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Bob Brown = Bad Guy #147947
April 13, 2002 12:38 am UTC
April 13, 2002 12:38 am UTC
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 663
Terrace, B.C. (waaayyy North)
Chris Andrews Offline OP
Evil Super-Genius
Chris Andrews  Offline OP
Evil Super-Genius
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 663
Terrace, B.C. (waaayyy North)
Ok, I know, a lot of people out there have bought from BB and have had no problems. I was once one of those people.

Let me explain. (kinda long)

I buy a Starion FMIC from BB.  I have to ask but he finally tells me hes a middle man (I suspected) , but buys parts from [his words] "trusted source" and that if anything goes wrong, he will [his words again] "treat your money like my own".  The deal goes great.  I get a FMIC (its no spearco, but its not $1200 either)  in great shape for $200 shipped.  Great smile I was a satisfied customer.

Ok, now hes selling an EPROM ECU.  I'll buy it.  So he lines up a deal on eBay (I didn't know).  ( I saw the eBay page after the fact, BTW - if people are interested, I will email the link).  I pay BB $200  He pays the seller $50 USD, probably a bit more to cover shipping. As
part of the deal, when I replace the ECU, I'm supposed to send him my old one. 

Unfortunately, I get a faulty ECU after paying an additional $58 customs fee. The caps had leaked very badly, perhaps damaging the circuit board. I tried replacing the caps (with Bob's permission), but it still didn't work.

He told me he made no money on the product, but I saw the closing price. He made something and he should at least return that to me.  He told me to go after the eBay seller, but he paid the seller (he's technically the eBay buyer) so how do I even make a claim? Needless to say, the orginal seller so far
hasn't returned my email.  And BB takes no responsiblity.

Furthermore, the eBay seller never even said that it worked. It was to be sold "as is".  BB made an error in judgement and should not have purchased an item that isn't at least guarenteed to work.  I can't even make a claim, because it was sold "as is".   He makes a risky purchase decision, which turns out to be a mistake, but will not accept even partial responsiblity.

But I don't think it is very fair that BB just walk away from this.  BB can afford to give me some sort of refund.  I'll be reasonable, I don't expect the whole amount. 

I tried asking BB to cut some sort of deal, give me a partial refund. Since that item sold for $50 USD plus maybe $25USD to cover shipping (roughly $125 CAD), that leaves about $75. How about skim a few bucks from the starion deal.  I think BB can refund me $75 (ECU) + $25 (from the Starion deal)  = $100 which is almost half my total loss of $258.  I think this is reasonable.

Needless to say, he said no.

I find it strange that BB treats me this way, as I will be buying many talon parts for years to come, and by treating me this way, he may have lost out on much future business from me.   After the Starion deal,  I thought we were on our way to a good relationship.

Please, Bob (if you are reading this) show me you're good for it, that you can shrug off a bad deal and treat your customers right.  Thats how you really build trust.  I would like to get this settled fairly, and then we can both put this unfortunate episode behind us.....

Unfortunately, I'm an owner of a non-working ECU, that cost me $258.00

So what makes a bad guy?
Do 10 good deals make up for 1 bad deal?
Do 100 good deals make up for 1 bad deal?

What if you happen to be that one person?
If it happened to me, it could happen to you.

Be cautious.

Sincerely,
Chris Andrews

P.S. This is not a rant or a slag against Bob. I have only tried to explain to the best of my ability my dealings with Bob. I really hope in the near future that Bob will change his mind and we can become friends again.


92 TSi AWD 2.4L
12.3@113
"When strokers attack..."
Re: Bob Brown = Bad Guy #147948
April 13, 2002 01:05 am UTC
April 13, 2002 01:05 am UTC
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 2,637
NiagaraFalls, ON
Paul Bratina Offline
Insane Member
Paul Bratina  Offline
Insane Member
***
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 2,637
NiagaraFalls, ON
Thanks for the info, Chris. I was curious what the story was on that matter.

Re: Bob Brown = Bad Guy #147949
April 13, 2002 02:36 am UTC
April 13, 2002 02:36 am UTC
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 131
Vancouver
F
Fraser Cassells Offline
Member
Fraser Cassells  Offline
Member
F
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 131
Vancouver
1 bad deal out of how ever many should be dealt with to make the customer happy. People with no ethics do not see it that way, heads-up noted.


1990 Talon AWD
12.0@115.9
Re: Bob Brown = Bad Guy #147950
April 13, 2002 03:26 am UTC
April 13, 2002 03:26 am UTC
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 4,210
Niagara Falls Ontario
Vince Amato Offline
Senior Member, with Far TOO Much Time on Their Hands
Vince Amato  Offline
Senior Member, with Far TOO Much Time on Their Hands
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 4,210
Niagara Falls Ontario
Chris,
Your post was well written and a good example of what a bad guy post should be.

You are not the only person to have this same experience with Bob Brown, he has been buying parts off of e-bay and reselling them to CA.DSM members for profit for a long time now.

Is this wrong....well not really, if he wants to spend his time finding "deals" on e-bay that's his business. But the problem lies when he becomes the middle man and never even sees the product that he is selling. He doesn't have to worry if the product he is selling actually works, or is defective because he isn't using it in his own car. And if/when there is a problem you (the buyer from Bob) had no dealings with the true seller so you really have no leg to stand on. Your only option is to hope Bob is a man of integrity and will take responsibility as if he were selling the product (like he claims to be)

Would you give your money to a complete stranger and trust him to make a good deal for you on e-bay?

Hopefully you can resolve this.


91 Eagle Talon TSi AWD 13.2 @ 105mph SOLD

http://1000q.dsm.org/
Re: Bob Brown = Bad Guy #147951
April 18, 2002 07:45 pm UTC
April 18, 2002 07:45 pm UTC
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,958
London, Ontario
Jon Arnett Offline
Serious Member
Jon Arnett  Offline
Serious Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,958
London, Ontario
You want to resolve this in a hasty if not aggresive fashion...read on:

Bob does this quite frequently, and I'm assuming he has to cash the cheques that people give him, and of course that you would have records of the cheque that you sent him.

So, give a little call to revenue canada. I guarantee you he's not paying the taxes he's supposed to when selling this stuff, and in fact, he probably doesn't even have a business license. They'll audit him, and he'll end up owing thousands.

Or he could just pay you.

Just a thought.


*2002 Porsche 911 Silver
*2006 BMW 325XIT Black
*2003 BMW 325i Silver

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