Horror second hand buys

[V18]

Sold a bike a few years ago. When droppers were still niche. Bike shop packed the thing rough and upside down. Arrived with oil leaking out. Paid for a new dropper. Buyer was cool to wait a bit for the new dropper. 

[Blue Monster]

I bought my dream bike many years ago. A Sworks Tarmac, for a well know Hubber. Paid good money, but the lower spec components should have rung a bell. 1st race was R4S, and had to bunnyhop a cone to avoid a crash.

Next ride noticed a creek noise when pedaling.

Turned out the RH seat stay had broken. Sent it in for repairs, and was shown that it was a recent previous repair gone bad.

I contacted the sell, who told me to go F... myself. Wished him the best KARMA, and moved on.

I repaired the frame, rode the bike for a while and then sold it for parts on the hub.

I even sold the frame, with the damage & full disclosure on the HUB.

Lost a bit of money, buy I am a true believer in Karma, so moved on.

 

[MORNE]

4 minutes ago, Blue Monster said:

 

 I am a true believer in Karma, so moved on.

 

Me too, it just takes too long so I help it along...

👀

Edited February 11, 2022 by MORNE

[mecheng89]

16 hours ago, AllenH said:

Been waiting for a thread like this...

Bought a bike for good money at Cash Converters (1st mistake), thing has constantly broken and given trouble and the store declines to honor their advertised 6 months guarantee.

I suspect the Store owner / Manager is actually the previous owner and sold it when it started to give trouble... I bought it from them expecting a bit of peace of mind for at least 6 months, so far has cost me R1100 and a quote for R3000 to replace bad brake levers and I can't even ride it.

Currently reported them to every Consumer Rights group and place I could find, including The Devi Show, Wendy Knowler, Carte Blanche, etc and await a response.

Happy to be of service! 

[mecheng89]

59 minutes ago, Blue Monster said:

I bought my dream bike many years ago. A Sworks Tarmac, for a well know Hubber. Paid good money, but the lower spec components should have rung a bell. 1st race was R4S, and had to bunnyhop a cone to avoid a crash.

Next ride noticed a creek noise when pedaling.

Turned out the RH seat stay had broken. Sent it in for repairs, and was shown that it was a recent previous repair gone bad.

I contacted the sell, who told me to go F... myself. Wished him the best KARMA, and moved on.

I repaired the frame, rode the bike for a while and then sold it for parts on the hub.

I even sold the frame, with the damage & full disclosure on the HUB.

Lost a bit of money, buy I am a true believer in Karma, so moved on.

 

Name and shame! Or if you're not inclined that way, I at least hope you gave him a negative rating.

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, Blue Monster said:

I bought my dream bike many years ago. A Sworks Tarmac, for a well know Hubber. Paid good money, but the lower spec components should have rung a bell. 1st race was R4S, and had to bunnyhop a cone to avoid a crash.

Next ride noticed a creek noise when pedaling.

Turned out the RH seat stay had broken. Sent it in for repairs, and was shown that it was a recent previous repair gone bad.

I contacted the sell, who told me to go F... myself. Wished him the best KARMA, and moved on.

I repaired the frame, rode the bike for a while and then sold it for parts on the hub.

I even sold the frame, with the damage & full disclosure on the HUB.

Lost a bit of money, buy I am a true believer in Karma, so moved on.

 

 

1 minute ago, mecheng89 said:

Name and shame! Or if you're not inclined that way, I at least hope you gave him a negative rating.

I think he dropped enough hints on the member's name, but I checked the marketplace profile and the guy only has 5 star reviews.

[Jewbacca]

2 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

 

I think he dropped enough hints on the member's name, but I checked the marketplace profile and the guy only has 5 star reviews.

hahahaha I immediately picture Vanilla Ice!

[DIPSLICK]

17 hours ago, RobertWhitehead said:

I also sold a cracked wheel the one time, I also did not know it was cracked but after the buyer informed me I just paid for a new hoop. Fortunately he was a wheel builder 😁

good on you, not too many guys out there like that

[Blue Monster]

31 minutes ago, mecheng89 said:

Name and shame! Or if you're not inclined that way, I at least hope you gave him a negative rating.

I don't even remember his name. It is quite sh!t when you save up for ages and get screwed. I did however get an excellent used frame from the hub (black with white decals - I know) soon after, and took a few months to build up the bike with the 6870 Ultegra Di2, with a power meter. Still have the bike today, and still enjoy riding it.

[Jewbacca]

I once bought a 165x38 shock from an up country suspension service guy off bikehub.  told me they had just given it a 'full going over' in their workshop.

When I received it there was oil everywhere. I took it apart and it was toast. Like not a single thing was worth saving. I binned it after I was told 'that's the risk of buying used shocks'... by a shop that services shocks

I don't think they still trade here

[Andrew Steer]

44 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

 

I think he dropped enough hints on the member's name, but I checked the marketplace profile and the guy only has 5 star reviews.

Seems you have read more into this than you should have...

[Andrew Steer]

I've bought and sold plenty over the years... generally I deal with people with some track record and even on the very odd occasion something does go a little wrong, things generally get sorted out amicably.
An early one was a carbon Raleigh I bought for a mate as a present together with this wife for his 40th.... was sold as 'one careful lady owner' - only to turn out to have been Mannie Heymans race bike. Seller actually had also been duped a bit, as he was getting the parts, but ended up with him paying for a full respray of the bike and it served it's owner well for a good decade in the end.

I'd say the most common mistake people make is grabbing a 'bargain' second hand groupset... 8 out of 10 times it's getting upgraded for a reason. Unless it really does have low mileage - treat it as a consumable. Shifters and RD's it's often really tricky to tell how much use they've had.

Also sold a set of wheels once that I got on a bike I bought and stripped - kept the frame and flogged the rest... the wheels were very slightly out of tune, but sold them stating as much, only to find out they couldn't be tuned as the spokes had fused to the rims. Refunded the buyer in full in the end, but it was a bit of a time waste for everyone.

Like most things in life, communicate, be honest and things will generally get resolved.

And if you do encounter an unremorseful douche in the classifieds, please for the sake of everyone, drop them a rating 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Andrew Steer

[Albatross]

Will be selling a carbon MTB in the near future. I'm considering taking it to LBS for them to inspect and write up a letter of sorts indicating no major problems with it. Hoping this will convince any hesitant buyers that bike is "as advertised".

[mecheng89]

10 minutes ago, Albatross said:

Will be selling a carbon MTB in the near future. I'm considering taking it to LBS for them to inspect and write up a letter of sorts indicating no major problems with it. Hoping this will convince any hesitant buyers that bike is "as advertised".

Excellent idea. I hope this catches on.

[Chadvdw67]

10 minutes ago, Albatross said:

Will be selling a carbon MTB in the near future. I'm considering taking it to LBS for them to inspect and write up a letter of sorts indicating no major problems with it. Hoping this will convince any hesitant buyers that bike is "as advertised".

Does not necessarily mean much, a guy I know bought a bike off the hub recently, seller took the bike to a shop to get checked out before selling, shop gave it the all clear, when the buyer recieved the bike he did one ride, got home, cleaned the bike and found a crack in the frame, went back to look at pictures the seller used and saw the crack was there in the sellers photos as well, fortunately the bike shop is honoring the warranty, but still, has to wait a couple weeks for a new frame.....

[abrooke]

I get a lot of great stuff from good people through the Bikehub community.  Certainly over a hundred excellent deals.  And of course a few not good deals.  My concern with a thread like this is that everyone shares the "bad news" and this creates a negative impression, instills fear and in some way depreciates our tremendous community.   Hopefully readers will realise that for every bad story there are literally hundreds of great results from the Bikehub network.  And it is way better than any other marketplace.....