Buyer Beware, MGPB of Automags.org

[nevets11_2003]

I recently purchased an Excal from MGPB, I paid his full asking price just as he asked. When I asked him about the condition he said exactly the same thing as it stated in his thread, "just needs anno". When I received the gun there was a huge milling error, the plug screw to the right of the right side eye cover hole, had been milled through. The screw now sits with 3 threads holding it in (keep in mind this screw is meant to plug a hole, from a tube that holds air. Which also now is very finicky. When I contacted him very reasonably, clam tone, he rejected my original refund offer and told me that he would give me a $50 refund, which is quite ridiculous for a paper weight. I proceeded to ask him for a full refund, I pay for shipping back, in which he responded to me saying that it could be polished up and any other further emails from me would be blocked.

Pics of the messed up body, you can see where he lock tighten it, in his pictures this error was hidden by the angle he shot the picture.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q145/nevets11_2003/photo-1-1.jpg

A few of the exchanged emails-
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q145/nevets11_2003/Picture2.png

In fact that hole does leak, after you break through the extremely thin layer of locktite. There is no polishing up to something like that, if you attempted to sand that down it would be at an even greater risk to pit in an anno/acid bath.

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q145/nevets11_2003/Picture1.png

His pictures
http://www.putfile.com/pic/3934057?pos=top

I have contacted paypal ordering a dispute, I really hate to do this but if this is the way Mgpb wants to deal this is the way things will go. I hope all of you guys think twice before dealing with this sketchy seller. And for gods sake, do not send anything to him to mill. For anybody who wants to help a fellow AO'er out, please post this on other boards such as MCB which I do not have a screen name for, I believe he is active there as well.

[dark blade]

its unfortunate that people need to sink to those levels... but just for reference do you have the original pics from his sale that hid the condition of it?


edit - ignore the comment about his pictures... i found the link

and it truly is unfortunate that things like this happen but i know paypal will fix everything

[nevets11_2003]

I never knew "anno" meant fixing an marred up screw hole?
This must be new terminology to me.. Perhaps the anodizers offer a fix for holes in air tubes :tard:

[bunny5]

nevets11_2003: Very shady that he wouldn't do a refund..... If you don't mind me asking how much was this purchased for? I mean he tried to give u a $50 refund?!?!? :eek:

Wow, the most ironic part is the users profile....


Occupation:
CNC Michinist

[nevets11_2003]

nevets11_2003: Very shady that he wouldn't do a refund..... If you don't mind me asking how much was this purchased for? I mean he tried to give u a $50 refund?!?!? :eek:

Wow, the most ironic part is the users profile....


Occupation:
CNC Michinist


$600, the price was low, I think he said something about needing to get rid of it quick, I may have just thought that up but for sure he didn't want it for obvious reasons.
I rushed to sell my Ego8 for a very low price to pick up this "paper weight" looks I should have just kept sitting on it.

[insixdays777]

man, that is horrible. Best of luck. Hope you get you money back.

[nevets11_2003]

Apparently he also has a screen name delta8 on AKAOG

Here are a few of the links to his profile on the various boards that he posts on-
http://customcockers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=441
http://www.akaog.org/forums/index.php/topic,317.msg2061.html#msg2061
http://www.network54.com/Forum/73032/viewall-page-1
http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/members/mgpb.html

I am not a member to customcockers, MCbrown, or network54 so if anybody is and wants to help me out it is much appreciated.

[Ruler_Mark]

I have taken the liberty of Banning him on AKAOG, If you need his IP addresses just shoot me a pm.

his email on registration there:
mgpb8
@(broken up to not get taken by spammers)
yahoo.com


If you need a skype bomb drop me a pm.

[Beemer]

I have taken the liberty of Banning him on AKAOG, If you need his IP addresses just shoot me a pm.

his email on registration there:
mgpb8
@(broken up to not get taken by spammers)
yahoo.com


If you need a skype bomb drop me a pm.

Ya I just banned him here. If he cares, my addy is Beemerone at comcast.net

[PBChappy]

that suck but yeah file with paypal that should do something to get him to move to refund

[NU_METAL]

I never knew "anno" meant fixing an marred up screw hole?
This must be new terminology to me.. Perhaps the anodizers offer a fix for holes in air tubes :tard:

if anything :mad: 's by hinny its reading stuff like this ,not only did he not accurately describe
the issue ,but then it would arrive to an anodizer like me ,for me to turn around and say "i cant do anything w/ this " in turn making me look bad ,and not able to help . if in the advent you are able to get that fixed ,shoot me a pm for some ano work ,ill do you the favor of lowest possible price w/out sacrificing quality ;)
NU_

[SithSteve]

That's always a crappy situation to deal with :cuss: ... GL bud!

[nevets11_2003]

In the case that paypal turns me down (lets hope not), I know somebody who is supposed to be able to weld 2 aluminum cans together, if he can weld this mess, do you guys think it would be structurally sound? I realize the anno might be blemished but I would rather have a safe reliable gun than a paper weight.

Thank you guys so much for all your help, AO is one of the greatest places to BST on with the exception of scum like this.

[fsrxc1]

Welding will work....we have had it done at DC...Jared knows an amazing welder....Contact him and let him know whats up....

[teufelhunden]

Hope you paid with a credit card -- PayPal isn't going to give you a dime of money that isn't from the other dude. Accordingly, if he emptied the account (which he did if he's smart), you're SOL, unfortunately.

Morale: PayPal with a credit card as the funding source. Run into a problem, don't even bother with PayPal -- initiate a chargeback. PayPal will work with you more in that case.

[nevets11_2003]

Hope you paid with a credit card -- PayPal isn't going to give you a dime of money that isn't from the other dude. Accordingly, if he emptied the account (which he did if he's smart), you're SOL, unfortunately.

Morale: PayPal with a credit card as the funding source. Run into a problem, don't even bother with PayPal -- initiate a chargeback. PayPal will work with you more in that case.
It was in my paypal balance.

[SithSteve]

I think what teufelhunden is saying is that if the seller emptied his account, PayPal has nothing to take to give back to you... they might issue some type of partial refund, but if that's the case, the chances that you'll get all your money back all slim...

[teufelhunden]

It was in my paypal balance.

What Sithwhatever is saying is correct. I'd be surprised if you get a partial refund.

Further, I would recommend always keeping your PayPal at or close to zero balance. Couple of reasons: First, it forces you to fund any purchases you make -- do so with a credit card (not a debit card or a checking account, neither of those offer the same protections a credit card does). Secondly, if someone decides they have a problem with how you transact business (legitimate or not), you're not at risk to lose your money. Of course, you may think you're stand up and keep records substantial enough to protect yourself in such a situation, but PayPal is overseen by a gaggle of idiots who choose their worst, slowest, least understanding, least capable, fattest, inept, most impossible to deal with people to staff their dispute department. (That means that no matter how right you are, or wrong the other guy is, you may very likely lose a dispute that you have no business losing.)

Google "PayPal sucks" and similar.



[All that said, I still use it... just protect myself in doing so]

[Ruler_Mark]

as I said on akaog, when you call paypal make sure you word it correctly. Did he get tracking even?

[nevets11_2003]

as I said on akaog, when you call paypal make sure you word it correctly. Did he get tracking even?
Yes tracking (confirmation) and insurance. As his email describes.

[Ruler_Mark]

Yes tracking (confirmation) and insurance. As his email describes.


yea its sad to say you are screwed. If you do talk to paypal atleast use the wording that it is nothing like described, technically it isnt. However to a paypal rep a screw threading that is messed up seems like a 1$ fix.

[ZapTheMad]

I ran into something like this once. Paypal won't do squat. They don't guarantee the condition of any products using their service. All they care about is proof of delivery.

What finally got my refund was contacting the police in his city and treating it like a scam. In reality, there isn't much that can happen beyond costing you more money chasing after him. But having the police involved scared him enough to refund my money.

I bought a "like new" 4500 psi tank on ebay that had a freakin HOLE IN IT!!! The guy tried to play it off as shipping damage even tho the box and packaging was perfect. It took a month of arguing but I finally got my money back. Minus shipping of course...

[punkncat]

Find a shop with a knowledgable TIG welder. That is fixable. Now how much and returning it to the proper mill afterward is a whole other issue.

[warbeak2099]

I got you covered on MCB man.

[Tassel Mask]

Man, that kind of handywork is world wide. sux for the world

[dcent]

I know somebody who is supposed to be able to weld 2 aluminum cans together,

welding 2 aluminum cans together is damn near impossible.
fixing your gun would be relatively straight forward. ( I was a fully ticketed welder for 6 years )

tig alluminum.

you would build it up from a thick spot (1/2 inch or 1 inch over from the hole) and just slowly without too much heat fill that ****er in. easy fix but you WILL need to re mill the outside. and you may also ( if I did it you definitely would have to ) re hone/thread the inside ( dont know if its threaded or what ) point being that is 100% fixable. small welding job ( done in a matter of an hour or 2 easily ) but you will definitely have somke work left to do on the outside of the body and the inside.

sorry for your luck. but dont worry to much, get your money back ( if you can ) and if you cant think of it not as a 600$ gun, but as a 800$ gun. it is NOT un fixable. any shop that does alluminum tig can fix that easily. ;)

[nevets11_2003]

Man, that kind of handywork is world wide. sux for the world
Yeah supposably he is moving off to some other state to go mill parts for planes :spit_take

[Ruler_Mark]

Yeah supposably he is moving off to some other state to go mill parts for planes :spit_take


Hope he remembers to put the wings on.

[nevets11_2003]

I have notified him asking for a partial refund, $50 he originally stated. Maybe that will at least pay the welding fees. If nothing happens I will contact the authorities in his town.

[WUNDERWAFFEN]

Unfortunately all I think you will get back is $200 from paypal if you can even get that from them. And it will probably take the whole 30 days or longer that is required for them to process the claim.

[Halliday]

I ran into something like this once. Paypal won't do squat. They don't guarantee the condition of any products using their service. All they care about is proof of delivery.

Correct. You can pay $600 and if he ships you a brick with delivery confirmation there's nothing you can do, if you didn't pay with a CC :)

[Ruler_Mark]

Correct. You can pay $600 and if he ships you a brick with delivery confirmation there's nothing you can do, if you didn't pay with a CC :)


Actually, if they ship with signature confirmation you are completely boned.

Happend to my parents they got a box with a rock in it instead of a 1300$ laptop back in 2001. Paid CC disputed it via CC company and they refused the chargeback. Reasoning was that the credit card paid to paypal and that the only dispute they can legally file was if they didnt get the $ in their paypal account. Laws may have changed since 01.

[nevets11_2003]

Well I suppose I will keep it, I have talked with jared he says that he will be able to weld it for me. So hopefully Mgpb will be honest enough to still carry out with that $50 refund he offered. That will touch the surface of the welding fees / remilling