ladies and gentlemen,
about a month ago i bought a lens in the B&S forum. i received the lens a little more than a week after i paid it since it was still shipped to me to my country (Philippines) from the US.
heres what happened.
After I committed to buy the lens thru a phone conversation, The seller sent an email to me that he noticed that theres a ding in the front part of the lens before i could send the payment. So i emailed back asking him to send me a picture of the ding, and so he did send that picture i asked for and assured me that the lens was in good condition and i trusted him. so i sent payment. I called him up long distance and he assured me on the phone that the lens was good. And he sent the lens.
i emailed the seller about the problem and sent these same pictures to him. He said that he never noticed them and had no problem with the lens and did not comment on the pictures. And since i can not use it because of the IS problem, (the lens can quickly lock focus if IS is off by the way, thats why i concluded its IS problem) i sent the lens to canon a couple of days later. And i informed the seller about it. After a little more than 3 weeks (just this morning), i got a word from canon that the IS needs to be replaced, the rubber seal and an internal lens element. Although i have not received the formal repair quote yet, they gave me a figure on the phone to the tune of 29,000 pesos including labor. That is approximately $675 with the current exchange rate.
I emailed the seller that i intend to return the lens, i will spend for the freight, but he told me that he can not accept the lens back since he is saying that there was nothing wrong with the lens that knows of, except for the ding that he disclosed.
Its actually his words against mine which is gonna be a long debate if we had to get into it...
this is a $1350 lens, i'm really dismayed with this. If it were $100 to $200 transaction i could just ignore it, but $1350 is kinda big amount.
do you think i should insist that i return the lens? the seller has some god feedback in the forum too thats why i couldnt believe that he did not disclose to me the other marks on the lens. Its partly my fault that i did not ask for more pictures of the lens before i sent payment. He seems to be a nice guy when we talked on the phone. I am really looking forward to have a settlement with the seller soon. He is actually asking for the repair quote from canon so he can review it which i promised to give him as soon as i get it. Its just that i lost interest in the lens
let me know your thoughts please... thank you so much.
edwin: It's a compelling story, but what do you expect to gain from seeking the opinions of those of us willing to respond who are in no way involved in this and have no way of knowing what actually has happened. There's a good chance the seller could tell an equally compelling story.
Best compromise? Split the cost of the repair. You have the lens you wanted (you don't get to lose interest) and the seller has most of the money he sought.
But this forum isn't the place for this. Continue to communicate with the seller, and bring Fred into it if you think that's necessary. Nothing good can come from airing it here.
