rob_x2004 Posted January 5, 2007 Share #1 Posted January 5, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Having waited six weeks for a 35Lux from Australian dealers, then chasing a few weeks before Christmas and being told another four weeks to mid Jan I bought now on Ebay Platinum seller 99% positive using only Ebay correspondence in an effort to gear up prior Christmas. Having previous with American, Canadian and HK dealers couldnt really see a problem. 16December US$3120 transfered via SWIFT code, to sellers advised account and confirmed, plus fees my side. All correspondence then ceased. Correspondence now meets a generated response about earth quake damage compromising emails to HK. Bullshit. This is a preium Ebay seller with good feedback. Gear was supposedly in stock. Rubbish responses from Ebay washing their hands. Big deal. Please note this a heads up. I could care less what experiences have gone before. Beware. And you have no recourse when using Ebay. Another Leica Christmas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 Hi rob_x2004, Take a look here Heads up on Giftsix Ebay scam business going bust.. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
doubice Posted January 5, 2007 Share #2 Posted January 5, 2007 Rob, I am truly sorry about your experience. From your post however, it appears that this was an 'outside of eBay' purchase. If it indeed was, eBay has every right to "wash their hands", as the purchase had nothing to do with them. If the purchase indeed went through regular eBay channels, than you should have recourse against the seller and a chance to advise other bidders via feedback. I did check the seller's feedback and by eBay standards, it is actually quite bad - 98.9%, with many complaints of undelivered items and monies lost........ I try to stay away from sellers with less than 99.5% feedback and always read all negative feedback thoroughly. eBay Member Profile for giftsix Maybe a member of this forum, located in hong Kong, will be able to contact the seller personally and raise hell, threaten with police etc. that usualy brings results. I hope you will be able to recover your money or get the Summilux - best of luck and don't give up! Kind regards, Jan P.S. After having written my above post, I checked the seller's 'Sold Items' and see that they did sell a 35mm 'lux to a bidder from Australia on December 12. They gave the same bidder a positive feedback on December 19. They also sold another lux to an Aussie bidder on December 14 - this seems to be your user name, so I take away my previous ramblings about dealing outside of eBay. Have you tried calling them? Even though their feedback is less than stellar, I am sure that this can be sorted out. The sell a lot of Leica stuff in the same price range and actually do ship it out (MP's, M7's, Nocti's, 75 'lux, 50 'lux etc.)...... Again - best of luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maddin Posted January 5, 2007 Share #3 Posted January 5, 2007 All correspondence then ceased. Correspondence now meets a generated response about earth quake damage compromising emails to HK. Bullshit. Dear Rob, it might not help you getting the lens and i do not want to defend anyone with whom i haven't done business, but we did and still do have problems with internet connections in China and Hongkong due to a broken cable between Taiwan and China. I should be in Hongkong end of the month and if you like i could pay them a visit - if i had the address... cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Metroman Posted January 5, 2007 Share #4 Posted January 5, 2007 The earthquake could still be the real problem as I still have problems contacting friends in HK via phone and internet and most of the major news channels giving it coverage talk about several weeks to repair the undersea cables. BBC News Investoroffshore.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pekem Posted January 5, 2007 Share #5 Posted January 5, 2007 "I did check the seller's feedback and by eBay standards, it is actually quite bad - 98.9%, with many complaints of undelivered items and monies lost........ I try to stay away from sellers with less than 99.5% feedback and always read all negative feedback thoroughly." I have to say that in my view, and contrary to your assertion above, also in the view of eBay, this seller has very good feedback. eBay doesn't grant power seller status if they judge feedback to be poor. Indeed it needs to be consistently good. My own reading of about 30% of the feedback entries is quite different from your own. I was struck by the high number of feedback ratings that were mutually withdrawn.This would suggest that the seller really does care about his standing within the eBay community. Also, many of the negative comments seemed, on my reading, to be unfair because it would appear that the postal or customs authorities have caused the problem complained of. I will have a small bet that this is not, as alleged, an eBay scam and will be resolved in the correct manner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicanewbie Posted January 5, 2007 Share #6 Posted January 5, 2007 There is some truth to the internet disruption thing, and perhaps this person's ISP or whatever really has been hit by outage. It wouldn't be fair to them to give them a bad rap if that were the case. For all you know, they may have been trying to email you to confirm your shipping details, perhaps getting the same email blockage you're seeing. Try the eBay route, see if they have a local representative that can connect with them on your behalf and at least confirm that they have received your information and what the deal is with the transaction. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted January 5, 2007 Share #7 Posted January 5, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello 'pekem' I am actually quite positive about the outcome of this situation as well - read the P.S. to my post. As to a 98.9% feedback being bad by eBay standards - consider that not all eBay members post a negative unless they are really at the end of their wits and many have a fear of a retaliatory feedback. I have often refrained from posting a well deserved negative when I saw that the other party had a history of posting retaliatory feedbacks. It is not unusual to see a low feedback eBayer with a low percentage of feedback. However, to see a high volume seller with a 98.9% rating is a tell-tale sign that all's not as it should be...... As to eBay granting Powerseller status to a chosen few - not so. EBay does not do anything out of the goodness of their heart, all their policies and programs are profit driven. There are some Powerseller on eBay, that would be out of business in no time at all if they had to operate in an open environment out of a 'brick and mortar' store. And mutually withdrawn feedbacks - obviously something was wrong with the transaction. Whether the initial negative feedback fixed the problem or not, we won't know. The fact is that the seller fixed a problem that he possibly caused initially, gave the buyer a retaliatory negative and than contacted the buyer to start the mutual feedback withdrawal process. That is the only way a feedback withdrawal process works. Not very ethical in my books....... All the best, Jan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksparrow Posted January 5, 2007 Share #8 Posted January 5, 2007 The earthquake was real, I saw it on the news a few days ago, and they actually reported heavy communication problems with all China due to breaking of the main underwater optic fiber connections. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pekem Posted January 5, 2007 Share #9 Posted January 5, 2007 Dear doubice We are all entitled to express opinions here but I think that we should avoid statements that are potentially libellous. If you read the policy statements published by eBay in relation to Power Sellers you may feel that you have been unjust to both eBay and by implication, Giftsix. I do not carry a brief for either but I do feel that this thread starting with the OP's heading is straying in to dangerous legal areas and that we should confine ourselves to less contentious opinions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share #10 Posted January 5, 2007 The earthquake was real, I saw it on the news a few days ago, and they actually reported heavy communication problems with all China due to breaking of the main underwater optic fiber connections.Good luck. Yes I am aware of that. I believe the purchase through ebay chanels was made some time before the quake. Certainly the seller had adequate time to advise me his bank and I had time to make the transfer and confirm. Even if they had set the lens on its side on the footpath outside the front door it would have rolled to Australia by now. Ebay have a live contact I am trying to get through to. Next opportunity is Monday after ten. From there it is my bank his bank the distributers in HK then all the manufacturers he deals with, by way of enquiry. Will see where I go from there. The seller has feedbacks withdrawn. Ominous. There is also a non supply of a Hasselblad lens but who knows the circumstances. We are talking nearly a month here and I have been holding my tongue. Several scenarios might explain the problem but at the moment it would be speculation. I think it is reasonable to bring to peoples attention what the situation is as at now regarding the seller, particularly when some gear is a bit scarce. I would not have gone to Ebay had there been a dealer lens available in Australia. There just were none. There are no guarantees with Ebay. All bile aside I would feel a bit of a heel if others came a gutsa when it was apparent to me that there is something at least not quite right, and at worst ... well four Aust grand plus wont kill me, but it wrankles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted January 5, 2007 Share #11 Posted January 5, 2007 Have you tried contacting the seller by phone? can you get through? e bay will provide you with their contact details (tel number & address). I have personally found e bay relatively helpful when I have had problems, but mostly they are temporary break downs in communication as appears to be the case here. Bear in mind that e bay is nothing more than an advertising medium - if you replied to an ad in a photo magazine and the same thing happened what would you expect the magazine publishers to do? e bay does at least offer some level of protection/recourse. The seller has current items for sale and has received recent positive feedback so if I were you I'd be quite hopeful at this stage that there isn't too much of a problem, especially as you know there are problems in the region at present. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pekem Posted January 5, 2007 Share #12 Posted January 5, 2007 Have you tried contacting the seller by phone? can you get through? e bay will provide you with their contact details (tel number & address). I have personally found e bay relatively helpful when I have had problems, but mostly they are temporary break downs in communication as appears to be the case here. Bear in mind that e bay is nothing more than an advertising medium - if you replied to an ad in a photo magazine and the same thing happened what would you expect the magazine publishers to do? e bay does at least offer some level of protection/recourse. The seller has current items for sale and has received recent positive feedback so if I were you I'd be quite hopeful at this stage that there isn't too much of a problem, especially as you know there are problems in the region at present. Good luck. In addition to the help mentioned above available to you there is also the added benefit of giftsix's accreditation to Squaretrade. All the signs are that this seller approaches his business dealings in an entirely proper manner. Check out giftsix's membership with the SquareTrade link The SquareTrade Seal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsteve Posted January 5, 2007 Share #13 Posted January 5, 2007 Rob: I think I bought some Polarizing filters from that seller. They were a bit slow in arriving, but they arrived. I get the impression that they might not actually stock what they are selling and the delays are related to the seller getting the item and then forwarding it on to the buyer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gduveen Posted January 7, 2007 Share #14 Posted January 7, 2007 Having waited six weeks for a 35Lux from Australian dealers, then chasing a few weeks before Christmas and being told another four weeks to mid Jan I bought now on Ebay Platinum seller 99% positive using only Ebay correspondence in an effort to gear up prior Christmas. Having previous with American, Canadian and HK dealers couldnt really see a problem. 16December US$3120 transfered via SWIFT code, to sellers advised account and confirmed, plus fees my side. All correspondence then ceased. Correspondence now meets a generated response about earth quake damage compromising emails to HK. Bullshit. This is a preium Ebay seller with good feedback. Gear was supposedly in stock. Rubbish responses from Ebay washing their hands. Big deal. Please note this a heads up. I could care less what experiences have gone before. Beware. And you have no recourse when using Ebay. Another Leica Christmas. Rob - I have the same experience with this company, having ordered and paid for a Noctiflux in December. On the 19th December I had an email from them saying it had been despatched and gving me the tracking number with the Hong Kong Post Office. But it has never arrived, and the website for the HK Post Office gives no information for this number. I emailed the PO last week and they replied that they had no trace of any package with this tracking number. I have been unable to get any response from Giftsix since the 19th December, in spite of sending a number of emails, and starting a dispute on eBay. The fact that I got a response from the Hong Kong PO last week suggests that any earthquake damaged has not really interfered with email traffic. Like you I'm not sure what to do next -but it would be good to keep in touch about this. Gerard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhild Posted January 8, 2007 Share #15 Posted January 8, 2007 Hi all, I have had contact with Giftsix just recently (writing via ebay) and had to wait quite long for the answer.I got a detailed answer to my questions plus the comment...due to the earthquake in the aerea there are computer problems... There was also a report on German TV saying it will take about three weeks to fix the computer/internet problems. I had a look to the Giftsix feedback ,too and must say it´s looking good to me.Selling on ebay myself all around the world I have had my experiences with silly buyers from all kind of countries, not checking their email account,not answering at all, not reading auction texts,not knowing about international money transfer.I´m sorry to say this, but so far I had zero problems with buyers from Asia or South America but lots of problems with chaps from Europe or from the US.Sometimes I had to ask myself do these people really know what business is or is it so much different there? If you expect a seller to have a positive feedback of 99% or better you must live in dreamland,try it yourself before you critisise. I know there are bad guys in Asia selling on ebay but there are others,too. The 35mm lens deal seems to be a victim of the earthquake, try to contact Giftsix again. Cheers,Jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share #16 Posted January 9, 2007 I have had contact with Giftsix just recently (writing via ebay) and had to wait quite long for the answer.I got a detailed answer to my questions plus the comment...due to the earthquake in the aerea there are computer problems...Cheers,Jo Have you an actual order in the pipeline? Or was it just an enquiry? There is quite a bit I havent posted here in the public forum. The lens non supply has little to do with the cable damage. I understand the process and timing of money transfer, and communication. You can also check my Ebay feedback of you like, though a majority of my dealings and repeat business have been outside Ebay. About the only thing I would moderate here might be the thread title "blah blah blah ... scam or, business going bust?" No apologies. Mid day tomorrow is an opportunity to see whether they break another promised commitment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gduveen Posted January 9, 2007 Share #17 Posted January 9, 2007 Actually I have also had some movement from them today. I had a very apologetic email citing the disruption caised by the earthquake for their lack of response to earlier emails. They also say they are chasing what happened to the package with the lens in Hong Kong Post. So, some movement, but we shall have to wait and see what happens. Gerard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted January 11, 2007 Share #18 Posted January 11, 2007 We are talking nearly a month here ... Rob, In case you're not aware, Ebay has a time limit for lodging complaints: you must lodge the complaint between 10 and 60 days after the item ended (I only discovered this after fruitlessly exchanging emails with a lying vendor and politely waiting 9 weeks to lodge a complaint and being told I'd missed the boat. Yeah thanks, eBay!) Here is the link to the UK process: http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?InrCreateDispute I strongly suggest that you at least lodge a complaint so that you don't fall foul of the system, and who knows, it might pursuade the vendor to engage in some digital extraction (pull his finger out). Hope it all turns out okay. Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted January 11, 2007 Author Share #19 Posted January 11, 2007 Lodged dispute, actually I doubled up on it when I got no response. Am going to try get Ebay live complaints again tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KM-25 Posted January 12, 2007 Share #20 Posted January 12, 2007 Actually I have also had some movement from them today. I had a very apologetic email citing the disruption caised by the earthquake for their lack of response to earlier emails. They also say they are chasing what happened to the package with the lens in Hong Kong Post. So, some movement, but we shall have to wait and see what happens. Gerard And yet, they still persist on listing lenses: http://cgi.ebay.com/LEICA-50-f-1-0-Noctilux-M-Lens-50mm-f1-0-M8-NEW-6-bit_W0QQitemZ120070911549QQihZ002QQcategoryZ30063QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Man, that is one scary wad of cash to tie up in Hong Kong.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.