I. Must. Have. Those.
The deal was hard to resist. $199. But... they were BEATS. WIRELESS BEATS. I was heading to Washington DC the following week for business. A 12 hour car ride. I needed these headphones... or so I told myself.
Reluctantly, I pulled out my credit card, I punched the numbers into Paypal, and soon... my new "friend" the Ebay seller was shipping my new headphones to me. At first, I worried that they weren't going to come on time. I signed myself up for text notifications. I knew the moment they ended up on my doorstep. I tore into that cardboard box like gold was inside.
What was described as "unopened headphones" was a clearly artistically licensed term. The shrink wrap on the outer portion of the box was taped back together. "They WERE only $199," I consoled myself as I continued to open them.
Then, the buttons didn't work. At all. Wireless headphones run on Bluetooth and not just a blind Bluetooth connection. You need to sync your device to the headphones using the buttons on the side of the device. So. Half of the "Wireless Headphones" did not work. They were nice looking, they were white and shiny, but they weren't doing their job and I was unable to take them on my trip. What was a girl to do?
Send. Them. Back.
My eBay "Friend" gave me the option of getting my money back or getting a new pair. After the horrors that befell me with the original set (Read: disappointment) I did not want to do this anymore. I told her I wanted my money back and she assured me that I would get it after DropBox videos verified that the set I had were faulty. Luckily for me, my boyfriend recommended that we do the same. After 2 hours of documenting the issues with the headphones as well as taking pictures of the serial numbers, and uploading those videos to DropBox, I put the headphones in a box and took them to the Post Office. My "friend" the eBay seller would not pay my return shipping because "the headphones not working were not her problem" so I paid my $12 dollars and sent them off. (By the way... $12 dollars to ship headphones to Texas? Ouch to my hurting Credit Card Bill...)
I signed up for more text updates on the headphones. I knew where they were at every moment. They made it to Texas in record time. I messaged the seller to tell her they arrived. Seconds after she "got them" she had pictures of them uploaded. "Clearly these are not the headphones that I originally sent you. These are heavily damaged. "
Not. Mine.
What was a girl to do?
I explained... Those were not my headphones. Can she send a picture of the serial numbers so I can verify that these are the same headphones?
No response.
Now I have invested over $200 dollars and she won't dignify me with a response. What was this?
Finally, after lots of cursing the world, she responded essentially telling me that they were not the ones she sent me and that she believes me that these were not the ones I tried to send back. So now we are working on the fact that there is somesort of mail conspiracy. And... because of the mail conspiracy, she will not give me my money back.
Fear not for me, dear readers, because Ebay has gotten involved, and it will all be okay (I pray.) But why am I telling you this? Two part answer: 1) sometimes the deal may be too good. You can pass it up. 2) Don't buy anything on eBay from a user named charluvuma
UPDATE: After disputing the charge with my credit card company (Capital One... what's in YOUR wallet?) and after protesting the unfair return policy with Ebay (who said they would get back to me in 48 hours and then did not get back to me for 72 hours or so...) CHARLUVUMA has refunded my money. And reluctantly so:
"I will go ahead and process a refund but replacing item woukd have been the best way to go so both parties are happy. I understand your frustration. Check your paypal later for the refund and update me when you do get it.
Thanks
- charluvuma"
So both parties are happy? Really? I am pretty thrilled.
And so ends the case of @brittannlittle versus the Ebay Machine.