Bought a new tank on ebay

[SarahBravo]

I saw a tank on ebay advertised as 4' tank, juwel rio 180. Only measurements given were 4' and 18" high. I was after a 4' x 18"high by 12" deep to fit under my existing Clearseal, but i figured if it was a Rio 180 it was okay (cos I've already got one), although from the pics it wasn't.

Anyhow, before I realised it came down to the last few minutes and I bought it anyway. I asked the guy to confirm measurements and its actually 39" by 12" deep and 15" high. My winning bid was £57.50 and I have about a 1.5 hour drive each way to collect it.

Was i stiffed, or is it a good price and should i shut up and go and get it?

Desciption on ebay was: 4ft Fish Tank. Jewell Rio 180.With light,heater, plants. This tank is 4ft long and 18 inches tall. It comes with heater, internal filter, light, plants, bogwood,net and a couple of rock ornaments. Unfortunatly the picture of Cheryl Tweedy is not included!

Sarah

 

[SirMinion]

Well that's no Juwell 180, but if all that stuff come with it (and is functional) then it still seems like a good deal to me, even with the long drive.

 

[SarahBravo]

Yeah, I'll shut up and just go get it! I'm just a little obsessive/compulsive about advertising things right.

Sarah

 

[KentBlokey]

Well i'm not really an E-Bay user, but i'd still use this on his/her feed back. It's false advertising, which IMO is wrong, but as already mentioned, if it's a good deal then go for it.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Yeah, i agree with Kentblokey, give him some negative feedback once he has left feedback for u. I use ebay quite a bit. And i have had no troubles with the 6 items i have bought. In anycase, i think all my items have been beyond expectations!

Leaving negative feedback should teach him!

 

[Leigh1316]

Also, if you are not satisfied with the item you can refuse payment because the item was not described correctly. If the person leaves negative feedback you can dispute it for misrepresentation as that is against the ebay rules.

 

[desley]

I've used ebay quite a bit and not really had any problems but I only buy from sellers with almost 100% positive feedbacks.

What are his feedbacks like. If he has lots of negatives I would give it a miss and risk him leaving you a negative feedback (which only matters really if you are a seller anyway).

If you buy it .. you may get it home and it might not work and if his nature is to misinform in the first place I doubt he would look after you with replacements or refunds.

 

[CFC]

IMO you got stiffed, the tank is a Rekord 120 which retails new for about £120, £110 if you shop around. Second hand tanks and equipment should never really cost more than about 1/4 of retail and 1/3 at most, personally i wouldnt have paid more than £40 for it.

 

[gale]

I wonder if he 'stole' the description from another auction. People do that ALL the time (I know-someone stole mine once). Or else maybe he's one that puts the wrong description on purpose and has gotten away with it all this time because people are so worried about retaliatory feedback.

Ebay sure isn't what it used to be.

 

[itZme]

Hi,
This stinks. It seems very common as I have been watching aquariums lately and they are almost always reported as a larger size than they are. I have emailed several people and let them know that their "110 gallon tank" is really only 55 if their dimensions were correct. One of them cancelled their auction and emailed me to thank me for "saving his reputation".
You could try the nice route first and send an email with your concerns to the seller. I bought the laptop I am using now on Ebay and it was over $1,000. I was worried about sending all that money to someone in another state so I went with someone who had 100% positive feedback. After I received it I was really impressed with it BUT the video card was not the upgraded model number as advertised.
So I went to the HP website to see how much the upraded card was worth then emailed the seller and informed him of his mistake in the description. I told him that the "proper" thing to do would be to refund $100 which was the difference between what was advertised and what I received. He sent a Paypal payment within 2 hours and then I left positive feedback.
Anyone who cares about using Ebay to make money should be willing to work with you to salvage their reputation (feedback). If not then they deserve a neutral or negative feedback.
Good luck to you with this situation and my advice is not to leave negative ffedback until you have discussed the issue with the seller. It is just not right to not give him a chance to fix his mistake before making a remark that cannot be removed.
Let us know what happened.
itZme

 

[hounds4u]

tell him to stick it as it is not the item you thougth you had bit for, it is against the ebay rules

also check with trading standards i.m sure they will back you

you bit mabe a fair price for that item but it is not the item you wanted

Dave

 

[Paul_MTS]

What ever you do don't just go and leave negative feedback, as a seller myself i always work things out if I'ved misinformed or made a mistake somewhere.

Get in contact and ask for a price reduction if you still want it or say after realising what it is/isn't you don't want it.

Just work it out first though.

 

[bunjiweb]

Completly different tank, much smaller, and not 18" high, that 3" makes a lot of difference.

I would refuse to pay and find something els,e but at the end of the day, if its suitable for what you want then go for it, But you have been mislead, and shouldnt "support" ebay sellers that advertise wrongly.

Ben

 

[SarahBravo]

Thanks for your input guys, it was very useful. I have emailed seller and pointed out the difference in volume, and offered him a lower price, or the option to mutually withdraw with no negative feedback for anyone and he can relist it with the correct details. Needless to say, if he won't accept the lower price and leaves me a negative feedback for withdrawing, I will refer the whole matter to ebay!

Thanks!

Sarah

 

[canarsie11]

Yea its just the principal of the whole thing IMO

Price still okay and you probably would have bidded anyway, but it was misleading.

Next time he will measure b4 he makes auction