A word of caution

[ras]

Hello Everyone,

This is probably as good of a place as it could be to post this. Please let me know otherwise.

Since a lot of us get gear from overseas, I thought this message would serve as a useful warning. I'll keep it short: if you receive a bad item, you're responsible for return shipping costs, unless seller decides to cover them. The latter point is very important, because it is entirely at seller's discretion. Neither PayPal nor your card issuer will be willing/ able to recoup shipping costs. When it comes to rods, it is a serious issue. Seller offers to accept a return, but refuses to cover return shipping costs, clearly knowing that it'll be expensive and may make you think twice about it. It could be more expensive than the rod itself.

To be clear, most sellers I've dealt with have been absolutely great about it. But not all. It seems one only finds out when the latest purchase goes wrong.

[dragon1]

Damn, wow that sux. I suppose it's best to get this clarification from the seller upfront about rod returns in case the rod is received damaged.

[Slazmo]

I bought some vintage rods from the US and had them sent to Australia.

Two Shimano Chopsticks - 1980 circa style pistol grip and the rest.

One came absolutely flawless and the second well all I can say is - fraudulent reproduction. I paid good money for these and they came smelling like a crusty cigarette laden velour lounge with splashes of cheap whisky.

I got onto the seller with pictures and the rest and was met with absolute contempt and blamed me for trying to defraud him - got onto PayPal as it was a clear case but they didn't help at all. For me to send the rods back by the same method would've cost me twice the rods cost.

I ended up going through my bank and they helped out immensely by instructing PayPal to refund my full purchase and post price and managed to get PayPal to blacklist the seller on the fact of the images and proof I supplied.

Still have both rods - still dirty about the second rod being a fake reproduction!

[goldrod]

Hello Everyone,

This is probably as good of a place as it could be to post this. Please let me know otherwise.

Since a lot of us get gear from overseas, I thought this message would serve as a useful warning. I'll keep it short: if you receive a bad item, you're responsible for return shipping costs, unless seller decides to cover them. The latter point is very important, because it is entirely at seller's discretion. Neither PayPal nor your card issuer will be willing/ able to recoup shipping costs. When it comes to rods, it is a serious issue. Seller offers to accept a return, but refuses to cover return shipping costs, clearly knowing that it'll be expensive and may make you think twice about it. It could be more expensive than the rod itself.

To be clear, most sellers I've dealt with have been absolutely great about it. But not all. It seems one only finds out when the latest purchase goes wrong.

Who was it that you had this unfortunate experience with?
I’ve been dealing with popular vendors but sometimes I will roll the dice

[ras]

Hello Everyone,

This is probably as good of a place as it could be to post this. Please let me know otherwise.

Since a lot of us get gear from overseas, I thought this message would serve as a useful warning. I'll keep it short: if you receive a bad item, you're responsible for return shipping costs, unless seller decides to cover them. The latter point is very important, because it is entirely at seller's discretion. Neither PayPal nor your card issuer will be willing/ able to recoup shipping costs. When it comes to rods, it is a serious issue. Seller offers to accept a return, but refuses to cover return shipping costs, clearly knowing that it'll be expensive and may make you think twice about it. It could be more expensive than the rod itself.

To be clear, most sellers I've dealt with have been absolutely great about it. But not all. It seems one only finds out when the latest purchase goes wrong.

Who was it that you had this unfortunate experience with?
I’ve been dealing with popular vendors but sometimes I will roll the dice

I didn't think I was rolling the dice because I'd dealt with the vendor previously. However, this was the first time I hit a snag. In a binary world, their name would be the opposite of south zero.

[dragon1]

I bought some vintage rods from the US and had them sent to Australia.

Two Shimano Chopsticks - 1980 circa style pistol grip and the rest.

One came absolutely flawless and the second well all I can say is - fraudulent reproduction. I paid good money for these and they came smelling like a crusty cigarette laden velour lounge with splashes of cheap whisky.

I got onto the seller with pictures and the rest and was met with absolute contempt and blamed me for trying to defraud him - got onto PayPal as it was a clear case but they didn't help at all. For me to send the rods back by the same method would've cost me twice the rods cost.

I ended up going through my bank and they helped out immensely by instructing PayPal to refund my full purchase and post price and managed to get PayPal to blacklist the seller on the fact of the images and proof I supplied.

Still have both rods - still dirty about the second rod being a fake reproduction!

PayPal essentially doesn't give a flying fart about protecting anyone. Their main concerns are hidden surcharges and gleaning "profit" off the top of purchases.

[ras]

PayPal essentially doesn't give a flying fart about protecting anyone.

That is my current impression, and I'm quite a bit surprised by that. They outright told me they didn't want to wrong the seller by simply refunding the order amount to the buyer, but they also firmly believed that it was fair to have the customer foot the bill for returning bad product. It was somewhat funny to hear the supervisor outright say that when they were pressed hard.

[dragon1]

PayPal essentially doesn't give a flying fart about protecting anyone.

That is my current impression, and I'm quite a bit surprised by that. They outright told me they didn't want to wrong the seller by simply refunding the order amount to the buyer, but they also firmly believed that it was fair to have the customer foot the bill for returning bad product. It was somewhat funny to hear the supervisor outright say that when they were pressed hard.

Corporate Fascism, Nepotism, Cronyism...general idolizing of money, power, and ultimate greed... PayPal is essentially saying without da legal verbiage, that they make more from the transaction fees from sellers, versus that which they may skim off the top from users of their service.

Corporate Corruption and Greed has never left the building or gone out of style throughout time.