xd62 from China...think twice!

[mmcodomino]

okay, many of you have probably read about my huge disappointment already.
My GF777 from this guy arrived broken on the side with several functions not working although he promised it to be fully working.
The repairs might be around 200$, that's what the repair shop said. The seller paid 100$ refund. (=not enough!!!!) :annoyed:
Otherwise i could have shipped it back to him but 200$ shipping would have been my expense so I was stuck with it.
And really, if I had known that, i would not have bought it in the first place.

I can only say that styrofoam sucks to prevent damages! He should have rather taken popcorn or bubble wrap...then I would be happier probably.

Additionally to that, the screws are all turned through, means they have not much grip anymore and the back cover is not attached very good. The repair shop is going to take care of that somehow (new plastic in the holes..??? no idea...).
He even added some small plastic stripes in the holes to make the screws hold on!!!

All in all, if you want a rare unit for an overpriced price plus 200$ shipping and have the huge risk of having it arrive damaged, then this is your man! *SARCASM*

 

[Superduper]

Those GF-777's look so alluring. For whatever reason, people look at these Chinese boxes like they are some kind of terrific deal worth risking hard earned cash for. But when you factor in the shipping costs, and that the risk involves losing out on shipping (big risk) if there is a problem, it's probably much better to pay a bit more for the boombox and less for shipping to buy from US sellers. They are available on eBay all the time. In my opinion, saving a few bucks to buy from China simply isn't worth the risk. It would have to be a terrific bargain to entice me to buy from China and when shipping is $220, then a bargain to me is like $1. That's because at $1, it's already a $221 risk. That's just me.

mmcodomino: sorry you had to learn the hard way. I trust this is probably your last China purchase. Consider the loss you suffered as the cost of education. Experience is a great educator and one you'll learn to trust very much.

 

[Fatdog]

It would have to be a terrific bargain to entice me to buy from China and when shipping is $220, then a bargain to me is like $1. That's because at $1, it's already a $221 risk. That's just me.

I totally agree, SD. I always factor in the cost of shipping as part of the final price - on anything.

Max, maybe the condition of the 777 is a dark cloud with a silver lining. Maybe by working to restore it, you will gain lots of great knowledge and become the "hemiguy2006" of Germany.

 

[redbenjoe]

these guys are very correct

and they are providing part of your incentive to turn a very bad deal
into a very positive outcome

 

[Johnny]

Tough deal, and hope it all turns out great as far as box goes and the learning experience also..

 

[MasterBlaster84]

Those GF-777's look so alluring. For whatever reason, people look at these Chinese boxes like they are some kind of terrific deal worth risking hard earned cash for. But when you factor in the shipping costs, and that the risk involves losing out on shipping (big risk) if there is a problem, it's probably much better to pay a bit more for the boombox and less for shipping to buy from US sellers. They are available on eBay all the time. In my opinion, saving a few bucks to buy from China simply isn't worth the risk. It would have to be a terrific bargain to entice me to buy from China and when shipping is $220, then a bargain to me is like $1. That's because at $1, it's already a $221 risk. That's just me.

mmcodomino: sorry you had to learn the hard way. I trust this is probably your last China purchase. Consider the loss you suffered as the cost of education. Experience is a great educator and one you'll learn to trust very much.

Tough to swallow and an expensive lesson but you'll recover and be fine. Once you get your next good boomer the pain from this one will be softened.

 

[vkboy]

i made the mistake of buying a gf-777z off this guy, only afterwoods did i look through here and find this post. i messaged him telling him to make sure it was packed properly with shite loads of bubble wrap, foam etc and fragile stickers. it took just over a month to get here to Oz, after being given 3 tracking numbers as it was getting sent backwards and forwards from beijing to wherever he was from, once it finally got to me soon as i picked the box up i could hear rattling and my heart sunk. ripped open the box and both sides of it had been smashed in, big cracks down where the cassettes are, one door doesn't close anymore, most of the internals where scattered all over inside, most of the knobs where floating around inside the box. it still powered on but nothing works, the tuner bar is broken so can't get stations, the circuit board that controls line in was snapped in half so can't even plug my phone in and use it that way.
i took photos straight away and showed him and luckily he refunded me pretty much straight away but this was my first boombox buying experience, the 777z was the box that got me wanting to start collecting them and now its sitting on my shelf unusable.
i haven't got any tapes to see if any of the decks work, the heads turn but can't test to see if they work. would it be worth trying to fix the busted case? i have all the broken pieces and trying to atleast get the decks to work?
won't be buying from china anymore thats for sure!

 

[ClaretBadger]

ebay protects the buyer

If you lodge a dispute - as item NOT as described - and a box in bits is NOT as described

Shoddy packaging is the FAULT of the seller - he can't blame the postal service

SO then the SELLER pays the return postage - ebay sends you a link you click on and it'll print a return label FOR you


There is NO risk here really


Ultimately I still wouldn't deal with a seller from China, Afirca or the (former) Eastern Bloc

that's just me

 

[mmcodomino]

ebay protects the buyer

If you lodge a dispute - as item NOT as described - and a box in bits is NOT as described

Shoddy packaging is the FAULT of the seller - he can't blame the postal service

SO then the SELLER pays the return postage - ebay sends you a link you click on and it'll print a return label FOR you


There is NO risk here really


Ultimately I still wouldn't deal with a seller from China, Afirca or the (former) Eastern Bloc

that's just me

When the box needs longer to arrive than the 45 days you have to open a dispute, you're gonna have a baaaad time

 

[Reli]

I bought a gf9191 from him 4 years ago, and it arrived in only 1 week

But the "creative" way he packed it, with thin sheets of styrofoam around it, was rather lame. Fortunately it was undamaged, but one good drop and it would have been all over.

I'm guessing China shipping companies must charge by dimensions, so he tries to make the box as small as possible. Either that or bubble wrap is more expensive than stryofoam

 

[ClaretBadger]

When the box needs longer to arrive than the 45 days you have to open a dispute, you're gonna have a baaaad time

you DON'T wait 45 days - you open a dispute after 21 says and leave that case open


education thru experience I guess

 

[vkboy]

heres mine after it finally showed up, thought i was gonna cry :/

 

[ledmeter]

Hey, bummer about that 777. It's so sad that it came this many years and was broken now.
If you come on a holiday to TAS we could get it all fixed up. Budget price accommodation too.

 

[bklyn sound]

real bummer. ...I feel your pain this has happened to me to :annoyed: :annoyed: make shure you get yuor money back..and to thnk after all these broken boxes this guy would do a better job packing....

 

[gsbadbmr]

Airmail = Conveyer Belts = Hard Drops = DAMAGED boomboxes

Shipping boxes is, and will always be risky business. I hope you get a full refund

 

[vkboy]

luckily i got straight on to him/showed him pictures and he refunded me almost instantly which is lucky, but not the best first experience with boomboxes. but we live and learn i suppose!
i just had a mess around with it earlier and it doesn't even power on now, as i tracked down a tape and wanted to see if one of the decks would play but can't even get it to turn on now , and im not the most electronically minded so abit hesitant to start poking around.
ledmeter what do you think we could do with it to try resurrect the 777? as since this is my first box i feel kind of bad leaving it in the state its in.
maybe i could convince my mrs to spend a w/e down there or so and let her do her own thing while we mess around with it lol.

 

[ledmeter]

I don't think we'd have a problem getting it running but the repairs to the cabinet wouldn't be a quick process... If you got a full refund, maybe you could buy another one and bring yours down to be fixed and then you'll have two - after all you'll need more than one to be a collector

 

[Cpl-Chronic]

Well, I got a pretty minty GF-777Z from him & it got here in great shape. Here's the thread I posted about it.

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=15425

I think you have to let him know that you are a member here & that you will let everyone know, 1 way or another, what your purhchase experience has been. If he knows we are watching, he'll go out of his way to do the right thing & make sure you get a good box that is damage free. I even got a 100 dollar refund because the tuner needed work & 1 woofer was scratchy. All in all, i got a minty grail with clean lines no smashed bits & working good for its age for 525, TOTAL, shipped to my door. Both tape decks work perfectly too with a cleaning & re-belt which is expected for its age. I can't fault the guy for that. He even used solid boards around the styrofoam to prevent puctures. It is always a gamble across 12,000 miles of travel but he came through for me & I promised a good word for it. Just let him know you are a member here & you will relate to others what your purchase experience was & he'll probably put more care than normal into the deal & you get a good grail that arrives safe. Don't wait til it arrives to let him know your experience will influence others, after the fact. That's my advice & it worked out beautifully for me, despite the nay-sayers on here.

Also, if you get a completely smashed box, call PayPal directly & send them some pics of the box & serial numbers. If you argue your point in an intelligent manner, I bet they will side with you on a refund without having to ship a pile of busted parts back to him anyway. Either way, remember that less than 5 stars is more damaging to these sellers than having to fully refund your money without a returned item, if psuh comes to shove. They will cave to that threat, if you make it a sticking point.

 

[vkboy]

Was having a slow day today and got sick of staring at the 777 on my bookcase doing nothing so i pulled it apart again to see if i could get it powering up, checked over it and eventually looked at the power supply board, the glass fuse had popped so i grabbed abit of wire (i know i shouldn't) to bypass the fuse and tried again with the power switch and it powered up . had a bit of a fart around with it, the radio was stuffed so i didn't bother with that, as i pinched the antennas anyway to put on my Lasonic and the channel board was broken anyway. got it to work with line in through my phone and even got the 2nd tape deck to work, plays/ff/rr etc works beautifully! the first tape deck is cactus im just gonna glue up the door so it doesn't keep opening and decided im going to keep this box at my work and use it with my phone/tapes as its pretty beat up anyway.
only thing that i need to pay attention to is one of the outer speaker cones has a tear in it, im guessing from when it got smashed up one of the broken plastic pieces may have cut it, it still works but sounds farty so im going to take that one out and repair the cone as the speakers stil sound great otherwise.
im excited i got this to work, although its not a perfect example of a 777Z it will do until i can score a minta which i'll keep at home with my other boxes.
i managed to source a glass fuse at the shops so the random wire fix isn't there anymore

 

[Cpl-Chronic]

glad to hear it wasn't a total loss. I hope you got a full refund for it & it's free to you.