Thread
Wallstreet...With a Problem
I recently bought a Wallstreet from eBay. Beautiful machine – nicest laptop I’ve ever used. I was all set to go and ready to take it out and show it off to the world when it abruptly lost power. The seller told me it had a working battery and it doesn’t. It lasts about 5 minutes if you’re lucky. She also neglected to mention the noticeable scratching on the tuxedo. Lastly, it had 160 megs ram in it instead of the advertised 56. That would normally be a plus but I had just gone out and bought an extra 128 megs for it. On the plus side it also had a larger hard disk than advertised.
I’m not going to make a fuss about the scratching, but the sole reason I bought this machine was to use it when I’m out and about. Has anyone else had a problem like this, and do eBay or Paypal give a toss about items that were delivered but not as described?
This is the last time I ever buy a computer from a woman. They have no idea what they're talking about. Honestly, it’s like buying a necklace from a bikie. No offence to the lovely ladies on this forum.
I’m not going to make a fuss about the scratching, but the sole reason I bought this machine was to use it when I’m out and about. Has anyone else had a problem like this, and do eBay or Paypal give a toss about items that were delivered but not as described?
This is the last time I ever buy a computer from a woman. They have no idea what they're talking about. Honestly, it’s like buying a necklace from a bikie. No offence to the lovely ladies on this forum.
I say torch their house.
Thanks for the link Macster. This is what I'll do - I'll contact her first, then when she tells me to go hang, I will start a dispute. eBay will use one of the 200 exclusions on that page to tell me I can't make a claim; then I will resell it. Which isn't so bad as I think if it's listed with its correct specs I may end up making a profit out of it.
Only a hardline bra burner would deny that most women aren't interested in computers.You're lucky there's not many women round here to attack you for that!
If she told you it had a working battery and it holds a charge, even for a few minutes, then she was right. Unless she stated the amount of time it lasted and was inaccurate, then you are SOL.
She told me the battery was replaced a while ago and is still "really good". But yes, you are right, the lack of a definite length of charge will probably get her off the hook.
You could "make" the battery not work because, well, quite frankly she pulled over a dirty trick on you.
Yeah, but then she would say it got damaged in transit, which isn't covered by eBay. I don't think she did it deliberately anyway - the power meter in the control strip says over 2 hours, so she probably assumed it was accurate.
Wow. When I bought my 3400c from Ebay, the battery completely died a week later (not even recognized). I notified the seller and he promptly bought me a *brand new* battery from Ebay.
Lucky you! I'm guessing this chap would have been a powerseller or something though... The seller I bought from was more likely a housewife clearing out her cupboards I think.
Have you tried Battery Reset, there might be just a problem with the PMU,
if battery reset doesnt work scroll down to post 21 and follow the procedure http://www.maclife.com/forums/topic/51129/1
if battery reset doesnt work scroll down to post 21 and follow the procedure http://www.maclife.com/forums/topic/51129/1
Your comments are getting progressively more sexist and repulsive heebies.
Meanwhile - so you got a dud battery, but more than 3 times the advertised RAM and a larger hard drive? Meh. Call it even, suck it up and go buy a battery, or have that one recelled.
Meanwhile - so you got a dud battery, but more than 3 times the advertised RAM and a larger hard drive? Meh. Call it even, suck it up and go buy a battery, or have that one recelled.
That sucks, man 
I bought a pair of shoes once on eBay from some seller, because I can't really find shoes of size 16 in stores for a good price
Anyway, they were stated as 'worn once, excellent condition'. When they got here, they were COMPLETELY scuffed up, the white was all rubbed off, the rubber on the bottom was worn down, and he had stepped in dog crap and gum before shipping them.
He's the only person who messed up my 100% feedback rating on eBay, and after he left that, I lost all means of contact with him.
I bought a pair of shoes once on eBay from some seller, because I can't really find shoes of size 16 in stores for a good price
Anyway, they were stated as 'worn once, excellent condition'. When they got here, they were COMPLETELY scuffed up, the white was all rubbed off, the rubber on the bottom was worn down, and he had stepped in dog crap and gum before shipping them.
He's the only person who messed up my 100% feedback rating on eBay, and after he left that, I lost all means of contact with him.
I bought my Wallstreet from an ebay auction back in March for $81 shipped. It is much better than I expected. It has more ram and a larger hard drive than advertised as well as a battery that lasts well over two hours. I guess I was lucky. BTW - It is nice to be back at 68k. 
What's Battery Reset? If it doesn't work then I'll try the open firmware thing. Thank you, sir!
Smile mate, it can't hurt!
It doesn't work out even for me though because I'd already bought the new ram, and besides that, I already have an Intel and a G4 so this thing will sit there unused if I can't take it on the road. As far as I'm concerned, it's not as described and doesn't do the job I bought it for. But yes, if I have to resell it then the bonuses might make it even out, though maybe not with eBay's fees the way they are.
What a bummer! There are some dodge balls out there that's for sure, but mostly my experiences on eBay have been good. I generally don't leave negative feedback because I don't want my 100% approval being tarnished.That sucks, man
I bought a pair of shoes once on eBay from some seller, because I can't really find shoes of size 16 in stores for a good price
Anyway, they were stated as 'worn once, excellent condition'. When they got here, they were COMPLETELY scuffed up, the white was all rubbed off, the rubber on the bottom was worn down, and he had stepped in dog crap and gum before shipping them.
He's the only person who messed up my 100% feedback rating on eBay, and after he left that, I lost all means of contact with him.
None of the above. You got some pluses and some minuses with this purchase. I say they balance out. You should really never expect that a laptop battery in a machine that old will have any sort of reasonable life expectancy left. Always assume the battery will be DOA and lower your bid accordingly. If you are technically inclined, and the cells are still available, it may be possible to rebuild the battery. There are articles posted all over the internet about how to rebuild a laptop battery, so I won't go into detail about it, but it's not really that difficult and is the only way to bring some older machines back from the dead.
She told me it was still very good - so why would I assume it's dead? And, as stated above, it's of no use to me unless I can move it around so it really doesn't even out.
Anyway, with a bit of luck the battery reset thing might work.
Anyway, with a bit of luck the battery reset thing might work.
I just received her response back. She appears to be a very nice lady; was very apologetic and asked for the battery model number so she could chase up another one.
I feel guilty now for assuming that she would be unhelpful. I guess I assumed that because you only hear of the bad stories on eBay, never the good ones.
So cynicism takes another bullet in the chest.
I feel guilty now for assuming that she would be unhelpful. I guess I assumed that because you only hear of the bad stories on eBay, never the good ones.
So cynicism takes another bullet in the chest.
If you lose contact with her just sell the spare RAM or something and put the money towards a new battery.
I wrote this before hearing your response that you contacted her, just was slow about sending the post, but figure to leave it than delete, because I hear a lot of this from "collectors" and the like:
I personally think you're overreacting:
1) If there were pictures and you didn't ask about scratching, it's your loss. Think about it: if someone advertises something as "clean" or "nice" it's their opinion, not an exact science. I've been burnt this way in the past- sold a machine as "nice" and when it arrived, because it had a scratch on the side of the case, it was actually returned to me, i was flamed with bad feedback, and forced to send a replacement machine at my cost. At the time I had no pictures, so i said whatever, unless I say "mint" no one will mind a 1/2 inch scratch that's barely visable. on the other hand, if there's pictures, and it shows up notably different, you have total bitching rights, now if the scratches are there and you missed them, or the photo looked better, but on inspection, the scratches are there, that's good salesmanship. No, it's not fair, but if everyone had to document every scratch or discoloration, a lot of things would never get sold. I frequently go after items that have bad cases, or whatever, and while it sucks when it arrives lookign worse than i was expecting, but unless you explicitly ask, and expect to wait forever for the "perfect" auction to come by, deal with it...
2) As stated, the battery charged, and lasted more than 0:00, in fact it looked like it would hold 2 hours by your assertation. 50% of the people out there on ebay are trying to rip you off, 50% dont want to learn the intracacies of a 7-year-old or whatever laptop that they've had stored for years just to know the exact length of the battery and what it should be.
3) the Ram and hard drive.. BOTH are a plus- so what if you bought the ram, that was bad planning on your part, and she shouldn't be penalized for making you waste money- go sell the new one you got- whatever. I frequently throw in "extras" for my customers, sometimes because i might take an extra day to ship or because i have no more use for the parts and alone they're not worth selling.
4) you pissed me off rightly about the woman crack.
Sorry for being so opinionated, but in all honesty, if there isn't at least some bit of the unknown in ebay sales, all items would be going for brand new prices. Such is the nature of online auctions and listings like craigslist and LEM. If you're so insistant on scratchfree or exact details, inquire. your lack of asking if your own fault.
I personally think you're overreacting:
1) If there were pictures and you didn't ask about scratching, it's your loss. Think about it: if someone advertises something as "clean" or "nice" it's their opinion, not an exact science. I've been burnt this way in the past- sold a machine as "nice" and when it arrived, because it had a scratch on the side of the case, it was actually returned to me, i was flamed with bad feedback, and forced to send a replacement machine at my cost. At the time I had no pictures, so i said whatever, unless I say "mint" no one will mind a 1/2 inch scratch that's barely visable. on the other hand, if there's pictures, and it shows up notably different, you have total bitching rights, now if the scratches are there and you missed them, or the photo looked better, but on inspection, the scratches are there, that's good salesmanship. No, it's not fair, but if everyone had to document every scratch or discoloration, a lot of things would never get sold. I frequently go after items that have bad cases, or whatever, and while it sucks when it arrives lookign worse than i was expecting, but unless you explicitly ask, and expect to wait forever for the "perfect" auction to come by, deal with it...
2) As stated, the battery charged, and lasted more than 0:00, in fact it looked like it would hold 2 hours by your assertation. 50% of the people out there on ebay are trying to rip you off, 50% dont want to learn the intracacies of a 7-year-old or whatever laptop that they've had stored for years just to know the exact length of the battery and what it should be.
3) the Ram and hard drive.. BOTH are a plus- so what if you bought the ram, that was bad planning on your part, and she shouldn't be penalized for making you waste money- go sell the new one you got- whatever. I frequently throw in "extras" for my customers, sometimes because i might take an extra day to ship or because i have no more use for the parts and alone they're not worth selling.
4) you pissed me off rightly about the woman crack.
Sorry for being so opinionated, but in all honesty, if there isn't at least some bit of the unknown in ebay sales, all items would be going for brand new prices. Such is the nature of online auctions and listings like craigslist and LEM. If you're so insistant on scratchfree or exact details, inquire. your lack of asking if your own fault.
And you can be lucky the opposite direction too - I bought a wallstreet 300 which, from the pics, looked really beat-up, and all I wanted from it was the logic board and CPU. Turns out the scratches in it aren't really visible irl, and the thing is as solid as a wallstreet gets. Unless you see something for yourself, irl, there's not much way to guarantee what it's like - I risk that on every eBay buy, but deal with it all the same.
Dana
Batteries are rightly not warranted by any seller of any thing, unless the batteries are new and you pay a new price. In line with both your obligation (for your own sake) and the universal warning of caveat emptor in any sale, whether that be in person, on line, by tender or from beyond the grave, it was your business to know that a battery of that age was almost certain to be wonkus.
You could luck out by resetting the Power Management Unit, or make sure of the matter by recelling. Even before the seller's offer, however, you had come out of the sale well ahead.
de