Lost on Ebay transaction

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maxwell_smart007

maxwell_smart007

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My wife and I are just about to buy our first house - it's very small and needs a ton of work, but you have to start somewhere. That being said, the purchase of a shotgun is out the window for now!

This house needs a lot of work. Least of which is that it has a clawfoot tub, but the faucet leaks like a seive and can't be fixed (it's just worn out, and they don't make the cartridges anymore) It's the easiest thing to work on, however, so we thought we'd start small!

Anyway, we decided to order a faucet for our clawfoot tub off of eBay. 52 dollars, with 40 for shipping. Comes from China. $100 is a lot of money for me, but they're a lot more than that locally...and we thought it would be a nice 'new house' present to each other.

Faucet arrived and pieces do not screw together, so it's worthless. Began a discourse with the buyer on paypal, and they refused to refund unless i returned this paperweight. Paypal 'dispute claim' also wouldn't refund unless i return it to China.

The issue is that it's much more expensive to ship out of Canada than it is to ship in. Checked with the post office, and the cheapest method is 63 dollars with no tracking, or 110 with. Paypal's dispute process requires tracking.

So I guess it's a life lesson, and I'm out $100 and still have no clawfoot faucet. Maybe I'll get lucky and win the lottery tomorrow and not have to tell my wife that the fact I was wrong when I said that 'paypal is insured - we don't have to worry' :smile:

Thanks for letting me vent.

Andrew
 
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I would still leave negative feedback if the parts did not work. They shouldn't be selling items that don't work and at least you may help the next guy.
Tell them you are going to and maybe they will change their mind.
 
I feel your pain... well somewhat. I have had similar fiasco's dealing with eBay sellers. Point of fact I had just recently purchased a pipe, The seller failed to point out the fact that it had a metal insert in the bowl. Well I made a request to return the pipe because of that reason. The seller argued. I made my case to eBay they made sure I got my money.
Granted I smoking pipe is a far cry from a POS faucet.
Sorry to hear your bad luck.
IMHO Give them a Negative. let other know your misfortune.
 
You should look for a faucet for your tub at a place like Home Depot or Lowe's. My house is a 1916 Edwardian and I have a cast iron claw footed tube. I was able to get a new faucet with the attachment for the shower at Home Depot. It cost me about $60. It doesn't have any cartridges in it. It is just a regular faucet and it works great. It has ceramic handles that say hot and cold.
They are great tubs because you can lie down all the way when taking a bath.
 
It wasn't quite clear as to "not fitting together". Were the threads mismatched? Or, did the faucet threads not fit the tub? Or was it a press fit or solder/brazing fit that was not done?

IF you know the size of the fittings and threads that is on the faucet and on what you have, it seems like you could do a little internet search and find an adapter. A pipe fitting company or even a machine shop in a large city should make a custom adapter for the equivalent of about $50.00 US. Properly made, it will not be noticed.

If you find a machine shop locally, which will be best, take the faucet with you, let them measure the china threads and also take the piece that it needs to fit into or onto. Take measurements of the spacing or length. They should be able to make the adapter.

If something needs to be soldered or brazed, a good shop can do that, but it would probably need to be re-chromed.

And if you go to a local shop, take a few pens and offer pens for a discount or at least to get them to open up to offer suggestions.
 
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I'm in the middle of the country in a small town, so there are no HOme Depots or pipe fitters or the like here.

The threads are very close, but when I screw them together, I can just pull them apart completely with very little effort...they don't seat together. The same thing happens when I try using a hose to see if other threads work.

IT's just sickening that I spent so much on it...
 
Hi Andrew...

Having worked in northern Ontario for a number of years (Red Lake and Hearst) I know what is like to live a small isolated community with very few of the regular comforts (fresh vegetables, a movie theatre, etc.) that larger centres have. It may be worth while gathering up your old faucet and your new one and taking a long-weekend trip either westward to Winnipeg or east to Thunder Bay. These centres have Home Depot and perhaps other re-used it stores that may have the parts you are looking for.

Wade
 
Sounds like you are SOL outside of the negative feedback. Sorry about that. I too have been taken on the Bay. It sucks but it is a learning experience.
 
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