Let me tell you a story about a Big Boy


irocinblue89

irocinblue89

Member
I received my MTH Big Boy yesterday but wasn't able to open it before I left for work. I opened it today and tested it. Guess what. IT DOESN"T RUN! I took it to a hobby/repair shop over an hour away and they said the gears were striped out in the rear drivers. We called MTH and they do not have the parts for them. I have contacted the seller on EBAY but I have to say I am FURIOUS! I would never do that to someone. It is not something that happened in shipping. You can tell they tried to or did take it apart because 2 screws were missing and the driver nuts are marked up. Can anyone give me some insight on what to do through Ebay. The seller says he does not take returns. Please help. I have never had a problem with Ebay so if you have gone through this please let me know what you did or what you would do different.
Thanks,
Seann
 
Was it described as new? Did you pay with Paypal?
File a complaint with Ebay and Paypal.
You have tried to contact the seller, right? What was his response?
 
bnsf971 said:
Was it described as new? Did you pay with Paypal?
File a complaint with Ebay and Paypal.
You have tried to contact the seller, right? What was his response?
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It was described as used but in perfect working condition. I just opened a complaint with Ebay. Can you do a complaint with Paypal too? His response was basically that it ran a year ago when he tested it and sorry about my luck he doesn't accept returns.
 
Sounds like the same seller I tried to deal with about 3 months ago. I finally got my money back thru Paypal. Mine was only $45.00, but it was the point of it. He said it ran good in his discription, but it didn't have any driveshafts & the motor was completely disconnected from the frame.
 
regardless if he accepts returns or not, ebay and paypal will side with the buyer if the item is not as described. file a complaint with paypal, too.
 
Thank you all for the help. I will file a complaint with paypal. I called my credit card co and filed on my consumer protection. I have never had to do any of this so it is all new to me. Hopefully out of the 3 something will be done. I am so bent out of shape I had to turn the A/C down in the house. I am fumin. I fell like some one was trying to rip me off.
 
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By irocinblue89:

I fell like some one was trying to rip me off.
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Unfortunately they weren't trying, they did. It's things such as this that have kept me from pulling the pin on Ebay. Hope everything works out well for you.
 
Not accepting returns means precisely dick in situations like this I'm happy to say, that's only if you simply change your mind. Paypal MAY ask you to get a statement from a "knowledgeable person" certifying that the train isn't fit for purpose. Best of luck.
 
Seller info

Sounds like all the guys before me quoted exactly what you should do. You should also post the users ebay name on here and warn the model railroad hobbiest about this guy so we don't have the same issue. I hope all works out for you. I had to go through this with a seller on some RC Helicopter items and in the end paypal issues me a return from the sellers account and ebay put a bad mark against them.
 
Also, if the seller has repeated complaints on others sales, he will be barred from E-bay.

Incidences like this is one reason I'm extremely selective about what I buy off of there.
 
I believe that ebay has a buyer protection program. Just like the other have mentioned, make a complaint, and if the Big Boy was described as being operational, you have good grounds for a complaint.
 
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That's pretty lame to say it ran fine a year ago. I've heard the ugly stories about brass locos being sold then the buyer claims that he received a plastic model and returned it for his refund. Who ripped off who in that one? How can you prove that what you shipped was what you actually advertised?
E-bay was probably a good thing in it's early days, but the scum of the world has seeped in.
 
EHodges said:
Sounds like all the guys before me quoted exactly what you should do. You should also post the users ebay name on here and warn the model railroad hobbiest about this guy so we don't have the same issue. I hope all works out for you. I had to go through this with a seller on some RC Helicopter items and in the end paypal issues me a return from the sellers account and ebay put a bad mark against them.
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Although I would love to post the sellers ebay name he has inclined to give me a refund (only after I filed 3 complaints) and therefore has made an effort to resolve this issue. He asked me to send his shipping money back to him if I have a heart but I reminded him I had to send the loco back on my dime and also pay the repair shop for their time to take it apart and try and fix it. The shop said they knew of a Co. that makes gears for loco's. Does anyone know who they are referring to? It would be nice to know if I ever need something like that again.

Thanks all,
Seann
 
irocinblue89 said:
The shop said they knew of a Co. that makes gears for loco's. Does anyone know who they are referring to? It would be nice to know if I ever need something like that again.

Thanks all,
Seann
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North West Short Line? I got some Shay gears from them.

I also remember on a now-defunct forum one person that used his trains heavily ran into the plastic gear problem. MTH said a "small" number of locomotives may have had gears with softer-than-specified plastic, resulting in the teeth wearing off.

On edit, it may be a good idea if we knew who this guy was, just so another one of us didn't end up buying the same engine again.
 
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I've had a couple negative experiences on ebay, both got worked out.
I'll PM you on that.
 
Sean, was this 4014? I was watching that auction out of interest for the cab number. I thought I'd toss in a bid near the end, but didn't. I saw someone clearly wanted it and was willing to pay. I'm assuming this was you. Kudos to you for the win, but I feel for you. The same damned thing happened to me in October, 2010 on an MTH Challenger 3985... my flagship. I paid way too much for it, but the win felt great! Described as new, only run a couple of times, blah blah blah. Once it arrived, I put it on the layout and ... no sounds. Ran forward and backward only and only in jerky spurts. I was pissed! Using publicly available resources, I found the seller's home phone number and we chatted. He took it back and refunded me despite the "No Returns Period" disclaimer on his auction. I feel your pain. As good as it felt to finally acquire the loco I'd been wanting and waiting for, the feeling of having been ripped off was far worse. Good luck to you and let us know how it works out.
 
RJasonB said:
Sean, was this 4014? I was watching that auction out of interest for the cab number. I thought I'd toss in a bid near the end, but didn't. I saw someone clearly wanted it and was willing to pay. I'm assuming this was you. Kudos to you for the win, but I feel for you. The same damned thing happened to me in October, 2010 on an MTH Challenger 3985... my flagship. I paid way too much for it, but the win felt great! Described as new, only run a couple of times, blah blah blah. Once it arrived, I put it on the layout and ... no sounds. Ran forward and backward only and only in jerky spurts. I was pissed! Using publicly available resources, I found the seller's home phone number and we chatted. He took it back and refunded me despite the "No Returns Period" disclaimer on his auction. I feel your pain. As good as it felt to finally acquire the loco I'd been wanting and waiting for, the feeling of having been ripped off was far worse. Good luck to you and let us know how it works out.
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Yeah, that was me. I had a bid on a BNIOB a day or 2 before and wasn't around to see it end. So I had to get this one. Long story short, I sold mine when my son moved. Well he came back and was more than upset I had sold his favorite engine. So, letting my emotions get the best of me I put in a ridiculous $ w/ about 10 seconds left and got it. I guess Karma is a B****. Still haven't figured out what I did to get hammered though. NWSL does not make replacement gears. I just talked to a friend who called them Friday to see if they did. SOL.
AMEN to the ripped off feeling. I wanted to drive to Florida to rip this putrid human being apart. Still fumin and he refunded the money but now he wants me to send it back to him on my dime. I don't know what to do. I email Ebay about sending it back but haven't heard anything yet. i don't fell I should spend a dime out of pocket for this. It was DOA on delivery.
 
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