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My recent experience in PayPal dispute

I want to share this story with fellow Agoners.

I sold a used tube power amp here in Audiogon. In transit, a power tube was broken. I told the buyer that I could either send an additional matching tubes or accept a return with full refund. The buyer opted for additional tubes. I sent them and there was no response from him until 5 months after the sale. The buyer asked me for help since the amp had a biasing problem. The amp was almost 20 year old model.
I told him that I cannot provide any help other than trying new set of tubes. The buyer apparently wanted more helpful afterservice, and filed a dispute for return/refund to PayPal. Apparently PayPal allows filing a dispute within 6 months of purchase.
Well, he did not go through Audiogon. Anyway, PayPal closed the case in my favor. For me, it is rather obvious that the buyer cannot ask for a refund after 5 months of purchasing a 20 year old tube amp.
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theduker
53 posts
 
I had a Michigan Ebay buyer tell me that a 9/10 perfect ARC preamp I sold him might be going to need a part _in the future_ because he could hear relays click during the warmup process. This as most of us know is normal, and mentioned in the manual. I had the exact same preamp in my other system, and they both worked identically (No, both of them weren't broken). He said three hundred dollars would resolve the problem, and he said he had his local dealer look it over, and that was what they wanted to replace the part that wasn't yet broken, but "might fail in the future".

I told him I was wise to the scam, and to return it for a refund, as I wasn't falling for it... and I'd rather deal with honest people. Then he decided to keep it, but left no feedback... And I deserved a "rave" positive, that pre was perfect in every way.

You really are more vulnerable as a seller than a buyer.
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