Damaged CPU - Paypal - Final Update

[Hulk]

I recently sold a processor on ebay and the guy I sold it to is telling me the cpu is doa. Strange since I had been using it for 3 years in my Dell computer. And it was never overclocked or gave me a problem. Stranger still is the fact that he recently withdrew his ebay account and took 12 days after he received it to report this news to me. He has filed a Paypal dispute so they are holding the original funds transfer.

I told him to send the processor back to me so I can check it out. It's a P4 3.06. I'm worried that he may have overclocked/volted the cr%p out of it and killed it. If that's the case then I really have no recourse but to refund him. Thing is I packed it properly and know the chances of it dying in the mail are small. Especially since it only went about 50 miles. I have over 200 positive ebay experiences.

Just looking for a little advice from my fellow Anandtechers to see if there is anyway to know if this cpu was overclocked. I'm hoping be bent a pin or something, or put it in a system that it's incompatible.

 

[John]

Add this clause to your listings:

Items in this auction are being sold "as is" without any warranty, refund or exchange.

Even then I am not sure if that would keep anyone from filing a dispute. If there isn't any visible damage to the cpu you won't be able to tell if or how far he overclocked it. I'd wager that it works when you get it back.

 

[Maximilian]

Tell paypal what you told us. It worked for me when somone tried to screw me over, i told paypal and it worked out. Emphasise your feedback and his withdrawl from ebay too, thats important.

 

[stogez]

Try what Soviet said. Good luck, hopefully it works out for you. Hate a$$holes like that...

 

[Hulk]

Thanks for the advice and support guys. Yeah, it's really frustrating when someone tries to screw you over. I go out of my way to list totally accurately.

What gets me kind of pissed is that he didn't first just e-mail me, he had to go right to Paypal and file the dispute. I mean I'm not here for tech support but I'd try and help sort it out for him.

I'm hoping he put the cpu in a motherboard that won't handle a 533FSB cpu, or without an updated bios. Something like that. Then I can refund him his money and list it again.

Thanks again.

Mark

 

[sjandrewbsme]

He went right to paypal because they don't know what you know - that the chip was good and he broke it.

 

[stogez]

Yeah point out to Paypal that the buyer didn't try to resolve the issue before filing the dispute. Atleast he should've asked you for a refund and if you denied it then file a claim. Shows that he was probably planning on doing this from the beginning or that he knows that its his fault.

 

[imported_nunya]

I really admire your willingness to consider that it's simply a mistake, I definitely don't have that in me. To me, filing a dispute 12 days after and going straight to paypal instead of you says that he killed it and so doesn't want to pay for it. Definitely talk to Paypal about this, I can't believe they would side with him in such a situation.

 

[Pciber]

Originally posted by: Hulk
Then I can refund him his money and list it again.

I'm not even that polite. The occaisonal time I list stuff on eBay my return clause states I will take returns from dead product up to 3 days after the item arrives, however if the item is returned and found to not be dead, I won't refund their money and I won't ship it back to them until they paypal me another shipping fee >_<

 

[Howard]

yuo ben teh scammed

 

[Blain]

Did your ebay ad guarantee against a DOA CPU?

 

[Hulk]

That's good advice to put an amount of time into the description for a return. No, I didn't guarantee against DOA but of course if I sent something that really did "become" DOA in the mail I would refund it.

I replied to Paypal that the following actions seem suspicious to me:

13 days to decide it wasn't working
Did not contact me and went right to dispute on Paypal
Recently closed his ebay account

I'm asking them to have him send the item back to me so I can see if it's working. If it's not and there is no physical damage I'll probably just refund his money and move on.

Oh you don't know how pissed I am at this guy. I KNOW he either burned out the chip or simply bought the wrong one for his mobo.

I asked Paypal if this chip comes back to me and it works if I would have to refund my original shipping fees and they said yes. So I told them that would mean this guy bought the wrong chip, cost me shipping and ebay fees, and that I would have to "lose" that money.

I think if the chip is functional I should refund him what he paid me less my shipping and ebay fee. The Paypal rep said, "but he's already paying to ship back to you!" I tried to explain that if the chip is working this entire return is his fault. My item description was clear as day.

Okay, I'll keep this thread posted as to what happens...

 

[motorbikeking1]

its these type of people that ruin things for other people, i hope it works out.

 

[Blain]

Big Lar ended up being sent three different LSI SCSI cards from a ebay seller, in order to get one that functioned properly.
The last one turned out to work fine for him.

 

[lobbyone]

He broke it and he wants a refund? He must be high on lucky.

 

[bigboxes]

Or he could have fried his old cpu and got you to send him a good one. He claims that the cpu is bad and sends you back his old one. Make sure you check that it is indeed your processor. I hate scammers.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: bigboxes
Or he could have fried his old cpu and got you to send him a good one. He claims that the cpu is bad and sends you back his old one. Make sure you check that it is indeed your processor. I hate scammers.

This is very true. I hope you took pics of the chip and posted it on ebay. This way if the chip that comes back doenst resemble the pic on ebay you have proof.

 

[Hulk]

Originally posted by: bigboxes
Or he could have fried his old cpu and got you to send him a good one. He claims that the cpu is bad and sends you back his old one. Make sure you check that it is indeed your processor. I hate scammers.

Oh man that is a great angle!
That never even crossed my mind. Luckily I have really high resolution photos of the cpu that I used in a website linked to my ebay auction page. The resolution is so good I can read the serial off the chip.

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely make sure I get back my chip.

 

[Sniper82]

Originally posted by: Hulk

Originally posted by: bigboxes
Or he could have fried his old cpu and got you to send him a good one. He claims that the cpu is bad and sends you back his old one. Make sure you check that it is indeed your processor. I hate scammers.

Oh man that is a great angle!
That never even crossed my mind. Luckily I have really high resolution photos of the cpu that I used in a website linked to my ebay auction page. The resolution is so good I can read the serial off the chip.

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely make sure I get back my chip.

or he could be dumb and it could be something else dead in his system instead of the CPU. So he's just assuming it the CPU.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Soviet
Tell paypal what you told us. It worked for me when somone tried to screw me over, i told paypal and it worked out. Emphasise your feedback and his withdrawl from ebay too, thats important.

:thumbsup:

 

[Hulk]

I told paypal the deal and told them 13 days is too long for a refund considering his history.

Now I'm waiting for their decision...

 

[Philippine Mango]

Originally posted by: John
Add this clause to your listings:

Items in this auction are being sold "as is" without any warranty, refund or exchange.

Even then I am not sure if that would keep anyone from filing a dispute. If there isn't any visible damage to the cpu you won't be able to tell if or how far he overclocked it. I'd wager that it works when you get it back.

Meh, People who put clauses such as that I absolutely refuse to buy from, too shady IMO.

 

[Roguestar]

Adding a clause like that is illegal in the UK. Even second hand goods must be assured of fitness for purpose and marchantability for sale when they're being sold. You can't just sell someone something then refuse to replace it if it's dead. That's as bad as scamming someone for their cash and sending nothing.

 

[SuperNaruto]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Adding a clause like that is illegal in the UK. Even second hand goods must be assured of fitness for purpose and marchantability for sale when they're being sold. You can't just sell someone something then refuse to replace it if it's dead. That's as bad as scamming someone for their cash and sending nothing.

usually when you put as is, it sells for half as much as one with warranty.. if you look on ebay, most of the as is no warranty are cheaply sold.. anyway i wouldn't warrant something like a cpu anyway.. half the world tries to oc it..

 

[Hulk]

Update.

Paypal ruled in favor of the buyer. He returned the cpu to me and they refunded his money. The cpu was damaged by him as there are bent and broken pins. It also appears as though he dropped the heatsink.

You can view my original auction here. You can also see my linked page with high resolution photos for the items in the PC that I was parting out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290062483211

I of course appealed the Paypal ruling. Noting my excellent feedback record and the fact that this guy recently closed his e-bay account with bad feeback. They won't look at anything but this transaction. And they won't allow me to send them photos with exif information (for dating purposes) of the parts before and after the return.

I told them that it doesn't really make sense for me to make this big elaborate website with high resolution photos of a cpu in perfect condition and then send the same one to him (same S/N) but damage it before I send it.

Man this is really pissing me off.

This guy basically used Paypal to get a refund on a cpu he broke by jamming it into his motherboard. The pins are damaged in a corner, right where you expect them to be if he either dropped the cpu or tried to jam it into the mobo.

So if you ever buy something using Paypal just say it doesn't work and you'll get a refund.

I will keep you guys updated on this.