Cheated on eBay or was I not? What to do now?

[NeoPTLD]

I bought a replacement battery for my cellphone from an Ebay seller who specializes in cellphone accessories. In the auction I won, he claims that it is a "brand new battery". I expect the item to be brand new and in brand new condition. So claimed "brand new" battery came with scuff marks that indicates signs of use and the covering was punctured. The package was just fine and it is very obvious that the battery was damaged before it got in the mail.

The auction terms says I have 15 days to return for exchange and ship back at my expense should there I get a defective item. I am ok with this term, but I do not consider this particular item to be defective, but misleading auction. The battery is in such a sorry shape that it looks closer to toss out batteries from warranty repairs than brand new. There is no seal to verify that it is brand new. I don't think signs of use and physical damage constitutes as defect. What do you people think?

It is the very fact that buyers will not pursue further actions over a $15 auction that keeps scammers in bussiness. What should I do? I was recommended by people in the Ebay chat room to file a Federal complaint against him for fraud, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Picture of the said battery

I bought it from this guy


PS. pics.bbzzdd.com is down or closed. What do we use to post pics as of now?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Send it back and get your money back per the conditions of the auction. Then buy from someone else.

 

[ElFenix]

looks like it was in a fire

fraud complaint sounds like the best thing, and return it via cheap shipping, demand your money back, and give some feedback saying you received a battery that was supposed to be new but was obviously damaged

 

[dahunan]

If it works, keep it and file the complaint.

$15 is too little to start a big fight with the seller for.

refer to this link is the only way you can get negative feedback removed - if he leaves some for you

 

[dahunan]

Or.. tell him to refund all your money and the full price of shipping it back to him??

 

[NeoPTLD]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Send it back and get your money back per the conditions of the auction. Then buy from someone else.

Nik I do not feel that the conditions of auction covered misleading or fraudulent conduct. It stated the conditions for returning defective items. New merchandise arriving in warranty toss out or used condition is not what I call 'defective'. I consider it to be fraudulent or misleading, therefore it is outside the umbrella of this limitation.

 

[BooneRebel]

11 negatives in the past month? Despite the positives, I think this is a few too many bad marks to have done business with this guy to begin with.

 

[HiTek21]

Email him and see if you can work something out with him. Tell him to either replace it free of charge or if you don't want it ask for a refund + shipping. A good trader will do whatever it takes to keep the buyer happy.

 

[KC5AV]

Tell him you can't get it to work (in that condition, I wouldn't dare even put it on my phone). It is defective. Get your money back. Then file a complaint. It's all good.

 

[dabuddha]

if the auction said it was new, then you should expect a new battery. Granted its only 15 bucks but thats a hard earned 15 bucks. I'd tell the person you expect a brand new battery within the week and that he pays to ship the used one back to him or you'll take action against him. People like that just piss me off. I had a similar situation a few years back on a HP scanner. Said it was brand new and the box even looked like it was new but inside, the glass on the scanner was all scuffed up and the scans were just horrible on it. I finally ended up getting it returned and shipped on the guys dollar. Of course I had to threaten him

 

[NeoPTLD]

Update:

I wrote him a letter explaining the situation with the picture attached. I requested for refund on what I paid and return shipping or replacement with return shipping on him. He said I'm getting a new one and I don't need to send the one I have back.

I cleared one gate and I just have to make sure I get the new one and that it is indeed brand new.

 

[Omegachi]

hope he doesn't send you the same one. haha, then you'll have two blackbox looking things.

 

[NeoPTLD]

Hey I received a new shipment today by Priority. No physical damage, but signs of use. Lithium ion battery as a rule is never leaves the factory in discharged condition. The replacement battery he sent me was completely discharged along with small scratches and tiny blemishes that does not appear on brand new battery and these indicates previous use.

If I followup with him agressively, he might give up and eventually give me a full refund, but will probably continue scamming other people. Not everyone will catch the problem like I did and he'll get away with doing this to other people. It's about $15 auction to me and to other people. The amount is so small that people can usually absorb it and seller takes that to consideration when scamming. I don't know if I'm being obsessive, but does anybody see a problem in issuing refunds to people that catch on and persistently complains while continuing his journey with scamming other people that doesn't notice or doesn't want to take further actions?

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: NeoPTLD

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Send it back and get your money back per the conditions of the auction. Then buy from someone else.

Nik I do not feel that the conditions of auction covered misleading or fraudulent conduct. It stated the conditions for returning defective items. New merchandise arriving in warranty toss out or used condition is not what I call 'defective'. I consider it to be fraudulent or misleading, therefore it is outside the umbrella of this limitation.

"New" stuff that arrives in less than new condition counts as defective in my book.

 

[EngenZerO]

Your wrong about your assumption of li-ion batteries leaving the factory, most, if not all of them, leave in near discharge condition. I have never seen a cell battery come out of a package at full charge or even at medium charge (use to sell cellular phones). Its usualy on its last bar of juice before the low battery waring will kick off (that is dependent on your phone). Also Batteries are not going to be cosmetically perfect each time you get them. When I bought my extra batteris for my T720 from vzw corp store, they had little scuffs at random places on the battery it is totaly normal. You had a right to go after for the first battery, but I think you are jumping the gun with the second battery (imo).

engen

 

[NeoPTLD]

Originally posted by: EngenZerO
Your wrong about your assumption of li-ion batteries leaving the factory, most, if not all of them, leave in near discharge condition. I have never seen a cell battery come out of a package at full charge or even at medium charge (use to sell cellular phones). Its usualy on its last bar of juice before the low battery waring will kick off (that is dependent on your phone).

Ok, let's put it this way. Lithium ion is an odd ball chemistry and when the cells are discharged to below 2.4V or so per cell, the internal chemistry can get unstable. If your cellphone turns on, it's not completely discharged. Even after your phone shuts off after low battery warning, there is still 2.8-3.0V on a 3.6V battery pack. There's a safety shut off circuit in the battery pack should the device not shut off and drain the battery past 2.4v or so to prevent the chemistry from entering dangerous instabiliy. The internal chip orders the MOSFET to cut off the cell from the terminals. By completely discharged, I mean that I got a battery that reads 0.0mV on my DMM which tells me that it's been shut off by safety circuit.

Also Batteries are not going to be cosmetically perfect each time you get them. When I bought my extra batteris for my T720 from vzw corp store, they had little scuffs at random places on the battery it is totaly normal. You had a right to go after for the first battery, but I think you are jumping the gun with the second battery (imo).

I don't care about the cosmetic damage, but I am getting particular over it, because it gives a clue that it's been used in the past. Along with scuff marks from abrasion there are small dings and lints stuck to edges of sticker. My battery didn't look like this when it came new with the phone. I do not believe you can get pocket lint on sticker edges on a factory new battery.