Ebay - Problem with buyer. updated: Refunding

[Hossenfeffer]

Ok, I'm usually confident in dealing with issues that pop up on ebay. Had an issue these past couple days and want to make sure I'm taking the best possible course of action.

The skinny: Bought some PC100 memory from Outpost. They are high profile which I imagine makes some mobo's cough up a lung. Decided to sell the other ones I bought and just pony up for some decent ram elsewhere. Note: In my auction terms, I mention all sales are final (barring something that's completely DOA, which I'd be willing to take back).

Ok, so one of the auctions ends. The guy sends me the money (less than $10) and I ship out same day.

Then I get this:

I ordered and received the item #xxxxxxxxxx from you. After I checked and tested the package, the product does not match the label. The product I received is 32MB not 64MB shown on the label. If you check the chipset, you should find GM72V66... for 64MB. But What I got is GMV16...

Please indicate how to replace the product at your convenience.

To which I responded:

Good to hear that the memory got to you so soon.

As for the chipset, I'm looking at the other identical items in front of me and the chips read GM72V16421CT10K.

Opened one of the items, put it in a system and the POST shows 64MB. (Let me know if you'd like pics)

I believe you ll find that GM72V66 would be using 64Mb (megabit, not MB megabyte) chips. 64Mb chips are each equivalent to 8MB. If that were the case, these sticks of ram would have 256MB of memory on them.

He fired back with:

Please tell me which system is under you test, I will try to run that test.
I unpluged my original SDRAM and only installed the one ordered from you. I only get 32MB. If you check the spec. for HYUNDAI Chipset, you would find the chip GM72V16421CT10K even is not PC100 standard(10K). If possible, please tell me what your configutation of the test system is.

So I offered to go the extra mile with:

While I don't make a habit of providing support for things, what are the specs for the system you re using?

Motherboard
CPU
Etc.

I ve used this memory in two Pentium II systems with Asus motherboards (don t have the model numbers handy).

Today, I get home from rehearsal and am greeted with:

It's so sad, this caused us some hassles. You may check with a certified technician to verify the SDRAM.
My system is Pentium III PC100 compliant. I believe you will find the problem when you use a PC100 machine. Your Pentium II may use PC66. If you check the Hyundai SDRAM spec. in the web site, you will find the definition for GM72V16421CT10K. 16 stands for 16M, 10K is PC66. PC100 includes model number 7J, 7K... If possible, please reverse my evidence by providing some documented information about proving it's PC100, 64MB.
I am returning your product. Please send me a real 64MB, PC100 SDRAM or cancel the deal. I will still praise your fast shipping and good service; otherwise, I will need to report to different organizations for future investigation. Please be understanding.

Looking at the ram from outpost, I looked up the part numbers on the web. It does seem to show a PC66 spec but does run on 2 of 3 systems I've tried them in. It's sold (and labeled) as PC100 so I'm assuming it'll run at that spec.

Mentioned they were high profile in the item description and that could be his issue. I figure I could reasonably ask him to try flashing the BIOS (if there's something new). It could be that the mobo just won't like the stuff.

He got a big eyeroll from me at the "I will needto report to different organizations" threat attempt.

New SDRAM for $10 (including shipping), what's he expect?

Anyway, composing my return email to him. Imagining I'll have to swallow a negative eval. I think I might also have some used PC100 stuff I could send him if that becomes the best option.

Any thoughts and/or evidence as to the parts running at PC100? Thoughts in general? I'm mostly of the mind of "screw him", but I'd like to keep the folks happy, especially if it's only a minor inconvenience to me.

Checking specs on a machine I have it running in right now to make sure it's running at 100 as opposed to 66. edit: ok, while I'm trying to find a way to measure how quickly the ram is actually being run at, the mobo specs (asus p2b-f) do say the board takes 66 and 100.

Is this an Outpost.com issue at all?


Cliff's notes:
I bought cheap ram
Sold some on ebay (for ~$10 shipped)
Doesn't seem to work in buyer's machine
Buyer wants new ram or a cancellation of the deal.

EDIT: Offered help in getting the stuff working or a refund. He took the refund. The lazy jackass. What do you expect for $10?

 

[iwearnosox]

F him, take the neg. It's not worth your personal time unless you've got oodles of it.

 

[Jetblade]

Just refund him the 10 or whatever bucks. It ain't worth the hassle.

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: Jetblade
Just refund him the 10 or whatever bucks. It ain't worth the hassle.

 

[Dran]

Outpost is definitely mislabeling the RAM, so it's not your fault, but it also most certainly runs (and runs well) at 100Mhz (and higher). I've tested this memory in TX boards, BX boards, and KT133a boards, and it runs at 100Mhz 2-2-2 in all of them.

Just refund his money. He either doesn't know what he's doing, has incompatible hardware (or a BIOS setting he hasn't checked), or never tested it because he read the part number and instantly decided it must be 32MB instead of 64MB and won't bother to give it a shot. No point in wasting your time.

 

[boyRacer]

that would suck if your refund him and he still gives you a negative... :|

 

[CanOWorms]

I try to avoid ebaying computer parts. Too many people try to return them whey they can't figure things out.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Here's the email I just sent:

The RAM was sold new to me as PC100 SDRAM and I took this at face value. Seeing as how I was able to use some of the RAM myself at PC100 specs, I had no issue. As I?m sure you know, RAM can be troublesome stuff and one cannot expect the world in terms of quality in new ram, particularly for around $10. That being said, I?ve been working on tracking down an official word from Hynix (Hyundai?s new company name) on any discrepancy. Until then, I?d want to try and find a solution for this issue with you. I?d much rather you save money and get equal performance than paying more. That being said, though I state ?All Sales Final? in the payment terms of my auctions, I would be willing to entertain a refund.

It may be that BIOS settings (and/or flashing the BIOS) would alleviate your issues with the chip. I?d ask again as to the motherboard make and model number (that will tell me the chipset and whether there may be a BIOS update).

Thanks

P.S. The tail end of your last email was disappointing to see. You?ll find I?m much more understanding than a large percentage of ebay users and I pride myself in that fact.

So basically offering a refund or help in figuring out how to get it running for him.[/quote]

Asked Outpost where the chips came from. All the sales guy was able to find was "mj butterfly group acdcmemory.com". I guess I'll give the acdcmemory.com folks a call to see if such a thing might have come from them.



Thanks for the thoughts. I imagine I'm putting too much effort into this. If I hadn't put PC100 in the item description I would have just said tough luck. Since I did I feel obligated to provide that, one way or the other.

 

[MrYogi]

Originally posted by: Jetblade
Just refund him the 10 or whatever bucks. It ain't worth the hassle.

 

[chowderhead]

Unless you enjoy learning about every detail about computer parts or electronics, the amount of time you have spent on this issue is too much. That ten dollars you got (minus ebay fees and paypal, shipping fees) netted you a bunch of work.
You have sent many emails, troubleshoot the memory with 3 systems, and you are in the process of contacting the manufacturer and outpost.com
You are working for FAR less than minimum wage! You probably already have lost money on this deal if you factor in all the time you have spent trying to resolve this issue.
Stop it and just ask him to return your stick of ram and refund him the money.
It just isn't worth $10.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: MrYogi

Originally posted by: Jetblade
Just refund him the 10 or whatever bucks. It ain't worth the hassle.

Really man. Don't you think you invested more time then $10's worth? Just refund him and be done with it.

 

[vegetation]

Refund the money, hopefuly you'll get a positive for it. Then blast the jerk with a severe negative.

Edit: then let us know the user id so we can all add to our blocked bidder list.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: vegetation
Refund the money, hopefuly you'll get a positive for it. Then blast the jerk with a severe negative.

Heh, as tempting as that might be, I'll keep it on the up and up. If I hadn't listed it as PC100 I would have said "screw off". Don't have enough in my court as to the stuff being what I said I was selling, though.

 

[RabidMongoose]

NEVER sell computer stuff on eBay. You'll always get people crying about it. One time I sold a new motherboard to someone on eBay. He received it and then a few weeks later he left me a negative feedback saying that the motherboard was 'defective'. It turned out that he never installed the heatsink/fan on it and it fried about 3 of his cpus! He blamed the mobo frying them instead.

Also, I once sold a wireless router on eBay (brand new). The guy received it and could not get it to work. He said it was defective and I just said to ship it back to me. Well, I don't think it's defective since I'm using the damn thing right now!

 

[AAjax]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms
I try to avoid ebaying computer parts. Too many people try to return them whey they can't figure things out.

Damn skippy, if they arent smart enough to know about the f/s-f/t and hot deals forums here they have no buisness inside their pc

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Well, he took the refund offer. For the best.

Since this ram was new to me, I was interested to find out if there was a way to get things working for him. If I had a better sense of what my time is worth, I would have refunded the money in a second. Figured since I wasn't doing anything else, I might as well try and help the guy out. Glad I didn't spend any more time at it.