ebay Bait and Switch with MacBook Air Rev B.

[Photios]

Well, I have been taken (well hopefully not, but time will tell). I purchased a MacBook Air Rev B (1.6ghz / 120gb) on ebay with paypal, and received a Rev A in the mail in a Rev B box. First thing I did when it came today was to check the serial number on the box and then boot the computer up to verify that they were the same. They were not! Oh, no! Ok... So then I check the serial number on Apple's website to see how much of the warranty was left. Seller said about 11 months, well Apple says until Jan 17m 2010. Ok, I can live with that. So, next I try to clone my 120gb drive to the macbook, and Carbon Copy Cloner is telling me it cannot, that there is not enough space. I do a get info on the macbook, somehow I didn't pay attention when I checked the serial number, and lo and behold, the hard drive is only 80gb. My first thought is that somehow the hard drive was swapped out. Then I check the specs, and sure enough the graphics card is Intel.... I was switched out to a Rev A machine.

Before purchasing, the auction stated that 100% is refundable within a week from the seller. I have emailed the seller, and told them I want my money back. For reasons like this I never use ebay!!! Yet, I was desperate and wanted to get a macbook air.

Anyone have any advice as to how I should proceed? The seller has over 400 feedbacks at 100%! I have not posted anything negative at this point, but I'm a little concerned that he could just state that I'm lying about the switch. If he does not email me back within 24 hours, I will file a complaint with paypal. Do I need to get a lawyer? Geez!

 

[glitch44]

I'd file a complaint with Paypal immediately. He's obviously willfully trying to scam you. There is no reasonable explanation for an "accidental" switch of an A into a B box.

 

[MarkMS]

Anyone have any advice as to how I should proceed? The seller has over 400 feedbacks at 100%! I have not posted anything negative at this point, but I'm a little concerned that he could just state that I'm lying about the switch. If he does not email me back within 24 hours, I will file a complaint with paypal. Do I need to get a lawyer? Geez!

I know the situation seems bad, but first you need to be calm. Sending an angry email is not going to help. Start by sending an eBay message to the seller and telling him your story in a calm and concise manner. If you can, even send him a screenshot of the specs.

If he starts to deny a refund or giving you what you a Rev.B Air, then start a dispute with Paypal. They will not let him take out the money from Paypal until you are satisfied. No need for a lawyer to complicate things.

I'd file a complaint with Paypal immediately. He's obviously willfully trying to scam you. There is no reasonable explanation for an "accidental" switch of an A into a B box.

And it could very well be accidental. We really don't know. Maybe this seller sells a lot Mac computers and did accidentally switch MBAs. They are of the same body types and hard to tell which is which if you have a few of them laying around waiting to be worked on. Maybe Photios could link us to the auction. That should shed some light into what kind of seller this person is.

 

[Photios]

I know the situation seems bad, but first you need to be calm. Sending an angry email is not going to help. Start by sending an eBay message to the seller and telling him your story in a calm and concise manner. If you can, even send him a screenshot of the specs.

If he starts to deny a refund or giving you what you a Rev.B Air, then start a dispute with Paypal. They will not let him take out the money from Paypal until you are satisfied. No need for a lawyer to complicate things.

And it could very well be accidental. We really don't know. Maybe this seller sells a lot Mac computers and did accidentally switch MBAs. They are of the same body types and hard to tell which is which if you have a few of them laying around waiting to be worked on. Maybe Photios could link us to the auction. That should shed some light into what kind of seller this person is.

I was thinking that perhaps he does sell a lot of computers, and somehow made an honest mistake. I really don't know. The fact that he has so much positive feedback made me feel very secure with the auction. Would it be ok if I provided the link of the auction? I don't want to break forum rules... but if it is alright then I'll post the link.

As far as Paypal is concerned... the auction closed last Wednesday. Doesn't he already have the money from Paypal? Then Paypal would have to take the money back?

Thank you so much for your responses!!!

Photios

 

[MarkMS]

I don't know about forum rules with possible eBay scams. I think you just can't post eBay links if you are trying to sell the items (unless you have access to the Market Place sub-forum). To save the person from getting harassing emails, check their feedback and tell us the things that they previously sold. If they are mostly small items under $30, then send them an email explaining that you want to file a dispute within 48 hours. This may give them incentive to email you quickly. If nothing happens in 2 days, go ahead with the dispute. You have 45 days from whenever you sent the payment to file a dispute.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/paypal-buyer-protection.html

And even though they have your money, I believe that eBay/Paypal won't let them withdraw the money unless they get good feedback for the item or they wait out 20 days or something. I'm not 100% sure about this, but don't worry about how Paypal is going to deal with the dispute. Just do what you think you need to do and let Paypal do their job.

 

[Photios]

Well, it appears he sold a 1.6 / 80 on May 14th. Could it be that he switched the computers by accident? Wow... what a mess. If this is the case, that buyer has to be thrilled!

In the last 2 months he has sold 8 copies of iLife '09, and a Unibody 13" Macbook 2.4ghz, as well as some hard drives and a video camera. He has 437 auctions and 100% positive feedback in the past 12 months.

I have a feeling that the person who purchased the computer on the 14th got mine instead.

Photios

 

[glitch44]

And it could very well be accidental. We really don't know. Maybe this seller sells a lot Mac computers and did accidentally switch MBAs. They are of the same body types and hard to tell which is which if you have a few of them laying around waiting to be worked on. Maybe Photios could link us to the auction. That should shed some light into what kind of seller this person is.

You're right. I had a bad experience with a scammer on ebay so I guess I'm quick to assume so. I didn't consider that he might be s a high volume seller. You have the better approach.

 

[MarkMS]

Well, it appears he sold a 1.6 / 80 on May 14th. Could it be that he switched the computers by accident? Wow... what a mess. If this is the case, that buyer has to be thrilled!

In the last 2 months he has sold 8 copies of iLife '09, and a Unibody 13" Macbook 2.4ghz, as well as some hard drives and a video camera. He has 437 auctions and 100% positive feedback in the past 12 months.

I have a feeling that the person who purchased the computer on the 14th got mine instead.

Photios

Wow! I'm assuming that the other buyer is not going to return/exchange the laptop, so the best thing to do is ask for a refund unless he has another Rev.B he was planning to sell. I really think this is just something that happened on accident and I'm sure he will understand especially with that much positive feedback. No one in their right mind would ruin a reputation like that just to gain a few extra bucks.

Hope everything works out for you!

 

[angemon89]

Well, it appears he sold a 1.6 / 80 on May 14th. Could it be that he switched the computers by accident? Wow... what a mess. If this is the case, that buyer has to be thrilled!

In the last 2 months he has sold 8 copies of iLife '09, and a Unibody 13" Macbook 2.4ghz, as well as some hard drives and a video camera. He has 437 auctions and 100% positive feedback in the past 12 months.

I have a feeling that the person who purchased the computer on the 14th got mine instead.

Photios

It sounds like this could be the case. Hopefully you get things settled out.

Keep us updated.

 

[mac jones]

If he has 400 %100 positive it was a mistake.

There is no way he scamed you.

However, he may think your scamming him but I doubt it.

Like the other poster said just wait and see.

 

[mrrippey]

happened to me too

it was not a scam however (posted Rev B specs and had a Rev A) and I did get my money back although in the time it took, I lost the chance to get several really good deals. At this point I may just wait a few weeks to see if a Rev C comes out.

Hope it works out/

 

[Scottsdale]

I could see someone who doesn't know the differences making that mistake if bought it from someone else as a rev B in a rev B box. One way to make sure that it's a rev B by looking at it is the three ports. If it looks like two USB ports next to each other, it's an A. If it looks like a USB port with a port 1/2 the size next to it, it's a rev B with mini Display Port. The third port is obviously the speaker port.

Best wishes in resolving this issues ASAP. I would start calmly with the seller, and move on to PayPal if it isn't immediately corrected. If seller gives you ANY grief, assume problems and move on to PayPal.

I wouldn't abandon eBay over this. You will quickly find that your money is pretty safe with eBay PayPal payment system. They provide safety just for these types of scammers.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[HLdan]

I don't know by now if the OP has had this issue resolved but here's my take. I would highly recommend the OP to do a live chat with Ebay first. Tell them what happened and they will give you the direct phone number to the seller. The OP can call the seller directly and/or email them. You want to exhaust all options before assuming he got scammed.

Also look at it this way, in terms of the PC world I don't know doodly squat about one PC notebook to the next in regards to model numbers. If I was a seller on Ebay selling a lot of used PC notebooks I would just set up an auction, shove one of my HP notebooks in an available box and ship it to the next buyer. I could easily make a mistake by putting the wrong computer in a box since they look the same.
If I had an assistant helping me ship items this mistake could easily be made if they don't know one model from the next.

I say give the seller a chance first to make good on either refunding your money or exchanging it. All MBA's look exactly the same, there's no way to discern one from another by aesthetics alone.

 

[Unprocessed1]

I think it might have been a mistake on the part of the seller. Just give him til today to respond, and if he doesn't take action.

 

[McGilli]

IF the seller is LEGIT :

Then hopefully he/she keeps track of all serial number from the machines he sells. As you have 2 different serial numbers (box and mba) - one would match a 'previous sale' of his - and he would then know he has made a mistake.

 

[hohohong]

However, he may think your scamming him but I doubt it.

Like the other poster said just wait and see.

Good point. My advise to you guys is to get the serial number and the spec clearly indicated in an email as proof. That way, there'll be no confusion.

 

[Photios]

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your replies and your help. I'm so glad that the forum is here and so active! For this I am truly grateful!

I got an email from the seller this morning, terribly embarrassed over what had happened. He said that it was entirely his mistake and wants to make it right for me. He has offered me three options: 1) Return the system and accessories for a full refund; 2) He'll give me a $400 refund in case I want to keep the Rev A and accessories or 3) He'll swap my computer with his new Rev B macbook air.

Incidently, I paid $1429 (buy it now) for the Rev B 1.6ghz/120GB computer; however, it came with a number of brand new (sealed) accessories:
• Mini Display Port to VGA Adapter
• Mini Display Port to DVI Adapter
• USB Ethernet Adapter
• Apple Wireless Mouse
• MacBook Air 45w MagSafe Power Adapter
• MacBook Air external CD/DVD/RW Optical Drive
• Incipio Orion Sleeve for the MacBook Air
• Apple IR Remote

I figured this was a decent deal for the macbook air considering all the external accessories, which I estimated to be worth nearly $400 just in and of themselves. I'm also getting $114 back from Microsoft using the live cashback search offer. So, basically I'm paying about $1300 for everything.

After many emails back and forth today, he's going to send me his new rev B (I'm assuming it's the 1.6ghz/120gb) and I'll send him the computer I received back in the box that he's shipping his in. This seems very fair and reasonable. I thought about keeping the model he shipped me, but I really don't want a Rev A, as I had one already, and I could only sell it for $800 locally. So, $400 didn't seem like enough back to persuade me to keep it, plus, I really don't want it anyway.

Thank you for all your support on this! I'll keep you informed on the progress!!!

 

[MarkMS]

Glad to hear that everything seems to be working out. Hope you get the Rev.B Air soon!

 

[GeekGirl*]

Let us know when you get your new one

 

[McDughf]

Bear In Mind That The Rev A MacBook Air Came with a lot of display adaptors, which were take out of the Rev. B Box

 

[Photios]

Bear In Mind That The Rev A MacBook Air Came with a lot of display adaptors, which were take out of the Rev. B Box

I totally understand. I was sent the Rev B adapters.

 

[McGilli]

The fact that he is sending you YOUR Rev B without first receiving the Rev A back from you shows he's a very 'stand-up & trustworthy' seller.

Awesome.

 

[Unprocessed1]

Wow, good that everything turned out alright!! Seems like his history shows he's a good seller. He probably lost a few hundred on that first Rev A/B mixup though.

 

[dan5.5]

seems like a great ebay seller.
It understanding that mistakes happen. But this guy is very professional. Good luck with your computer!

 

[Photios]

Just an update...

Seller has just shipped my Macbook Air UPS 2nd Day air. Inside the box, there is a label for return shipping. He was also going to credit my paypal account $100 for all the trouble. I told him to not do that, as I understand that mistakes do happen, along with the fact that he has had to incur so much extra expense with the added shipping costs.

Looks like this story is going to have a very happy ending.