The Power of ArrmaForum.com *UPDATED*

[bicketybam]

I wanted to tell everyone a little story of how this forum solved an eBay problem for me. I promised the seller I wouldn't rip him a new one in public so I won't be using names.

The story begins with my purchase of a set of wheel driveshafts for the new 4s trucks. A member here posted a link in one of the threads and I jumped on them. I didn't carefully look at the picture the eBay seller had up, but I assumed the driveshaft would be like every other kit breakers (complete). I was wrong.

I received the item last Friday and immediately noticed that one half of the slider assembly was missing. It is the part that actually attaches the driveshaft half to the differential. Without the missing piece the driveshaft is useless. And it is not even a separate part that wasn't included. The seller essentially broke the driveshaft at the u-joint in order to remove them from the differential.

I decided to initiate a return. I chose "missing pieces" as the reason why because it was missing part of the assembly. I included a note explaining that the shafts were incomplete and included a picture of what it should look like. Off went the note and the return process was started.

About 20 minutes later I received a note from the seller:

The part you are referring to was not included with your purchase. Please go back and preview the pictures. You received the item exactly as pictured and listed. Thanks

Well that really annoyed me and I answered:

The part I am referring to is not a part sold by Arrma. It is part of the slider shaft (https://www.arrma-rc.com/part/AR310887). You did picture them the way they came but you did not list them the way they came. The half shaft is broken and not complete. They can't be attached to the differential and you can't buy the missing piece to reattach it. Are you telling me you won't accept the return?

At this point I didn't receive any more responses. So this morning I sent another measage:

Can you please tell me if the item can be returned or do I need to wait until the 16th and get eBay involved?

About 10 minutes later I received the following response:

Your asking for more then what was pictured and described in the listing, so that is against eBay's policy to start with. If you return the set your refund will not include return shipping costs nor the original shipping costs, since you again received the item exactly as pictured and described. When you open a return, be sure not to blame us for something that is not true. A return would of gone without a hitch then.

Now at this point all I was looking for was to be able to return the useless item and get a refund. I was never expecting to have the return shipping paid for and I should have probably contacted the seller first before I initiated the return. My bad. But now the guy really pissed me off. That's when I unleashed the power of the ArrmaForum (with a little help from YouTube):

That's great. Check out the Arrma forums (www.arrmaforum.com) and the 10,000+ members it has. I'm the top poster on that site and it has a ton of traffic. I really didn't want to detail my experience but at this point it seems like I ought to. You are selling parts that can not be used by the Arrma community. They should know that. I'll also make a dedicated YouTube video detailing what you have done. Do you even know how to properly separate the wheel driveshafts from the differential? I'm going to guess no since no one would want what you are selling and anyone buying the diffs you sell will remove the partial part and throw them away. They are useless once you separate the u-joint. I think you are making a very short sighted and foolish choice. I will pay the shipping to return the parts but I should receive credit for the original shipping. If we can get that done then I can forgo my review. Your choice. I await your response.

No more than 5 minutes pass when I get an eBay notification stating the seller has accepted my return and then a few minutes after that I get the prepaid return label emailed to me.

I would have to think that the guy finally realized that $4 in shipping wasn't worth getting your eBay name trashed on a huge forum like this. And make no mistake - I was going to trash this guy. He is basically selling a useless part that cannot be used. And thanks to the power of ArrmaForum.com I was able to return them for a full refund. I wasn't looking for the return shipping but hey - I'll take it. And as promised I won't mention the sellers name. I will never buy from him again and in the future I will carefully inspect all the pictures of my intended purchases. Thank you ArrmaForum!

 

[BashingBrian]

Well done getting it sorted..???

I think you should name them though, that way some less fortunate buyer who doesn't know as much as us here on the forum won't be getting ripped off.. Just my opinion?

Arrma Forum Tough..!!

 

[X]

Post the seller's name. Your responsibility to not allow your fellow forum users to fall to the same fate far out weighs anything you owe that seller.

Think of it as protecting Arrma Forum, seems a simple decision.

 

[Be Ready]

Now that’s collective bargaining at its best… Great job getting your grievance solved.

 

[Wmorgan]

I love happy endings!!


Now spill it!! Who's the hoo-haa?!?

 

[DetroitSlim]

Nicely done!

 

[stuartd]

That's a good result. Glad they saw sense and did the right thing.

It does show how important it can be to read the description and look at the pictures. If anything looks off then it's time to give it a miss or ask the seller for some more info.

 

[bicketybam]

That's a good result. Glad they saw sense and did the right thing.

It does show how important it can be to read the description and look at the pictures. If anything looks off then it's time to give it a miss or ask the seller for some more info.

Agree. I rushed to buy them figuring they wouldn't be around very long.

 

[Notorious J]

Post the seller's name. Your responsibility to not allow your fellow forum users to fall to the same fate far out weighs anything you owe that seller.

Think of it as protecting Arrma Forum, seems a simple decision.

@bicketybam gave the seller his word, and shouldn't that take precedence? It's the same as a non disclosure agreement. He could have kept the part and ratted the guy out, but he chose to make a deal. He also explained to the forum what to look out for when shopping online, so hopefully we can all learn a lesson.

 

[Mr.Duke]

well crap, that sucks, especially considering I'm pretty sure I was the one that posted the link. Glad it worked out in the end though.

 

[bicketybam]

Well the seller refunded me less shopping both ways. Even though they sent a prepaid label, they deducted the cost from my refunded the original shipping. This is the eBay seller:

I'm sure people here have purchased from them and you may have had a good experience. I did not. Always inspect the pictures carefully (which should be done with every seller) because these guys do not know how to properly separate the driveshafts from the differential. Who knows what else they've broken by not knowing how to disassemble the parts correctly.

 

[BashingBrian]

@bicketybam
I say good call posting them here..!!! if they screwed you over they deserve to be outed..??

Hopefully the next person who uses them will have better luck..?

 

[Megasty]

Well the seller refunded me less shopping both ways. Even though they sent a prepaid label, they deducted the cost from my refunded the original shipping. This is the eBay seller:
View attachment 38803

I'm sure people here have purchased from them and you may have had a good experience. I did not. Always inspect the pictures carefully (which should be done with every seller) because these guys do not know how to properly separate the driveshafts from the differential. Who knows what else they've broken by not knowing how to disassemble the parts correctly.

He's the only idiot who breaks the driveshafts at the yokes. If you look at his diffs, you'll see the other half of the yoke still attached. But I did just buy some Copperhead2's from him granted it's kinda hard to fub up some tires

 

[arrmadillo]

Used them before, been around a long time. I use Ebay sparingly because of shady sellers in the past.

 

[bicketybam]

He's the only idiot who breaks the driveshafts at the yokes. If you look at his diffs, you'll see the other half of the yoke still attached. But I did just buy some Copperhead2's from him granted it's kinda hard to fub up some tires

I bought diffs last year off eBay and they came with that part attached. It was a pain to get them off and I was wondering why they were on there. It had to be this guy that sold them to me. Lesson learned. I don't see how he could sell the driveshafts to anyone and have them be happy.