Sadman ... falsely advertises items for sale

[uscmCorps]

A short while back, I purchased a Deep Fire M72A2 LAW that had been converted to use Nerf rockets from Sadman.

 

Sale post here.

 

Expecting the item in question to be exactly as described, upon receipt of it, I immediately noticed that the inner assembly (basically a series of cylinders serving various functions) that are held together by catches, were faulty and consistently unhooked themselves with repeated testing. Basically everytime I even tried to pull the inner assembly out from within the body in order to access the nerf and moscart hatches, they'd disengage before I'd even have a chance to get the parts out.

 

Looking at the pictures of the item prior to purchase, I had noted that there was cosmetic wear on the catches and various other parts of the replica. But I was told that the piece was 100% functional and in excellent condition and there were no issues with it. So you can imagine my surprise that upon examining the replica within the first 5 minutes of receiving it, I was shocked to find that the item was clearly not as described.

 

Thinking that perhaps in some crazy bizarre way it had gotten damaged during shipment, I carefully examined the original Deep Fire container it was shipped in and noted that it was fine and although he added only a single sheet of paper to pad the contents (seriously, who does that? ever heard of bubble wrap?), it was clear to me the the problem did not result from shipment ... but poor advertising of what was truly being offered.

 

When asked, Sadman said that it worked perfectly fine for him with zero issues. When asked about the faulty catches, he said that they weren't an issue. All of this smelled of complete BS to me. Just because you can get something to work for you, doesn't mean it's free of problems. It's a seller's responsibility to correctly advertise a problem's good points and bad.

 

When I stated that I wasn't satisfied with it and wanted my money back and I'd send the item back to him ... his response was, sorry, I've already spent the money elsewhere. Paypal doesn't like to refund money due an item being different than advertised (so note to buyers, be cautious, a seller can send you a lump of coal and you'd be SOL with Paypal, as in their eyes, the seller sent you something and that's good enough for them). So now I have to call them in the morning and plead my case to a rep there (which isn't impossible, just a PITA).

 

As far as I'm concerned Sadman is a buyer to avoid at all costs. Unless of course you enjoy handing out money to people with zero expectation of getting what was actually advertised. Because if that were the case, I have a "perfectly functional" M72A2 for sale. And by perfectly functional, I mean it apparently only works perfectly for one person (Sadman) but hey, I could use the money. I'm kidding of course. I'd never sell a POS. But that's me. It seems that too much to ask of others. Between this sale and another recent purchase that I helped a friend with off the "for sale" threads in which we also got burned (though not anywhere near as badly ... at least that thing worked), I'm pretty avoiding all for sale threads for here on out.

 

So anyway, Sadman ... buyer beware. Definitely someone to avoid.

[sadman]

There are two sides to every story, but before everyone reads his post and believes that I’m a bad seller, consider this as well:

 

I’d like to start that I’ve been a member on Arnies for over two years now; I have been rather quiet on the forums mostly reading to do research, etc. However, throughout those two years I have bought and sold many items such as AEG’s, GBB’s, accessories, and more. This instance is the first problem I have ever encountered like this, even with having been on eBay for over 5 years with 100% positive feedback with a score of 193 buying and selling. I take pride in having good transactions occur for both parties.

 

The title of this post is rather unfair as there were no “items” in question here, just one item. This is not a reoccurring problem, just a single issue, with a single buyer.

 

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...p;#entry2033627

 

Feel free to browse the sale post as there is photographic evidence that shows in no way did I try to hide the condition of the item for sale. It clearly shows wear to the item in form of surface scratches primarily. It was sold in USED condition, but was 100% functional when shipped. Only three days prior I demonstrated it to my family who I was visiting and was even operated by my 11 year old brother with instruction. I tried giving detailed instruction after being notified with uscm’s problems with the launcher but they were sent with no avail.

 

On March 16, 2009 @ 8:39PM local time, I received an offer from uscm that asked if I would accept his offer and he could pay immediately. He did pay, at 3:04AM the following mourning without any questions asked other than my PayPal address. After shipping the LAW he began asking me why I was selling. My response was that I had purchased a M203 during the modification process to the LAW, that for skirmish purposes the M203 was much more efficient and that I was seeking to purchase a G&P WOC rifle. He did mention in latter conversations that a friend of his owned one of the M72A2’s and was familiar with its operation; this led me to believe that he would be able to operate this on without problem.

 

It was noted initially that the shipping materials were “fine” upon receiving… only later was it mentioned about insufficient shipping packaging. The original deepfire container (see pictures) is approximately a 3’ tube with an 8” diameter. It was made of heavy duty, layered cardboard with two internal foam inserts, approximately 4” in depth which cradle and suspend the launcher inside the tube. This is how it was shipped from Hong Kong to my doorstep and it arrived well protected. I also took the liberty of adding insurance and delivery confirmation at my own expense to ensure that it arrived to uscm safely.

 

Having been made aware his troubles, his limited efforts on working with me on operational instructions, and his instant aggressive behavior towards me, I came under the assumption that he damaged the launcher due to improper operation due to the nature displayed towards me. When he demanded a full refund including shipping, I had to decline. I told him that I had just made the purchase for the G&P WOC which left me unable to give a complete refund and that I could not accept a return of the LAW as receiving a damaged item after sending a working item would be unfair to me. In good faith I offered a partial refund to try and appease him so that he might look upon it to change what he was having trouble with/damaged so that he might appreciate his purchase. After this offer was made he then filed a PayPal dispute directly against me. When escalated, PayPal closed the dispute due to their policies.

 

I stand firm that when the LAW left my hands, it was in working order. I do ask that uscm handle this matter professionally by using the proper channels, keep his posts attacking my integrity off of the forums, and to keep the dispute to the appropriate area.

 

Thank you for your time in reading this side of the story and hopefully you can understand in some way the conditions that brought this fourth. I look forward to making positive sales/purchases from the Arnies community in the future.

 

-sadman

 

 

[uscmCorps]

Quite frankly, your answer to the problem at hand, I found insulting. Ladies and gentlemen, his idea of a "partial refund" was $20 ... a lot less than 10% of what I paid him for the item in question. Wow that's awesome. What exactly am I gonna do with $20 for something with zero replacement parts and zero warranty? I guess I could laminate it onto this POS M72A2 paper weight you sold me. That'll make me feel a lot better ... hmmm ... perhaps not.

 

I've used a Deep Fire M72A2 before. They have their issues, but that is predominantly due to their complete inability to propel an object in space. The hardware involved however, from my experience, locks together quite nicely ... which your's does not in anyway whatsoever. The condition of the item is absolutely no different than when you sent it. It wasn't the shipping method. I checked the package carefully prior to opening it and again after I opened it. No, it was simply the fact that the unit was faulty upon shipment. I'll say this again as you keep bringing it up ... It was NOT damaged through shipping, It was sent faulty in the first place. Why would I even bother to bring this up with the shipping courier when I could tell you sent it to me in that condition. That would mean I was trying to defraud the postal system for something that was in fact YOUR FAULT. Now that wouldn't be right would it?

 

You point out the pictures in your for sale thread. If you read what I posted in the first post (which I doubt) you'll note that I said that prior to contacting you with interest, I looked over the pics and saw that there was a decent amount of cosmetic damage, but I was under the impression that everything was still perfectly functional. Omittance of an object's nature is false advertising as well you know. A seller can't show pics of a well worn gun, sell it to someone, and upon receipt of the gun the buyer discovers that things don't lock in place correctly to the point of consistent failure. It doesn't work that way. If something's got significant wear and tear, but still works, so long as I was aware of that in the for sale thread, that'd be okay. What's not okay is showing pics of a used item, and make no mention of the fact that not only is it used, it's also malfunctioning.

 

"Handling this professionally." I've gone about this as many ways as possible. I kept things civil when I first discovered the issue. Upon realizing your inflexibility and refusal to accept the return of an faulty item that is in the exact condition in which you sent it, that's when I got very frustrated. And right around the time you offered a measly $20 as a means to make things right for what essentially has resulted in an oversized paperweight with zero prospects of repair is when I got insulted and mad. So after that, you said basically, "hey, I could have sold this to anyone, I had a few other people lined up and interested to buy it". Which I said, fine, sell it to them as this item is in the exact same condition right now as when you shipped it... myself however, I refuse to hold onto something that did not do what it was advertised to do. Your response to that was that you don't want to sell something to someone which was faulty. Well I know that I didn't make it faulty and I plainly told you that I had not damaged it, the M72A2 was shipped faulty to begin with. So that tells me that you've found your duped buyer, and the problem now lies with him. So how should I "handle this professionally"? By that do you mean, take this offline so that no one can see that you've been selling faulty items and omitting their functionality condition prior to sale? I don't think so dude. Handling this professionally would be for you to accept return of an item that is in the exact same condition in which you sold and shipped it, and refund me my money. I'll even go out on a limb and personally pay the S&H return cost myself even though this entire issue has been your fault. You're just not happy that I refuse to stay quiet about this.

 

So let me know how you intend to make things right. Until then, I stand firm that the subject for this "Problems with sales online" thread is in fact very accurately defined and true to what is going on here. You falsely advertised an item that you had for sale through omittance of that item's functionality. Sounds pretty accurate to me. And just because something works for you doesn't mean it'll work for everyone else. There is no way you were not aware of those catches being as faulty as they are. No way in hell.

 

I think I'll add this to my signature at the bottom of my approximately 3,200 posts to better get the word out there that this is the kind of seller you are.

 

Let me know when YOU want to handle this issue appropriately and professionally and make things right.