Warning for Classified buyers

[Audio Al]

Sadly I have had a bad experience in the Wam classified's
I agreed to buy a Conrad Johnson ET6 pre amp and a Degritter RCM from the same seller.
The degritter was advertised as doing 550 cycles , When I received the unit it has done just under 900
And the Conrad Johnson pre has operating problems , It has bad hissing problems , Also I found out it is not a UK version it was imported direct from the USA so not covered by the UK guarantee , the fault ( hissing ) is not anything to do with other components In my system , If I swap the ET6 out no more problems ,
Tried for over a month to get it sorted with the seller who Is NOT responding to emails, phone calls, text's , or PM's through the forum , Also he has moved home now .
Be careful people , Trust in sellers needs to be investigated

 

[MVJ]

Really sorry to hear of this in all the years I have bought & sold on the wam I have'nt had an issue evryone has been brilliant.

You need to name & shame Allen so no one else gets done by them.

 

[Audio Al]

Really sorry to hear of this in all the years I have bought & sold on the wam I have'nt had an issue evryone has been brilliant.

You need to name & shame Allen so no one else gets done by them.

I have spoken with a mod who advised against naming , Just look the items up and you will see who it is , both from the same seller .

 

[luckysim0n]

Sorry to hear this Al not an insignificant amount either

 

[hifinutt]

wow .. he has had some amazing kit up for sale in the past too

 

[Rockchild]

Avoid Hififorsale too. There should be no reason why a seller can’t email new photos with their details next to them. If it’s someone who I haven’t dealt with before or don’t know well enough from this forum, it’s a big no!

 

[DUVET]

I have emailed the seller asking for an explanation with a 24 hour response time

 

[MVJ]

I have emailed the seller asking for an explanation with a 24 hour response time

 

[smithy27]

Have you tried contacting via his eBay account.

Sadly I have had a bad experience in the Wam classified's
I agreed to buy a Conrad Johnson ET6 pre amp and a Degritter RCM from the same seller.
The degritter was advertised as doing 550 cycles , When I received the unit it has done just under 900
And the Conrad Johnson pre has operating problems , It has bad hissing problems , Also I found out it is not a UK version it was imported direct from the USA so not covered by the UK guarantee , the fault ( hissing ) is not anything to do with other components In my system , If I swap the ET6 out no more problems ,
Tried for over a month to get it sorted with the seller who Is NOT responding to emails, phone calls, text's , or PM's through the forum , Also he has moved home now .
Be careful people , Trust in sellers needs to be investigated

 

[mac72]

Also I found out it is not a UK version it was imported direct from the USA so not covered by the UK guarantee

ET6 should have voltage designation printed below IEC socket , from what I know Conrad Johnson used to offer warranty to the original owner only but this might be different nowadays . Have you tried swapping valves as ET3 was quite known to have hiss issues so could be similar with ET6

 

[TIU]

The seller no longer a member?

 

[TIU]

Avoid Hififorsale too. There should be no reason why a seller can’t email new photos with their details next to them. If it’s someone who I haven’t dealt with before or don’t know well enough from this forum, it’s a big no!

Do you mean the hififorsale website or a seller on here with that username?

 

[Rockchild]

Do you mean the hififorsale website or a seller on here with that username?

No the site, there are some dodgy ****er’s on there.

 

[Audio Al]

I have emailed the seller asking for an explanation with a 24 hour response time

Good luck with that , I must have emailed 15 plus times

 

[Audio Al]

Have you tried contacting via his eBay account.

Did not know he had a eBay account ? I have tried every option , no response

 

[Carlbkk1]

It’s vital we get posts like this. This forum‘s success depends massively on two way trust and does extremely well in that regard, but shady/unco-operative sellers need to be weeded out and given a chance to respond or called out for non response.

I’ve had all but one absolutely positive experience buying and selling through the years with some expensive kit, and the only negative was a buyer (well, non buyer) who completely messed me around. It could have been worse.

 

[simon g]

It’s vital we get posts like this. This forum‘s success depends massively on two way trust and does extremely well in that regard, but shady/unco-operative sellers need to be weeded out and given a chance to respond or called out for non response.

I’ve had all but one absolutely positive experience buying and selling through the years with some expensive kit, and the only negative was a buyer (well, non buyer) who completely messed me around. It could have been worse.

Not so sure on that. This type of post is always very one sided; there's a distinct danger of one sided trial by forum. I'm not doubting what Al says, but who knows exactly what else has been said/done? There needs to be a right of reply. Many forums would not allow posts of this nature.

The take away is that everyone should exercise caution. For example, I would never buy this value of goods without collecting myself and inspecting, or if the sale is from a trusted and known member. It's all too easy to get carried away when something you want comes up; there'll always be another one along at some stage so don't take any un-necssary chances.

It also needs to be appreciated that this forum, along with most others, is mostly full of people that have never actually met each other and very little is known about the individuals. It all seems very 'clubby'; beware of this as it gives a false sense of security. Just because someone else likes hifi doesn't mean that they think or act like you in other ways. Posts here are not brownie points in the trust badge award. Ask yourself this; if you were approached by a stranger offering to sell you something you hadn't seen and promised to send it to you in return for hundreds/thousands of pounds - would you do that? OK I appreciate that there are many here (me included) who have met many here and have known them via the forum for years, but there are still very many strangers on here. This particular seller had a very low post count, for example; mainly selling type stuff at that.

Finally, buying from individuals is very different, legally and otherwise, from buying from businesses. Private buying is very much caveat emptor

 

[Audio Al]

ET6 should have voltage designation printed below IEC socket , from what I know Conrad Johnson used to offer warranty to the original owner only but this might be different nowadays . Have you tried swapping valves as ET3 was quite known to have hiss issues so could be similar with ET6

It is a 240 volt model , I am about to order 1 of the valves I don't currently have , yes I have substituted the other 3 valves , still hissing badly

 

[Audio Al]

Not so sure on that. This type of post is always very one sided; there's a distinct danger of one sided trial by forum. I'm not doubting what Al says, but who knows exactly what else has been said/done? There needs to be a right of reply. Many forums would not allow posts of this nature.

The take away is that everyone should exercise caution. For example, I would never buy this value of goods without collecting myself and inspecting, or if the sale is from a trusted and known member. It's all too easy to get carried away when something you want comes up; there'll always be another one along at some stage so don't take any un-necssary chances.

It also needs to be appreciated that this forum, along with most others, is mostly full of people that have never actually met each other and very little is known about the individuals. It all seems very 'clubby'; beware of this as it gives a false sense of security. Just because someone else likes hifi doesn't mean that they think or act like you in other ways. Posts here are not brownie points in the trust badge award. Ask yourself this; if you were approached by a stranger offering to sell you something you hadn't seen and promised to send it to you in return for hundreds/thousands of pounds - would you do that? OK I appreciate that there are many here (me included) who have met many here and have known them via the forum for years, but there are still very many strangers on here. This particular seller had a very low post count, for example; mainly selling type stuff at that.

Finally, buying from individuals is very different, legally and otherwise, from buying from businesses. Private buying is very much caveat emptor

I did proceed with caution , I offered to pay a one hundred pound deposit by bank transfer and the balance on collection , The seller said he was moving home and needed a quick collection, A well known Wam taxi person collected for me , upon collection ( the items were all boxed ready to go ) I the paid the balance. I keep trying to contact the seller and have had virtually no response for weeks now , Just nothing
And yes I am pi--ed off , The UK importer has indicated an hourly rate of £100 , plus parts and vat , so what will the repair cost ???? and who pays , Looks like me . I valued trust highly up until now .

 

[tackleberry]

I only buy and offer, a face to face demo on high value stuff unless I know the person/goods. Money in hands-goods out everyone’s happy.