I need opinions about an ebay deal

I need some opinions about an ebay deal I'm involved in, so thought I would ask here. The end of Nov, my son (27 yrs old-not a kid but broke non the less) sold a laptop computer using my ebay account (with permission). He had recently purchased the laptop on ebay knowing that it needed a new hard drive. After receiving it, he decided he would rather spend the money on a Christmas gift for his wife so he resold (it was listed with a very accurate description of what what wrong with it) it for the same amount he had paid for it (again on my account). The new buyer (this was her first ebay transaction) sent a money order and we shipped the laptop off to her. On Dec 14th, I rec'd a call from her asking if she could return it because it was for her daughter and they didn't realize that it didn't work and that it was all the money her daughter had saved up, blah, blah blah. I said sure, pack it up and send it registered and I would be happy to refund their money ($200) when I rec'd it. I didn't hear from her again until the laptop arrived on my doorstep (regular mail) on Sat. It was very poorly packed. I am not a computer expert so I have absolutely no idea if it is in the same shape it was in when it left (remember, it has no hard drive-it does power up though). I have no idea where this computer has been for the last month and a half. She told me when she called that a friend had "looked" at it. I am extremely irked that she waited so long to send it back without so much as a note or phone call . I undoubtedly will refund the money eventually, but am just curious what others think of this whole thing. I could take it to the local computer shop and have them check it out before I send her money back or I could just trust her-what do you think?
Thanks for letting me vent/whine!
Deb

Hi Deb, just my opinion here, but if it was described as needing a new hard drive, I would not be giving her money back. That is why people are suppose to read the whole description BEFORE they bid/buy. And she obviously was not concerned too much or she would have sent it back the way you had requested. I am sure this has been a nightmare for you, so sorry to hear it! This may be something the mediators on eBay need to help you with? Good Luck!

I would be inclined to agree with what mistygardener said, if you described the item accurately the buyer has no right to expect a refund/return; except that you made the mistake of telling her that she could return it and that you would refund her money. I'm afraid that once you opened that door you obligated yourself to follow through. The fact that you asked her to send it back via registered mail and she failed to comply is probably not enough to invalidate the return.

As for determining whether it was returned in the same condition as when it went out, (1) did you or your son test it when you received it in the 1st place and/or before sending it out and (2) do you or your son have another computer from which you might borrow the HD long enough to see if the computer boots up? If you can't 'borrow' a HD to test it, maybe you have or can get a boot disk or CD to use for this purpose.

Depending on how much you value your eBay rating this, unfortunately, may end up being one of those unpleasant experiences that you have to 'eat' and chalk up to experience.

As irritating as the whole mess is, as I said, I will probably just go ahead and send her the refund because I said I would (that and the fact that she sounded really pathetic on the phone). I don't have an extra hard drive laying around and don't really want to pull the one out of my laptop to give it a try-the thing is that I just don't know enough about computer techie stuff to even be involved in this-and my son is not getting anywhere near the insides of any of my 'puters. I'm really just whining . . .

I understand completely - and sympathize. A little venting and whining can be very therapeutic. : )

I wouldn't advise taking the HD from your laptop, and it's probably not compatible anyhow. Do you know if you have a boot disk - I think they sometimes call it a 'rescue disk'? It's a disk or CD with a scaled down version of the OS (Windows I'm assuming) on it. It can be used to boot the computer w/o a HD. For that matter, if you have the Windows install disks you should be able to use them to boot the computer - not to complete the install but just to boot up.

One thing I would think of is....if she so desperately needed that money for Christmas, why did you just get it? I have had some tough times from ebayers and it soured me terrible. I smell a fish here. Did you or your son take pictures of the laptop before you sent it off? Is it the same one? You meet all kinds.

The others are right though about you honoring your word, but if there is anyway to check and see if it still works and if it is in fact, the one you sent, you should do that.

Might be cheaper to put a hard drive in it for her than refund her? Then you can see what she really wanted and if she doesn't want that, you'll have a laptop that works.

Food for thought. Good luck.......Kathy

No, there's no boot disc (I do have one for Windows 2000)-I need to get that along with a hard drive. I've been checking on ebay for one. My other son thinks he might have one for his Win XP laptop so he's checking into that for me. Actually, it's a really neat little computer-a Compaq tablet PC and we were thinking we might fix it up for a grand daughter.

I've been really disappointed in ebay as of late. I used to buy lots of plants and stuff for the grand kids but have run into a few scams lately. One thing that really bugs me (way off topic) is all the folks who have automatic bidding programs that will go in and place the winning bid at the very last second for them. The other thing is all the counterfeit camera stuff/electronics like memory cards and software. Ebay just isn't the safe place it was 5 or 6 years ago. It's always been "buyer beware" but most people were pretty honest.

Well 5 or 6 years ago it wasn't that safe either. We almost got had for a deal involving thousands of dollars (we were the buyers). It really soured me about Ebay and I used to buy a lot of things on there. Addicted might be a better word....

You should be able to put the boot disc, even the Win 2000, into the computer and boot from it even without a hard drive. I'm not suggesting that you use it this way, but this will allow you to perform the test you wanted to do - to determine if the computer works, if it can be booted. I hope I making myself clear on this. Try to boot the computer from the boot disc (just to test if the computer works).

So far I've been pretty lucky. Never had a single bad transaction on ebay. I think my highest dollar transaction was around $500. I always read and re-read the description very carefully both what is and is not said. Most of all, I scrutinize the seller's rating checking to see not only that they have a good rating but that they have a good rating for selling not just for buying. For a $10 item I may take a chance on a new seller with little or no history but not for a $100 item. If a seller has a 1000+ rating with nearly 100% satisfaction especially with a history of selling the the same type of item, there is little chance that they will try to rip the buyer off.

So I thought too.

OK, I'm finding more out about this computer as I go here. Apparently the CD drive is in the docking station which requites a power cord that I don't have. As soon as I obtain the cord, I should be able to try the computer out with the Win2000 boot disc. Thank you for your suggestions!

As far as ebay goes, I almost got burned last spring buying some software-Adobe Photoshop CS2. The price was low, but CS3 had just come out soI thought it was reasonable. The seller had over 100 positive feedbacks-I got the software, loaded it into my computer and everything worked except the help files. I would not have known there was anything wrong with the software except some really nice person who had purchased the same software from the seller emailed me and warned me. I called Adobe and checked it out and sure enough it was a counterfeit copy. Luckily, I had paid using Paypal and had saved all my emails to and from the seller so I was able to get my money back (around $250). Soon after that, I read several magazine articles about people selling bogus camera cards and batteries that could damage your camera if used-and that it is very difficult to tell the authentic stuff from the bad (there are some articles on ebay about this). However, that's where I'm headed right now to look for my power cord!

Wish me luck!
Deb

Guess I've been very lucky so far.

Deb, I should mention that Win2000 may not include the drivers to support all features on the notebook/tablet, so don't be too alarmed if that happens. The objective is just to see if the computer boots up ok. XP is likely to be a better choice to install once you get a HD.

As for the fact that you are headed back there to look for the power cord, I know just what you mean. It's a little bit of a gamble but most of the time the odds are in your favor. Good luck!