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View Full Version : Need a Beta light/wiper/signal switch? Don't buy this one...



sickchilly
15th January 2005, 11:42 AM
Cross-posted from Mirafiori.com to warn anyone here...

I think this is one of Al Williams' favorite guys, isn't it... Jay at <www.yugoparts.com> in Rockdale, TX aka <spider@spiderroadster.com>?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7946421920

He had another listed on there as well. Not sure if it's still there, but if it is, forget about it unless you need parts only like I did.

What an ass. He timed his horribly inaccurate eBay auction to prey on me, I swear it. One day before I saw his auction, the parking light contacts burnt up on my Beta for the second time. So it's partly my fault that I didn't care what condition his item was in, I needed the parts if nothing else. But I was very surprised that the part was listed as new in box, NOS!

So I immediately hit buy-it-now since the price was so low and I needed something. Well, then I did a double-take on the picture. The wiper stalk was missing. After some emails back and forth about he couldn't confirm the part number, maybe the stalk is removable, blah blah blah. I knew something was BS. I confirmed the part number he listed as the part I needed, and then I confirmed that I could swap stalks out of my switch if necessary. No big deal, I guess, I need the parts, so I bought it.

Well it arrives and I inspect it... yep, too good to be true. The "original" box is the nicest part. But in the meantime, I have patched my switch again and added a relay to the park/dash/boot/bonnet lights so I don't burn them up again. Not sure what's up with that, the current draw on the circuit measured fine... anyway, I've fixed my switch seemingly for good and now I've got some parts on hand in case anything else happens. No more transactions with this guy though. Here's my email to him upon receipt of the part:

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It was seriously misrepresented. The whole assembly is obviously used. The third stalk (wipers) was, in fact, broken off at some point in its history! The silver paint on the remaining stalks is pitted and rusty in places. The connectors have obvious markings of use. Upon disassembly, I found the parking contacts burnt which is a known issue with these switches. The white paint in the text “LIGHTS” on the lights stalk has dirt and oil embedded in it – obviously USED! The insulator on the connector of the main power input to the assembly is horribly melted. Congratulations on offloading your junk to honest eBay users. With the exception of the burn internal contacts, I fail to see how anyone can miss all of these most obvious details. Unless of course you’re blind or stupid. If either are the case, then my condolences.
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Pope1
15th January 2005, 02:15 PM
Trent, Sorry to hear about your woes, but many thanks for the taking the trouble to warn the rest of us. Ebay is rapidly becoming a complete lottery with all kinds of dubious practices taking place. I'm very much in favour of name and shame tactics when one of us falls foul of the perps of such schemes. At the same time, maybe we should also start a thread where we identify the reputable and helpful guys who we should be doing business with. What does everyone else think about this?

A1.6HPE
15th January 2005, 03:39 PM
Hello guys,
Can anyone explain the Ebay feedback system?
"Italcar" has feed back rating of 100% but presumably "sickchilly" left bad feedback. The feedback numbers are:
Feedback Score: 436
Positive Feedback: 100%
Members who left a positive: 436
Members who left a negative: 0
All positive feedback received: 755

But when you look at the chart it shows:
positive 53 200 376
neutral 1 1 1
negative 0 0 0

Can the seller delete the auction before feedback is left (in anticipation of getting neg feedback)?

Leo

sickchilly
15th January 2005, 05:21 PM
Well, my burning email was effective. A refund is on the way.

I held off issuing negative feedback to this guy because I wanted to see how he'd react to my email, if at all. His response has been favorable so far.

The thing that really irks me is that I am a repeat customer of this guy on eBay. He also has a retail establishment down in TX that deals mostly in Yugo parts. Previous items I've bought from him were accurately represented and were as advertised upon receipt. That's the biggest reason I was so pissed to receive this rubbish from him. And also, like most everyone, I'm getting sick of people offloading total garbage on eBay as eBay themselves jack up prices/fees and sit back and do nothing to protect buyers. Do you know their fees now amount to nearly 10% of a closing auction price? Greedy bastards.

Anyway, about eBay's feedback system. Neutral feedbacks don't count. The feedback score only reflects positive feedback from unique users. So repeat customers don't drive up your score. That's why score = 436, but total positive feedbacks = 755.

And no, a seller can not delete an auction or do anything really to prevent negative feedback. Once a user has won an auction, feedback can be left for that auction. The only thing a seller can do is reply to the feedback in his/her defense or dispute it with eBay. The latter will likely get you nowhere.