Feedback - FROWNS

[pbafna]

@Tapobrata - Thanks for your inputs. The larger issue in the case i mentioned was the *repeated* offer placement and retracting. One time is something we take with a pinch of salt as sellers. Doing it again, and yet again going back on the offer, is surely a sign of fickle-minded non-competent dealing that i don't take kindly to. Hence the share of this matter with the forum.

Barring this, there have been far too many to mention people who have enquired and not come through with the final sale. That's ok. And not worth mentioning as much as hassle a double offender causes.

[Brendon]

@Tapobrata - Once both parties have struck a deal then a contract has been formed. Breaking of this contract on not one but two occasions means I would never wish to deal with this individual EVER.

So its in the best interest if people are aware of such instances. Its a different scenario when there is some genuine issues in closing a deal (for instance if the buyer is in another city or if there is some illness in the family) .

Such people should be shamed so others can be warned to stay away.

[ramsub]

Regarding the interaction with Roger as mentioned by Pramod, I bought a bag from him, and it was a very good experience.

We agreed on the price quoted by him, and even though it took some time for a friend to pick it up on my behalf, something like 3 weeks, he held on to the bag, and even inquired some days after the pickup as to whether all was fine. It was, and the bag was in exactly the condition described, no overselling or underselling.

I hope that the bad experience was more an aberration ...

Thanks,
ramsub

[pbafna]

@Ramsub - good to hear that. Btw, Roger is also someone who i traded a D7000 Camera with successfully about a Year back. No after-trade enquiries etc. but that transaction atleast happened after repeated enquiries.

I felt i should share this present instance, only because of the repeated offer and retraction which really tested my patience.

Anyway, the cam in question has been sold too. This was an exceptionally bad experience and hence the share. If anything it is a call in general against such practices in the future for all members, myself included. Nothing beats a good transaction experience, especially when we're all passionate consumers here. Lets value and further the same conduct and enrich ourselves in the process

[ramsub]

True, Pramod, especially in our transactions that are not face to face and there is a tremendous scope for mistaken assumptions, it is important to keep things simple. Even if one finds a better deal in the interim, it would be the done thing to pay the agreed-upon price. I suppose there are others who prefer a more dynamic negotiation model, on the assumption that "we are all adults, exactly what about this surprises you?" :) but that model leads to absolute chaos in a many-to-many marketplace that is based on passion, where experiences full of trust leads to lasting friendships in the non-virtual world ... And great deals too :)

Thanks,
Ramsub

[pbafna]

Oh, the things we do as adults.

Well said, Ramsub!

[VikramF]

Fellow Members,

In the coming days you will notice that a number of posts in this thread have been removed. FROWNS is our "go-to" place to learn about deals gone bad and who did whatever.

In order to keep this thread as useful and concise as possible for the JJMPF Membership, comments which do not add pertinent information and facts about deals gone bad are subject to be removed.

Thank you for understanding. It's absolutely nothing personal, so please don't take it that way if one or more of your comments disappear while your Moderators set about to boil thinning soup down to a richer sauce.

Happy Day.

To reiterate: While posts that go into discussions might seem justified, the purpose behind this thread is to create an easy to skim through reference of deals gone bad so members can just reference the name and other details of the person. Discussions dilute the purpose behind the thread as it becomes impossible for members to find details.

Hence, please refrain from forming a discussion and take that to a new thread.

My thought is that we should have a set format so it's easily skimmable. If anyone has thoughts on a format that they'd like to see, let me know and I'll take it up for discussion (just make it sane and not 20 fields as no one will follow that). Something along the lines of:

Username:
Member Name:
Known Contact Details:
Location:
Bank Name & Branch if Known (Please don't post account numbers):
Deal Details (what equipment along with details, serials etc):
Why it resulted in a frown:

[arudikiran]

Fellow Members,

Here is a issue where a deal is done, money transferred and person who is supposed to send D800  and lens is missing,


Would like to bring it to your kind notice about my recent horrific experience&substantial financial loss on one WTS deal which has left me devastated both financially & psychologically.

Synopsis of the entire deal:

Jjmpf Member Name: Suresh Shivaraman.
Jjmpf Member handle: rrkumar.
Item put up for Sale: Nikon D800Body& Box with all accessories only.
Additional freebees along with the deal: Nikon 24mm f2.8D lens & Remote Cord MC-36a.
Sale Amount: Rs. 1.10 Lakhs.
Date of the WTS Thread: 24 Dec 2013.
Date of discussions (plus verification of seller with another member) with seller: 25 Dec 2013.
NEFT fund transfer: 26 Dec 2013 for 1.10 Lakhs (made thru 3 transfers of Rs. 1K, 99K & 10K respectively).
Issue: Item not received till date & the seller is nor reachable through the phone & by PMs & email.

Narration:

As I was owning a Nikon D7000 I had a dream of moving to FX. Hence, was on the look out for buying a Nikon FX body in good condition. Saw WTS post  from handle " rrkumar " with the caption "quik sell tamilnadu buyers only  " and item for sale was "d800+nikon 24mm f/2.8+remote cord mc-36a". for 1.10 Lacs on 24 Dec 2013. I sent my cell no to him and he called me. Based on the telephonic discussions and the seller agreed to part with the camera & the additional items along with the shipping cost for 1.10 Lacs.

To be more sure, I even checked his history and found that he has earlier sold Olympus EPL1 to jjmpf member Jannu aka MR. JanardhanBarthwal. Had a word with Jannu& he gave a good account of the seller rrkumar. FurtherJannu's post in the Grins section of the buy & sell which is give below made me to decide in favour of this deal & went ahead with this deal (JJMPF member 'Hot Shoe' i.e., Mr. Vinod was with me when I spoke to the seller).


I confirm that Jannu's and Vinod 's were only suggestions/opinions based on their experience and the decision to go ahead with this deal was purely mine & I take complete onus of that decision.
That evening I requested bank details from the seller and he has sent me a PM which is below
Note: This is the same account Mr. Jannu transferred the amount for Olympus EPL1 purchase.

Based on this PM I initially transferred Rs.1000 and got a confirmation from the seller that he had received the amt and then transferred balance  amt of 1.09Lacsand the proof of the same is below:


After receiving the entire amount of Rs 1.10 Lakhs the seller acknowledged the receipt of the amount & confirmed me that he will be dispatching thru FedEx thru Air on 26thDec 13. By that same day evening he told that packing of the d800 and lens had become a big package since he has put lot of packing and he told that the FEDEX people were asking 11 K for Shipping. Hence he confirmed that he will dispatch the camera through someone who was travelling to Bangalore that evening. The hand courier was to reach Bangalore & deliver the package to me at my office on 28 Dec 2013 morning around 930 am.

I was expecting my parcel on 28th morning and it didnt arrive. I called all the phone numbers that he had given and found that both the nos (of RR kumar and the person who is supposed to carry the parcel to me) were getting diverted to a Bengali guys' cell no. which is switched off now. I have sent a immediate pm regarding the non-receipt of the parcel but no reply from him till date.

Thru this i ask members who know anything abt this person to come out so that i will help police in their investigation.

find attached a doc file with all attachments for ur reference.

Kiran

[VikramF]

Can ANY replies/expressions of sympathy/help etc be posted on new threads ... you can imagine how difficult it is for anyone to use the frowns board if there is one frown report followed by 2 pages of comments and then another frown ...

It's best that the frown section just talk about the incident and provide as much of info on the person involved as possible. That will allow people to browse through more easily.

For Kiran's post: I've created a new thread here: http://www.jjmehta.com/forum/index.php/topic,33385.0.html

[eragon]

Posting my first feedback in jjmpf, and really hoped this didn't have to be in the frowns section... but my last transaction turned really unfortunate for me.

I bought the 300 2.8 VR from Dilshad Ibrahim from Nagpur. (user: dilshadnawaz) http://www.jjmehta.com/forum/index.php?topic=31905.0
Since this was an outstation deal we couldn't check the lens personally before buying, and since it wasn't possible for him to to take it to my contact in Nagpur for checking, we decided to go forward with the deal based on his posted and mailed images, testimonials from a common fb acquaintance regarding no known problems with the lens, and Dilshad's personal assurance that the lens was functionally perfect with no problems. Accordingly we transferred the amount (2.45L) on 18/1/2014 and received the lens via DTDC on 24/1/2014. The lens was packed in the nikon lens case with only a gunny bag and no padding wrapped around it. There were also more cosmetic blemishes not initially visible in his posted pictures on the lens.

However, my worries started at that point, since I couldn't hear the click of VR engaging and disengaging I expected from my other VR lenses on half shutter pressing. I also couldn't see the familiar viewfinder image stabilization. A chat with Dilshad however further added to my confusion, as he stated he had never heard the well-known VR click with this lens in the past!
Confused and really worried, I took it to our repair shop, who finally confirmed the the VR wasn't working.  This was corroborated by the Nikon authorized repair center in Kolkata, Capital Electronics informally, but they wouldn't repair out of warranty lenses.

The repair needed total replacement of the VR unit, and costed 18000.  I can clearly hear VR click on now, which the seller claimed not to have heard in 2.5 years of use.