I bought a Milo Baughman campaign desk for 2K FOUR months ago. This was a gift to myself after passing my medical specialty boards. I bought it off ebay. The seller deals in midcentury modern furniture. After NUMEROUS (sometimes several times a day) phone calls, I still had not received the desk 3 months later. However, the seller always responded to my calls and apologized and said he was having difficulty getting it shipped because of the size. For free, he sent the chair that went with it, which is in poor condition and is a saporiti italian chair. He had told me it was milo baughman, but I looked it up. I didnt want it, I wanted the desk.
A couple weeks ago, I received the legs in good condition. But no desktop. I told the seller that I am calling VISA and that I had enough with dealing with this. He said he would have it to me by Thurs last week, than changed it to Thursday this week. He said he would send me a suguchi bird (spelled right?) to make up for the trouble. Today I recieved the drawers loose in a box and one had come apart. The bird has no beak. I still do not have the desk top. I think I can have a carpenter fix the drawers, but I have just about had it with this desk.
Would you call VISA at this stage? It has been 4 months since I paid for this. I do not have the top and am worried about it's condition. If I dont make a move soon, I will lose all chance of recovering the money as VISA has a timeline. He can have all his stuff back, the broken bird, the ripped chair, the desk pieces, as long as he comes to get it or waits until I make a trip to California. All I wanted was my desk in a timely manner.
It seems that these desks are rare and that it may be a long while to get another one....at the same time, I dont want to end up with a piece of broken junk.
Contact Visa
Three (+) months is inexcusable.
Why's the seller sending you bits & pieces (not to mention chairs and birds)? Sounds like something happened to the desk top, and he's sending you dribs & drabs to keep you hanging on until it's TOO LATE for you to get a refund.
I see no reason why this desk would pose shipping difficulty.
Completely Agree!
He sounds like he is just using delaying tactics till you can no longer get your money back.
Maybe something happened to the desk top and he is either trying to repair it, or get another- but either way you should have been informed.
Congratulations on your pass !
By the second excuse (and the second missed date),
I would've filed a claim against the sellers' sorry a*s with eBay directly (and PayPal...assuming you paid with PayPal). They would've investigated and you would have gotten your refund well before 3 months.
Over the years, I have had a couple of problems with eBay sellers, but none like this.
Heck, if the seller was so ubbelievable stupid or dishonest, you could've taken the shipping of the desk out of his hands by arranging for Plycon to pick it up as a blanket wrapped item (which means the seller would not have had to find a method of boxing it).
Either way, it's possible that waiting 3 months has been too long for you to end the transaction and get your money back.
thanks guys
You all are wonderful. Thank you for your advice.
I called ebay. It is too late to do anything and his account was already suspended from other bad transactions. When I bought the desk, he had a very high rating around 98%, I think.
I am filing with VISA. They have been very helpful, but I am not sure what will come of it.
I still need to call paypal. Even though they cant refund my money because I waited too long, they can at least make note so that others are not similarly scammed.
I guess I am too gullible. I will never buy anything off ebay again. I was so excited to be getting this desk. 🙁
Sorry you got burned (apparently)
But Ebay's pretty safe to use, if you acquaint yourself with the safeguards available to a buyer, when things go wrong.
I believe that a buyer has to file a dispute with Ebay/ Paypal within 45 days. You then have the option of "closing" the dispute if the seller comes through, eventually.
You've got the legs & drawers, though-- would it be absurd to have the very simple (laminated?) desktop box made by a local carpentry shop?
Don't let one bad apple
Don't let one bad apple ruin the bushel. i've bought dozens of things off of ebay and only run across one issue - an Eames shell that was "in perfect condition". Except that it had holes drilled in it and the entire gel coat was gone. Whatevs.
Contact Visa/Paypal - get your money back asap. And in the mean time amuse yourself by imagining how this same guy would sell cars. One tire on Tuesday. An exhaust fan on Thursday. And on. And on 🙂
Good luck!
Correction-- lacquered,
not laminated.
I just searched to confirm the desk material, and I came up with what appears to be a reference to your desk (July Ebay auction?). Small world.
http://morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com/2008/07/ebay-find-of-day-milo-ba...
I have to return the drawers...
I have to return the drawers and legs according to VISA. I have no use for them and do not want them anyway. I told them I will not do so at my expense. I drive to Palm Springs occasionally to visit family and he is welcome to pick them up from me next time I go to California.
Yes, that is the same desk, but not mine.
There were two other things I wanted. If I had known the outcome I wouldve bought one of those instead - a large cado unit and a floating baughman desk. 🙁
I wouldn't kick eBay to the...
I wouldn't kick eBay to the curb. Rather I would choose NOT to be as patient and understanding as you must be. You can file a claim within 45 days. There is no excuse for not delivering within this time frame. You delivered payment. That donkey f**king a$$wipe should be able to deliver his part in a timely manner. That time frame is required by eBay, not you, and he has to follow the same rules as everyone else.
This seriously pisses me off. He had no intention of sending it. I suspect it could have been damaged beforehand and he might have uploaded old photos of it so HE didn't lose out in the end.
Good luck
Rickbird...don't stop using eBay,
but jusy learn to use eBay wiser.
When you bid on something, check their feedback, and when you win something, hold the seller to the shipping terms they list in their auction copy.
Stay on top of it and don't hesitate to contact PayPal when something goes wrong JUST AS SOON as you realize that there's something wrong.
The only thing you did wrong was to wait 3 months.
It doesn't happen often, but don't get caught in the time warp.
Go ahead and bid on eBay items and I'm sure this kind of nightmare won't happen again.
Thanks guys. He had a 98.5%...
Thanks guys. He had a 98.5% feedback and hundreds of items he had sold.
This is only the second time I have bought something on ebay and both times have involved criminals.
The other time I bought a sony vaio TZ laptop for $3100. I received the laptop but not the extended warranty or the software that I also purchased. I was apparently the last person to receive a computer from the seller. So many people lost money that they started a website to keep track of the activity. Some people bought several laptops that were never received. This guy also had a high feedback rating at the time.
I told ebay on the phone that paypal needs to keep the money in an act. until the buyer checks off that the item is received as described. They said they are actually working on implementing this for items over 1k.
I think there is a lot of fraud out there. I dont know how to tell who is legit. and who isnt. I think maybe I am too trusting. The seller of the Baughman desk told me he had been in the hospital, that he HAD shipped the desk, but it came back, etc. I should have not bought into his stories and just demanded my money back. 🙁 I do hope I get the money back. I am mad also that I missed out on the baughman floating desk. It was cheaper and beautiful. (I have a thing for desks!)
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com