How i lost on Ebay

[Lucky 1]

I bought a dash camera on Ebay that looked like a rearview mirror.
It worked great for two weeks and then just stopped.
It was operating on 12V from my cigarette lighter.

I tried new sim card and it did not help.
I contacted the seller and he said to send it back to China.
So I did. He gave me the address.

I waited and heard nothing. Tried calling Customs. (Good luck with that!)
Now Ebay said the time has run out  to do anything about it.
So I lose $82.00., $52. for the camera and $30 shipping to China.

Also the Post Office did not tell me that if I had sent it registered mail that they could
 track it. Meaning through customs of both countries.
Otherwise you get no help.
All I know is it did leave the USA.

I have some advice. Do not buy ANY product from China unless the company has US support.
AND if you send the product back overseas you have to tell the post office that you want it registered all the way,with tracking. The post office may not explain to you how to do that.

[shinyribs]

I was looking at alot of gauge units lately and there are some Koso knock-off's on ebay for a really great price. They're Chinese,of course, but they are also $42+ versus a $280+ Koso unit. I was really tempted, but for the reason you mentioned about customer support, I decided to stick with Trailtech one more time. They are a US company that builds their own product. Support is not an issue with them.

Sorry you got hosed on this deal. Anytime I ship something of value I pay the few extra dollars at the post office to make sure I'm covered incase something goes wrong. Insurance can be a beautiful thing.

[motogrady]

I go thru the same thing with these little infrared "Amish" heaters.

All made in China.

No support, no parts.  A bulb goes out and it's 300 down the drain.

No, I'm mistaken, those little Amish heaters have 4 swivel rollers on the bottom, and make a great
stool to work on bikes with.

[sgtslag]

When it comes to electronics, anything below $300-$500 is usually considered non-repairable -- it costs the company too much money to even try (worked as an electronic bench technician, back in the 80's).  I've had very good luck with Chinese-made electronics from e-Bay, but I know that it is always a gamble, no matter what.  I also consider things below the $300 mark, to be throw-away, no matter who I purchase them from (buyer protection varies, dramatically, so using a CC is likely your best option, depending on their protection plans...).  I buy with that in the forefront of my mind, knowing that I may get burned -- especially when buying through e-Bay.  Cheers!

[Lucky 1]

That company that makes Trail Tech is right near the town I live in.

[Lucky 1]

It was not a matter of money. The postal employee just did not tell me that once it left their post office
and go to customs that I may never hear or see it again unless I sent it a certain way.

If they had told me that I would have paid more.
I did get a US customs slip with a number on it so I thought they would at least know something about it.
When I went to check on it the post office had a whole stack of slips that told you to call a 1-800 number and basically when you call they said they could not help you. Big F.....job.

[Peterwh]

Here's my opinion:  don't buy anything made in China. It never works properly or breaks and you can feel good about saving American manufacturing jobs