Cat Burrito

It's predominately a civil matter not a Police matter & I don't think there is any immediate threat here at this time. The seller may start sending funny messages but I don't want to speculate. Also it's not a theft if I keep the money / item as the legal defination of theft includes "dishonest appropriation" - there is no dishonesty if you have been told by EBay that you are within your rights to keep the item. I wonder if perhaps EBay won't be chasing the seller? I think where this goes wrong is that I've had pretty poor communication from EBay. If all of there actions were explained I'd probably be a little more relaxed with the situation.

I'm not a Maiden fan but this bass does have eveything I like right down to the SD pup. CIJ stuff has moved in line with other Fender products so I'm with Clarky on this one. Give it a year & the second hand market will have a few of these, I reckon

[quote name='silddx' post='549980' date='Jul 24 2009, 11:25 AM']Call me a paranoid git, but they have your address. What's to stop them sending round "The Guv'nor" to recover the bass by "gentle persuasion"?[/quote] Yep, I think some people put a positive spin on this whole situation too quickly!

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='549845' date='Jul 24 2009, 10:19 AM']I actually meant, why have *you* not added negative feedback which might warn others?[/quote] D'oh! Sorry. I was working lates last night so I tend to be a zombie the next morning. I plan to the second that this is resolved. Also, I phoned EBay this morining (having now received a message from the seller sounding genuine "send it back for a full refund" etc). I phoned EBay and they say 1) refund still stands, 2) Don't communicate with the seller, 3) Don't return item - it could be used again to rip someone off & 4) They are sorry I've had this experience. I felt it was the ethical thing to mention that seller was now trying to be reasonable (although in the back of my mind I suspect this is because EBay have started to make things difficult - so it may not be genuine). If EBay had said return it, I would have been guided by them OR if they had said go with trying to now communicate I would. They said neither.

Oh and 23 of the feedbacks are as a seller - the rest are as a buyer so it's maybe not quite so impressive as my last post suggests

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='549774' date='Jul 24 2009, 09:41 AM']So, unless I am missing something, why no negative feedback?[/quote] This was one of my reasons for buying in the first place. However all the feedback is for smaller items like books and DVDs and suddenly in the last week they seem to be the bass specialist (6 instruments sold or for sale). It's a fair amount of 100%'s so I readily accept this as genuine BUT the fact remains that I've been sent a fake (knowingly or otherwise) and my £25 for next day specialist Royal Mail delivery got me a Royal Mail 48hr stamped box. In terms of why we've gone from an honest seller dealing in small items a year ago to what I have now, I can only speculate. I don't want this current situation and nor did I invite it.

I tried one the other week & I wasn't impressed. I had a LOT of background hiss & a poor breaking up sound. The guitar ones are better.

Thanks for the replies, especially Prosebass for the detail which may prove useful to other Basschatters as well. Oh & Soulfinger wins the "Spot the delibrate mistake" with the Sellers other listing (which EBay have now suspended 29hrs after I raised this! Sadly I share Warwickhunts doubts as to how simple this will be to go away. I'll phone EBay in the morning as the free bass & money option didn't seem right. Watch this space as I'm sure I'll be posting again on this thread.

[quote name='Sibob' post='548740' date='Jul 23 2009, 11:43 AM']Just out of interest, did you remove the neck to see if there was a serial number there? Si[/quote] No, I don't need to. Aside the fact that not one single Basschatter has spoken up in defence of this being genuine it simply isn't an official CIJ product. There are simply too many differences. I currently own 2 CIJ basses, I've previously owned 2 more and I've played a stack more of others. I wasn't prepared to tamper with the product in any way. I suspect this is still far from over (I've had no email confirmation of the call & the seller is still selling) so I've won the latest round. I appreciate all the messages of support from everyone over the last 24hrs - especially as I'm a relative newbie compared to most.

UPDATE - I've had a fairly lengthy call with EBay and I've explained the differences in the product received and the one bought. I also mentioned the fact I paid £25 for a 24 rapid despatch only to receive a box with Royal Mail 24 on it a week later (this was the moment I seemed to win them over!). After being on hold for a couple of minutes whilst the girl spoke with a supervisor I've now been informed that I will get a full refund from EBay within 3 working days and I can keep the item received. I don't wish to celebrate until I get my money back but in theory it seems like a right result! Interestingy the seller still has a bass for sale so EBay need to get their act together a little quicker before some other poor sap gets fleeced.

[quote name='silddx' post='548392' date='Jul 22 2009, 11:08 PM']Might be a good idea to remove that mobile number mate. Otherwise, looks friendly enough. Paypal naturally prefer you sort the situation out between you.[/quote] Point taken & edit done - it was only live for a couple of minutes. Just interesting that a mysterious 3rd party has suddenly come into the picture.

Just had this reply from the seller (outside of the Paypal dispute forum) Hi Tim, thanks for your email. My partner purchased the bass off ebay sometime back,only selling due to hard times. Was listed in good faith, and my partner purchased it as an original fender 75 re-issue from Japan for his collection, from a dealer! The serial number apparently is stamped on the neck where it is bolted on, so the neck has to be taken off to find this? This is the information that was supplied to my partner when he perchased it! Obviously, if this doesn't all check out i will be happy to sort the situation out for you. My partner will speak to you to give you all the information you require, his mobile number is 0**********9. Look forward to hearing from you and getting things sorted to everyones satifaction Best wishes Andrea

At present EBay haven't withdrawn the seller. Anyone smell a rat with this? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Precision-Bass-Deluxe_W0QQitemZ270430451241QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item3ef6e93629&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A25"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Precision-Bas...%3A1%7C294%3A25[/url] Did I hear someone say "Squier"? 4th bass sold in recent weeks having never traded in them before!

I was fascinated by the "getting old" comment as there seems to be various cut off points on what old is on this forum. I'm late 30s too and I've read stuff where you have to be 40+ to qualify as old. I feel young but I feel old. We're in no mans land! There are others who write you off at 25. Age is only really a state of mind after all. There were always the middle aged teenagers at school and then the old fools who never learn (of which I suspect I may be turning into!) I'm all up for compromise with gear. I remember runnning up 4 flights of stairs with my giant Peavey combo back in the 90s. Sod that now! I'd rather take it a bit easier & I don't care about rock n roll credibility (not that a Peavey combo necessarily embodies that!). Amps are getting better and you can approximate a good tone on a much healthier budget these days

I wish I was bringing in 50 people.... I average one person aged 50 for my audience! Do the gig! We have ALL experienced credit crunch style audiences. I've played a bunch to the other bands & bar staff this year! And Pete Academy has to be THE coolest username yet!

I believe it is always the heal BUT I am not the expert I thought I was [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=55276&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=55276&hl=[/url]

[quote name='thedonutman' post='547963' date='Jul 22 2009, 06:39 PM']If you used your credit card through Paypal you can probably get a chargeback done through your bank and the Paypal dispute will most likely side with you on this.[/quote] Paypal direct from the bank. Watch this space

[quote name='silddx' post='547969' date='Jul 22 2009, 06:44 PM']Hate to say this but maybe you should have posted the link on here before you bought it, but I guess that's inviting in the competition [/quote] Yep, that's exactly what I thought. An irony in that I did consider myself a bit of a P-bass expert. I don't know half of what I should on amps, strings & other basses (I'm here to learn!). Turns out I'm an expert on Fender P-basses 51-62 only!

Thanks guys - I've 20yrs experience & I paid paypal so at least I'm covered but some poor kids are getting ripped off out there. My wife is more annoyed then me. I'm pee'd off but luckily the buyer protection is there. I've done more digging. She states she bought it on EBay earlier this year but has no feedback given or received since November. Slowly it's all starting to piece together. The photos are dark (at least on my laptop) but I hadn't even pulled it out the box before I realised this was iffy. I have 3 beautiful basses already but I can imagine the genuine heartbreak if this was my first bass.

Last week I bought a Crafted in Japan Fender 75RI P-bass. Except I didn't. I've been playing Fender CIJ (or MIJ as they were & now are again) for 20yrs. The 24hr rapid despatch turned into a week later and I have what to me looks exactly like a Vintage Modified Squier with a Fender decal [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier-vintage-modified-precisi/71000"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier...d-precisi/71000[/url] this is what it looks like to me! The advertised Crafted in Japan logo with the serial number at the base of the neck is nowhere to be seen! I was told it would be there and is in the listing. When did Fender Japan do "Duncan designed" pickups? Hmmmnn! The £880 bass that was sold as BuyItNow at £350 is basically a £229 bass with a £5 decal. Ironically it's quite a nice bass BUT I'm not paying nearly double for a second hand Squier. It's nice & light (agathis body, I reckon!) I've flagged it with EBay but now I've got a few weeks of being £375 down whilst it is all sorted. What a pain. Anyone think I'm too cynical here? Pics attached from the listing.

Nail polish remover. Whatever you use, do a small tester first but nail polish remover is great.

I started a similar thread a few weeks ago where I wanted an amp for playing along with friends in an acoustic set up. I spent ages going through old threads (to my surprise this isn't that hotly debated as topics go). I settled on a Kustom KBA16 which is no thrills and to the point. I've tried Marshall & Fender - both lacked decent tone. This makes my P-bass sound like a proper bass. I had a lot of people recommend the Ashdown stuff but this was a winner for me. There are a couple of 10w versions on EBay for less than £50 right now.

[quote name='Clarky' post='545853' date='Jul 20 2009, 11:01 PM']Also MIJFenders import but carry a narrower range [url="http://www.mijfenders.com/"]http://www.mijfenders.com/[/url][/quote] I emailed MIJ Fenders explaining I was ready to buy - no reply so I phoned MIJ Fenders & spoke with the guy. He was going to call me back. That was about 6wks ago. Go with Guitar Emporium. I was seriously unimpressed with MIJ Fenders. Perhaps he doesn't want polite customers with money to spend? Not to worry, I won't be troubling him again! Ditto Guitarshogan. I've been playing MIJ Fenders for 20yrs and right now there seem to be a couple of companies out there that don't want business or lack the basic courtesy to explain they have stock problems or whatever the issue was. A shame as MIJ Fender basses are really great.