seen it but if I was in his position I would have tried to find an amicable solution. I was not going to demand anything as I was happy to let him decide what he thought was the right result.
Anyway, I won't be dealing with him again and will be a bit more careful in future.
You didn't answer the question, did you pay in cash on collection or paypal - if the latter... then ebay will side with you and you will get your money back you just have to prove you sent it back....
Cash on collection as he requested. Not the issue though as in any event I can get my money back.
I do feel a bit sorry for you, but what's the point in inspecting it before you hand over the cash if you don't actually look for exactly this sort of thing?
You have also now damaged the property by scratching the paint off. I'm not sure you're going to get much out of this.
You have also now damaged the property by scratching the paint off.
Damaged a FUBARed frame though.
If you inspected the bike on collection, then you are kind of stuffed to be honest. You've accepted the goods and paid for them.
There could be a way round it but if you've raised it with eBay and told the truth, you've shot yourself in the foot there too.
How are you getting your money back?
Don't feel sorry for me mate, I should be able to exceed the price in parts so no harm done on that score and yes, I could have inspected it in more detail but it looked like what it is, an old bike.
My beef is with his response and attitude after I had been nothing but polite and reasonable. The paint didn't come off until after he questioned me and as a way of giving him no get out. It's almost as if he was waiting for a response 😉 That's why I am warning others.
His advert also invites inspection before purchase , feel for you both,,
Just throw it through his window. That'll show him who's boss
That's what I thought Andy!
Window. For £50 it'd be worth the entertainment value.
Ripon rip off?