https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=379127

Above is the link to the topic I started about a purchase from another member. From this purchase I was to get 5 Advan RGII wheels, three front, and two rear. One of the front wheels had paint damage around the lug area. This damage was told to all buyers wanting the wheels.
When I received the wheels, I looked them over and only saw the paint chips that I was told about on the one front wheel. One day goes by, and I decide to measure the hub bore to see if I had to get hubcentric rings. I moved to one of the rear wheels and turn it over. I noticed a chipped area on the inside of the wheel, which can be seen in the previous post. I also noticed the small crack. I called the seller, and he tells me that he knew about the chipped area. I was not too worried about it because of the crack that would leak air and more then likely grow if I put tires on it.
He, the seller, denies that the crack was there before shipping, and tells me to call UPS becuase the wheels had shipping insurance on them. I know that UPS will not take the blame for this, but still call out of the fact that Im a nice guy. They call me back and tell me that if the box is not damaged, they will not take the claim. The box is fine. The seller refuses to help me out if I do not try to get UPS to take the claim, and can also be seen the in the link above. That is why I am continueing to work with UPS on the claim, and will still have them come out and take a look at the wheel.

Any opinions out there on what I should do?

Thanks
Carlos

 

How did you pay? Paypal? If so, then file a claim with them.

 

Yes, I payed with paypal and will file a claim with them also.

 

Paypal is generally useless when filing claims. Did you pay with a credit card through Paypal? If that is the case, file a claim directly with your credit card. That usually works.

Also, who is the seller? You have avoided the question in the other thread.

 

Boosted521

This is getting aggravating....

 

I informed him about UPS and asked for the pictures that he had taken before shipping so that I could explain the damage to them. Here is what he said...

"They can't tell you that. I've had them cover damages before when the box looked untouched. They can drop the box, damage the wheel, and it not hurt the box at all. Don't let them push you around. I didn't take a picture of the crack since it wasn't a concern, but I took them of the entire wheels. Right now the pictures are huge and I don't have any software to resize them since I reformatted my computer. UPS is responsible and like I said you can't let them push you around."

 

There is a member local to the seller in the orignal FS thread who offered to help if the deal went awry. I think you should take him up on his offer. Just my $.02.

 

After reading the other thread, and looking at the pictures, it is very highly unlikely that kind of damage happened during shipping. Boarderline impossible. I'd be willing to bet the damage was there before it was ever shipped.

So now what do you do? Well, since the seller is completely unwilling to take responsibility for the crack, then you have a few other options. One is to continue the fight with UPS. They may or may not pay, but it's definitely going to be a fight either way. Another is to file a claim with your credit card company.... but they'll fight it even harder than UPS. A third possibilty is the file suit against the guy for selling you a damaged wheel. That's going to be expensive and time consuming however.

I honestly think your best course of action is to just buy another wheel to replace that one. In the long run it will be a lot less hassle than anything else. Sure, you'll be out more money, but is it really worth your time to fight UPS or your credit card company over damage that the seller completely denies? You'll have to at least convince them that the damage occurred sometime BEFORE you got the wheel, which won't be easy, even though it looks like that's exactly what happened.

I'd buy another wheel and chalk this one up to a lesson learned. Unfortunately, when you deal with random people over the internet, even on S2Ki, sometimes you end up getting screwed over.

 

vbeachboy

I jumped on this sell because I was getting 5 wheels, one with only paint damage so he said, for less then 4 new ones, and didnt have to wait the 6-8weeks that it usually takes for wheels to come in. Now to spend more money becuase I wasnt told about damage to another wheel, I should pay? I really didnt need this hassle on top of me getting ready to graduate from college and also finding a place to live and work.

 

Is it fair that you pay for a new wheel? No. But would it be the lesser headache out of the rest of your options? Probably. With other things going on in your life right now (graduation, etc) this solution will definitely be the quickest and easiest.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the seller is going to do the right thing here and own up to his mistake. That would be the "fair" thing to do. But if that's not on the table, you have to consider your other options.