Okay, my husband wanted a second PVR receiver for our Dish Network service. They don't make this receiver anymore, so I had to get one on ebay. Here's what the ebay listing said:
Quote:
WE USED THIS UNTIL WE SWITCHED TO BRIGHTHOUSE CABLE.
IT IS READY TO BE ADDED TO YOUR EXISTING SYSTEM OR USED AS A STAND ALONE.
GUARANTEED TO WORK GREAT.
IT STILL SHOWS ALL THE PREVIEW CHANNELS AND THE HELP CHANNEL.
THE ADVANTAGE TO THE 508 RECEIVER IS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN GRANDFATHERED IN AND DO NOT REQUIRE A PHONE LINE TO BE HOOKED UP TO THEM. (THE NEW PVR/DVR SYSTEMS REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE A PHONE LINE HOOKED UP OR YOU ARE CHARGED 5.00 A MONTH, NOT THE CASE WITH THIS ONE)
THIS RECEIVER COMES WITH A PLATNIUM DISHNETWORK REMOTE AND THE YELLOW ACCESS CARD.
PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.
YOU CAN CALL DISH NETWORK TO VERIFY THAT THIS RECEIVER IS FREE AND CLEAR
THERE ARE SOME SHOWS THAT ARE ALREADY RECORDED THAT I WILL LEAVE ON THE PVR
HAPPY BIDDING
NO RESERVE
I GUARANTEE THIS RECEIVER HAS NO BALANCE OWED ON IT AND TO WORK. IT IS READY TO BE HOOKED UP, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED EITHER THE RCA CABLES OR THE SUPER VIDEO CABLE AND I WILL SEND IT WITH THE UNIT.
Okay, so it finally came today. My husband opened the box and it smells terrible like cigarette smoke in there. Then he takes out the receiver, its covered in dust. Then he gets out the remote and it has all this grime and dirt stuck around the buttons. It's so gross! We bought another one before this off ebay and everything was fine. This second one be bought works fine, I guess... but there was nothing in the listing about the remote being all covered in crud! They already left me nice feedback... should I leave them bad feedback for this? I don't know if this could necessarily be called false advertising or not. I mean, they didn't say in the listing that it was all dirty... but they didn't say it was nice and clean either.
__________________ Current Wishlist
F + C Mini City Tote (ordered it in fuchsia on 6/18/08)
Balenciaga Mini or Shoulder
Marc Jacobs Colorblock Pochette
I think I might need to buy I different remote. I have no idea how I could possibly clean all that gunk out from around the buttons. Won't that mess up the electrical stuff if it gets wet?
__________________ Current Wishlist
F + C Mini City Tote (ordered it in fuchsia on 6/18/08)
Balenciaga Mini or Shoulder
Marc Jacobs Colorblock Pochette
What I would do is email them and ask for a full refund minus the shipping fees and send it back. That is nasty, not only would I be worried about the bacteria that is in the substance on the remote you should not have to clean up behind dirty People. Ok, if they smoke that's what they're doing to their lungs but they should have at the least cleaned it, and why do you have to smell their cigarette smoke? Why would you want a stranger to know you're dirty? I would explain why I want to return it and receive a full refund and if he/she says no I will contact paypal and ask them if there is something you can do about this and if they say yes I will let them know that you will open a dispute with Paypal if they do not accept giving you a refund. Of course if they then say that they will accept it I will take a few pictures of everything with the dirt and of course send it with signature confirmation. If PayPal says they can't do anything about it you can always threaten them with a dispute anyway, no Seller wants a dispute because PayPal automatically freezes their account. If there is any way you can get a new one I would try to return it. If you NEED it and know there aren't anymore I guess you have to keep it. Make sure you use gloves and bleach though. Now as far as the feedback I think I would leave them a negative and state why so that maybe someone else won't go through what you have and say something about the smoke odor because some People are allergic to it and they can get sick. I'm not trying to be dramatic but I am a germaphobe and that is disgusting!
Hey, I would file a SNAD (significantly not as described) to get your money back! I wouldn't leave feedback yet though. If it is dirtier than described...and if they didn't mention the smoke smell, then I would file it. Some people can be alergic to smoke smell, it could be dangerous to not mention it.
__________________ W I S H L I S T:
Marc by Marc Jacobs: Dr. Q Groovee in fluoro menta
Rebecca Minkoff: MAB in persimmon
REbecca Minkoff: Steady in tangerine/stone
Hmm... nevermind, my husband just tried hooking it up. The signal shows up, but everything is snowy. I thought it was working okay when we called Dish to activate it (you have to activate it in order to see if it will work or not). Great... just great...
__________________ Current Wishlist
F + C Mini City Tote (ordered it in fuchsia on 6/18/08)
Balenciaga Mini or Shoulder
Marc Jacobs Colorblock Pochette
I tried to file a dispute with ebay, but ebay wouldn't allow it since it hasn't been 10 days. Why do I have to wait 10 days to file a claim if I've already received the item? Ridiculous! So I went to my paypal account and filed the dispute there. That's okay, isn't it?
__________________ Current Wishlist
F + C Mini City Tote (ordered it in fuchsia on 6/18/08)
Balenciaga Mini or Shoulder
Marc Jacobs Colorblock Pochette
Yes, PayPal is ok. They are the ones that will give you your money back. So not only is it disgustingly dirty but it doesn't work? How terrible is that!
Yeah, they just responded back saying "Are you sure you have it hooked up right?" Of course we have it hooked up right! LOL! We already have one just like it... well, actually not just like it. The item was advertised as the 508 model... its really the 501 model. I didn't notice it until I look at the numbers on the "Smart Card". They are the numbers you use to activate the receiver. Anyway, the number isn't the same one that's given in the listing. The seller had provided the number so buyers could verify that the receiver didn't have a balance due on it... but then the one we received doesn't have the same number on it. The one they sent us doesn't have a balance... but still, its not what they had advertised in the listing.
So now, things wrong with it (gee, it just keeps getting worse):
1. Smells horrible
2. Remote is covered in crud
3. Hooked it up, gets a signal, but picture is really snowy
4. Not the same model that was advertised
__________________ Current Wishlist
F + C Mini City Tote (ordered it in fuchsia on 6/18/08)
Balenciaga Mini or Shoulder
Marc Jacobs Colorblock Pochette
You can file a paypal claim because its not the right model and picture is snowy, but unfortunately unless the item was described as "clean" or "smoke free home" then you cant complain about grime or smell - I know from experience. I bought a pair of jeans that smelled like smoke before the box was even opened and Paypal told me unless they advertise smoke free home or clean then you have to ask before you bid or they have no recourse.
I'd file through PayPal... I got a set of VERY expensive art markers and it was a gift - it wasn't as described (not sealed, but was said to be BRAND NEW). I got my money back in full! It was rad!
__________________ The Wiser Shopaholic - a blog about me, debt, shopping and how to deal with it all while obtaining copious amounts of wisdom.
But whatever you do, you should leave feedback (if any) last.
__________________ W I S H L I S T:
Marc by Marc Jacobs: Dr. Q Groovee in fluoro menta
Rebecca Minkoff: MAB in persimmon
REbecca Minkoff: Steady in tangerine/stone
The seller has agreed to let me send it back. She said she will refund my money if it is intend the wrong model. I took pictures of the numbers on the receiver and "Smart Card" and I took pictures of the system info screen showing the model number (which is not the correct number). I also have confirmation with Dish on which model the numbers belong to. So hopefully I have everything covered... I'm sending it back today.
__________________ Current Wishlist
F + C Mini City Tote (ordered it in fuchsia on 6/18/08)
Balenciaga Mini or Shoulder
Marc Jacobs Colorblock Pochette
You should use shipping confirmation...to make sure the seller can't say they "didn't get it".
__________________ W I S H L I S T:
Marc by Marc Jacobs: Dr. Q Groovee in fluoro menta
Rebecca Minkoff: MAB in persimmon
REbecca Minkoff: Steady in tangerine/stone
Should I leave them bad feedback?
They already left me nice feedback... should I leave them bad feedback for this? 
I don't know if this could necessarily be called false advertising or not. I mean, they didn't say in the listing that it was all dirty... but they didn't say it was nice and clean either.
What I would do is email them and ask for a full refund minus the shipping fees and send it back. That is nasty, not only would I be worried about the bacteria that is in the substance on the remote you should not have to clean up behind dirty People. Ok, if they smoke that's what they're doing to their lungs but they should have at the least cleaned it, and why do you have to smell their cigarette smoke? Why would you want a stranger to know you're dirty? I would explain why I want to return it and receive a full refund and if he/she says no I will contact paypal and ask them if there is something you can do about this and if they say yes I will let them know that you will open a dispute with Paypal if they do not accept giving you a refund. Of course if they then say that they will accept it I will take a few pictures of everything with the dirt and of course send it with signature confirmation. If PayPal says they can't do anything about it you can always threaten them with a dispute anyway, no Seller wants a dispute because PayPal automatically freezes their account. If there is any way you can get a new one I would try to return it. If you NEED it and know there aren't anymore I guess you have to keep it. Make sure you use gloves and bleach though. Now as far as the feedback I think I would leave them a negative and state why so that maybe someone else won't go through what you have and say something about the smoke odor because some People are allergic to it and they can get sick. I'm not trying to be dramatic but I am a germaphobe and that is disgusting!
Of course we have it hooked up right! LOL! We already have one just like it... well, actually not just like it. The item was advertised as the 508 model... its really the 501 model. I didn't notice it until I look at the numbers on the "Smart Card". They are the numbers you use to activate the receiver. Anyway, the number isn't the same one that's given in the listing. The seller had provided the number so buyers could verify that the receiver didn't have a balance due on it... but then the one we received doesn't have the same number on it. 
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