Something I bought on eBay is not as described.

I'm currently in dispute with an ebay seller over three kites.  The seller had said that all kites were in good condition - but when they arrived, one had a series of holes in it.  I requested a £45 refund from the seller who responded by saying that the kite with holes was a 'Bonus' (why not say that on the ad?).  Further, it was suggested that I had not " ... done my research".  Me!  Not done research?  Oh dear.  This is my reply:

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I’ll accept £25 – + £2.50 towards postage.  You are fortunate that my original claim for the full amount has been mitigated following a trip to the beach with the 2m trainer and my kids.  They seemed to have had fun with it.  It flies, with out ripping to shreds – which I find surprising, so I’m going to repair it myself with some flexifoil repair tape – note that the tape alone costs £9!  My claim for the full amount has been mitigated by my kids adopting the kite – hence £27.50 will keep me happy.

One thing I’m not happy about is your allegation that I had not “ … done your research on the kite” – let me assure you that I go over the top a little on this stuff.  Your suggestion that the kite is only worth £20 is wrong.  It currently retails at £120:

http://www.kiteboardinguk.com/acatalog/Airush_Training_Kites.html

… and typical ebay prices for used kites in good condition is around half their retail value.  My policy is to bid 1/3^rd of what a kite retails for – hence the £40 I had allocated to the trainer.  Note I will ONLY bid on kites in good condition.  Rips and tears make a kite worthless.

To continue to address your accusation that I don’t “ … done your research on the kite”, let me point out my recent Blade 2 3m purchase from ebay.  The 3m version retailed in 2003 for £260 – see:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030224072751/powerkiteshop.com/kites/flexifoilblade.htm

To allow for inflation I rounded this up to £300, and then bid just over 1/3 or the price - £105, getting it for a little cheaper than that, see:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250689458702&ru=http://shop.ebay.co.uk:80/i.html%3F_nkw%3D250689458702%26_sacat%3D0%26_odkw%3D250689458702%2526%26_osacat%3D0%26_trksid%3Dp3286.c0.m270.l1313%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1#ht_597wt_1139

So I do do my research, you see :-)

The £27.50 would keep me happy (though still a little miffed with the research allegation!?)

Kindest regards

David

Ps – here’s my research on the flexifoil kite repair tape I mentioned above:

http://shop.flexifoil.com/products/rec-kite/recreational_accessories/repair_tape

Yes, you can find it cheaper, but those suppliers don’t have stock – similar to my PC World experience: http://dbcallaghan.blogspot.com/2009/10/pc-world-and-more-sharp-practice.html (I do have more interesting things to do on a Saturday night).

Is this sharp practice?

I've just finished watching Transporter 3 - and brill it was - for sure.

However, when I inserted the disc for Vicky Cristina Barcelona the system did not allow me to skip past the adverts to get to the film.  At that point I refused to engage in this barbaric ritual.


I will NOT accept that Easy DVD can force me to watch something I DID NOT AGREE TO WATCH - and therefore suspend my membership of Easy DVD.


Perhaps they want to respond?


Kindest regards to all


David

Sefton Council - Parking Fine

Does this look like a disabled parking space to you?

In 2008 I parked in this car parking space - now, on first look, is this a typical run of the mill car parking space, or one reserved for people with disabilities?  Well, there were four of us in the car and not one of us noticed that is was marked as such - and perhaps looking at the photo you can see why.  Compare with the examples from Safeway in the first posting on this blog and you'll see that:

1. The sign on the post is too high to notice, and blue, designed NOT to be noticed.  Other signs in the UK have ORANGE marking on the sign so it doesn't look just like a normal parking sign.
2. The yellow graphic on the ground is almost completely invisible - compare this with the Safeway picture below - bright orange, and bright orange hashes too.
3. The white lines on the ground have been replace, but NOT the yellow graphic - making it even less noticeable.

When my partner reported this to Sefton Council by phone they promised to consider it and call us back - they never did.  We paid up, rather than face doubling of the fine whilst the council considered things.

Now, over two years later I am still smarting enough to be bothered about this - so will email the council shortly to see what they have to say for themselves - and contact my bank and I think I can dispute the payment.

Wish me luck ...

Initial Idea

Hi

I had an idea to start this blog a while back - actually in 2008, a Saturday, the 3rd of May, around tea time.  Because?  Well, because I'd just been ripped-off by a local council for parking in one of their disabled bays - but not the one in the picture here (I've put this picture here to illustrate good car park markings).  Since then I've suffered Sharp Practice from the likes of Argos and PC World, but rarely won, due to mostly being lazy.  No more!  Not during these credit-squeezed days - I'm going to squeeze back, and use all the technology at my disposal to do so.  So, Sefton Council - let's see if I can get you first.