SCAM

[jameshetfield79]

About two months ago I bought an electric guitar ESP LDT KH-602 from after reading about the guitar very carefully and made sure the guitar is brand new of course, I even asked the seller if the guitar is brand new like in the item description and he says yes, a 100% brand new, so I decided to buy the guitar. After I payed him everything in one payment $899 plus the $60 or so shipping ( soon you'll understand why the shipping is not so high) I waited and I was so excited to get it already. When I got the message to come the guitar from the post office I needed to pay 17% tax for the $899 plus the shipping so I payed, I knew I need to pay and I was okay with that.

When I got home I took the guitar out of the box, the box was closed and was no damaged or anything.

After I took the guiatr out I saw that the guitar has pretty serious cracks on the back and scratches on the front wich I couldn't see on the pichtures because the seller logo was on it. I sent the seller a message and he tried to give me all kind of excuses and when he understood I'm very serious about it and I'm not going to leave it and forget it and do nothing he offered me $200 but I didn't axxept that and I told him what I think is going on here so he offered me $500 refund or full refund if I bring him back the guitar the same condition I got it. I still didn't play the guitar so all I know the guitar has some scatches and cracks. so I thought about it and didn't agree right away because it was weird, why would he offer me $500 I mean that's a very nice refund for some cracks and scratches so after thinking about I decided to agree because I didn't want to send him back the guitar and lose money on the tax which is about with the shipping $180 which is a lot of money especially if you live in another country, I live in Israel. Apparently the full refund is not included the tax I payed.

So after he refunded me $500 without even refund the tax on the $500 I played the guitsr and it was okay but acouple of day I noticed that the neck and bridge pick up doesn't work very well and sometimes doesn't work at all. Maybe he thought that I'm from another country so I can't and won't do anithing about it.? I don't know. Is there anything I can do about it? I bought the guitar about 2 months ago. I added some pichture so you can see some of the damage because you can't see the pick up that doesn't work. Look at the last pic s-l1600 you can see that the O of the phntom doesn't let you the scratches. And that's why the seller didn't even have pichtures of the back of the guitar because he didn't want people to see the damages on the guitar.

Do you think it was a scam? Because I can't think of any other word for what he did.

I hope there is something I can do about it but if not I just wanted that people will hear my story and be careful when they buy online especially when you pay good money .

Pay attention to every little detail when you buy online, as questions before you buy and as for more pichtures so you can see the whole item you buy and not just part of it. Be very careful even if a seller has good feedback.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Is there a particular reason why you did not file a not as described complaint with Ebay? You could have gotten your entire payment back after returning the guitar, and the seller would have been responsible for the return shipping.

[repairelectronics]

Not sure how prepaid return shipping works between different countries but the buyer is in Israel and seller in the USA.

[jameshetfield79]

I've been told that I will not get the tax I payed back and I didn't want to lose money so I decided to take the refund and a few days later the pick up stopped working.

[hafoster]

You were played.

[jameshetfield79]

So is there anything I can do?

[takikawa4]

I guess I'll never understand why a buyer will ask a seller if something is new or without flaws. If the seller's a scammer, do you really think they'll answer you honestly?

Also, many countries will refund your customs fees when returning an item. Don't know if Israel is one of them, though.

[jameshetfield79]

It says right there next to the item on details that the item is btand new. Do have have any other way to know if the item's condition? 

I just asked him some questions about the guitar. The item was listed as brand new, unopened 100% new. 

[mr.audio]

You have waited an extended amout of time and accepted a substantial refund from the seller. These being the facts you have to ask yourself is the guitar in its current condition worth $400 plus tax on $899 and shipping costs. If the answer is yes perhaps being a guitar player you could have it repaired or self educate yourself on guitar electric maintenance as electric guitars often require. There is a wealth of info online such as youtube, facebook guitar groups and electric guitar forum websites for information. It could be that the original seller missed the fact that a section is intermittent or defective. The pickup issue could be a bad solder connection or dirty volume control.  Music instruments, audio and other technical items are sometimes sold by sellers who don't understand the nuances that are important to end users. I am not taking their side rather trying to help you to make a bad situation work in your favor. Hope this helps

[jameshetfield79]

I took the money because I thought the scratches and the cracks are the only problem yuo know and he said the guitar is new the electronics is new and I didn't want to lose the tax money you know because that's a lot of money so I took the the $500 refund but then a few days later the pick up started to give me a hard time and then it stopped while I was palying the guitar.

[mr.audio]

I noticed you said it stopped working. My reply addressed that. It is obvious the guitar is not new. I would have filed a case and returned it on day one however with 60 days passed and you accepting a partial refund that cat is probably long gone. You never stated the brand and model so I could not figure out the value. It could be well what you paid for it. At this point I would fix it up and enjoy it rather than being upset. I can understand how you feel nontheless.

[repairelectronics]

As Mr.Audio said the pickup problem may be a very simple or low-cost fix. Pickups, as a rule, don't fail often and could just be a bad wiring job.

Being in the repair business for over 4 decades I can say that most new electronics will fail soon after being powered up, usually from a cold solder joint or loose wire from being jostled in shipping.

If you decide to keep the guitar and have a multimeter I could probably walk you through the fix with a few pictures. Don't open it or try to fix it until after you no longer have any return options.

[takikawa4]

And yet,  no matter what the seller told you, it was still scratched.

[jameshetfield79]

Ebay used to be a much better place a few years ago. Now it's just full of scammers and and bull**bleep**!
I hear many scams stories that happen on ebay and yet ebay doesn't do anything to those scammers.

[repairelectronics]

I'm with you on that statement, though a bit reserved. eBay doesn't know they are a scammer until they get enough complaints.

I am a charter member of both eBay and Paypal, it seemed simpler then when cash and money orders ruled, back when buyers could get a negative because they were tartar sauce but mostly because of bad sellers, so eBay stopped that in aught 8.

Your seller seems reputable in all senses hence the $500 partial return, I don't think they are a scammer because of that. They also sell on their own website and don't think they want bad feedback anywhere.

Your seller is a big company, and as any, they may have had an idiot who came in drunk that day and dropped your guitar - sent it out saying oh well?

I understand your anger but know that the money back guarantee link is provided in every action or sale, it states 30 days from receipt, you decided to work with the seller as eBay suggests and ran the clock out. Doesn't seem right but robots do most of the thinking, billions of sale dictate that.

I don't know how cross-border returns work, which is why I suggested posting in this forum, unfortunately, that hasn't come to fruition. Again if it comes down to it I can help you fix your machine.

Godspeed