Many of you have asked me how the dispute on eBay ended, relating to the Commodore Plus/4, arrived defective, which I showed you in the last video.
The situation went very well and, in this article, I will explain to you in all the details. For those who have not seen the last video, I summarize the situation.
Buying the Commodore Plus/4 on eBay
I had seen a Commodore Plus/4 on eBay from an English seller. I liked the computer enough: it had small spots on the keyboard, but they were trivial things. The retro computer was declared as "tested and working".
The seller had accepted my purchase proposal and therefore had discounted the price a little. Anyway, between transport and import taxes from England, I had spent more money. In short, it was not really cheap but, for a Commodore Plus/4 tested and working, the price was worth it.
Already the computer had arrived with a certain delay: I expected it in mid-March it had arrived at the end of April, so I had to open a first dispute, on eBay, to make sure that they looked for where the package was with my computer.
When I received the package, I opened it with you. We saw it: it was not packed well. In fact, there was little packaging element, so the computer could slam into the package, damaging itself.
I still didn't think I should open a further case on eBay!
The first thing I did was test the supply voltages of the power supply, before connecting it to the computer, of course. The fuse immediately blowed. If the computer had really been tested and working, the fuse would not have blowed immediately.
After replacing the fuse, the power supply worked. However, when I connected the computer to the TV to see the classic screen of the Commodore Plus4... nothing: black screen!
Do I need to open a dispute on eBay?
On social networks, in many but you have suggested to open a dispute to the seller. Some argued that the fault was not with the seller, but more with the transport.
Others lashed out at the seller, claiming that the computer was already defective when he shipped it. I have the doubt, sincerely, also because the seller has never been able to send photos with the computer on.
I decided to open the dispute on eBay, in a rather kind and delicate way, not accusing anyone. Now I show you the whole list of messages, so you can check for yourself that I have not insulted anyone at all!
Being the English seller, I wrote him a very quiet first message, right in his language, with my super English, that not even Shakespeare could have written such a thing!
eBay Dispute Details
And here is the detail of the texts of the controversy on eBay.
Me: "Good morning, I am really sad to inform you that the computer does not work I tried to connect it to the power supply and television, but, even if the red light turns on, the image is not shown on the TV. I, really, expected a working computer because you had written Tested and Working, but it is not. I expect a refund, so try to fix the computer if possible. Thank you and best regards, Amedeo."
In short, they message quite quietly, no insults. It simply tells what is the reality of the facts, which you have also noticed in the video of unboxing and try.
The seller, at this point, replied: "It was fully functional before shipping it. Fully tested. I suspect that the damage may be caused by transportation. Let me check, I assure you that you will be fully rewarded."
Somehow, the seller reassured me. If the computer does not work, it refunds me. Perfect! Better this way! I answer him, thanking him. Moreover, he did not even but he said goodbye. He wrote the sentence directly, thus, without pleasantries.
Me: "Good morning. I look forward to your research. Let me know, I am very sad about this Commodore. I, really, expected it to be working. Let me know as soon as possible. Greetings, Amedeo."
So, even in this case, as you can see, I behaved in a polite way. In fact, many of you have told me: "eh, but, maybe it's not his fault, maybe he sent it working".
The seller, at this point, writes to me without even greeting: "would you accept a partial refund?"
I also stopped greeting him at this point. "It depends on the amount of the refund," I told him, "also consider that I spent some money on transportation and import taxes and now I find myself a computer that does not work. Let me know."
Enough, from this point on the seller has not made himself alive. After a couple of days I wrote to him, soliciting his offer of reimbursement. After another two days, so it was 4 days since the last message from the seller, I began to worry. In short, he no longer answers me. First he tells me that he reimburses me and then disappears.
I wrote to him: "Hello, are there any problems? I haven't received anything from you yet." In short, at this point I begin to get impatient.
Guess what? The seller opens a case against me! He asks eBay to intervene and writes: "The item was fully functional, tested and in good condition, when I sent it to the sorting center. The damage may have been caused by the transport."
Of course, he may also be right that the product was damaged by transport, but I received it broken. At this point we have deterred eBay's decision.
Response to the dispute over eBay
After some time, I received the email, telling me that the decision had been made and that eBay had decided to fully refund me.
In fact, in the summary of the eBay dispute, you see that I have been fully refunded: both the total of the computer and the shipping costs, and the import costs. A refund that covers, therefore, the total of what I had spent, without even having to send the computer back!
On the other hand, I also put myself a bit in the seller's shoes. I am in good faith: you have also seen, in the video, that computer does not work. But, suppose he really shipped it working. In short, he would have lost money! Then, in practice, it was not so, because I phoned the eBay help center and it was explained to me that, in this case (in this specific case) it was eBay that refunded me. So, the seller was paid by eBay, the carrier was paid by eBay, and I was refunded by eBay.
In this case, eBay adopted a strategy that made me, the seller and, probably, the shipper happy too.
By the way, I noticed that the seller but had also left positive feedback.
So: positive feedback and broken computer for free!
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