Ebay economy with the truth?

[N Dentressangle]

I need an old mower for bits of a paddock, so thought this might fit the bill:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141948377934?euid=3243af...

To me, the phrase 'the mower was working last year' implies it works OK. Hmmm. On getting it home I find that:

- the engine's broken free from the deck and been bodged back on with some big washers. Not a disaster, but there you go.
- the blade falls off as I get the mower out of the van. As above, I have spanners.
- the power drive doesn't work. On investigation and removing the covers I find that a) the drive belt is missing, b) the rear axle is broken, and c) the drive gears are so worn and crap that even if I find a new belt and weld up the axle it probably still won't work. Tedious.
- the handle is broken on one side. Lucky I've got a welder.

I don't expect much for £25, but if I were flogging something so knackered I think I'd say!

I'll probably weld up its bits and use it as is, but it makes you wonder about the honesty of some people...

[mikees]

Ummmmmm........ 25 quid for a Husq? If you can fix get over it. I sold a little hayter 42 as spares or repair as couldn't be asked fixing as have new commercial Honda. Got a tenner and lad had driven from Devon ( to Aylesbury way) collecting 4 mowers from eBay as running a startup gardening biz. He got it running on my drive ( I'd checked and cleaned plugs and filter).

I let him have it for free ( seemed a nice lad and a tenner was a lot to him) as I needed the space.

Some chancers on eBay. Just crack on

eBay is eBay.

Seems like you have a good mower for 25 quid if you can fix easily

Mike

[227bhp]

Buy a used mower for £24 and take a risk, what's more to be said? The clue is all in the brief wording 'Was working last year' and 'Sold as seen' should have told you all you needed to know.
Use your feedback wisely...

[Kaj91]

The seller may have been economic with the truth, not ebay. Also if you picked it up yourself then surely you had time to inspect it before handing over your £23.95

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

'Working last year' implies it would probably just need the carb cleaning out and a general tidy up...obviously broken/missing parts means it's broken and should be sold as spares/repairs...FFS.

I'd be pissed off.

[2gins]

To me, and sorry for coming over as a smart arse, the phrase "was working last year" means "It isn't working and needs considerable effort to restore; I'm hoping some mug buys it as is".

If it were working, the ad would have said "In full working order" or some such, and commanded a much higher price.

Who sells a mechanical device like that without testing it, if he's selling it then he wants some money for it, you'd think he'd at least test it to see if could up his price.

Tested, found to be shagged, carefully worded ad, fingers crossed... you know the rest.

[Sir Bagalot]

N Dentressangle said:

To me, the phrase 'the mower was working last year' implies it works OK.

To me it means it was working last year. Or was it the year before? But it isn't working now.

You really do have to read between the lines on ebay. If it said it was in working order then he gets more for it. But he can't say that cos he knows it's bust!

[N Dentressangle]

Dr Doofenshmirtz said:

'Working last year' implies it would probably just need the carb cleaning out and a general tidy up...obviously broken/missing parts means it's broken and should be sold as spares/repairs...FFS.

I'd be pissed off.

That's kind of what it implies to me, but hey ho. The karma police'll get him.

I'll put a sad rebuild thread up when I start fixing it up! At least it's some more welding practice.

[Evoluzione]

N Dentressangle said:

That's kind of what it implies to me, but hey ho. The karma police'll get him.

I'll put a sad rebuild thread up when I start fixing it up! At least it's some more welding practice.

You don't need to rely on witchcraft, that is what Ebay feed back is for.

Vendor sells poorly mower, buyer moans on an internet forum, buyer has 100% positive feedback.
Not quite seeing the sense in this thread at all.

[N Dentressangle]

Evoluzione said:

You don't need to rely on witchcraft, that is what Ebay feed back is for.

Vendor sells poorly mower, buyer moans on an internet forum, buyer has 100% positive feedback.
Not quite seeing the sense in this thread at all.

That'll be because I haven't left him any feedback yet...

In any case, all he's done is be economical with the truth, as I say. You could argue I'm the mug for not assuming the worst. The description doesn't necessarily contain anything untrue, although the power drive hasn't worked for years, I reckon. The rest of its faults don't really bother me.

[soad]

Chuck it away, far too much work.

What's wrong with buying brand new things?

[N Dentressangle]

soad said:

Chuck it away, far too much work.

Too late.

I've started:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Jimmy Recard]

'Working last year' implies to me 'definitely no longer works otherwise I would write that it currently works'

[andy43]

That should have been listed as spares or repairs only. To be fair I would have tested it before paying.

[hairykrishna]

My general rule of thumb on eBay is that "Not tested" means it's broken.

[LivingTheDream]

You're not alone OP - I've done something very similar recently. Bought an item 'that worked last summer' only to find it had been left outside all winter and the internal electrics were knackered. Bought with cash - seller doesn't care

[Triumph Man]

N Dentressangle said:

I need an old mower for bits of a paddock, so thought this might fit the bill:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141948377934?euid=3243af...

To me, the phrase 'the mower was working last year' implies it works OK. Hmmm. On getting it home I find that:

- the engine's broken free from the deck and been bodged back on with some big washers. Not a disaster, but there you go.
- the blade falls off as I get the mower out of the van. As above, I have spanners.
- the power drive doesn't work. On investigation and removing the covers I find that a) the drive belt is missing, b) the rear axle is broken, and c) the drive gears are so worn and crap that even if I find a new belt and weld up the axle it probably still won't work. Tedious.
- the handle is broken on one side. Lucky I've got a welder.

I don't expect much for £25, but if I were flogging something so knackered I think I'd say!

I'll probably weld up its bits and use it as is, but it makes you wonder about the honesty of some people...

My mower worked fine last year, until I broke the pull start. And now it doesn't. I'd never trust an advert that said something worked fine way back when.

[N Dentressangle]

LivingTheDream said:

You're not alone OP - I've done something very similar recently. Bought an item 'that worked last summer' only to find it had been left outside all winter and the internal electrics were knackered. Bought with cash - seller doesn't care

I bought this one with Paypal, at the seller's insistence. I might as well fix it up now - it's probably worth £25, even with a knackered power drive.

[soad]

Triumph Man said:

My mower worked fine last year, until I broke the pull start. And now it doesn't. I'd never trust an advert that said something worked fine way back when.

Agreed. Message the seller.

[Spare tyre]

I buy a couple of small diy trailers a month to repair and sell

Some of the listings state that everything is like new and fully working

Get there and the plug is missing - they usually give you some crap about it happening that morning

Then you take a look at the units and the bulbs are missing

I think people are basically dicks