Buyer Beware!

My wife has over 500 transactions on Ebay (both buying and selling) and has only had a problem with four or five auctions. All problems were resolved except two. My wife excells at clear communication. I have made three purchases at Audiogon (attempted four) and the three went very well. The fourth involved strange emails from the seller that gave the impression that they were either in the process of suffering a major stroke or in the middle of a major binge "on something". I did not continue further at that point and it was not a big deal. I recently made a local purchase of speakers that arrived home broken and following that were ill repaired by the dealer. It turns out that the US importer (also local) supplied the dealer with a pair of the speakers that were from a defective batch. They were known to be defective (by the importers own admission and post at AA) prior to them being supplied to me. I was supposed to be purchasing the speakers from a new shipment that had been updated at the mannufacturer and by his own admission in an email to me the importer substituted this pair to the dealer. Both the dealer and the importer have refused at this point to replace the speakers and have only offered to perform the updates here. I was originally going to go for this, but have since decided that I should receive what I paid for and not a pair of "doctored" speakers. It is still up in the air. So I guess you could say that I received a royal ass reaming in a person to person sale. I would prefer not to post all of the emails and documentaion on the web as the story may gernerate a negative opinion of the manufacturer and my dissatisfaction is really with the importer. But, of course I will do just that if the situation is not corrected. I have also contacted the manufacturer and am waiting to hear back from them. I have discussed the matter with my attourney and am not concerned about getting my money back, but would rather have the factory modified speakers instead as that was the whole purpose of the purchase.

You hit it on the head AlexC! As a manufacturer-seller and exclusively on Audiogon, I go through the same thing. Bogus e-mails,fraudulent phone calls, reneged auctions..it's a shame that these few Loosers have to spoil a great site. To overcome this, the excellent members (which is the large majority) stick together and we'll be alright. Keep the lines open and communication via e-mail,a phone call, a wire.... well you get the picture. I just had an unfortunate incident, where a simple e-mail would of solved the situation. The top excuses, is that there computer crashed, leaving town sudden, a family emergency. This person had e-mailed me right after the auction, but not to confirm he was the high bidder; but to ask why he should buy this product?? Again this is right after the auction ended. I replied immediately with all the information to complete the transaction quickly and smoothly. One day passes, I e-mail a second time. Two day passes, and I e-mail him again..and nothing. A third day passes and I e-mailed again and contacted Audiogon. Audiogon contacts this person and no response. Then finally, this person responses to Audiogon saying he had to care of some business and leave town in the morning. Meantime, if you remember this is the same person that left an e-mail for me immeditely after winning the auction, not confirming the auction, but asking, Why he should buy this product after being the high bidder??? A simple e-mail saying that he was leaving town would of cleared up the situation. Audiogon, did suspend his account and deservedly so. To add to it, he was caught in a fib, because in between those dates that "he supposedly was away on an emergency business trip". He did have time to register for the sweepstakes on Audiogon for the chance to win the Chesky CDs. Amazing!! For the few that abuse there membership on Audiogon, I really feel sorry for you loosers. Whether it's reneging, or bogus e-mails with the yahoos, and hotmails. You can run, but you can't hide. Because Audiogon, knows where these e-mail addresses are originating from with the main IP address. The moral of this little story, is let's keep this site fair and honest. Communication is also key. Let's keep Audiogon #1 and our membership as a privilege. We are all lovers of this "breed apart" crazy hobby and passionate about music. We are not going to have a few idiots spoil it. For emergency purposes we should all keep Audiogon's phone number (734-477-9289)if our computer crashes or an emergency should come up. I am sorry that I vented, but I feel this site will continue to get stronger. But what keeps it going is not just the site itself, but the high integrity of it's members. -Thank you- BMI

BRAVO Mrchips....very well said. Unfortunately this is the risk we all willingly take when we choose to buy and sell on the internet.

Avguygeorge - This was a private seller, not a delaer. It seems he was a first time seller, as there is no feedback on him on Audiogon. Out of courtesy, and giving him a bit of the benefit of the doubt, I won't post his name until Monday. He was shipping from California to Ohio and, if he DID ship last Monday as promised, UPS ground would not get the pacakge here until Monday. I guess I still try to believ in the innate goodness of all...We shall see...As for me..I pay right awat (within one day of closing a deal) and ship right away. If, for some reason, I cannot get a product out the day after getting the money, I will ship via express mail at my own expense to make up for the lost time. This is how I'd like others to behave when I'm on the other end...so I "Do unto others..etc, etc"

Alexc,When you buy something,ask for a tracking #. If you sell something,give a tracking#. Just recently,there were two chances to buy things I was interested in. Neither seller had feedback,and neither would cod.So,I didn't buy.I would rather wait for the conditions to be optimum.