Ebay's new policy is that the seller has to pay for return shipping. Open an item dispute through eBay and I'm sure he will just refund in full instead. He doesn't have a lot of options at that point.

Any of his graphic stuff is junk, not sure about the other parts, but definitely stay away from labels, overlays, stickers... Wrong colors, not laminated, improperly vectored.

LesManley is right... 100% buyer guarantee now. The seller can either pay for you to ship it back or just do a full refund. If I were a seller and it's something that can be remade and low cost, I'm cutting bait and refunding the buyer.

leave neg feedback if you have that, state your reasoning.......

i have had to do it on between 1 to 2% of trans over the yrs- rarely the items are not as described- i dont put up with line "oh im sorry just send it back" for the reasons you mentioned- its a pain in the ass.

.

Why some much money to return a decal? 1st class mail. Tops $1.40 or so

I have never had any issues with classicarcades. Had 1 issue and it was corrected promptly.

well, neg feedback tends helps others because people wont bid or buy if their getting junk product or ripped off, or they wont bid/ buy for very much. (i would not at least)

ebay is great, overall on the whole- say 90 plus % of the time. good to fair deals and a huge selection of product. however when it goes to shit, and some times it dose, its a headache- a big headache.

Can you post a pic of what you got? I'll be restoring a Trident soon, so I'm curious.

I had similar problems with some F-14 decals I purchased from that seller. His stuff is garbage. Sorry you had issues too. File an ebay claim like the others have said.

I have had problems as well. They did send me a new set, but their customer service is horrible. I can't believe they stay in business. Pathetic.

The seller can't delete the negative feedback. It will stay up there. If you don't have Paypal, how did you pay? If you didn't use Paypal, your chances of getting a full refund just dropped significantly.

"You get what you pay for."
jackass.JPG

I'm having a problem with him as well. My plexi was broken during shipping. 2 months later and 2 promises that a new one was shipped and still no replacement.

Ebay is really horrible IMO. A car dealer tried to rip me off and I contacted ebay about it. They didn't care. I also explained, in detail, how this dealer was screwing with the transaction to avoid paying ebay and they didn't care. Great stuff. Avoid ebay if you can. And classic arcades has a long history with many unhappy people.

It means "this is the actual piece of crap that you will receive". Been there, done that. Spent about the same as you. Glad it didn't cost me more.

Jeff McAfee has made so much imperfect crap that's "spot on". He has no attention to detail and is really horrible about fixing his own screw ups. I had no luck after sending him multiple emails and giving him plenty of time to respond. He dragged on and basically just ignored me after a while. I just gave up since it wasn't worth the hassle--lesson learned. I don't even bother looking at whatever he is selling anymore, even if it's something I might need.

My decals never even showed up. I had to go through the ebay process to get a refund. Took about a month. Never buying from that seller again.

Buying from this company is literally like playing Russian Roulette.

I've been told a way to leverage him is by using his distributors. He listens to them.

negative feedback eventually catches up with sellers, their fees go up, they lose volume and profits.
open a dispute, return item - item not as described, it takes a week you'll get refunded.
dont fall for tricks that week trying to get you to agree to anything HIS terms, negating the return.
seller communication wanting YOU to pay return shipping for bad product, unsatisfactory!
save the feedback for after getting refunded, you get ONE chance to make this all happen.

most sellers are pretty good and havent had any problems, I've had to do 3 return claims from over 110 transactions this last year, there are some good deals, and once in a while you get a bummer.

open a case and ebay will force him to refund your money. he will be left with negative feedback if he does not respond. you can even offer to send them back but never actually send them back. ebay is actually very bad for the sellers as i have sold on ebay quite a bit. i know the games on both sides as well. sellers get scammed worse then buyers. sellers can be forced to get free product fairly easily and ebay/paypal will remove the funds right from his account. there are cases where the buyer sent the seller back an item with peices missing or never sent it back at all with the buyer getting refunded.

im not saying that he sent you good product im just saying it will be fairly easy to get your money back if you do not like the item.

If you used your credit card you can open a dispute with PayPal! Open the dispute and advise you refuse to pay shipping charges back to him or any at all for a listing that was misleading (if that is what you're stating). PayPal will almost always side with the buyer, this is the issue sellers have with ebaY/PayPal!

makes you wonder how the crap gets to be a licensed product?

I got some decals and he honoured paying the refund when he received them back as they were very average. But I was out of pocket for postage back to him. I would put in a paypal claim as at least it is the paper trail for the claim.

If you leave feedback, don't make it personal but be honest, as well as the ratings as they are all warnings for the many others that may buy.

Get one of these they are screen printed http://www.pinballrescue.net/Decals_Apron_Stern.html

in "my Ebay" > purchase history, is where to use dropdown box for "more actions" and initiate a return item. once started they do want contact-communication with the seller first to try to resolve it, but in a week Ebay-PayPal will refund your account, without you having to pay to ship the junk back either. that's how to contact Ebay for it, its all automated, and not having PayPal account can make it a little more difficult.. but you did use your card through PayPal, so should be ok.

Ebay does push to get everyone on PayPal accounts, if "return item" dropdown is taking you to PayPal it's part of their (futility!) automation (coercion!) routines.. very frustrating and insulting.

Ebay owns PayPal but will try to operate like 2 different companies, when they are very linked.
I've had to call Ebay and PayPal about a transaction, takes a little site digging to find phone numbers and usually on HOLD a long wait, they'll both find by transaction number item description.
-you may need to go that route too for not actually having a PayPal account, both divisions of the same company will see the initiated return request when you're talking with them about it.

advice tidbit: open a separate free checking debit card account to use with PayPal, only put money in it just before purchases. dont really like or trust them, is almost a necessary evil online shopping.

said it before, deserved negative feedback will catch up with sellers, fees go up. I'll only do it if they really FAIL, which happens pretty rarely, most sellers do try to make good on a bad deal.

See everyone, Jeff can't even get his own face to look right...

Sounds like you need the $20.00 more then you need a decal for an apron on a pinball machine.

Its a $20 lesson. This guy has a long history of crappy products. Give detailed negative feedback and move on. Maybe clearcoat the sticker after installing?

It's a free lesson. No reason he can't get the $20 refunded.

If all the people in this thread would have taken a minute to leave negative feedback and rate the transaction out of 4 stars, he probably would have a suspended account right now. He can't leave negative feedback back for you so do what is right to help others in the future.

I bought whirlwind insert decal set around 40$ I only needed the insert multiplier decals. Installed them they looked ok waxed playfield and ink came off decals. Classic arcades needs better and full description of products for sale . I contacted him to ask if he sold decals without ink up and did not ask for a refund several e- mails and no response. I purchased some other decals and slingshot plastics and they were ok. I left negative feedback on a sticker I purchased because of the no response to emails .The guy sent me some angry e-mail about baning me from buying his stuff .

The only issue I have had with Classic Arcades is that when I buy multiple items he never combines shipping even though it is listed they do.

look, send it back to him, pay the shipping - use your gas... leave whatever feedback appropriate (assume negative in this case) get your refund and move on. Really....

2 options with ebay dealings:

1. deal with this sort of crap/hassle and live and learn from it and move on
2. don't buy stuff on ebay

simple!

- you are lucky its just $6 and a gal or 2 of fuel you are "out"... THIS IS A NO BRAINER.... You definitely made your point and POINT WELL TAKEN, (thanks for calling him out) ... that is, "careful dealing with classicarcades on ebay" GOT IT!

Jeff is a Pinside member. Popcorn waiting to see if he responds to this thread. I am sure he won't.

Here's my story. I made a purchase through ebay. I never received the item. I contacted Jeff and explained that tracking indicated "cannot deliver as addressed". I verified he had the correct address. He NEVER REPLIED to my emails. I contacted Ebay and explained. Their reply? "We see it marked as shipped" so they sided with the seller! (Classic Arcades) Why did they side with the seller? Well... the only reason I could see was that the seller pays them lots of seller fees of course! If you ask me..I would say that Classic Arcades and Ebay don't give a crap about the purchaser. It is well noted that if you have any discrepancy with either you are likely hosed. I bitched to ebay, wasted about an hour of my time, just to get a "one time" refund. F both of them if you ask me. I will never buy from Classic Arcades and am ore then fine being "blacklisted" with that schmuck!

Response to the original post. The buyer made plenty of assumptions without ever asking me any questions. The auction was clearly for a stern stars apron. No where did I state it was clear vinyl. the example shows clear transfer tape being removed from the decal which has a white background

ebay.com link: STERN STARS Pinball Machine Apron Decal Set

They buyer purchased it for a trident pinball machine. A quick check on ipdb shows the same design.
I did not advertise it for trident.

I do not sell clear apron decals like the company in Australia did. My apron decals have the background color on them. And they were not printed on paper. I told the buyer that numerous timse that it is premium vinyl with permanent adhesive. He insisted that it was paper and he is totally in the wrong.

The decal is die cut and looks proper when installed. It is not paper and crap like the buyer states.

Jeff
Classic Arcades Inc.

Tough situation. I know that Jeff has come under fire a few times for matches on products - but in this case, I feel the eBay listing is pretty clear. It hasn't been modified in about 9 months - so it's not like he went out and edited the listing to clarify anything, or cover his tracks.

I don't blame Jeff for wanting you to return the product at your cost before providing a refund. This is not a case of SNAD (Significantly Not As Described) in my eyes. It seems more like buyers remorse. Either the product isn't what you expected, or you changed your mind - but appropriate information was provided to determine what you were getting, and you had an opportunity to ask questions.

Unfortunately, places like Walmart and Amazon are horrible for small businesses. Small businesses can't absorb every return for any reason with a smile on our face.

At least, we can't do that if we intend to stay in business. And if we don't stay in business, who is going to make the products you need to support your hobby, or who is going to provide the services you need?

Sounds to me like the seller offered a refund if you return it. Just like any store, you have to return the item to get money back. If you don't like it, send it back, if it's not worth it.....then just forget it.

i look at the auction and it looks white to me, not clear.

The backing paper appears to be wax, much like any backing paper to a sticker/decal/whatever. That's what they usually look like, glossy.

I bought an expensive "5 stars" truck cover for a new Silverado and it didn't fit worth a darn. Way, way off. After emailing pics to have to prove how badly it (didn't) fit, the company wanted me to send it back at MY expense, charge a 15% re-stocking fee, and another deduction because they deemed it was dirty. I put it on my freshly washed and waxed truck and took great care not to get it dirty in the very possibility that it wouldn't fit. I used PayPal to buy it and after telling them my story and sending them pictures , THEY DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO BACK ME UP. Maybe eBay will help you out but don't waste your time expecting any help from PayPal. They suck.

I looked at your picture (above) and looked at the picture in Jeff's eBay link, and I cannot tell where you received something different than what was advertised.

I have purchased items from Jeff in the past, insert decals for a Diner to be specific. They did not line up as nicely as I would have liked, but they still look better than nothing at all. The way I look at it, something is better than nothing. And Jeff is the provider of something, where otherwise there would be nothing.

Install the $20 decal, and then look for a replacement. It could end up being 1 or 2 years before you can get a replacement made of clear vinyl. Or, maybe you could convince Jeff to do a 1 off decal for you for say $200 or so. Point is, there is likely less than 3 people on the planet currently looking for Stern Trident clear vinyl. I don't think Jeff will want to make just 1 for $20.

You said it yourself, that you went to eBay as a last resort. I take that as meaning you could not find it elsewhere.

@oldschoolbob--You and I don't have any feud, and I'm not looking to start one. Truly, I don't mean any disrespect with my above post. You, and others, may give me a "thumbs down" and I will not be offended. I wish you and your family a Happy and prosperous New Year!

Best regards,

Tom

Just wanted to add ebay Customer service phone # is 1-866-540-3229, Hope this helps you, trying to get a number on the sight is horrible!! Good Luck!

In this case the product you received does look just like the one in the ebay auction. So despite the less than perfect record for this seller I don't see the problem. You can see in the ebay pictures that it is not clear.

I take back my comments from the post above. Let this be a lesson to look very closely at pictures when you are a buyer.