Bought Some Prodrive Wheels in the Market on Prime...didnt fit. What do I do now?

[d1 guy]

Hi everyone. As most know, I had my HREs painted to match my car. What most of you don't know is why I decided to do that instead of buying new wheels. Well, here is the story:

I found some really great looking matte bronze prodrive 17/18s in the nsxprime market place. I was concerned about brake clearance since I have a 13" brembo bbk up front. Well I asked and was told by the owner that they would clear. I called SOS to confirm as well. Chris said that they had two different versions. one would clear and one wouldn't. I assumed that these that I was interested in was the version that would clear since that's what the owner told me. I then agreed to purchase them. I paid through paypal about two months ago. It took over two weeks to get them and then when I tried to put them on, they wouldn't clear the calipers!!

Noticed that it really roughed up my caliper too.

I then ordered 1/4 spacers for the front. They still wouldnt clear. I even jokingly tried doubling up the spacers on the front right side. It just barely cleared but left me with no studs and I have the extended studs all around.

I then asked the seller through a pm for a refund and explained that I would send them back the same day as my refund. He said that he would take them back but wouldn't refund me the money until he received them back. So I box them up the next day and send them out ups insured for 2k. It cost me 200 to ship them. Well ups tried to deliver them three times and he never signed for them but he did ask them to hold them and said he would pick them up. This took over week. Then he didn't pick them up for 5 days. After that, I emailed and pmd him several times with no reply (I don't have his phone number). Two weeks ago I finally get an email from paypal that said refund in the subject. I opened it and it had a message that said, this is **** girlfriend. He asked me to send you this refund of $900 because that is all that is left in his paypal account. I am transferring the remaining money to the paypal account so I can refund you the rest (1300). That was two weeks ago and I have not heard from them since.

What should I do? I have been very kind and patient. I havent acted angry nor have I sent any harsh emails. I am a really easy going guy, but this is getting ridiculus. Should I chalk the $1300 up as a loss and a lesson learned or should I file a claim through paypal? I really don't like for things to get messy. I am unfamiliar with the paypal claim process. It just seems like I can't win for losing though....with all the extra expense on my car, $1300 seems like a lot to lose on a set of wheels.

Thanks in advance. Please, SERIOUS advice only. Thanks again.

 

[Hasdrubal]

I had a vaguely similar experience here. Explained step by step how to measure the clearance for a front BBK, and the guy measured one of the rear wheels. Gave me the requested number and told me it would fit, and when it didn't, he told me it was my fault for not checking.

Paypal is a waste of time unless you're buying through eBay. After about a month, they ended up refusing to do anything because it wasn't a purchase they had guaranteed ahead of time (eBay).

You're probably out of luck unless you're in the same state, and able to file something in a civil court.

 

[angus]

What is the seller's user name?

What are the specs of the wheels (size and offsets) ?

 

[d1 guy]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136201&highlight=Prodrive+bronze

 

[Veleno]

Paypal's claim policy is within 45 days (I think), and if that's the case you're too late to file a claim against the person. If you paid with a credit card, then I'd contact your credit card company to see what they can do. Furthermore, I would not stop emailing the seller requesting the balance.

 

[ravi4l]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136201&highlight=Prodrive+bronze

Sorry to hear you are having issue funny thing is i almost bought those as the seller was in PA. good luck he sad he comes to DC a lot if i see him i'll let you know.

Good luck
Ravi

 

[E-Nough Logic]

what happened to the wheels, did he ever pick them up?

honestly the only chance you would have would be to go to the police, it would be much easier with his contact information though. i had an issue with a paypal fraudulent refund on a $3500 engine and had the police call him a couple times that was enough to scare him and got my money eventually. i had to drive a couple hours to his state to really get anything done.

 

[d1 guy]

what happened to the wheels, did he ever pick them up?

honestly the only chance you would have would be to go to the police, it would be much easier with his contact information though. i had an issue with a paypal fraudulent refund on a $3500 engine and had the police call him a couple times that was enough to scare him and got my money eventually. i had to drive a couple hours to his state to really get anything done.

Yes he picked the wheels up the day before UPS was going to send them back to me.

I do have his address and name, but I dont have a phone number for him and the drive for me would be 15 hours or so, so that is not an option for me.

 

[d1 guy]

Sorry to hear you are having issue funny thing is i almost bought those as the seller was in PA. good luck he sad he comes to DC a lot if i see him i'll let you know.

Good luck
Ravi

Thanks. The wheels were nice, but not "new" like the thread title states. One tire was completely slick (belt was showing through), so the statement that one has some "uneven" wear is a big understatement. I was buying for the wheels alone though, I didnt need the tires......but now I dont have the wheels, tires, or my money back. I wouldve been much better off just selling them myself, but I didnt expect this to happen either.

 

[nsxpilot]

Man......hate to this sort of thing happen in our small community......

 

[davidf]

So technically you have $900 and he has the wheels?

 

[d1 guy]

So technically you have $900 and he has the wheels?

Yep..........

 

[d1 guy]

I just hope this is a misunderstanding. Maybe he just went out of town or something.

 

[dablackgoku1234]

You can always to a credit card reversal, but Paypal would hate you for that. Remember to withdraw the $900 before going to your credit card company.

 

[davidf]

Not only is it bad business, it's theft. You'd been better off keeping the wheels and no refund, at least you could've sold them retrieving most of your money but now he has has his wheels and your out $1300.00. Thats just stealing, period.

 

[DRIFTER]

Did you damage the wheels, by driving on them? If they messed up your caliper they most likely messed up the wheels. Im not taking sides.

But if I was in his situation I would not refund all of your money if the wheels came back damaged.

 

[ChopsJazz]

... this is **** girlfriend. He asked me to send you this refund of $900 because that is all that is left in his paypal account. I am transferring the remaining money to the paypal account so I can refund you the rest (1300). That was two weeks ago and I have not heard from them since.

From this part of your scenario it appears the seller knows that he owes you the remaining $1300 as his GF said his intent is to pay it to you. I'm assuming that conversation took place after he received and inspected the wheels. If he fails to refund all your money then yes, it is theft. Did any of this occur through the US Mail? they take a pretty dim view of mail fraud.

 

[d1 guy]

Did you damage the wheels, by driving on them? If they messed up your caliper they most likely messed up the wheels. Im not taking sides.

But if I was in his situation I would not refund all of your money if the wheels came back damaged.

Man, I didnt drive it at all. I set the wheel up on the studs....thats all. It scratched up the caliper by hanging there. The wheels were not damaged at all. LOL if you look at the picture, there wasnt even any way to bolt the wheel up to the car.

Plus I wouldnt ask for a refund if I damaged the wheels. The wheels were sent back to him in the exact condition they were sent to me the only exception is that I packaged them better and paid more money to ship them back to him than he paid to ship them to me.

 

[d1 guy]

From this part of your scenario it appears the seller knows that he owes you the remaining $1300 as his GF said his intent is to pay it to you. I'm assuming that conversation took place after he received and inspected the wheels. If he fails to refund all your money then yes, it is theft. Did any of this occur through the US Mail? they take a pretty dim view of mail fraud.

The money was exchanged solely through paypal and UPS was the return shipper. I bought boxes for the wheels (they werent boxed just wrapped when I received them). I paid a local shop to wrap them, box them, and send them UPS with full insurance.

 

[d1 guy]

From this part of your scenario it appears the seller knows that he owes you the remaining $1300 as his GF said his intent is to pay it to you. I'm assuming that conversation took place after he received and inspected the wheels. If he fails to refund all your money then yes, it is theft. Did any of this occur through the US Mail? they take a pretty dim view of mail fraud.

Yes sir, I agree with you. Maybe he intended to pay or something, but I would expect him to keep in touch. He didnt have any trouble returning emails and PMs when I was interested in buying them.

 

[d1 guy]

WOW......I just received an email from Paypal on my phone. He just refunded me the rest of the money. There was no comment in the comment section. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding. Thanks for all the advice. It took from September 14th until now but at least its over with. Im proud that I didnt say anything that I would regret.

 

[BTL3.0]

Man that suck. Good thing the dude still have some conscience and did what is RIGHT even though you're out the shipping cost. Small lost but at least you got what is owe to you.

Most people wouldn't have the patience of two months to deal with something like this..

 

[d1 guy]

Man that suck. Good thing the dude still have some conscience and did what is RIGHT even though you're out the shipping cost. Small lost but at least you got what is owe to you.

Most people wouldn't have the patience of two months to deal with something like this..

I dont mind losing the shipping back to him. I like to think of my patience as an asset with a good return.

 

[ChopsJazz]

I'm glad it worked out in the end. Perhaps all the attention on Prime had a motivating factor in your refund.

 

[d1 guy]

He just bumped the wheels in the for sale section and says that he has been sick. Thats understandable, but I wish there was some sort of contact. The wheels are in excellent condition, but one tire is not usable. I think the matte bronze is one of the best colors for any of the prodrives. Although Im pretty partial to my HREs now that they have painted centers.