I could use a little advice

[MegaManFan]

Without naming names at this point yet (I want to give the seller a chance to resolve this) I recently bought a console from somebody on AtariAge that doesn't work. I know the seller read my message because the PM I sent him no longer shows up in my sentbox, but he didn't respond to it. I don't know what that means exactly, but my theories are:

 

(1.) He doesn't give a damn and intends to stiff me.

(2.) He cares but hasn't decided on whether or not I should return it for a refund.

(3.) He intends to replace the unit altogether at no cost to me (seems unlikely to me).

 

The really frustrating part was that the unit worked exactly one time after I unpacked it from the box today, and not since. It's almost like he knew it was that close to death. Maybe he thought I was a technical guy and could repair a console myself, but I'm all thumbs. In my shoes, what would you do?

[Christophero Sly]

I know the seller read my message because the PM I sent him no longer shows up in my sentbox

 

You mean 'outbox', right?

[MegaManFan]

You mean 'outbox', right?

 

Whoops, yeah. That's what I get for writing a post and trying to play Ferrari Challenge at the same time.

[Christophero Sly]

My initial advice would be to give this a little more time. If you just unpacked the console today, I assume you also sent the PM today. Perhaps the seller hasn't had time, for whatever reason, to properly craft his response.

 

Also, you should triple-check that the console is indeed, dead.

[JerseyDevil]

Thats a tough one because it worked when he sent it and it worked when it got to you. If it was me I would make good, but are there any warranties when selling used items? Hopefully this can be worked out. If its a reputable person, he'll probably make good.

[MegaManFan]

I'm hoping so. The reason I haven't put this person on blast is because he +is+ for the most part reputable, known both on and off the AtariAge boards, and I'm willing to concede he might want to give me some satisfaction on this. It bothers me though that the seller wanted to "get rid of" the console "to the best offer" in a hurry. It didn't seem funny to me now but hindsight being 20/20 it looks bad - and if it had been anybody OTHER than a reputable guy like this I would've said no.

[CPUWIZ]

Fuhgetaboutit.

[sku_u]

Give the person a day or 2 to respond to your PM. He probably hasn't figured out what to do yet. That happened to me once here with a game I received that was DOA. The person replaced the cart, but took almost 3 days to write back.

[MegaManFan]

Here's a happy update - the seller agreed to refund me back some of the money, and I found someone on AA who could repair the console for me, so in the end it all worked out. Once again, hooray for AtariAge. You'd never find dealers this reputable anywhere else.

[Brad2600]

I sold a Genesis to someone on here and I knew that it didn't work perfectly..so I left instructions for how to get it to work for them. Hopefully they figured it out how to get it to work. Something about the jack on the back for the RF adaptor being loose or something..requiring you to relaly push it in to work.

 

I wouldn't sell anything that didn't work unless the person was willing to fix it.

[Shannon]

Yeah I always try to make it a point to inform of any defeciences or quirks that I notice when selling any type of hardware to anyone here.

 

That way they know what to expect and if it is acceptable they continue thru with the transaction.

 

Glad to see you worked things out. Things can get pretty sticky when something is sent and it is broke.

[sku_u]

I always tell someone exactly what they are getting and attach a picture so they can see for themselves, although it's not uncommon for a game system to get sent out in working condition then break during the mailing. this happened to me twice as a buyer and once as a seller/trader.

[MegaManFan]

I always tell someone exactly what they are getting and attach a picture so they can see for themselves, although it's not uncommon for a game system to get sent out in working condition then break during the mailing.

 

The seller in my case believes this is what happened, and I have no reason to doubt him. The package was sent Airborne Express, and I don't know anything about their service, but I have good reason to believe now you shouldn't trust them with ANYTHING valuable. Stick to UPS or FedEx.