What should I do? (bought Sharp from Tiko)

[vladi123456]

I bought a boombox from member Tiko, and here's his description:

A sharp gf 9191+manuals+schemas
look mint , works perfect
http://www.boomboxery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7917

When I received it a few weeks ago -

- There was no schemas
- There's a large burn mark on top. A HUGE deep scratch across the entire boombox - about 17-18 inches long. And there are some spots on top - none of the above is visible in his picture - or mentioned in his post.
- When listen to a tape - it makes a "boom-boom-boom" sound with a little bit of music in the background - sometimes the music is louder than "boom-boom-boom", and sometimes "boom-boom-boom" is louder than music.
- Left speakers don't work on any input - radio, tape, line-in. The right speakers are fine though.
- When turn the boombox off - it makes a horrid sound like it's about to explode
- It smells of fried electronics

I understand that some of the problems could be due to the shipping, but when I emailed Tiko that I wanted to return the boombox - or if he had better ideas - to let me know - he stopped responding to my emails.

I waited a little bit for his response, and then filed a claim with Paypal. Last night I got my money back, so now I have his Sharp, that I don't know what to do with.
The options so far are:
- Send it back to France, but it would cost $100, and I'm not paying for it.
- Sell it and send him whatever money I can get for it

Or what would you guys do? Cast your opinion and help me decide what I should do!

I also wanted to make this discussion as public as possible - so that other members know better than buying from Tiko, and also that he can read it too.

Here are some pictures and a video I took after I received the boombox

 

[redbenjoe]

i have done great and very honest business with both tiko and vladi --

so --this is a mega-shock

its like he actually sent you a VERY DIFFERENT 9191
---------------------------------------

agree that it would not be fair to you-
or even good for him -
if you had to waste $100 for the return freight --

we have lots of 9191 fans --
so -yes - sell it // or part it --
and send him the proceeds

 

[kingrat2010]

feel sorry for u but at least u got ur money back
i thought tiko is reliable but maybe hes reliable to his aka boombox terrorist

 

[hardmen]

Vladi!

Depending on the price and the agreement you reach with the Tiko, I get this radio and try to save him.
Send detailed photos of how it is to my mail:

E-mail removed

Cheers!

 

[MasterBlaster84]

Sorry to hear Vladi, I don't recall this happening with Tiko before.
Whatever you do you shouldn't have to pay $100 to ship it back so I would give put the ball in Tiko's court and let him decide how he would like to handle it. If he doesn't respond then you have done your part and made an honest effort to do the right thing so the the boombox defaults to you.

 

[vladi123456]

I was pretty surprised myself, because him and I were communicating the entire time I was waiting for the boombox to arrive. But as soon as I got it and emailed Tiko about the differences between his description and the actual boombox - he stopped responding. So I really don't know what to think - I too thought maybe he sent a different boombox by mistake, but if you look at his picture closely - you can see the scratch in the lower left corner. What you can't see is the scratch is actually almost 18 inches long - so it seems that it is the same boombox from his listing.

 

[vladi123456]

Sorry to hear Vladi, I don't recall this happening with Tiko before.
Whatever you do you shouldn't have to pay $100 to ship it back so I would give put the ball in Tiko's court and let him decide how he would like to handle it. If he doesn't respond then you have done your part and made an honest effort to do the right thing so the the boombox defaults to you.

Don, thanks for your opinion, appreciate that.

 

[baddboybill]

Sorry to hear Vladi, I don't recall this happening with Tiko before.
Whatever you do you shouldn't have to pay $100 to ship it back so I would give put the ball in Tiko's court and let him decide how he would like to handle it. If he doesn't respond then you have done your part and made an honest effort to do the right thing so the the boombox defaults to you.

 

[Superduper]

Simple solution Vlad. Don't do anything with it for now.

Just put the boombox into your attic or closet or garage or under the bed, and inform Tiko that you will hold it for 90 days, pending his instructions on what to do. If he doesn't respond, then treat it as abandoned property after giving him notice and after the 90 days have elapsed. You are not obligated to sell and return the money to him. The next buyer might end up filing a paypal claim against YOU after 44 days and want the money back too, so just consider that possibility. No reason you should need to take on that risk either.

I do not suggest selling it for now since technically, you do not own it and he might not be happy with the sales price or whatever. In any event, taking any action on that box without explicit instructions will muddy the situation.

 

[vladi123456]

Norm, this is an excellent idea - I think I'm going to follow your advice.
But why would anybody file a claim against ME? I would not misrepresent anything, so they would have no reason to

 

[Superduper]

Vlad. If you sell anything long enough, you will find that this is a fact of life with respects to any transaction involving paypal. Just like there are bad sellers, there are bad buyers too. Describing accurately minimizes that risk but there is always a risk and paypal allows up to 45 days to file claim. I'm just saying that if you sell and send the proceeds away, then subsequently get a claim against you -- you will regret this big time. It happens. Check with other members. Lots of sellers (including fatdog) has been victimized by unscrupulous buyers and paypal.

 

[vladi123456]

I see.....good thing I don't have anything for sale then

 

[bigolac]

Just my two cents - if I'm trying to sell something either on ebay or a forum, I try to take sharp, detailed pics, including damage, so there is no confusion about its condition. I see so many listings that have horrible pics - unless it's cheap and I'm willing to take a risk - I very rarely bid on such listings. I also place a disclaimer - 'you're buying this as-is' type of language. This isn't my business, but I treat is as such. Just makes everything smoother.

I think paypal can give buyers a false sense of security - in reality, you're buying the buyer, not just the item you've bid on. You're trusting the seller to be honest - which is not always the case.

- Adam

 

[mellymelsr]

Looking at his pics and description and then seeing the closeup of the actual radio are completely different. I would have been pissed. Glad you got your money back. The word "mint" shouldn't be anywhere in the description of that radio. I consider that a very false representation and a seasoned collector should know better. I would agree with Norm's advice...seems like a very fair way to handle things.

 

[saxonman]

I'm pretty sure it's the same box but just look at the state of it in the original advert it was bigged up as 99 % if i got that i would return it ok but i would be going round there to return it just to make sure it got there!

 

[vladi123456]

Looking at his pics and description and then seeing the closeup of the actual radio are completely different. I would have been pissed. Glad you got your money back. The word "mint" shouldn't be anywhere in the description of that radio. I consider that a very false representation and a seasoned collector should know better. I would agree with Norm's advice...seems like a very fair way to handle things.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I opened the box and saw that 18 inches long scratch.
In any case, if I knew beforehand the actual cosmetics of that boombox - I wouldn't even bother with it at all - burn marks and all.

 

[vladi123456]

I'm pretty sure it's the same box but just look at the state of it in the original advert it was bigged up as 99 % if i got that i would return it ok but i would be going round there to return it just to make sure it got there!

I'm in Texas, and Tiko is in France - if Tiko wants to pay for my travel - I will gladly return it in person

 

[MasterBlaster84]

The word "mint" shouldn't be anywhere in the description of that radio.

When I see that in a description I'm expecting something that has very few small flaws if any at all.