ShortScale.org

For $200.

http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDMis ... er=5202585

Ad says the only thing that doesn't work is the chorus button, which might be an easy fix. Or I might not fix it and just flip the amp.

Either way, the seller's been texted.

Awesome! That is a KILLER price.

So... i saw the amp today. The switch didn't work, and unfortunately, a footswitch didn't turn on the chorus either, so it was a bigger deal than expected. Also, the original speakers were replaced with a pair of newer Jensens. But it sounded very nice, and it was LOUD. At $200 it would still have been worth it..

...until he tells me that the $200 is a mistake and wanted $300. At $300 it was still a good deal, but I'd like to keep those extra $100 for myself. So the deal was not as advertised. So I got pissed off, and told him that I had a screenshot of the ad and that I would report him to the PR Consumer Affairs Dept, which he replies with "I decided to not sell the amp, god bless you". I still am considering actually following up with my threat.

All in, I wasted an hour of my time. But now I know this guys is a scumbag, so I'll avoid his future listings. Oh, and on the way back home I stopped for an awesome brunch that I wouldn't have had if I hadn't gone to see the amp. So a break even experience?

Report him. I personally don't make threats, but rather agreements. If "a" happens, "b" happens. All the time. Every time. My students accept and appreciate that black and white system.

I think I will. I've got a template letter, so I'm gonna fill in the blank and print out the screenshot.

The only thing that doesn't work on the JC120 is anything related to the Chorus = time to bail.

I find that amp to be overrated at all things except the Chorus, where it is amazing.

I had the JC-60 and thought it was overrated. My tranny Marshall blew it out of the water in a band situation. Empty in comparison.

This talk of reporting/suing someone for not honouring a too-low price on a free ad site is total bullshit and evidence of being a real sore loser.

You thought you were getting a killer deal, the guy got tipped off that he was asking way too little for it. Now get on with your life and next time show some good grace.

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:This talk of reporting/suing someone for not honouring a too-low price on a free ad site is total bullshit and evidence of being a real sore loser.

You thought you were getting a killer deal, the guy got tipped off that he was asking way too little for it. Now get on with your life and next time show some good grace.

It's not being a sore loser, it's more me being angry about the wasted time. Down here there are tons of assholes pulling that shit with the bait and switch tactics. They'll list an American standard strat for sale at a low (but realistic) price... you check it out, and it's a redecaled Squier if you're lucky. If you're not lucky, it's a weird strat copy.

Or they'll list an item for a lower price than what they want just to get interest.

I don't put up with bullshit. I have no intention of suing him since there were no damages other than my time. And the awesome brunch I got made up for the time. However, I did report him. That is my right, and I exercised it. He'll get a nasty letter from the Consumer Affairs Dept, and maybe a fine.

I reckon report him too; proper dick move, not honouring the original ad price. Slight irony about UVC getting eggy about it too.

A fine for failure to come through on a classified ad? That is totally fucking nuts.

Slight irony? You must be as nuts as the Puerto Rican legal system seems to be if you think a fine is justifiable in a situation like that. Where I come from a contract cannot exist without consensus in idem and an advertised price is an invitation to treat, nothing more.

Progrockabuse wrote:

othomas2 wrote:I blew my tranny underwater and it was empty in comparison.

What I do in my own time is my business ok.

benecol wrote:getting eggy

*chokeondietcokelols*

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:A fine for failure to come through on a classified ad? That is totally fucking nuts.

Slight irony? You must be as nuts as the Puerto Rican legal system seems to be if you think a fine is justifiable in a situation like that. Where I come from a contract cannot exist without consensus in idem and an advertised price is an invitation to treat, nothing more.

No, a fine for posting a misleading ad, Per Rule 7932 of law 170 of 1998 (our amended consumer affairs law). Where I come from, it is illegal to post a misleading ad. Right now there's a big tiff in the local news over gas stations charging different amounts if you pay cash (lower price) or plastic (higher price), but only listing the lower price outside.

Until these fuckers get hit with a fine, they won't learn. And what worries me is that this is widespread enough down here, that the fine may be factored into the cost of doing business. Like a bar that stays open after 2AM, because they know they'll make more money than what the fine will cost them.

Oh, and yes, the Puerto Rican legal system is fucked- you won't get any argument from me there. It's heavily politicized (to a level you can't begin to imagine), and in cases against the government and party loyalists, the only chance you have of getting a fair trial is to appeal to a US court.

It was a business rather than an individual that was selling the amp? That wasn't clear from your posts and I guess it may make a difference (though in this country while many businesses will honour 'wrong' advertised prices in the interest of goodwill, they're not legally obliged to do so).

Anyway, here's my perspective....

Ever tried to sell anything on the Classifieds section of this very website? I have, and on more than one occasion I've had someone call dibs on something only to fail to follow through with the sale. That makes them dishonorable time-wasters, right?* Should they be fined for not honouring their word, then? Of course not! We're all grown-ups who can work out that that kind of thing goes with the territory and resorting to naming and shaming, threatening legal recourse or running to tell the mods would be an inelegant over-reaction to a minor annoyance.

So you had your time wasted. Shit happens. It sounds very much like you had $$ signs in your eyes and are mainly pissed off that you didn't get to flip the amp for a healthy profit, though, so your subsequent action looks more like petty revenge than genuine concern over a dubious business practice (assuming it was actually a business).





*I'm not finger-wagging here; I recently had someone offer to buy something I had advertised on here which wasn't for sale any more, so I'm a dishonorable time-waster too.

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:It was a business rather than an individual that was selling the amp? That wasn't clear from your posts and I guess it may make a difference (though in this country while many businesses will honour 'wrong' advertised prices in the interest of goodwill, they're not legally obliged to do so).

It was an individual selling it, but the law doesn't specify. I can get technical and say it was a business, since we met at his place of business to check out the amp. If he hadn't been an asshole about it, and hadn't also lied about the condition ("only a switch is broken"... no, the entire chorus unit is broken, and failure to mention to speakers weren't stock), I wouldn't have been as annoyed as I was about the pricing discrepancy. In fact, if the condition was as described, at $300, I still might have taken it home.

But instead, when I called out his BS, he decides to not sell the amp, and pulls the ad. Yet, when I get home, there's another ad for the amp replacing the one that I had seen. At least this time with the correct price, but still not listing the additional issues (or the issue he had listed before). The guy is a scammer, and I'm fucking sick of dealing with them. I have this amazing tool down here to work with, and I used it. If more people use it, there would be less scammers taking advantage of people here.

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:So you had your time wasted. Shit happens. It sounds very much like you had $$ signs in your eyes and are mainly pissed off that you didn't get to flip the amp for a healthy profit, though, so your subsequent action looks more like petty revenge than genuine concern over a dubious business practice (assuming it was actually a business).

I do occasionally flip gear. You're right, I did see dollar signs. Not many of them, since the amp still needed to be repaired, and it ended up costing me $50 in fuel and tolls to drive out to see the amp. I was looking at maybe $50-100 profit on it, or trading it locally for a Mustang or Jag. But what I wanted to do with it has no bearing on the actions of the seller. He misled me and wasted my time. Maybe I did snap after dealing with people like him for a while now, but again, but that isn't relevant. The facts are that 1- he posted a misleading ad, and 2- he got reported. Plain and simple. The only other time in my life I've ever done that is against Sears for not honoring the terms of my household appliance maintenance contract.

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:*I'm not finger-wagging here; I recently had someone offer to buy something I had advertised on here which wasn't for sale any more, so I'm a dishonorable time-waster too.

I'm a time waster too. I recently wasted Cobascis's (my bad man) time dibsing something I forgot to buy. The difference between classifieds here on ss.org, and locally for me is that 1- I've not yet dealt with a piece of shit here, and 2- the amount of time and cost to get a question answered here via PM is $0, vs. gas and tolls locally to check out a piece of gear.

In this instance, I ended up driving 310 km, wasting more than half a day, plus $50 in fuel and tolls.

sounds to me like the dude just had a lot of interest so he asked $300 instead of $200.

dick move, yes; worth a fine, I don't think so. This stuff happens all the time on craigslist because if there is some amazing deal, they get a billion replies and think, "maybe I've underpriced it a bit" and want more. I'd just take it with a grain of salt and move on.

SKC Willie wrote:sounds to me like the dude just had a lot of interest so he asked $300 instead of $200.

It's a different culture here. People here ask ridiculously high prices, expecting to be lowballed, so they have room to negotiate. Or they're hardcore christians who don't believe in depreciation and ask new prices for beat up old gear (or ask you to donate the gear you're selling to their church, which they later flip). Or they have no idea what they have, and sell it for a stupid cheap price (that's a minority, but how I got my Guild S300D and my 67 Deluxe Reverb)

Or they do what this guy did.

There are very few honest sellers of used gear here in PR. The Facebook group is a haven for us, since the mods are quick to ban any dishonest sellers and trolls.

SKC Willie wrote:dick move, yes; worth a fine, I don't think so

And that's IF he gets a fine. The Consumer Affairs people might not even do anything. It's an election year, and they're all political appointees - they don't want to risk losing a vote.

Slightly baffled that UVC thinks it's acceptable to list something for sale for $200, wait for someone to turn up, then say "Sweet, isn't it? It'll cost you $300".

Also, this:

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:It sounds very much like you had $$ signs in your eyes and are mainly pissed off that you didn't get to flip the amp for a healthy profit, though.

... is pretty rich from someone who until recently bought and sold guitars, and has put a few noses out of joint on deals here.

Still, I bow to his business acumen and large hoard of Classifieds karma.