Did Anyone Here Win The Helicon?

[Gongadin]

...and it's back.
Frank, you should really leave this joker negative feedback for the non-completion of the sale so that other potential bidders know what they might be in for.
http://www.ebay.ca:80/itm/ws/eBayISAPI. ... RL:CA:1123

[Frank Ortega]

The only thing I seem to be able to do is list it as a duplicate listing which I did. I don't think that I can leave feedback because I haven't paid for the item. I don't want to send the money if he refuses to sell it to me though. Any ideas? Should I pay for the item and force the matter?

Thanks for your input.
Frank

[Gongadin]

I'm pretty sure you can leave feedback without paying as long as you were the high bidder. Feedback was created for letting other eBayers know about successful transactions as well as non-successful.
Log in with your user ID and then open up the auction you won (not the new listing). It should say something like "you've won this auction" and there should be a list of actions you can take. One should be leave feedback. Try leaving the negative feedback comment that was suggested in this thread. If for some reason eBay wants you to open an incomplete Transaction dispute, please do so. Try leaving the negative feedback first and then report back. We'll get you the heli-Sousa or get that guy kicked off of eBay yet!

[Frank Ortega]

Got it. Feedback left, and all duplicate listings, US and CAN, reported.
Let's see what happens.

Thanks,
Frank

[cjk]

I do believe that if folks were so inclined, they could ask the seller questions on the new auction. Seems like when I ask a seller a question, I can read the questions that other folks have written. Seems like some pretty "spirited" questions could be asked of the new auction.

[Gongadin]

I do believe that if folks were so inclined, they could ask the seller questions on the new auction. Seems like when I ask a seller a question, I can read the questions that other folks have written. Seems like some pretty "spirited" questions could be asked of the new auction.

Unfortunately for this situation, it's up to the seller to decide which questions get posted on the auction for public consumption and which questions get answered privately...or ignored altogether. I sent the seller an e-mail via the Craigslist posting and asked him if the deal on eBay fell through. Guess what? I never received a response! I find it interesting that the seller feels that the horn is worth $1,000 more than the original auction, even though Frank was the sole bidder and nobody else even submitted a bid!

[Dan Schultz]

I emailed the seller and asked the following question:

I am a tuba repairman and have been watching this listing (and the previous listing) with some interest. I notice that the horn is now listed at a higher price. You indicated in your feedback that the horn now has new parts that makes it worth more. Please elaborate.

Here is the answer I received:

We are not authority as we are on Woodwinds for Brasswinds, to make it playable as is, we had to buy a new lead pipe/crook, two bits, and a new mouthpiece, about $200.00 retail. We relisted the horn, as we had it also listed on craigslist, a guy locally give us a $200.00 deposit and said he would pay $2,000.00 - we couldn't change the listing as it had less than 4 hours left, we told the same guy if the bid goes over $2,000.00 he would have to bid on it, anyway that deal feel through, and we know after ordering and paying for the additional parts, we could not sell it for the starting bid price, and the buyer also wanted us to unsolder it at no charge, hold it for 3 weeks, etc, it was getting too crazy with the winnign bidder, and either way we knew he was going to leave us negative feedback, so we cancelled his transaction. Anyway, it's ready to go, if you want give Ron a call 1 313 969-5563 and go from ther.

[Bandmaster]

Since I almost bid on this helicon, I sent an email to the seller, but in mine I called him out for not honoring the winning bid. he responded with this:

I guess you don't know the whole story did he tell you he emailed and we have proof he wanted to buy it off of ebay, which is against all ebays rules. Did he tell you we wanted us to wait 2-3 weeks before he would pay & pick it up? Did he tell you after he talked to Ron he wanted us to stop the auction and he would pay $2,00.00. Did he tell you he lied and, said eBay sent him a email to pay for the item-wrong, when it's a pick up only ebay will not send an unpaid notice, only notice they will get is when the auction ends. did he tell you we ordered and paid for the parts, at a cost of over $200.00. Did he tell you a friend of ours gave us the deposit-lie we never even met the guy until he came to look at the hor (I couldn't tell you what ihe looks like if my life depended on it) did he tell you he wanted us to unsodler the bell. Unless you know both sides, you shouldn't judge, we are good people, in spite of what your friend said, things just didn't work out.

Funny how when he repsponded to TubaTinker he cites a local man that gave them a $200 deposit and in my response he called that a lie! In his original listing he stated that the bell would have to be unsoldered for shipping.

It seems that above all, his writting skills have a lot to be desired. The way he words his sentences they are unclear and somewhat confusing.

[Frank Ortega]

That's ALOT of lies that I am not even going to try to sift through.

I'm glad to have this mess behind me and hope I never have dealings with him again!

Thanks for listening.

-Frank

[Dan Schultz]

...I wonder if he has a relative who resides in Florida...

My EX??!!

[tofu]

I think you got a blessing in disguise not getting that horn and dodged a bullet. My guess with that oversized bell width and cobbled together state that it would have significant intonation issues. Middle C is bad enough on the old Conn Helicons and if that Monster Eb tuba bell length wasn't cut when cobbled on you could have a intonation fiasco. With the probability of lousy valves and other issues - the money spent to put the horn right would end up being way more than buying a restored one to begin with.