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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 13, 2014 10:30:14 GMT
Keep us in the loop
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Aug 13, 2014 19:10:57 GMT
Yes, good luck!
Cheers.
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Post by nddave on Aug 14, 2014 4:23:19 GMT
Kinda agree with Chris here, this sounds a little too good to be true regarding the whole "we'll fix it if you send it back." speal. I wouldn't be suprised if the minute they get the sword you loose all contact with them, especially if they're in China. Speaking of the sword and its main issues, just how are they going to fix a Rattail tang? The most they could do is just weld a larger tang on the blade but that isnt fixing the problem, its just adding more weight to the welding point. Hopefully it all works out for you and this vendor pulls through. Honestly I'm suprised they reacted to your review like they did. Most Ebay Vendors couldn't give a semprini. I guess that means either A) you sent them the review or B) SBG is getting up there in our rep of separating the good from the bad and keeping the shady honest.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Aug 14, 2014 19:07:20 GMT
My good Sers,
I appreciate the interest and well wishes. I had thought you good folks would be sick of my postings. TCKRUAN88 is not making this very easy and yes, time does seem to drag on.
1. I am not getting very useful return instructions or specific addresses, so I will use the address on the shipping label they sent me (I keep all shipping labels, one of the odd things I collect). They seem to be slowing down with replies
2. They want me to send the sword back to them but not open a case with Ebay so obviously if I did that, Ebay will have no idea what in the Seven Hells TCKRUAN88 and me are doing.
3. I am aware of certain dates and the thing that they seem really intent on is me changing that red negative review to neutral or green with glowing comments. So my response was to open a case with them which motivated them to respond quicker I might add. I will be sure to let Ebay know of the tracking number and other such details...after all, I did say this would be "in the sight of Gods and Men", Ebay would serve as the guy watching/policing the process. So I have until Sept 13th to notify Ebay if the situation gets resolved or not.
I wish I had more time in the day to deal with these problems directly instead of as an afterthought when I get home from work as a day job Accountant. It's usually 9am to 6pm, sometimes 8pm, (I'm posting from my desk) but I'll see if I can make interesting things happen.
Heh, hopefully the ending will be happy.
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Post by nddave on Aug 14, 2014 20:01:01 GMT
I say quit playing their game and do exactly what they don't want you to do. Go to Ebay and flush them down the toilet like they deserve. Just remember for everyone of you who got suckered by these scammers, there's likely another million who could fall victim to their scam. Even if they keep the promises they've made to you, are they going to do that for everyone else who buys these $400 SLOs? Are they going to destroy or re-make all the stock models they have on EBay? Honestly I don't think so.
I understand you want your money's worth and want them to keep their promises, but seriously you gotta get yourself in a realistic mindset. Your update post is showing some moderate evidence that this won't end in your favor playing into their deception.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Aug 15, 2014 2:48:50 GMT
Hah Hah Hah! After logging in to update this thread, I saw this. You spoke my mind Ser, I was on the phone earlier this evening with Ebay customer support explaining the song and dance routine I've been getting and selective responses from the vendor. TCKRUAN88 is not being very cooperative with shipping return instructions and I don't even have a confirmed address from them, they are just not as responsive and cooperative as I hoped though they did seem offended that I opened the case with Ebay instead of sitting around waiting.
"Give us sword to fix up and make it right for you....also, can you change feedback to positive after you ship it to us? Ebay only give us 25 days, not enough time" (shortened text wall message from inbox)
Basically what they wanted me to do was ship the sword back to them without informing Ebay, update the feedback to something positive and sit around hoping they will honor their promises after I mail it to what I assumed was going to be that address on the label "Lyuesword". But really, if Ebay doesn't know we are doing this, how in the Seven Hells will anyone honor their promises?
Right now, it has gone from sword fixing promises to ====================> Wait for vendor response in Open Case with exact address for shipping label so I can ship it out and give Ebay the tracking number so they can watch the process and get me my refund. Tis a shame, after all that time and message after message, this vendor is all talk and very little substance. I really must wrap this story up and move on to more uplifting ones.
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Post by nddave on Aug 15, 2014 14:58:26 GMT
Good to hear. I hope the refund process goes fast and you can get that money towards a sword worth your enthusiasm and expectations. There's an old saying around here, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And if it's Ebay, it definitely is!" LOL.
I just find it funny that they'd waist a good peice of steel like that by butting it to a rattail. It almost defeats the purpose of rat tail tangs in the first place. None the less there are plenty of high quality Jians on the market for what your price point is, give a $100 or so. Hopefully you find one and can do another review on it.
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Post by chrisperoni on Aug 15, 2014 16:59:47 GMT
If you ship it back I bet they'll claim the never received it. Get a refund. There's not going to be any fixing of this blade anyway -- all they would do is send you a new one. I don't see why they need yours back to do that. I would at the most have them send me a new blade with a return shipping label in the box and paid for, so I can put the old blade in that box and use the return shipping label they provided to send it back to them.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Aug 18, 2014 22:40:27 GMT
If TCKRUAN88 had shipped me a new blade with a return shipping label from the beginning of the first email message, I daresay it would make too much sense. There would be too much convenience and not enough problems =strokes beard=
No, these guys are trying to make this as long and complicated as possible:
1. So after I paid for the USPS Priority Mail International shipping label, I rode out with the sword in its original bag and packaging to the post office. The USPS workers and I carefully inspected and even rewrapped the yellow packaging with the RED WHITE AND BLUE colors of the US of A. And some BLUE/WHITE USPS tape. We also put the 3 page customs/shipping label paperwork in a new crisp bag to stick on the wrapped package. The paperwork and label was double checked and the curious USPS workers nodded their approval so I bid them good day last Friday.
2. Gave tracking number and webpage links to the open EBAY Case and made sure it was extra clear so there would be no misunderstanding. All information and instructions were from the TCKRUAN88, return address/etc
3. Then on late Sunday Evening the package is on its way out of my state(These USPS guys are quick). And guess what happens? TCKRUAN88 sends me a bunch of messages asking me to stop the package and wait so they could make me a new sword and send it to me, and by the way "please update the feedback to positive". What the heck does this have to do with me sending the package back? If you want to send me a new sword, then hurry up and do it, stop talking. I'm not sure if these folks are intentionally being annoying so I told them, "USPS priority mail cannot be stopped by rain, snow, trolls or even me, the Sword of Morning" so the spokesman says "Ok, agreed" and we continue on with the original plan of me sending the sword back and getting a full refund and updating the feedback after I get the money (which I repeated about 4 times already and I'm sure Ebay is aware of it).
4. Monday morning, I see a new message in the Ebay Case. TCKRUAN88 wants to change the refund plan again because "Chinese customs might reject it...Please change feedback to positive...then we make new sword that is fit and send to you". I shake my head at this incessant pointless chatter and constant attempts at revising plans... don't these fools know that Ebay customer service can see everything we say? Also, making a new sword that is actually fitted would cost as much if not more than a full refund anyway, so I told them, No, we stick with the agreed plan.
More hilarity coming soon I think
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 19, 2014 0:19:58 GMT
Don't change anything until your happy with the outcome
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Aug 19, 2014 2:32:10 GMT
Indeed. I've been browsing around and reading various sword reviews, after this is all over and I get my full refund I will give Valiant Armory/Custom Sword shoppe a visit and buy a sword... maybe a Castile or Bristol and pretend it's a Jian. I know for sure Sonny's swords are full tang and have a perfect union of tang and handle.
Haven't bought anything from them for years now, how long does it take for a new order to process now?
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Post by Arwyn on Sept 10, 2014 20:52:21 GMT
Last I checked, about 4 to 6 weeks as long as the blades are available. Sonny usually does a stock of fittings, so those times may change depend on what he has available. The rest of the time is the leather work he does, which is outstanding. Assuming he has clean castings ready to go, its all leather work and pretty short. If there are castings needed, plus the leather, it will run longer.
He does the leather dyeing upon order, and it takes a while to get everything squared away. He is a good guy to talk to, I found that was the easiest way to get a hold of him.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Sept 10, 2014 22:39:46 GMT
Thanks for the reply Arwyn, the processing time for VA does change depending on if I asked the question in 2010, 2012 or 2014, so 6 weeks is what I should be expecting as of 2014 Sept. I'm mainly waiting for my refund from Ebay CS so I can use it at custom sword shoppe and get... something nice heh.
Just today while I was in the bathroom doing important business for half an hour, I saw on the USPS tracking page that the package got sorted through CHINA. Finally, it's in China after sitting around in USPS's San Fran ICS since Aug 20th. Good grief, this is what happens when I use Priority Mail International instead of Express (which costs close to $100 to ship). It's nice to know this process is going forward.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Sept 21, 2014 0:33:47 GMT
Conclusion:
So today I talked to Ebay CS because I haven't seen a refund notification since the item was delivered to Ruan Chengbo of TCKRUAN/LYUESWORD on 9/16/14 and Ebay CS closed my case on that day without any communication whatsoever.
After getting hung up this whole week by bad transfers and Customer Service Reps that kept saying they'll look into it, I got lucky and found a rep in the Appeals Department who realized and admitted that Ebay CS dropped the ball and made a huge mistake by not reading the case details such as the tracking number I supplied this whole time.
Rep: "So it says here on the notes from the previous representative that the tracking number EA251- "
Me: "-----! That's not the tracking number you idiots, it's CJ191... you guys didn't even read the case details this whole time?!"
Rep: "Oh we are very sorry, it appears that we really dropped the ball on this one and didn't read through carefully, I'll be right back, I'm really sorry, be right back!"
10 minutes later
Rep: "I apologize again Mr. ------ the previous reps made a mistake by not reading a the case details and left the wrong notes on this case which is why we closed it on 9/16/14 and didn't issue you your refund. I just reversed the decision and you should see an email from ebay and paypal with the $444.54 credit. Again we are so sorry for not being considerate and dropping the ball completely..."
Me: "Oh my ----ing God! Well, thank you for fixing it and have a great day Mrs. ------ "
Ok, The End.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Oct 11, 2014 15:59:25 GMT
Money back + bad karma for TCKRUAN88 :lol:
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2014 12:55:18 GMT
Phew. You were lucky you did the right thing and did everything during the limited timescale eBay/PayPal offer.
I've purchased a custom katana from lyuesword/tckruan88 and he has done everything well for me. Granted I paid 650usd for it though.
Any salesman on eBay will try and be smart and play the timescale game. It usually works on the unknowing customer. I can't believe there awkwardness during the return arrangements though. They seemed like they wanted to make an effort rather than not give a damn. But the issue of the 45 return day policy was what was at stake here.
If I was in your shoes, and wanted to give them a chance to redeem themselves, I would have said to them to fix your sword or make a new one. I would tell them I would be getting my money refunded first while I waited for them to fix the problem, then pay them again with the money that was refunded either with eBay or directly through PayPal.
That way you have your money again waiting and if there's another problem with your new/repaired sword then you would be well within your buyer rights if it the sword is still not satisfactory.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Nov 7, 2014 15:45:17 GMT
You should read through the topic, all that and much more were said but they did nothing to make the plans into something other than empty talk. This vendor is all talk and little action when caught making garbage.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2014 16:31:03 GMT
Tbh I had the same problems with Huawei, so its not limited to any single eBay sword seller from longquan. I tend not to push them to hard with problems because I kind of feel sorry for them. Well except Huawei, they gave me some semprini when I had the same problems with returning a katana and having to open a dispute.
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Post by Arthur Dayne on Nov 7, 2014 17:36:27 GMT
Oh I've complained to Hanbon and Huawei before on issues such as wrong weight/thickness/specs and with Hanbon, one of their 1095 DH katanas had a really lazy polish where I could barely see the hamon even though the picture made it look really clear and the habiki thingy looked more crooked than I expected but it was surprisingly very snug and safe. So I'm well aware of these Ebay vendors having product issues but I don't raise it with Ebay CS because their products functioned safely like a sword should (I did a review on Huawei's Top Quality Han Jian, great sword but the creaking at the guard is annoying if you don't put Breakfree CLP on it and the wrap needs a bit of super glue to stay together).
But Tckruan88 takes the cake for rat tail tang and hollow handle Jian designs. This sword is the only true dysfunctional product I got from these Ebay vendors, especially after I got told before buying that the handle to tang fit was "perfect" and "the most perfect fit you will find on Chinese Jian" so that is why I am so hard on them. They made promises that turned out to be false when I was asking about safety of design/hilt construction for at least a week, I would've bought some of their $600+ Jian lineup if that $444.54 Jian turned out to be good SAFE quality and told them this is but alas, they sold me an unsafe Spinning Pommel, Loose two nut (internal and external hex nut were both amazingly loose), Hollow Handle sword. Blade looked like good steel too which is a shame, loved the geometry.
I would add that this isn't just some minor cosmetic/cleanliness product issues that people should somehow expect from Ebay forges, this is just terrible sword design and assembly that can and will get someone killed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2014 18:28:06 GMT
I agree. That is terrible on there part. I'll bring the issue up with them after I've had my custom katana made. Can I ask the name of the person you were speaking with? I usually deal with Li over there.
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