galois427

I bought an NEC FE771SB 17" monitor that was supposed to be in "mint condition". It arrived broken. Final analysis: Be careful. Andrew intends well, but doesn't listen to shipping requests/advice, and if something goes wrong, don't expect him to help until he's in a tight spot (i.e. Troll Hunters).

galois427 was the Seller on September 29, 2004 AnandTech

I hate to be giving my first negative eval :-/

See this thread for details and pics: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=45&threadid=1389583

Andrew Vo and I agreed to the following on 08-28-2004:

-I'd send $103 by PayPal credit card funds after he confirmed the agreement

-He'd package the NEC 17" monitor very carefully, as we'd been discussing, so that plenty of foam will surround the monitor and it won't get scratched, dented, or damaged; it should arrive in the "mint" condition as advertised.

-He'd ship it on Monday, Aug. 30th by FedEx Ground, insured

-If the packaging were to fail and damage the "mint" condition monitor, he'd send a full refund of $103 plus an additional $23 to cover return shipping.

-I had to pay to his sister's PayPal account, but that was alright since I had Andrew's full address and phone number and had verified it.

------------------------------

The monitor was shipped when planned. When it arrived, the package was VERY beat up, and the box even said "Lightweight Items such as plastic food containers, games, etc". A monitor should never have been shipped in such flimsy cardboard. Next, he packed it with foam peanuts, newspaper, and a few air bag things. In other words, no foam, no support, and nothing to keep the screen from moving around inside the box. When I opened the package, the screen of the monitor was against one wall of the box. I removed it and found that 3 of 4 corners were slightly damaged. I could have lived with that. However, when I tested it, there was MAJOR discoloration. The left and right bottom corners only produced red and green, respectively. One person who saw the pics described it as "an acid trip".

I called Andrew within 15 minutes of receiving and testing the monitor. He casually, and in a disappointed tone, asked for me to send him pictures of the damaged monitor. He did *not* make an effort to apologize or tell me that I'd be refunded. When I told him I expected a full refund as per our agreement, he merely said "ok". Because of the tone, I had the feeling he wasn't taking the deal seriously, so I told him I'd take legal action against him if he didn't follow our agreement. At that point, he hung up!

I received two e-mails within about an hour of the phone conversation. In one e-mail, he wrote that he'd refund me in 2-3 days. After that, however, he wouldn't respond to ANY e-mails or PM's. He didn't send a refund on the 2nd day, nor the 3rd day. By that time, Tates from TrollHunters had read my thread and contacted me. With Tate's help, I was able to get in touch with Andrew's sister (Andrew is under 18 btw). She quickly e-mailed me and said she would make a deposit the next day and would send me the full $103 + $23 refund by PayPal in two days (to allow the bank deposit to clear first). The PayPal payments were indeed sent as promised on 09-08-2004, but they didn't clear until 09-21-2004, which was almost 2 weeks after I'd been promised to get a refund!

I packed the monitor in the same box it had been shipped to me in, but added Styrofoam and did my best to fix the box up. So, I checked shipping quotes. Yet again, I encountered trouble. It wasn't going to cost $23 to return the monitor...it was going to be a minimum of $29 by FedEx Ground, but the nearest real FedEx location is 70 miles away from here, and the only place that accepts FedEx packages charges ~$3-4 more (which would make it cost roughly $33 to ship). I checked UPS' site and they quoted $33.55. I e-mailed Andrew and told him that it would be nice if he would pay the difference. His response:

E-mail from Andrew:
-------------------------
"it might sound unfair to you but why can't you just pay for the extra $11? when i shipped it, it costed me more than $23, and closer to $30 if i recalled correctly and i had to spend $8 on all the peanuts. i feel its fair if you can just chip in the extra $10 buck. how much is that compared to my lost? not much. you can't expect everything to be perfect. i'm taking most of the blunt; you have to bare a little burden you know."
-------------------------

I didn't want to make any more trouble, so I sent another polite e-mail hoping he'd do the right thing and resolve his mistake. Nope, didn't happen. I shipped the monitor a couple days later (after waiting for a response) and UPS ended up charging me $37! Now, I only received $22 of the $23 PayPal payment he sent me because of fees. I would have gladly ate the lost dollar. But $15 is a bit more significant, especially when factoring in the wasted time--I should have had a "mint condition" monitor on 09-03-2004.

End Result:

-I didn't get a working monitor.
-Andrew had to be forced into resolving the matter (Troll Hunters).
-I ended up in with -$15.

I'll admit that refunding more than $23 for return shipping was not part of the contract. What I had implied by writing "$23 for return shipping" was that he would pay for ALL return shipping costs...I shouldn't have assumed his estimate was correct. Morally, I believe seller's should take all responsibility to make a sale right; a buyer should not end up with less than they began with.

Andrew uses his sister's PayPal AND eBay account. Feedback like mine is also present on their eBay account: jessmikevo

3x Panaflo L1A Fans

galois427 was the Seller on March 3, 2004 AMDMB

Excellent seller... Sent the fans before my paypal e-check even cleared, received the fans the day after it cleared...

purchased ATI 9600 Pro from galois427

galois427 was the Seller on July 29, 2004 AnandTech

Great price, quick shipping and good packing.

Sold GeForce Ti 4600+

galois427 was the Buyer on June 2, 2004 Other/Unknown

FAST PAYMENT, LITERALLY 5 MINUTES!

Hercules Fortissimo III

galois427 was the Seller on August 4, 2004 Overclockers.com

Would buy from agian! shipping was quick!

Swiftech MCX159-P

galois427 was the Buyer on February 27, 2004 Other/Unknown

Prompt payment, great communication, A+++++ trader

M-Audio Revolution 7.1

galois427 was the Buyer on November 13, 2004 AnandTech

Excellent Transaction! Very easy and quick communication and payment was made promptly. Thanks!

512mb Crucial PC2700

galois427 was the Seller on July 21, 2004 AnandTech

Andrew proved himself to be a very trustworthy and reliable trader on this deal, he came through exactly as promised. Excellent packaging and very quick shipping. Like to sell him something next time.

Sold Enermax PSU

galois427 was the Buyer on July 17, 2004 Other/Unknown

Good buyer! Paid fast with PayPAl.

Purchased 2z512MB of PQI DDR400 RAM.

galois427 was the Seller on January 20, 2008 HardForum

Seller was a very good communicator and shipped promptly. Item was also shipped in a secure manner as well and arrived in great shape. Was a pleasure to deal with and would buy from again.

Bought an AMD X2 4200+.

galois427 was the Seller on February 11, 2008 HardForum

The cpu was shipped very well in a protective case and lots of peanuts. Overall a good transaction and I would buy from him again.

sold Antec Truepower 430

galois427 was the Buyer on April 8, 2004 AMDMB

this power supply was sitting around looking for a new home. Offered it at very reasonable cost shipped. Money put in my paypal account same day. I shipped the next day. Great doing business with galois427. No haggling or \"my heat is better than yours\". Wouldn\'t hesitate to trade again. I even threw in some extra case fans for no additional cost, since the process was so smooth.

Seagate Xbox HDD

galois427 was the Seller on July 18, 2004 AnandTech

Hard drive works perfectly picked up from sellers home with no probs great trader!

i sold him a motherboard

galois427 was the Buyer on August 5, 2004 Other/Unknown

great trader, sent money as soon as he received the product. i would trade with him again.

Clearflex tubing and clamps

galois427 was the Buyer on March 23, 2004 AMDMB

Great deal excellant communications and fast payment

Sold him my ati 9800

galois427 was the Buyer on April 21, 2004 AMDMB

Flawless transaction , prompt payment , no problems at all. Good trader.

Swiftech MCX-159

galois427 was the Seller on March 13, 2004 Other/Unknown

good seller, good communication shipped as promised.

Traded CPU\'s.

Cross-traded on March 2, 2004 Other/Unknown

Great trader, smooth communication.

Thx, Jon...

Bought a shroud and a 120mm Panaflo

galois427 was the Seller on February 24, 2004 Other/Unknown

Quick shipping. A+ seller.

I sold him my Shuttle AN50R motherboard.

galois427 was the Buyer on March 23, 2004 Other/Unknown

Good communication and a nice guy. I let him pay 85 at first then 25 later and he got the second payment asap. Good buyer.

coolermaster 350watt psu

galois427 was the Seller on July 28, 2004 Other/Unknown

excellent communication and fast shipping

Sold him a DFI Ultra Infinity, 2500+ mobile, SP97 heatsink, and 92mm fan.

galois427 was the Buyer on July 25, 2004 AnandTech

Excellent buyer, would not hesitate to do business with again.

Logitech 640 speakers

galois427 was the Buyer on April 10, 2004 AMDMB

Great shape and a fantastic price. Thanks again.

DangerDen RBX w/brass top

galois427 was the Buyer on March 14, 2004 Other/Unknown

Very fast and reponsive communication. Quick payment and awesome person.

GF4Ti4200 128Mb

galois427 was the Buyer on July 14, 2004 Other/Unknown

Purchaser pay very quick using paypal, and yes, a little problem with shipping, but the buyer is very willing to resolve it in good intent. Very happy to deal with.