WARNING! Seller on Facebook selling "Brand New" CBS ColecoVision Units!

[TPR]

So I wish I had better news to report from buying a "Brand New" mint condition ColecoVision unit from seller "Photos Hadjipapanicolaou" who posted to the ColecoVision Lunatics and the AtariAge Marketplace Facebook Groups. What I received was a water damaged unit complete with mold in the original CBS box, that clearly looked like it has been there for decades, both on the outside of the box and the inside, so it's pretty obvious this was NOT in mint condition. On top of that, due to poor packaging (they only did a thin layer around the outside of the box) part of the box was crushed in transit.

I have been messaging the seller for the past ten days to work out some sort of agreement to get a new one, and they have refused to give me any sort of partial refund or exchange for another unit. I'm being told "Get money from the post office" which we know will be nearly impossible since the unit came from Cyprus, and if it was just shipping damages alone I would almost agree to try to do that, but the reality is that the water damage is significant enough to make the value of the unit not even close to his asking price.

I am now trying to go through PayPal to dispute it, but since it wasn't purchased via eBay I'm not sure if they will do anything about it (anyone have any advice here?)

Anyway, short version of the story, don't buy one of these units from "Photos Hadjipapanicolaou" or if you see someone online selling a "New In Box" European unit from Cypruss.

[kennybrooks]

If you paid through PayPal with a credit card, file the dispute with the credit card company. If it was from a PayPal balance or debit card, you may not win.

[Jaymiester]

I paid SwampFox56 for an NES HDMI Mod here on the AA Forums.... needless to say, he never finished the Mod and still hasn't returned my NES.

The transaction occurred on July 1st and I filed a claim October 11th. A refund from PayPal was issued on October 25th. Worked for me, so there's hope!

[youki]

I'm really sorry for you.

 

I just noticed on your box , that the game in bundle would be Mouse Trap not Donkey Kong? Interresting.

[NIAD]

I'm really sorry for you.

 

I just noticed on your box , that the game in bundle would be Mouse Trap not Donkey Kong? Interresting.

As you know, CBS sold a number of variations of the CV throughout Europe and other places not including North America that included box variations, system label variations, manual variations, video output variations and the pack-in game. For the most part, you will see systems with Donkey Kong packaged with the system just like you see in North America, but they also did include Mouse Trap and these CIB systems are much rarer. Including Mouse Trap and selling Donkey Kong as a separate CIB was a very smart move by CBS for obvious reasons... everyone probably bought it.

 

CBS also changed the pack-in game for the Super Action Controllers from Super Action Baseball to Rocky seeing as baseball wasn't very popular on your side of the ocean back then compared to now.

[NIAD]

Sorry to hear what happened TPR and hope justice prevails. Don't give up!

[atari181]

So what is this piece of shit's name? If he is on facebook, his name should be displayed. Wether you paid with a CC or not, if yu paid through paypal you can open a claim. If for some reason your claim is denied and you paid with a CC, just call your CC and open a fraud case. You will get your money back no problem.

[Master Phruby]

If you paid through PayPal with a credit card, file the dispute with the credit card company. If it was from a PayPal balance or debit card, you may not win.

Have the credit card company do a charge back on the item. If they don't want to do it, tell them to close your account and you will take your business elsewhere. The charge back will take the money out of the sellers account and put a bad mark on his credit report.

[InfraMan]

PayPal is pretty good about covering purchases from eBay or otherwise, as long as you used the "Pay for goods or services" option. If they won't look out for you, your credit card company probably will. This is clearly the seller's fault.

 

This kind of thing makes me

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

Ahh geez I hate reading this. 99% of the time we receive our goods in proper condition but its that 1% thats always scary. Sorry to hear of this dude.

Hope you have your money refunded soon.

Edited December 9, 2016 by PhoenixMoonPatrol

[Hannacek]

Is the actual item in mint condition? Maybe he doesn't know you wanted the box in good condition. A lot of people who are not collectors don't see the value in boxes and packing materials.

[tep392]

If the box got that wet then I wouldn't be surprised if the console has a fair amount of rust in it even if it looks ok on the outside. But I wouldn't unpack anything to check it out since he's still trying to get his money back. Don't want to give the seller anything to argue over.

[TPR]

Well, I just had to escalate the dispute to a full on PayPal claim. The seller wrote back saying "no refunds, no warranty. The buyer was told these items were 30 years old and should know they may not be in perfect condition."

I have proof (screen shot attached) that he told me they were in perfect condition with no water damage. So I'm hoping that PayPal will side in my favor.

Again, I even offer the guy more money to cover the value of the one he shipped me (which I would place a value of $150+ shipping) if he would send me a new one for the cost I paid originally. I also offered to ship the item back.

He refused both scenarios so now I'm stuck being out the money and with a system that is not as described and nowhere near the value that I paid for it.

I think I'm being fair and reasonable in this situation.

As far as the question about the item inside the box being mint and maybe he didn't know that I wanted a nice box, he did. I actually asked him to please give me the nicest box he has (since he said he had 8 of the machines) as I wanted to display it. So he absolutely knew I wanted the box along with the system to be as mint as possible.

[Mulletino]

Maybe that _was_ his nicest condition box and the unit inside is in Mint Condition?

[cardo1]

That is horrible, we saw this guy attempting to sell these on Facebook less that a week ago. Thank you for sharing this news. You may have saved a number of people from being burnt

Edited December 9, 2016 by cardo1

[eightbit]

Just out of curiosity, how does the unit inside look? What did it look like inside of the foam and most importantly, does it work? Not at all trying to justify what he sold you (I would have been pissed as well) but I am simply curious of the hardware condition.

[TPR]

Just out of curiosity, how does the unit inside look? What did it look like inside of the foam and most importantly, does it work? Not at all trying to justify what he sold you (I would have been pissed as well) but I am simply curious of the hardware condition.

 

I didn't want to open the box or touch it anymore so that way I could still get my claim. I'm afraid that if I do anything more to it the seller could say that it was damaged by me and I'd rather not take that chance.

[TPR]

Maybe that _was_ his nicest condition box and the unit inside is in Mint Condition?

 

Well, it's not as nice as some of the pictures he posted (assuming those pictures were even real) so I'm purely basing my claim off the information that was given to me. I don't feel that I'm wrong in this scenario.

[ValkerieSilk]

I never deal with paypal or ebay, I just dispute the charge on my Amex and let them deal with it. While I haven't had to do this very often, the times I did Amex credited my account.

[Hannacek]

I don't understand why you won't open the box? Did you buy this item as a factory sealed item? Is this a factory sealed item?

 

 

Usually you need to open the item to inspect the condition. If the damage is minor, then you can get compensated for the depreciation in value. If it was not clear to him that you wanted a factory sealed item with the box in mint condition, then he probably just assumed you wanted the item itself. He may have delivered the item in mint condition, and he may win because he did what he said he would do.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Hannacek

[TPR]

I don't understand why you won't open the box? Did you buy this item as a factory sealed item? Is this a factory sealed item?

 

Yes, it's factory sealed. I don't want to open the box because all the photos I've taken and submitted to PayPal show the box in the current condition that it's in. Given the expensive price of the item, I don't want to do anything that will jeopardize me not getting the money back. So I want to keep everything in EXACTLY the condition as it arrived in so if there is any more dispute, the seller can't say that I damaged it myself.

 

If it was not clear to him that you wanted a factory sealed item with the box in mint condition, then he probably just assumed you wanted the item itself.

 

It was totally clear to him that I was looking for a mint condition unopened box to use as a display. I copied part of the conversation I had with him above where I ask him about the condition of the box. I have more conversation where I tell him specifically that I am looking for a mint condition box, and even showed him pictures of the best one I could find online. He knew damn well I wanted a mint condition box and wouldn't have been interested in this item otherwise.

 

i didn't think I'd have to show all of that to you guys as I was hoping you all could have trusted me a little bit to have had very clear communication with him.

[NIAD]

It all boils down to the simple fact that TPR did not receive what was pictured and described in the auction. We've all been thru this and it sucks having to spend our time dealing with the aftermath and stressing over eBay, PayPal or the Credit Card Company's decision on the claim.

[youki]

i guess he sent the item in mint condition, and the problem occurs during the transport. i don't think he can be so stupid to send you that..

 

I don't know who should pay in that condition. I think it depends on the law of respective countries.

 

In France, for Amazon for instance, if your package arrive in bad condition, Amazon generally give you money back and i guess they then claim compensation to the transporter themself.

 

but unfortunately... the guy is not Amazon But i'm prettry sure he could get compensation from his transporter... the problem for him is to prove that he sent the package in mint condition

 

But you're right, don't open the package yet.

[TPR]

i guess he sent the item in mint condition, and the problem occurs during the transport. i don't think he can be so stupid to send you that..

 

Did you read anything I wrote above or look at the pictures I posted?!?!?! The water damage absolutely was there prior to shipping. For many, many years. It's obvious just by the condition of the box. You don't get that much mold, dis-coloring, brittleness of the cardboard box, and warping in just a few days in transit.

 

The issue that DID occur during shipment was the crushed box. Again, due to poor packaging by the shipper.

 

I really don't understand why so many people are siding with the shipper in this scenario! Seriously?!?!?

[TPR]

So PayPal responded back today, told me to ship the item back! So I packed it up, nicer than it was shipped to me, made damn sure there is a tracking number and the guys address on the box, in a couple of places, and won't peel off, and let's see what happens. According to PayPal I have to wait until the seller gets the item back. Crossing my fingers I don't get screwed in this scenario...