Sparkle Silver Baritom

[Rob C.]

Here it is again - I figure I'll list this one up every couple of months until someone bites. This is a mint condition Sparkle Silver Baritom custom ordered by me - solid Alder body, H2+/SD1/SD1R pickups with heavy frets. It is completely mint with not a single ding or mark on it anywhere. All the original paperwork and case candy is also included. Recently restrung and setup with a custom set of DAddario's - a couple extra sets of strings are also included. I'm just not using it so it's time to set it free. I'm asking $1800 including FedEx ground within 48 states paid via Paypal. More pics can be found at www.racmusic.com/forsale <br><br>http://www.racmusic.com/images/sale/bari6.jpg

[Rob C.]

Bump - still trying to move this one. Offers?!?

[jflareuse]

Beware of the seller and misleading ways to purchase the guitar

[GaryMac]

Not sure if its only me, but I was waiting on jflareuse being a bit more specific on his posting or Rob C taking him on and refuting his very negative post.

Neither of these things happened which I find very, very strange:confused: :confused: :confused:

[jflareuse]

When you have agreed upon a price and the seller has the money in the bank but not willing to send the guitar and claims the whole procedure must begin again from scratch.

[GaryMac]

So did you get your money back then:confused: :confused: :confused:

[jflareuse]

The seller wanted me to recall my dispute that I placed in the Paypal claims department for having not received the guitar yet the seller was in possession of my money. Paypal indicated that if I terminated the dispute I would no longer be protected by them and that I trusting the seller. Not knowing the seller from diddleysquat this was a prank where the seller would have the money and the purchaser without a guitar.

[Steve wright]

So did you get your money back then?:confused: :confused: :confused: Or is it still in dispute?

[jflareuse]

Money was returned thanks to Paypal and I purchased a Composite Acoustics electric Blade guitar. Good Luck

[GaryMac]

Glad to hear you got the problem sorted out, and got your money back.:)
At least we all know the full story now.

I must say I have never had any problems with any of the guys/girls on this Forum.
Very friendly and helpfull.
One of the best, and most honest bunch from my experience.
And its an honour and priviledge to be (a very, very small) part of it.

Once again, glad to hear you came right.

[Jack Gretz]

This has me quite concerned!

I would like only trustworthy people to be buying and selling on the forum. Our community is quite nice, with no troubles that I am aware of until this notice. It is in everyones interest to conduct themselves on the highest level of ethics and integrity. Please keep these traits in mind when you are using the forum to make transactions.

[chriswhite]

This has me quite concerned!

I would like only trustworthy people to be buying and selling on the forum. Our community is quite nice, with no troubles that I am aware of until this notice. It is in everyones interest to conduct themselves on the highest level of ethics and integrity. Please keep these traits in mind when you are using the forum to make transactions.
I understand your concerns and jflareuse I understand the trouble you went through, Rob seems to have been around for a bit while not so much active lately. I would like to hear what he has to say about this situation, at least give him the benefit of the doubt before Jack has to get too involved, ya know?

[markus]

I understand your concerns and jflareuse I understand the trouble you went through, Rob seems to have been around for a bit while not so much active lately. I would like to hear what he has to say about this situation, at least give him the benefit of the doubt before Jack has to get too involved, ya know?

I second that. It would be nice to hear both sides of the story.

[jflareuse]

That is fine with me. I do not wish to spread unpleasant rumors and abide but the rules of respect.

[Reddy Kilowatt]

jflareuse, I sent you a PM.

[Rob C.]

Wow - I had no idea all of this had transpired on here.

Here's the 411 on this mess of a deal - lol.

I was contacted by Franc about the Baritom and unfortunately could tell immediately that this was not going to be a "quick and easy deal". I'm sure anyone out there with a lot of experience selling online either through the forums or on e-bay can appreciate what I mean here. So he calls me back a few days later and tells me he wants to purchase the guitar but completely low-balls the price. It was also concurrently listed on E-bay so I decided to let the auction end and not accept his offer. He calls me back again after the auction closes and accepts my much more reasonable counter offer. Of course this is just the start. He had no idea how to process payment through Paypal, what I was talking about with regards to seller & buyer protection through Paypal, what a verified address is, etc. etc. I send him a detailed invoice with serial number of the instrument, etc. through Paypal and make sure to tell him that I only ship to a verified shipping address - NO EXCEPTION! To clarify why, this is a requirement of Paypal for me to be eligible for seller protection - IE this is the only way both Paypal and myself know the owner of the Paypal account actually receives the instrument. So he makes a payment immediately but with an e-check. As anyone with experience knows, an e-check takes 3-5 days for payment to clear and upon informing him of this he states that he has no idea of the delay for processing. Common, if nothing else Paypal is thorough and I'm sure several warnings came up while he was submitting payment on his end. When payment does finally clear guess what, the shipping address he submits is not verified!

So I inform him he must verify the address and the back & forth about this begins. The short of it, he says he verifies it three different occasions with Paypal but the status never changes online. During this time I get two e-mails that are supposedly from Paypal stating the address has been confirmed but they look suspicious at best. Finally when I call to confirm the shipping address has been verified with Paypal they inform me the address has not been verified. So at this point this has been going on for about 2 weeks since the original payment had been submitted and the buyer opens a dispute on this transaction. Typical edicate for me is to open a dispute somewhere around the 30 day mark of a transaction especially if so many issues had been created by the buyer through the process. So this seems a little odd to me to say the least. Now let me say this, at the beginning I really did believe the person I was dealing with was the actual owner of the Paypal account just inexperienced and confused. I was clear about only shipping to a verified address and why this was so important for both of us. But after all of these small issues one after another it finally got to the point that I just wasn't comfortable completing the deal. We talked one Friday afternoon and I told him if he removed the dispute I would go ahead and ship the instrument. Of course this was against my better judgment being that according to the rep at PayPal I spoke with the shipping address was still not verified. He agreed and said it he would remove the dispute immediately. The next day I get a message that someone @ Paypal told him if he removes the dispute he cannot file another dispute on the same transaction later so he wanted me to ship the guitar first. Another point to mention, I offer to end the transaction and issue a full refund a couple of times through this mess and he declines the offer. On Saturday morning I call Paypal, they inform me that yes he can submit another claim later so in actuality him removing the first one does nothing for me and regardless if he confirms the address after the transaction I will NOT be covered for seller protection. The only way I would be covered is to cancel the transaction and start the whole process over again - ughh!! At this point I've reached the end of my rope, so I issue a full refund through Paypal and close the dispute. Strange enough this buyer who was contacting me via phone and e-mail at least several times a day for the past two weeks immediately stops all communication. Not a single e-mail or phone call asking why I cancelled the transaction, etc. etc.

As if all of this wasn't enough this transaction still haunts me even after I issue a refund. I always leave the funds I receive through Paypal in the Paypal account until I get word from the buyer that the item was received and everything is good. Just in case there is a problem so we don't have to wait for funds to be transferred in or out on my end, etc. Well when I issued a refund Paypal in their infinite wisdom withdrew the $1700 refund from my personal checking account and not from the balance of the Paypal account!! Thankfully I had more than enough in my personal account to cover that withdrawal and it wasn't a problem for me to wait for the balance of the Paypal account to be deposited. Of course this is no fault of the Buyer but just one more issue with this nightmare deal.

So how does this end for me?!? All of the refunds and deposits are processed over the next few days and the dispute officially closes. I relist the same guitar on the gear page forum the following Sat. and I have a user contact me about the instrument just a few hours later. Again I make sure I inform him that he MUST have a verified shipping address, etc. etc. He asks for my user id for E-bay & Paypal to check my credentials which of course are impeccable. Long story short, invoice is sent and payment is made from a verified and obviously experienced Paypal user within a couple of hours. The guitar shipped out the following Monday and he received the guitar later that week. That ladies and gentlemen is how a deal is supposed to go down between two experienced users!!

Honestly at the end of this deal I could care less - I just wanted to issue the refund and move on. I'm pretty sure Franc is who he says he is, he is just inexperienced and all of these issues were one coincidence after another. But on my end I was not willing to take the chance on such an expensive instrument. Obviously since neither of us were comfortable with how the deal was unfolding it made better sense to cancel the transaction and go our seperate ways.

[Reddy Kilowatt]

http://sylviagarza.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/paulharvey1.jpg

[tom]

sounds like a mess but not an ill intentioned one. online buying can be scary if you're not familiar with the details.

[chriswhite]

I'm with you Rob, I sold an amp a year ago and its still sitting in my room. There was poor communication and a bunch of complications and while it didn't work out between us we both decided not to leave each other feedback on eBay at all (meaning no negative feedback) and just go our separate ways. it happens.

[markus]

Sounds fair to me... I can see the frustration on both sides and agree that moving on was probably the best approach.

[Matchless1069]

Just to let everyone know, I purchased this guitar from Rob and had no problems. Guitar arrived as described and I've been enjoying it since.
Mark

[tom]

glad it found a good new home.

[guitarzan]

Just to let everyone know, I purchased this guitar from Rob and had no problems. Guitar arrived as described and I've been enjoying it since.
Mark

It's very cool of you to follow up, Mark. Thanks much.
Rob C.- I think many of is have been there and can appreciate your position. Sorry for the trouble and I'm glad that it has a happy ending.

[chriswhite]

Rob C.- I think many of is have been there and can appreciate your position. Sorry for the trouble and I'm glad that it has a happy ending.
agreed, I know I've definitely been there