Well, I got burned buying an ebay knockoff.

I have been looking for a les paul style guitar to replace the one that American Airlines smashed in half during my trip home over the holidays. I've been watching ebay for awhile, I saw this one and bid thinking I did my homework by checking serial numbers and looking over this sight.

However, as soon as the guitar came I knew I had gotten burned. You could tell by looking it was not a 20+ year old guitar and certainly not up to the build quality Tokai is known for. Ah well, lesson learned.

Here's a link to the ebay auction in case your interested.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260198485051&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=016

Here are some pics I took of the guitar, if you are interested. Please tell me I'm wrong, but I'm not :-?
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/Atrovent/DSC03559.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/Atrovent/DSC03558.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/Atrovent/DSC03557.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/Atrovent/DSC03556.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/Atrovent/DSC03555.jpg

This came up recently:-

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=9821

Sorry to hear. It seems that there are more folk willing to dud the unsuspecting.

That serial number is a dead give away now that we know.

On a side note, I was looking at an 'as new' Gibson SG on eBay. When I asked the seller for shipping costs, he said he wouldn't provide until after I've bid. Then he went on to say that if I keep looking instead of bidding, he's gonna pull it and sell on Craigslist. Fishy to say the least...

J.

Isn't there anything you can do? Contact the seller and tell him that he has sold you a fake (and apparently bought one himself!)? Contact eBay? Give the guy a negative? Aargh! I cant' stand this! I'm not an expert on the eBay rules but after reading the description on the auction, there is no doubt the seller was trying to convince his fake was something real. He must have been violating some kind of rules. Sorry to say but the guitar looks like crap... Really sorry for you. Hope there is something to do.

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

I belive you may get a refund through ebay because it was a fraudulant sale, but i could be wrong.. If buyer paid via paypal, im sure you can get refund...

I'd get on to paypal straight away and i would also leave negative feedback, this bloke was obviously dudded and has tried to pass it on to you :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: . Don't wait get on to it straight away.

Mick

Personally I would explain the problem to the seller first, and ask for a full refund. Only if he refuses would I get into negative feedback, or claims to Paypal.

You did pay by Paypal? :-?

Mike

you could be right Mike i just reread his auction,although i don't think the chinese knock offs were made that far back i thought they were a recent thing on the back of recent popularity of MIJ guitars...

Mick

First thing I did was contact the seller, explain the situation etc and ask for my money back.

Second I will be filing a complaint with ebay etc, but i cant do that until I give the seller 10 days to make it right. At least thats the way I read it.

So now I'm fighting with American Airlines to get my money back, and Ebay as well. I may need to step away from the guitars for a moment :roll:

I feel for you man, I'm sure we all do. Did you pay via Paypal?

what a bummer & He does say in his posting on ebay that he will take it back FOR 20% :evil: YEAH
Hope you can get it sorted though i dont have any faith in ebay returning your funds (- his 20%)

I was sorry to hear and read of this misrepresentation you experienced.

I hope this resolves to your satisfaction. What did you pay for this?

Other readers will note that before buying it is important to do a lot of reading and research on the instrument they are looking for. A few things that looked wrong on the information on the ebay site that we can all learn from is such things as:

1. Poor quality - fuzzy pictures - with some lame excuse of not being a good photographer - you don't have to be Karsh but with digital cameras of today there is no excuse.

2. Not enough pictures of the details - Tokai guitars have a lot of identifying marks on pick ups - inside the cavities etc.

3.Price is wrong - if it is the genuine article - there is a range for a 1981 LP Tokai style guitar that should be within a few hundred dollars.

4. No one bidding - a dead give away - if it is a great Love Rock from 1981 - then where is everyone? Or why are you so alone.

5. Serial number is not revealed - makes you wonder why? I find that the most honest people ( and thankfully there are more of us than the later ) will not have a problem with this issue.

I have to thank the members, and all of those that keep this site so interesting and for all the information on the Tokai Registry - this is a terrific source.

My last bit of advice for everyone - If is too good to be true, it probably is!

I do hope all works out with this LP that is clearly not from 1981.

Best regards and good luck.

Thunder Bass

rshearer, step up to the plate & give this SOB his first feedback as a seller, a big fat red negative

PS that's another red flag, little or no feedback as a seller.................

Bravo! I encourage you to move this up to ebay and post your comments and negative feedback. This is clearly meant to misrepresent.

The best defense is a good offense.

Thunder Bass

The trouble is that posting negative feedback before all the relevant discussions have finished might result in the buyer getting negative feedback as well as the seller. Personally, I would want to avoid that, at least until I had exhausted all the other options.

And I'm still not clear whether the purchase we are discussing here was made with Paypal - it is quite an imprtant detail!

He promised to give me a full refund, so I will be returning the guitar tomorrow. *keeping fingers crossed*

rshearer said:

He promised to give me a full refund, so I will be returning the guitar tomorrow. *keeping fingers crossed*

Click to expand...

Excellent news - maybe he's not all bad after all

A happy ending - great!

rshearer said:

He promised to give me a full refund, so I will be returning the guitar tomorrow. *keeping fingers crossed*

Click to expand...

He should also be refunding the cost of return shipping since the item was misrepresented

Good luck 'cause as the ole saying goes, it aint over 'til the fat lady sings........