Is there a mathematician in the house?

[inhawaii]

Customer bought a brand new OEM ignition coil in a factory sealed package from me, installed it on his machine, and the darn thing still wont start. "The coil must be defective". 

Defective coil = Percentage?

Mis-diagnosis = Percentage?

Of course I accepted  his return, no questions asked.

[itscalledapostingid]

I would guess 98% chance of mis-diagnosis/user error.

[epowerbargains]

The only 100% bet I'm taking is that being the great seller you are you took it back and refunded.......

[pcobra93]

If it was a Ferrari coil....about 50/50 good/bad.....

[a_c_green]

---

@inhawaii wrote:

Customer bought a brand new OEM ignition coil in a factory sealed package from me, installed it on his machine, and the darn thing still wont start. "The coil must be defective". 

---

For a weed whacker? He's probably got a gummed-up carb. That would be my 99% mathematical guess.

[onlinecentral]

98.6% Buyer and seller both happy
  0.4% Defective coil
  1.0% Mis-diagnosis

[12345jamesstamps]

Selling something I don't even know what it's for...$46.00...that's means you can't go out tonight.

[sakic92710]

Sounds like you need a gardener, not a mathematician.  lol

[inhawaii]

---

@12345jamesstamps wrote:

Selling something I don't even know what it's for...$46.00...that's means you can't go out tonight.

---

I'm cancelling my trip to McDonalds.

[cardsforauction]

If the spark plug is fouled then they should change that with a new one.  They can try adding a couple drops of Marvel Mystery Oil in the oil and fuel. Maybe they get lucky and it starts.

[siamjane8]

@inhawaii What you have is a 50% deduction on the return with ebay seller protections. you sent buyer a factory sealed and we must assume working product. they installed it, - no doubt it will be returned without original packaging and is no longer a new sellable item. You probably have no way to test it so you cannot list it against a resell it with a good conscious.   That is why ebay put those protections into place.   This is above and beyond the industry standard for electronic parts- no retail store will accept a return on a used electrical device- their policy is no returns on opened electronics.

[stuff4divas]

@inhawaii  i'm with @siamjane8 

50% deduction

[powell-memorabilia]

---

@siamjane8 wrote:

@inhawaii What you have is a 50% deduction on the return with ebay seller protections. you sent buyer a factory sealed and we must assume working product. they installed it, - no doubt it will be returned without original packaging and is no longer a new sellable item. You probably have no way to test it so you cannot list it against a resell it with a good conscience.   That is why ebay put those protections into place.   This is above and beyond the industry standard for electronic parts- no retail store will accept a return on a used electrical device- their policy is no returns on opened electronics.

---

Not when the store sells a dud.  The store might put up a sign to discourage the uninformed. But, they have to take back junk items. There are still great consumer protections around.

[movieman630]

In my opinion they were trying to diagnose the problem with their machine with the simplest and cheapest option first only to discover the problem lies elsewhere.  For a NOS part to be defective is rare. 

I can't tell you how many times I've had customers tell me the same thing only to discover the problem actually was that a mouse had eaten through a wire or something to the like. 

Thus my "all sales final" policy. In regards to NOS parts.  It's up to the buyer to take responsibility for their own vehicles and needs for such.  I have no way to determine that and neither do you.  You offer a product.  It is what it is and does what it does.  It's not your concern if it solves their problem or not. 

Not to mention the amount of scammers in that realm who return their defective used part and keep your good one just to get a free part. 

The automotive parts business is extremely frustrating at times.  I haven't bought anything at a parts store lately but the last time I did they did not except returns on certain parts because of the scams. 

There were times I pondered over if I should sign up with ebay and offer "no hassle returns" just to see what happens, then I come to my senses and realize what a can of worms that would open in ebay motors.  It's just not worth the hassle.  I'd rather not do business with buyers who are "just trying to see if it works" to solve their problem then want to return a "tried" part that I can no longer sell as New old stock.  Once it's tried, it's over.  The value is gone.

[movieman630]

---

@siamjane8 wrote:

@inhawaii What you have is a 50% deduction on the return with ebay seller protections. you sent buyer a factory sealed and we must assume working product. they installed it, - no doubt it will be returned without original packaging and is no longer a new sellable item. You probably have no way to test it so you cannot list it against a resell it with a good conscious.   That is why ebay put those protections into place.   This is above and beyond the industry standard for electronic parts- no retail store will accept a return on a used electrical device- their policy is no returns on opened electronics.

---

In that case if you have to pay for the return I always just issue a refund and let them "keep it".  I can't re-sell it so why waste more money on a return that I'm just going to toss in the garbage can?  If they're responsible to pay the shipping then make them send it back first, then toss it in the garbage can.