Batboard

I have a bit of a legal question here...

I sold a VHF XTS3000 back in March on eBay, which had a 1C5E flashcode. The radio operated perfectly when I sold it, and I do have a video of the radio in operation to prove that. It was clearly stated in the auction that it had a 599108-1C5E00-1 flashcode ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0202999951 ).

Now I have the buyer calling me now after 3 months (over 90 days) saying that he is now having issues with the radio, and sent it back to Motorola, who obviously told him that the radio has a hacked flashcode. He is now wanting me to pay for half of what Motorola wants to supposedly fix what is wrong, and is trying to pressure me into doing it by telling me he is an employee of a federal agency.

Has anyone run across a situation like this, and how did you handle it. I do not believe that 3 months later a buyer should come back, after having done who knows what to the radio, and bring something like this up.

Is your customer using that radio in his FEDERAL job? If so, tell him you will report HIM to NTIA for a violation. Any idiot that buys ANY radio off eBay to tack onto his FEDRAL radio system deserves to lose his job.

That story stinks. Bad.

Why in you know who's name would a Fed buy a ebay radio to put on their system? It's his fault that he sent it back to big M with the hacked flash, not yours. It was working fine when you sent it. Let him get it back with a barebones flash.

And plus, nobody can prove you actually hacked the radio. This guy may work for the federal government, but probably not in a law enforcement aspect. He's probably just throwing that around to try and bully you into paying.

I'd say don't even respond and just ignore him. He doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Without speaking to the matter in the instant case, anything brought up here would be speculation at best. If you want a real legal opinion you'll need to contact a lawyer.

It sucks to be in this situation.

A few questions,

Did the buyer contact you when the problem showed up?

What is the problem with the radio?


I personally think that 3 months is way past a DOA problem. I would not ignore him though. I'll give my .02 cents after I hear the answers to my question.

Jim

The guy I am dealing with IIRC is not the buyer, he is the end user that the radio was bought for. The situation was that the buyer was this guy's friend that bought him the radio, or so I was told.

He says the radio is power cycling, which I never had it do, and today was the first thing i've heard about it. I received positive feedback from the buyer about a week after the sale.

pay half of the depot fee (no more than $200) and make the problem go away.



easiest way for all parties to have closure.


consider it a lesson learned - and move on.




doug

NSPD wrote:The guy I am dealing with IIRC is not the buyer, he is the end user that the radio was bought for. The situation was that the buyer was this guy's friend that bought him the radio, or so I was told.

He says the radio is power cycling, which I never had it do, and today was the first thing i've heard about it. I received positive feedback from the buyer about a week after the sale.

Well if he is not even the original buyer than he needs to deal with the person who sold it to him.

I would be polite, but let them know that the radio was working when you sold it. Apparently it was not DOA, or I assume the buyer would have contacted you. You have no way of knowing what has been done to the radio after you sold it. Looking at the buyers feedback he has purchased items from Ebay users kawamall, and valley enterprises. They both sell after market cables, so who knows what it was programmed with. Although a power cycle problem is most likely not in the codeplug.

Now on the point of the radio having that flashcode, you were very clear in your auction what options it had in it. If they buyer would have contacted you prior to sending it to MexiMoto they would not be in this situation.

If this were me, and they did contact me Before a trip to the depot I would have offered to look at the unit myself. Even after 90 days, I just don't like unhappy buyers. That does not mean I would work on it for free, but I would take a look at it for no charge. If the repair did not require any parts, then I most likely would not charge them for it.

Now on the problem of power cycling, that could just be the radio's battery contacts. I have seen this on a few 3000's, and even a 5000. Also cheap A/M batteries that piss poor contacts could be the problem (less likely though, as MOST people are smart enough to try another battery if available). If it's rolling resets, then it would be deeper in the radio. I have never run into a Kramer with rolling resets, but we don't see very many in the shop anyway.

Good luck,

Jim

Yeah, if it had been a case of he gets it and it's not working, then yes I would have refunded his money and that would be that, but to come back 3 months later and bring something like this up, it's fishy to me.

I think the issue was that MexiMoto has it, and wants $350 to fix it, and probably won't return it as it is anyway. I don't see how the lack of research done prior to buying this radio was my fault anyway.

Thanks guys!

NSPD wrote:Yeah, if it had been a case of he gets it and it's not working, then yes I would have refunded his money and that would be that, but to come back 3 months later and bring something like this up, it's fishy to me.

I think the issue was that MexiMoto has it, and wants $350 to fix it, and probably won't return it as it is anyway. I don't see how the lack of research done prior to buying this radio was my fault anyway.

Thanks guys!

They will return it, but not with that flash. It will be a striped down flash, or if the radio is a true model II, and IMBE from the factory then they may restore it. It may even come back as an analog only unit.

Jim

Just one point of advice...not that it probably would have helped...

ALWAYS, always, always, always, always put "sold AS-IS" in your listings. I've been in similar situations and all I say is AS IS. I'm honest in my listings, as you were, but there's a lot of idiots out there.

I feel as if you pay attention to this clown he's gonna bother you until you pay. Ask him who he works for. I really think he's FOS.

1C5E string guarantees that this radio is flash-hacked?

probably..

FireCpt809 wrote:probably..

You mean that genuine 1C5E radios also exist?

NSPD wrote:I have a bit of a legal question here...

I sold a VHF XTS3000 back in March on eBay, which had a 1C5E flashcode. The radio operated perfectly when I sold it, and I do have a video of the radio in operation to prove that. It was clearly stated in the auction that it had a 599108-1C5E00-1 flashcode ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0202999951 ).

Now I have the buyer calling me now after 3 months (over 90 days) saying that he is now having issues with the radio, and sent it back to Motorola, who obviously told him that the radio has a hacked flashcode. He is now wanting me to pay for half of what Motorola wants to supposedly fix what is wrong, and is trying to pressure me into doing it by telling me he is an employee of a federal agency.

Has anyone run across a situation like this, and how did you handle it. I do not believe that 3 months later a buyer should come back, after having done who knows what to the radio, and bring something like this up.

Someday I'll learn how to hit the PM instead of the reply buton...........

At the least, tell him you need his name, agency and position if he wants to throw that around (could be a janitor at the local SS office), and you want a copy of the depot repair report.

As for the first few posts, I don't see where it was mentioned that this radio was being used on a FED system to begin with..

If he has had it for 3 months and im sure had it reprogramed since. Who knows what has been jammed into it since then. If it was sold as-is its his responsiblity. He knew what he was buying. Id tell him to go pound it.

Isn't it ebay's policy on used electronics that it is all "as-is"? If you can find it in the ebay user agreement you can use that as a mechanism to say "sorry, but you have had the item for 90 days and I have no control as to what has been done to it".

The other item is lots of parts swap occur on there and there are tons of warnings by other vendors that returns are not accepted. If he attempted to put in other parts from other sources and sent it do depot he may be trying to get you to fund the repair not thinking or knowing about the flashcode issue at depot.

I'd personally tell the guy to pound sand. It was working when it left your hands, and there were no problems when the original buyer received it. What's happened to the radio in the last 90 days could be anything in the world, and as many people have already said, eBay's policy on electronics is purely "AS IS".

I never heard back from the guy after the initial call, and it's well after 90 days, so i'm done with it. Thanks for all the input guys...

NSPD wrote:I never heard back from the guy after the initial call, and it's well after 90 days, so i'm done with it. Thanks for all the input guys...

Ya,, Carlos probably lost his radio anyway, and now his fight is with the MexiMoto depot.


Jim