"This was my all-time worst ebay buying experience. I relied on the seller's 99%+ positive feedback and bought a pair of Klipsch Heresy speakers. He waited a full week after receiving payment to ship the speakers via FedEx Ground claiming that he ordered boxes and they hadn't arrived until five days after the auction. When I received the speakers they appeared to be well packed in heavy-duty cardboard cartons with 2" rigid foam on all sides without apparent external damage. It appeared that FedEx Ground dropped the speakers on the face side (both boxes) from a sufficient height to cause the baffles containing the heavy drivers to disconnect from the bodies of the speakers. I spoke with James by phone the next day, but I sent him photos of the damage minutes after discovering it. His response was quite slow, with him claiming a business trip. We agreed on a dollar amount for me to have the repairs done, since I still wanted the speakers and I didn't want to be out the shipping costs and time. I had the damage inspected at the local FedEx Ground office and got the reports. I advised James that the damage had been inspected and I had the damage repaired at my expense, expecting to be reimbursed. James told me he had filed a claim with FedEx and my inquiries of them returned just the opposite answer, that he had not filed a claim after five days, so I filed a claim as recipient, knowing that the damage claim would have to be settled with the seller. James continued to tell me by phone and email that he had filed a claim and finally told me had received a check from FedEx and was waiting for it to clear the bank before sending me the money. FedEx denied that they had sent a check to James. Two days later in a phone conversation, FedEx denied the claim, stating that the speakers were not packed in their original boxes. Since then James has refused any contact by phone or email. I left him negative feedback and he attempted to do the same to me, but ebay's rules prevent a seller from leaving negative feedback for a buyer, but his comments are derogatory toward me, calling me a liar. I have had no reason to lie. I did dispute the transaction through paypal, but paypal required that I return the speakers for a refund and since I had already repaired them, I certainly didn't want to return them to James, so paypal denied my claim. At any rate, I got some fairly nice speakers, albeit for more money than they are worth. I recommend that no one buy from this character, as he is dishonest.

I have documentation of all of James' statements to me, so if anyone would like to email me directly, I can share those with you. My personal email is ****@****."

"The seller resells vintage used equipment. He selects ones that are in overall good condition. He knows what he is selling. He knows what differs the

equipment. And he used this knowledge to attract buyers and sell the equipment for higher price. He states that he did much of restoration work,

replaced some critical to work components, cleaned, lubed, etc. But that I believe is complete lie. If you satisfied with what you've got - then you

are in luck. If not - you'll be in trouble. The seller will blame you for anything that you are not satisfied with. If you'll open a unit - he will

say that you tampered it. Even if you did not open it but arguing that something is not as stated - he will say that you broke electronic seal, that

in fact did not exist. If packing was bad, he will say that you rushed him to ship it and he was not able to pack it carefully. And he will never

apology for any trouble you had because it will be always you who are cause of that. Response to your claims will be slow and most of the time just avoided.

The ebay rating of this seller is high, but this is I believe because nobody attempts to really check for anything that was stated in auctions. Well,

probably a unit that you bought will work for a long time. And probably the resoration is not needed immediately. But you paid money for that. I mean

for restoration work. The "as is" equipment priced considerably lower on ebay. But the difference between the "as is" auctions and of the seller's

ones is not really big. Because he does not restore equipment. He just finds overall good ones and sells them.

I've bought Teac X-1000R open reel to reel deck from this ebay seller. The auctions stated that I will receive perfectly packed, ready for enjoyment

unit, that was cleaned and lubed, capstan belt and pinch rollers were replaced to new ones, the unit was tested for all operability, etc.
Seller shipped the unit on fifth day after I paid him. I've got it. The unit itself seemed good. But packing was terrible. He put the deck directly into styrofoam

without wrapping it. The styrofoam has spreaded and sticking everywhere, including inside of the unit. To clean it from styrofioam I opened it. And

found that all the restoration work that was stated in the auction actually was not performed at all. Capstan belt is not new. Dust is everywhere.

Pinch rollers were not new. Heads were not aligned. Then I found that speed selection switch does not work. reverse recording was not possible

because reverse recording head was aligned to wrong tracks.

All my claims were rejected in a very slow manner. He answered every third email with three days delaying. He blaimed me in all troubles. He said I

pushied him to ship the unit and this is the reason of poor packing (five days were not enough). He said that since I admit that I opened the unit -

I tampered it. He did not answer direct questions. What made me really sad - he did not apology, not even once. He offered me a refund for the

transaction but only for unit price. Shipping, that would be around $200 would be my. I decided to spend less than the $200 to do all stated

restoration work by myslef and get what I was expecting from this transaction. I asked to reimburse me the expenses for the new parts - he refused. I

told him I will leave negative feedback - he told me he will do the same for me. Then he stopped replying to my emails. Unfortunately, ebay's

feedback does not allow to tell whole story, so I'm writing it here.

Advice for vintage equipment buyers - just let you know, professional restoration costs about $300. Ask those ones who state that they professionaly

restored their equipment, what exactly and how did they do it. Ask them for receipts for parts they replaced."