Lessons Learned

adw · 02-05-2010, 12:19 PM

I just wanted to convey my experience with an individual who goes by the name of MattMike on the boards and the lessons I learned from this transaction.

I found a for sale thread with the title Saltwater Korallin Calcium Reactor. I was in the market for a reactor and was familiar with it. In the for sale post the seller had literally copied and pasted Korallin’s description of a c1502 and included a stock picture of the reactor. He added the paragraph below.

I AM SELLING A 4 MONTH OLD Reactor for $250. I paid 400 dollars for this a works amazing. I had this on my 300 gallon tank that I sold off not too long ago because I moved. I have a few items I was going to keep, which was the calcium reactor to set up my next tank.. I decided to sell it and hold off on the new Tank for a little. My loss is your gain. I have a stocked photo of this Reactor.

OBO!!!!! I AM OPEN TO ALL OFFERS.

I offered him 250 shipped and he countered with 255 to cover the PayPal fees. I agreed and sent him the cash via PayPal immediately.

A few days later I was notified by FedEx that I had a package to pick up. I picked it up and was surprised at how big the box was. When I opened the box there was another box inside only this one was destroyed by severe water damage.

When I opened that box I found that the pump had been destroyed. The outer casing was cracked, the base was cracked, the pump cover had snapped and the Impeller was broken. On top of that the manifold had snapped off the outlet at the top of the reactor. Turns out the reactor had not been drained before shipping. It destroyed the box and because the reactor had not been disassembled with no box to protect the pump and manifold snapped off ruining both.

After looking at the pieces of what I had been shipped I realized that there were some pieces missing. There was no bubble counter, and no check valve and there was no inlet for co2. Then I read the side of the canister and it said s1502 BioDenitrator. Not only was the thing destroyed because it wasn’t packed right but it wasn’t even a calcium reactor it was a denitrifier based on the c1502 model. If you know the hobby there is no way you could make that mistake. It was full of sulfur.

Negotiations

I took pics and immediately contacted the seller via email. I told him what had happened and that he had sent me the wrong thing and that because it was shipped with water still in it and hadn’t been taken apart it had been severely damaged. I told him that to get the parts to convert it and fix the damage done in shipping it was going to cost me 216 dollars. I said all I wanted was a quick resolution and that I would be willing to take 100. I was basically told it was the same thing and that he didn’t know the difference between the reactors. Of course he also told me he was a wholesaler. After a lot of back and forth I was told that he would give me back $75. It was going to cost me 216 in parts to fix and convert it to the calcium reactor he claimed it was when he sold it. We both agreed that we weren’t going to agree so I decided to file a complaint with PayPal.

PayPal

So I opened a complaint with PayPal. I posted links to what was what, pictures of the damaged goods and the box, and links to the parts I needed to fix it. We went back and forth on there and he continued to offer me the $75. So I decided to send it to a claim. Turns out that because the transaction did not take place on EBay they would not rule on the issue. Lessoned learned. If you expect any protection from PayPal apparently you have to use EBay. Who knew.

The Bank

I was advised that I should call my bank and fight the charge. So I called the bank and to make a long story short they said that because the PayPal charge didn’t use my visa debit card and was instead linked directly to my bank account there was nothing that they could do. Of course it was PayPal who had told me to do this in the first place. Another lesson learned.

The seller refused to take any responsibility for either the fact that he completely misrepresented what he was selling or the fact that he should have at least taken the water out of the reactor before he shipped it. One is outright fraud and the other is either ignorance or total lack of respect for someone who just sent you $255 for something. Even though I had never been insulting threatening or anything other than reasonable throughout this entire process the last email I received said that

I was immature and had no feelings for people younger than myself.
That I should just take the 75 and what was the difference between 75 and 100. For me besides the obvious 25 dollars it was pride.
It said that I should take what I can get and stop being a baby.
How his club of 30 people was laughing at me. My club is over 700 but hey who is counting.
He pointed out that I should cut it out because you know we did ship it to your house. I guess this was meant as a threat.
He also told me that if I wanted to work that way he would get me and all my friends banned from all the forums since he knew them really well. What ever that means.

Of course I am the immature one. Now I get to enjoy my 470 dollar c1502 reactor that I'm going to have to wait weeks for.

I learned 3 important things

1) Don’t do business with a dude who goes by MattMike
2) If you can use EBay
3) If you have a PayPal account do not set it up with your bank account. Use a Visa or something.

Now I get to enjoy my 470 dollar c1502 reactor but at least I learned some valuable lessons about how not to get screwed next time. I hope you guys can learn from my mistakes. I’m going to go enjoy my hobby again.

Jeff.:P:. · 02-05-2010, 12:30 PM

Unfortunately, there are these kind of people out there. Even though I had a good experience with a pay-pal claim, I wish there was more protection out there for the buyer. Who sends equipment with water? that just seems like laziness to me. And sending the incorrect equipment is fraudulent should be illegal. All you can do is spread the word and learn from this situation.

fenderguy1 · 02-05-2010, 12:48 PM

Man that sucks! I cant believe it was shippped with water in it.

Paul_PSU · 02-05-2010, 06:08 PM

wow, sorry to hear. From the looks of that picture, it look more than 4 months old also.

The other thing is some sellers (very very few) get offended when you ask for a pic of the actual product and not a stock photo but this is the reason why you should always ask for one.

njhcnwk · 02-05-2010, 06:52 PM

RULES TO FOLLOW WITH PAYPAL:
-NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER give them ANY of your account numbers. EVERYONE I know has had their paypal account hacked. My former roommate found out he had a $20 credit in his account for like a year that was credited because someone hacked his account. PAYPAL MADE NO NOTIFICATION TO HIM OF WHAT HAPPENED.
-Always use a credit card. That way if paypal screws you (and declines to back you), your credit card will back you.

I don't know why they didn't make a ruling. I've disputed craigslist purchases before and won. Did you click that the money was for a purchase?

jcolletteiii · 02-06-2010, 05:18 PM

If he had shipped via USPS, mailfraud would be a BIG deal. psulion's suggestion over at RC is a really good one, and I strongly encourage that course of action - contact the police and initiate a mailfraud complaint - there are VERY serious consequences if he doesn't clear this up quickly. Also, I wouldn't accept a partial refund - get all of your money back and ship that piece of junk back to him by 8th class surface mail! I really think its a great idea that you're cross-posting on all of the forums he belongs to - MATTMIKE will surely get the exposure he deserves!