cbrenn71

I want to provide feedback for what is undoubtedly the worst online purchase experience i have ever made.

I purchased a set of Smittybilt M1 Fender Flares, shown here: https://www.f150forum.com/f59/smitty...flares-341089/

The set was described as new, and the seller was very easy to deal with initially.

When i received the set, that is when the problems started. First, the fender flares were packaged exactly as they were shown in the picture, with the fender flares nested on top of one another, separated only by the thin plastic wrappers. There was no additional packing material to keep them from shifting. Also, because they were nested on top of one another, they rubbed against one another, causing clear coat damage (significant scuffing).

In addition to that, the "like new" set of fender flares has extensive amounts of dirt and debris in the paint, clear coat runs, and one flare that had a significant paint chip/scrape.

Once i contacted the seller, he was absolutely the worst. Here is a comprehensive PM history, judge for yourself. In the end, i tried to work with Paypal, and they were willing to refund the full purchase amount under the buyer protection policy; however, i would have had to ship the items back on my own dime, which would have cost just under half of the purchase price.

The icing on the cake, was after a few weeks, i received a message from him, taunting me stating that he was enjoying my money in his paypal account. Unbelievable.

Here is the full PM exchange:


Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
Hey Chad I just wanted to let you know that I have happily deposited your money and am super satisfied having that cash in my account. Thank you so much for turning it into a complete cluster****!! Have an awesome day bro... Hope you like the flares!
Very mature response. If you would have been honest in the first place, this would not have happened. I'll be sure to leave you forum feedback.

pretty sure it is your problem, you need to learn how to package properly. also, half of what is wrong is defects in the paint that you didnt describe (dirt, runs, chips, etc)

Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
That's fine do what u need. Promise I was honest, have pics to prove it. if they got ****ed up in shipping I'm sincerely sorry, but that's not my problem. Nice doin business with you!! ✌🏻️

you chose to to ship them at that price. i did not force your hand on that. If you insured them through UPS that is your choice to open a damage claim, but it will likely be denied, given the lack of packing material.

shipping a misrepresented item, and not willing to work on something that was damaged due to improper packaging is not overshadowed by the fact you paid more to ship than you originally thought.

Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mp...solve-disputes Here's the link on guidelines for filing a dispute I read them thoroughly and can assure you you aren't getting anywhere. I have all tracking receipts, proof on the agreed upon price, and proof of you recieving it. As they were sold "used" just because you feel they were not up to your standards means nothing. An example of a dispute would be if I took your money and never sent flares. As far as the forum, they will not be worried about it either, you saw the pictures on the ad the flares were BRAND NEW. I would prefer if you wouldn't waste any more of either of our time and drop this. I especially am unwilling to help when it was 178 dollars to ship the flares, I am already in the hole, and I would call that helping you out by not saying "hey man work with me on this."


Quote:
Originally Posted by cbrenn71
You clearly recognize that shipping a piece of unpainted plastic is different than shipping something painted, correct?

If you're not willing to work on this, i'll be sure to open a paypal dispute and make sure the forum knows about our transaction.


Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
They were packaged like they were from the factory. They were never installed on a truck. Nothing was misrepresented. If they got damaged in shipping take it up with UPS. We're done here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cbrenn71
so you're not willing to work to correct some of the issues that were caused through improper packaging/shipping, at a minimum? At best they were improperly shipped, at worst their condition was misrepresented

Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
Sorry you're disappointed hope you get them fixed up to your standards. Have a good day.


Quote:
Originally Posted by cbrenn71
I'm not trying to be combative, i'm just stating the facts. There are a lot of defects in the paint, some which will require reshooting to correct. Some where caused from improper packaging for shipment, some were from the painter, and 1 i cannot tell where it happened from but there is damage down to bare paint.

I bought these with the intention i was not going to have to do anything other than throw them on the truck.

Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
Dude the flares were painted by a professional and never came out of the box, never were installed on a truck afterwards. When I bought those flares new they were 449, plus 100 bucks to paint them. Sorry if they're not up to your standards in my opinion they were in great shape. It cost me 178 dollars to ship them, as I told you right after I sent them, and never got a reply. I have a receipt to prove it if you would like. So sorry if you're not happy, but they were sold as is and they were literally brand new. Thanks.



Quote:
Originally Posted by cbrenn71
I received the flares today, and have to admit i was pretty excited. However, the paint work has a lot of defects, and my excitement soon turned to disappointment. There is a lot of dust/debris in the clear coat, that does not appear will be appear to be able to be wetsanded out.

Also, there is one flare with a scrape down to bare plastic, as well as a nasty clear coat run.

Finally, the flares appeared to have rubbed against each other in shipping, and 3 of them will require extensive buffing to try and hopefully get them out.

I was curious if you're willing to work with me on these, since i bought because they were already painted and ready to go on the truck. Now i'm looking at most likely reshooting at least one of them and spending a lot of time reconditioning the others.


Quote:
Originally Posted by garrettg926
Ups tracking number is 1Z1438W70303924041 and it ended up being 178 bucks to ship it lol but that was my **** up on estimation so no biggy I'm not worried about it!! Hope you like em dude sorry it took me a few days to get em out!



At the end of the day, this guy is so irresponsible as a seller and forum member, he should be banned to prevent any future scamming of our fellow forum members.

Cold

So was there any insurance on the package?

Also you can see the trash in the clear coat in the pictures in the add. It's your responsibility to ask for better pictures before you buy something online. You don't buy a car sight unseen do you? You have to do these things to cover yourself. If you didn't ask for more pictures and you bought them based off that one picture then you share the fault too. Sucks you have to learn this the hard way just like I have.

Now the childish taunting is a BS move on his part.

But look at the guide lines, he said they are NEW FLARES and they showed up damaged then its on him to make sure there is enough insurance and properly packaged. So I see Paypal siding with you in this matter. Open a dispute, add pictures of the sale ad and the pictures of the damage from improperly packaging. Even show them his taunting you. Make sure you send pictures not quoted text.

Good luck in this matter and hope you get it straitened out!

FerdinandF150

I agree with the above. Even when I'm meeting up with someone from CL I have them text me more photos, and if it's an electronic I get a short video. You let yourself be duped by an immature jack who more than likely knew of all the issues.

You could see what shipping them back would cost through DHL.

I hope you get this worked out.

cbrenn71

The dirt in the clear coat did not show up in additional pictures. The package was insured but he was not going to work on me with a damage claim. PayPal good side with me and was going to provide a full refund minus the shipping costs.

Cold

Okay I figure you said they did side with you and you are getting a refund? You said "was going to provide a full refund." Figure that was a typo but want to make sure they didn't revert back.

cbrenn71

They would have given me a refund but at the expense of shipping them back on my own dime. I would have lost nearly $150 to ship them back that i would not have been refunded

FerdinandF150

Did he even insure the package for more than the standard included $100? It wouldn't matter anyway, the clear coat doesn't have dirt it in from shipping and the packaging was a joke, they'd never accept responsibility.

Add up which way you'd be out more money. To have them stripped and painted again, or to mail them back.

Fbcoach

That sucks, man. Sorry to hear that the transaction was rough. BS move that he taunted you like that.

Cold

Could you get a partial refund? Just something that will cover having the paint fixed.

cbrenn71

No, he is not willing to give a partial refund to help cover the costs of a respray