Ebay Seller Warning! SCIFI-MODELS

[Luuke]

I bought and paid for a Star trek Enterprise MACO EM-33 Pistol PROP kit (320061862480) on ebay on May 3rd from scifi-models. Please forgive me as I found out only today this guy had recast this item. It seems he sells ALOT of ST stuff on ebay. Anyway, his auction said to wait UP TO 7 days before item ships. He wrote me and said it would take two weeks and the auction description had to be changed. As of right now, (4 weeks later) it still says 7 days. Then he says it shipped on the 17th. I asked for a tracking number, he said he didn't have any. I told him I'm giving him untill this Thursday (a full 4 weeks after I paid) for either the item to show up or provide a valid tracking number. This guy should be placed on the "Bad Vendor" and probably "Recaster" list.

 

[wuher da brewer]

Not challenging the validity of your recast claim. He is in the UK. Doesn't normal post take at least two weeks from the UK?

 

[Luuke]

I paid $45 for expedited shipping and tracking. That should take less than a week. I had a chat on the phone with a friend today and confirmed that the prop was a recast.

 

[wuher da brewer]

Best wishes resolving your claim.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

File a claim with PayPal and eBay listing the reason as : "counterfeit/recast item not mentioned in auction & paid for fast shipping and haven't received yet". Or something like that.

 

[renaissance_man]

I bought the same item about a year ago, and told him I wanted to return it because it was of low quality. I knew when it arrived and I looked at it, that it was a recast. It was horrible and the paint job left a lot to be desired.
He accepted the refund and I sent it back.
He then asked me for feedback, so I left some neutral feedback saying the quality of goods was not what I expected but a full refund was given.

He then started e-mailing me calling me all kinds of bad names, just because I told the truth.
So I fully agree with you AVOID him at all costs.
The tempting price may lure you in but you will get stung.
Go to a reputable prop dealer, and know that you are getting quality.

 

[Raffles]

I'd get any sort of ebay claim in asap, UK ebay can sometimes take a while to sort things out.
I really hate how the feedback system works. I bought a shirt from a guy in Germany and he would'nt take the payment methods on the auction. It was going to cost me $102 for a bank transfer to pay for a $22 shirt! I contacted ebay and they said "okay as it's your first complaint we'll cancel the sale" :confused And this guy goes and leaves feed back that ebay won't remove saying that I am a non paying buyer!!!!

 

[stonedog7563]

thanks for the warning, i was about to buy a USCM welding torch he has, think ill pass on it now.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Luuke]

Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Well lets start from the top shal we. First and definately foremost, DO NOT BUY OR SELL ANYTHING TO SCIFI MODELS! This has got to be one of the worst prop buying experiences in my entire life. I'll list this very systematically.
Let's start with the auction itself.
Price (in US dollars): $78.79
Shipping: $33.50
Total: $112.69
Paid immediately after I purchased item 5/3/2007
Auction Detail: Says it will ship within 7 days.
Actual: Took 19 days to ship item from payment received. He says he shipped item on 5/17, postmark is 5/22.
Ship time: Took 17 days to get here.
At first he said he didn't have a tracking number, then after I threatened to sick ebay on him, he magically got one.
Origin of prop:
I flat out asked him, "Did you have permission from the original prop owner to recast this item?"
His response, "I don't know if I did or not, as I don't know who the owner is... Mine was a recast anyway, so I don't know. sorry"
Here is a statement from the person who sold it to SCIFI-MODELS, "This guy recast the EM-33 kit that "a member" and I make - which is molded directly from one of the metal-bodied originals btw. We were selling them through "another member" for several years. This guy purchased one of our kits through him, who did the finishing work for him and based on a hunch, added an inaccuracy to the body right below the trigger. Sure enough, the guy remolded it wart and all and has been selling them ever since."
The Kit:
Where do I begin? Not to put too fine a point on it but this is the worst piece of crap I have ever had the missfortune to gaze upon, much less, had purchased. First off it looks like it was put through one of those wood chippers you see when they chop up tree limbs into mulch. Most all of the parts in this kit were poured with miss-mixed resin and are not fully cured. The parts bend and warp and speaking from experience will never fully cure or harden. There are huge bubbles in the castings everywhere. It looks like there are chunks missing. One of the parts came broken. Things do not line up correctly. This is just a frigging joke. I'm so pissed it's not even funny. Not only will I be asking for my money back but I will be requesting that he pay me to send it back to him. I just don't know what else to say. I'll take some pics and post them.

 

[rollerboi]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=26337&highlight=SCIFI-MODELS

Yup, this guy's taking a lot of folks in. Sorry to hear. :/

 

[TheSt.LouisKid]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Definately and obviously something that should have gone into the trash as a reject. This guy should be beaten since had no regard for what he was making and has no regard for cheating a buyer. This is theft as far as I am concerned as he has sent you something useless.

This is why I hate buying something off ebay unseen. Whenever possible try to buy from someone here who has been a member for awhile. Or at least post a thread here asking someone to refer you someone who is making what you are looking for so you don't have to discover vermin like this your own.

 

[Gojira61]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Molds are shot, does not know how to cast, pulled the parts out too soon, I could go on.

Sorry this happened to you, used to see guys like these all the time at shows. You always had to wonder why their kit boxes were shrink wrapped. :angry

Jim

 

[Aegis159]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

OMG.... what the hell was that suppose to be anyway??!?!? The casting so so pathetically poor I can't actually tell what it should be!!

Sorry you got taken by this lowlife...

 

[cheech9898]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

OMG.... what the hell was that suppose to be anyway??!?!? The casting so so pathetically poor I can't actually tell what it should be!!

Sorry you got taken by this lowlife...

:eek

Is that supposed to be a phaser pistol from the Enterprise TV series?

I was got by someone else, but it was for a poor Zat kit.... resin was curred but it was warped some and by the extra flashing & blobs over details the mold was going & there was quite a bit of bubbles in the resin.... nothing as bad as that thou & I'm still slowly working on cleaning that up.

Hope you get your money back

 

[TheSt.LouisKid]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Looking at all his stuff, I believe his Ferengi phaser is a recast of the one I did about 14 years ago.

 

[blufive]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Not to make light of the situation but this is the first time I laughed out loud at photos like that.

I'm sorry to hear about your trouble.

The sad thing is, it takes almost as much time to do something right than to do something wrong.

 

[vaderdarth]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Wow that is freaking ugly right there!!! Sorry to hear you got ripped. This guy needs to be shut down. I'll bet his advertisement doesn't look like this crap.

 

[rmschneider104]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

What a hunk of junk. Thanks for keeping this in front of us.

 

[franz bolo]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

Here's his description for his MACO EM-33 Pistol PROP kit.

It is 1:1, feels very heavy in your hand, and VERY rare on Ebay. It even has the correct colour for the MACO off Enterprise, making an authentic collectable for your star trek collection!
This is made from high quality heavy industrial resin, the pictures really do not do it justice!!
Any questions let me know! You will recieve it unpainted, with only small clean-up and sanding needed. This is the unpainted kit version!

What were about..

Scifi-models takes great care in making sure all our kits have been produced using very high quality resin available to the industry, as used by most of the F1 teams!. There's no cheap model shop resin like used on most other kits out there! The usual White resin doesn't come close to the same quality in our opinion.

PLEASE NOTE FOR NEW USERS OF RESIN MODELS!! Please don't bid if you expect 100% perfect casting. Sanding, bubbles, and some lean-to is totally acceptable for this medium. They all have some amount of cleanup required, for example bubbles will need to be filled with milliput, sanding and priming will need to be done before painting these fantastic display pieces. (If there not already excellently painted by ourselves!)

Here's some of what other people have said about them:

* "brilliant thanks very much great quality resin no "bubbles" A++++"
* "great item, great price, cheers pal!"
* "Item received very quickly and in excellent shape! Seller highly recommended!!!"
* "These patches are so cool,arrived quickly too. Great ebayer. A++"
* "Very helpful seller,never seen any DS9 merchandise like this before.Thank you."
* "Thankyou for your superb item, great quality and excellent turnround."

If so send it back and get a refund and report him to eBay.



FB

 

[Luuke]

Re: Ebay Warning. Do Not By From SCIFI-MODELS

I've already told this guy I want a full refund and if he wants this back it will be at his expense and I already have started the process with ebay and paypal. The pictures he uses in his auction clearly do not reflect the quality I received. I'd say this guy thought he could get away with it.