Hi all,
I was scammed not long ago. I can't help thinking about it, which makes me quite frustrated and upset, so hoping to end this annoying situation, I appeal to the
wisdom. 
A few weeks ago I was searching 2nd hand websites looking for a ~200$ mtb (to make a commuter). I spotted one, called the guy asking the usual stuff and he said something like "it's perfect, nothing worn out or scratches". I found it hard to believe, but I've seen bikes used once and stored forever, so I gave it a chance.
Later on, I met the guy (he came with his young son, poor guy) and gave a quick and very light ride with the bike. Certainly, it had no scratches (I later found some storage marks covered by paint). The stanchions had lost some coating, but I didn't think much about it as it was a very cheap fork and worked ok. No play on the wheels, either. The guy made a comment about me looking so carefully at the bike (he expected me to trust a complete stranger, it seems), but since everything seemed ok -save what I then thought was a derailleur adjustment-, I bought it.
Once home came a few surprises. Some replaced bolts (can deal with that), a missing piece in the seat collar which made it impossible to lower by hand... and a worn out transmission. Worn to the point that you'd bust your knees against the stem when pedalling from a stop. Worn to the point of broken and fin shaped-teeth in chainring and cassette. That chain was never changed or oiled (even worse, it was greased) and had made 2 world tours.
All of a sudden, the pieces matched with a cold feeling in my spine; the guy nervous about me inspecting carefully the bike, telling me to "try the height first before lowering the seat", the stanchions, being unclear about the size, etc. It was a scam.
So I call him a couple of days later, expecting to set things clear. He picks up the phone, recognizes my voice and the show begins; immediately starts attacking me (insults, threatens, and so on), and hangs off. I immediately call back to try to set things straight, but it's futile; the bastard insists that's perfect and keeps insulting, with me angryly answering back at his lies, till I realize I won't get anything out of it and hang.
I then regretted not being more aggressive, but (for good or worse) I'm not that kind of guy, and these situations affect me more than I wished. At least, I thought, I tried.
Yet, days later, the issue keeps coming to my mind, like it's unresolved. But I don't think this can be "resolved" any further. I sometimes think of calling back just to tell him to go **** off, yet I know I would get nothing out of it (apart from another headache and knowing I had the guts to "annoy" him once more).
How could I have skipped such an obvious thing as a wasted tranny? How didn't I hear all the alarms going off even before seeing the bike? My only relief is that this serves me as a lesson, and that I should be able to resell the bike (honestly) without too much loss.
Well, enough for the rant. Ever been in this situation before? What would you guys do?
I was scammed not long ago. I can't help thinking about it, which makes me quite frustrated and upset, so hoping to end this annoying situation, I appeal to the
wisdom. A few weeks ago I was searching 2nd hand websites looking for a ~200$ mtb (to make a commuter). I spotted one, called the guy asking the usual stuff and he said something like "it's perfect, nothing worn out or scratches". I found it hard to believe, but I've seen bikes used once and stored forever, so I gave it a chance.
Later on, I met the guy (he came with his young son, poor guy) and gave a quick and very light ride with the bike. Certainly, it had no scratches (I later found some storage marks covered by paint). The stanchions had lost some coating, but I didn't think much about it as it was a very cheap fork and worked ok. No play on the wheels, either. The guy made a comment about me looking so carefully at the bike (he expected me to trust a complete stranger, it seems), but since everything seemed ok -save what I then thought was a derailleur adjustment-, I bought it.
Once home came a few surprises. Some replaced bolts (can deal with that), a missing piece in the seat collar which made it impossible to lower by hand... and a worn out transmission. Worn to the point that you'd bust your knees against the stem when pedalling from a stop. Worn to the point of broken and fin shaped-teeth in chainring and cassette. That chain was never changed or oiled (even worse, it was greased) and had made 2 world tours.
All of a sudden, the pieces matched with a cold feeling in my spine; the guy nervous about me inspecting carefully the bike, telling me to "try the height first before lowering the seat", the stanchions, being unclear about the size, etc. It was a scam.
So I call him a couple of days later, expecting to set things clear. He picks up the phone, recognizes my voice and the show begins; immediately starts attacking me (insults, threatens, and so on), and hangs off. I immediately call back to try to set things straight, but it's futile; the bastard insists that's perfect and keeps insulting, with me angryly answering back at his lies, till I realize I won't get anything out of it and hang.
I then regretted not being more aggressive, but (for good or worse) I'm not that kind of guy, and these situations affect me more than I wished. At least, I thought, I tried.
Yet, days later, the issue keeps coming to my mind, like it's unresolved. But I don't think this can be "resolved" any further. I sometimes think of calling back just to tell him to go **** off, yet I know I would get nothing out of it (apart from another headache and knowing I had the guts to "annoy" him once more).
How could I have skipped such an obvious thing as a wasted tranny? How didn't I hear all the alarms going off even before seeing the bike? My only relief is that this serves me as a lesson, and that I should be able to resell the bike (honestly) without too much loss.
Well, enough for the rant. Ever been in this situation before? What would you guys do?
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I enjoyed the joke, too bad we have caller id. I don't plan to keep the bike; not because of the repairs, but because the sight of it gets me in a bad mood. Scammed and then insulted is just too much.
