AVOID!!

[chsfact]

I have been using Ebay for years as a buyer, (and occasional seller), and nearly every purchase has been at least satisfactory. That is until recently, when I purchased a counterfeit "genuine" HP laptop charger (for a premium price), from an unscrupulous seller, , which failed after half an hour. It took at least two weeks to arrive from China. I complained to the seller, and a week later was given instructions to test the AC input cable. This proved the actual charger faulty. Another week later, told me he was sending a replacement charger. Guess what?? This also took two weeks to arrive, and failed INSTANTLY. I then purchased a "generic" charger from another vendor, for half the price, and it is still working perfectly.  Meanwhile, I emailed  to tell him of my negative experience, and left negative feedback. (after reading about others' experiences with this guy's counterfeit junk). Another week or so later, he sends me an email stating he would refund me the purchase price once I reversed the negative feedback. This I did, and never got a refund. In fact, he has blocked be from any communication with him, and continues to trade his dodgy merchandise! THIS CONSTITUTES FEEDBACK EXTORTION!!!! I have complained to Ebay, but so far the main response from them, whilst sympathetic,  is that I should have lodged a claim with Paypal within 90 days. Too bad for me that I gave this a**hole the benefit of a doubt, and he deliberately strung his broken promises beyond that period. Ebay states that he is "under investigation", but still allows him to trade.

[lyndal1838]

There is no way ebay or paypal woud tell you to open a dispute within 90 days.....the timeframe for opening a dispute is 45 days with a further 20 days in which you can escalate to a claim.

[phorum_junkie*]

Just thank your lucky stars the charger just failed, they can actually fry your computer or cause fires or electric shock. You should never buy a laptop charger from anyone except an authorised re-seller of the brand you are buying for and you should always buy from a reputable B&M store so that if it does not just fail but cause damage you can actually get some redress.

What you should have done is open a Paypal dispute as soon as the charger failed the first time.

[chsfact]

Yeah, this guy played me like a well tuned Stradivarius Violin! What an a**hole! I gave him the benefit of a doubt, and he sent me another "dud". 45 days later, he is uncontactable. AND now benefits from my positive feedback, which he extorted!

[mikisftf]

As phorum_junkie said ->

"Just thank your lucky stars the charger just failed" relatively safely.

"they can actually fry your computer or cause fires or electric shock."  Or even electrocution.

"You should never buy a laptop charger from anyone except an authorised re-seller of the brand you are buying for"

"and you should always buy from a reputable B&M store so that if it does not just fail but cause damage you can actually get some redress."

And I will add - look for the Australian Electrical Safety Standards Mark(s), and in some cases, also look for the Supplier's Number.

[zanadoo_56]

I had the same thing happen and was also strung along until it was too late to lodge a claim.  As it worked for a short time unfortunately I had already provided positive feedback.  I did provide follow up feedback warning people not to buy the item but with such high volume sales my complaint was soon buried.

I had already tried to buy the item from a couple of local shops but they wouldn't or couldn't order it for me.  Sometimes the internet is the only source....sigh.  It also becomes difficult to identify the good from the dodgy when the item is normally made in China anyway.