Turquoise Frigidaire oven damage. Ebay seller fraud.

[sarahperdue]

Still a great oven

And it is still a fantastic oven. I would have bought it anyway. The trim will be a pain to fix depending on how perfect I want to get it, and expensive if I have it done at a body shop.  

I'm unhappy that she did not disclose the damage and that she was so incredibly aggressive when it's clear she knew about the damage. I think she was aggressive because she knew.

 

I agree that eBay policies have gone too far in favor of buyers, and I don't think the policies address the vintage items that I sell. I can't afford to have a "forever" return policy, and it bothers me a lot that the "power seller" ratings have very little to do with the level of service a seller provides.

 

[firedome]

people can get aggressive...

when they're exposed as fraudsters it seems! Luckily in our case they didn't, but still there was no excuse for not pointing out such a gross defect, however maybe they had figured on an in-person transaction.

I seen those Hotpoint French-door wall ovens for sale from time to time, maybe eventually a parts oven will pop up or even a seller willing to send a part if the whole thing doesn't sell, wall ovens may be one of the more difficult vintage appliances to move, you never know.

 

[askolover]

Is there a trade school/technical college near you?  The autobody class might could help out with that for a fraction of the cost.  I've heard of people getting their cars fixed/painted for no more than cost of materials.

 

[sarahperdue]

Good news update

Ebay was surprisingly helpful. I called them (I usually avoid the phone). I expected that my only option would be to open an item not as described claim. I was quite pleasantly surprised when the eBay customer service representative listened to my story with obvious concern. He told me that he would contact the seller and tell her that I had a problem. He said that if I hadn't heard from her by a certain date to call back and eBay would open a case on my behalf.

Several days later, I received a $75 partial refund offer from the seller. eBay gave me a month to accept or decline the offer. I sat on it for a week and a half or so then accepted.

In other good news, I took the trim by an auto body shop. One of the guys said he didn't think he could do anything with it then took it back into the shop with him. The next thing I heard was the sound of steel hammering on steel. I panicked (I was planning to use a rubber mallet) and raced into the shop all full of thanks and I can take it from heres. I was amazed by how much he did in a couple of minutes and realized that I should have trusted the pro to do it right. He said he hadn't quite finished it, but I was already a bit embarrassed. I told him, very honestly, that I was impressed with the work he'd done and asked what I owed him. He said nothing. Wow! and I thanked him again. I was afraid it was going to be an expensive fix.

So, all has ended well so far--unless I foul it up by trying to finish it myself. I'm reasonably confident I won't. The man at the body shop did the part I didn't think I could do.

Sarah