Help - Seller was not up front and has not communicated

[cdbnt]

Hi - I have purchased an expensive video camera from a seller and it arrived a few days ago.  To my surprise and frustration, it did not come with a power adaptor/cord.  I checked the original listing and the seller did have a section that stated exactly the items that came in the box but did not say these are the ONLY items that come with the camera.  Am I wrong to feel that something crucial to the operation of the camera - the thing that provides the power to operate it and charge the battery (battery is charged attached to camera) should not be explicitly noted in the listing if it is to be missing from the package?  

The full listing read:

Used Sony X70 Camcorder in full working order.

A few marks on bottom of camera, (see included pic) but otherwise fine.

Comes with Remote Control, Battery, User Manual, CD-ROM and Data Cable.

Australian Model.

Does not have 4K update.

Then some cut and pasted marketing excerpts on the tech specs.  No mention of the missing power cable/adaptor, nor of the eye cup that is also missing.

On top of this, the seller has not communicated a single word to me since I won the auction.  Not a thing - despite me paying him nearly 2k asap after the auction ended he did not message me once to reassure that he received funds and that he was sending the item.  I emailed him after 4 days asking what was going on with no response.  He took nearly a week before finally marking it as sent.  This guy has great feedback - I do not understand how if this is how he does things!

I have emailed him since receieving the item and asked if what I received was correct, staing that if that was the case I feel the listing was disingenuous, but I'm not sure what else I can/should do from here.  If I walk away, I feel like he's getting away with a bunch of transgressions here!

I've been using eBay for a LONG time and have only had, maybe, three bad experiences (including this one) and have only had to use the res service once - coincidentally enough last week - so I'm not a hypochondriac buyer.  This situation just really cheesed me off.  

Apologies for the long rant/vent.

[6508.froggy]

I would agree with your assumptions - that is part of the video camera to operate fully and should have been noted in the the description that this was missing.  

If the seller is not responding to your messages I would open up a Not as Described case,

Opening up the case may encourage the seller to respond to your messages and worse case scenerio you can return the item at the sellers expense. 

[padi*0409]

froggy, whilst the missing charging adaptor probably should have been noted in the description, it certainly wasn't noted in the items included in the package - so an INAD dispute may well fail in this case.

Possibly the seller forgot to put it in or else it was faulty and had been thrown away, maybe it would be easier for the OP to source another one themselves - it's not a big ticket item.

I agree that the seller has been tardy in replying to the emails though.....

[yeoldecoinco]

As an occasional buyer, one of the things I really hate, is when sellers won't provide good service.

Probably because, as a seller, I do, when others don't, it really gets under my skin.

If someone bought something for $2k off me and expressed diappointment, I would be on the phone to them quick smart, in this case, after having tried to source a cheap power cord for this camera...

After all, a camera without a cord is fairly useless.

Look after eBay customers (and all customers) or lose them in this highly competitive world, and get a tedious refund process and possibly negative feedback/social media reviews thrown in for good measure...

As for the seller communicating with the buyer.

eBay seem to be actively discouraging this.

They have a system that when the seller marks the item as posted, an email is automatically generated to the buyer, stating that the item has been sent. The seller can also leave positive feedback, if they choose.

They don't seem to encourage any other communication and have the crazy sytem where a seller who HAS NOT communicated with a buyer CANNOT be left any DSRs for communication, where as a seller who HAS communicated with a buyer can be left less than perfect DSRs for actually communicating with the buyer... Patently absurd.

In this case, as a buyer, I am not sure what I would do.

Maybe point out to the seller that you need the cord for the camera. If they won't help, consider if the 2k you paid for the camera was cheap.

If you think it was, you will then search and pay for a power cord for it.

If you don't think it was cheap or worthwhile without the power cord, then put it back on the seller, perhaps by saying that you expected a power cord with the camera. Can the seller provide one? If not, you may consider returning the item for a refund.

That usually gets a sellers attention, especially when it is a couple of thousand dollars.

I hope you paid with Paypal, gives you more leverage as a buyer to get what you want.

[phorum_junkie*]

I am sorry but I fear you will get nowhere with a dispute. The seller did not include the cable in the list of what was included, they had no need to include a list and if they had not thenp erhaps you woud have had a case but they did. You got exactly what was described and will just have to source a charger cable yourself. Bit of advice, do not buy a cheap one from China, that is likely to result in frying your camera or burning down your house.

[springyzone]

I feel that if you can't charge the battery, then that is a crucial component missing and it absolutely should have been mentioned in the listing.

I know they gave a list of inclusions and didn't put this in, but all the same, it's a bit of a lie by omission, pretty sneaky and I don't like that.

I don't like anything about this transaction. I don't like that the seller took a long time to post, or that he isn't replying to messages.

I'd certainly try the path of not as described, critical part missing. If it gets knocked back, I'd ring and state your case that the thing can't be charged and as such, that should have been mentioned in the ad. You may win, you may not, but it is worth a shot.

Of course if you lose, you will need to go down the path of buying a suitable power adapter.

And win or lose, the seller deserves a neg.

Really, I know you haven't had many bad experiences before but you're not the first to strike problems with cameras and this sort of equipment. Personally, I would give ebay a miss when buying these items unless it is pick up and you can examine before buying.

[cdbnt]

Thank you to everyone for your responses - you pretty much echoed everything going on inside my head (on both sides of the argument) but I was definitely relieved to see I was not alone with my criticisms.  

However, lo and behold, the seller has replied to my last email.  Ears must have been burning...does that apply in this situation?

Actually, not the seller himself, but his wife, I believe.  She has apologised on his behalf (apparently he has been away on 'a business trip'), told me he gets back on Friday and she will get him to find it for me.  Unfortunately they do not have the eye cup (I did not realise how expensive they are for this camera!) but I'm letting that go - the adaptor is crucial, the eye cup is a luxury item in comparison.  

So, fingers crossed, all is okay.  But I am still with you all in regards to the seller's radio silence up to this point - it has caused stress that I would have much preferred not have experienced.  My guess is that he must have had his wife post the camera and has been away on a fishing trip (I read on the listing Q&A that he used the camera for fishing tours - I suspect that is the 'business' his wife refers to) this whole time, hence the dead air.  I feel a bit ambivalent now about leaving honest feedback.  

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Maybe if, like me, all your adaptors are in a drawer the seller possibly forgot to put it in. But you'd think they'd respond.

I'm curious how the seller charged it to ascertain it was functional?

I do feel as others have said it's not listed in the inclusions so it's not an INAD. Irrespective of whether it's critical to the item, it's not specifically listed as being there. Bit of a catch 22 really. Do you list what is there or do you list what isn't there?

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Also noteworthy it's not pictured in the listing either.

[springyzone]

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@letscleanupmycupboards wrote:
Maybe if, like me, all your adaptors are in a drawer the seller possibly forgot to put it in. But you'd think they'd respond.

I'm curious how the seller charged it to ascertain it was functional?

I do feel as others have said it's not listed in the inclusions so it's not an INAD. Irrespective of whether it's critical to the item, it's not specifically listed as being there. Bit of a catch 22 really. Do you list what is there or do you list what isn't there?

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Normally I would say you list what is there but I do think there can be sins of omission-times when sellers don't mention some faults or else don't mention something that is important. In this case, if a charger is pretty important and isn't available, it would be better to specifically mention that upfront.

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re feedback> Plenty of time. Just hold off on giving any at all till you see how things pan out. If the seller returns, finds the charger or cords and posts them on, then I would be inclined to give positive myself.

It would mean the seller made a mistake but rectified it. You could even mention that in feedback.

As a buyer, I find it worthwhile to know a seller will do that.

If you get fobbed off, told it can't be found, wasn't listed anyway, then try Item not as described and go from there. From the point of view of feedback, that would make it a disappointing transaction and you could reflect that with a neutral or neg. Up to you, but you don't have to rush it, wait till you know the outcome and have time to reflect.