I’d post to classifieds, but I’ve not been on the forum for 30 days and am blocked from posting new there…
I purchased a ‘like new’ Hed 3 rear wheel off of a member for $430 (shipping included). I paypal’d him immediately and he sent the wheel out. Only problem was that when I received the wheel it was one of the factory HED rejects (.035" out of round), it’s also a bit out of true (acceptable, but noticable) and the bearings are not smooth. He said he purchased it through TriSports–and maybe he did–but there is a huge difference in Grade A and Grade B wheels–both in terms of ride quality and price, and I have a hard time believing that TriSports would sell a B grade wheel without disclosing it (the factory writes the specs on the inside of the rim). He said he’d take the wheel back and refund my money, but I’d be out for paypal fees and shipping (total of about $80).
I do believe it’s the sellers responsibility to accurately describe the product they’re selling. Whether he knew it or not, he was selling an inferior wheel and I don’t see why I should be financially ding’d for it. What’s the protocol here and what recourse do I have?
Each story has two sides I guess, but with that being said I’m with you based on what you have described.
The seller should of course refund you for the wheel and shipping (both ways). I think that there is a credit/refund function in Paypal that lets you reverse a transaction but I might be wrong.
I hope it works out, all of my purchases here on ST have worked out well with good and honest people.
As you are clearly aware that HED etches the ‘trueness’ onto the hub of the H3’s, why did you not ask for these details before purchase?
I also agree with Bjorn, I have H3C’s Front and Rear, and it wasn’t until long after I had purchased them that I knew about the etching. It is possible that the Seller knew nothing about it.
If I were you, I’d attempt to send the wheel for replacement under the recall provisions. And I would sweet talk them until they exchanged it. I think you have a good case here.
You could beg trisports to take it back but I seriously doubt they will show sympathy. You have no case against them–you don’t even have a receipt to my knowledge.
If the seller doesn’t want to pay for shipping I think you are SOL with him. At best you could bring him to small claims court or something. A paypal dispute resolution in your favor is totally useless. And throwing morals at someone who doesn’t care about them is also a waste of time. I do think the guy is being pretty reasonable to take the wheel back, though. It sounds to me like you didn’t ask enough questions, but I can’t be sure from what you’ve written.
Send him back the wheel, take the money and ask him to please be a stand up guy and refund the first shipping charge. If he does, he is a gentlemen, if he won’t you learned a lesson.
Shiiping costs are not enough money to stress over, life goes on and I would move on to more productive activities.
This has nothing to do with trisports. It would be quite wrong for anyone who was not the original purchaser to try to return something. His argument is with the seller.
Thanks everyone for your replies. The seller is a stand up guy it seems and has agreed to refund the purchase price and the shipping price. I did not know about the trueness/roundess details until after I had made the purchase, or I would have asked in advance for the info. It appears the seller didn’t know about the specs either.
I’ll check with HED about a recall, but I think I’d rather let the seller deal with it.