2 Feb 2009

Bad buy on eBay

I have been able to grab a number of bargains on eBay and I thought that this Binatone MR620 Quad Two Way Radio, was one of them.

The batteries were dead when I got the walkie talkie and left them on the charger units to recharge overnight. Woke up in the morning and it seemed to be working fine when one of them died off after about a minute.

walkie talkie

Naturally, I was really pissed off and left a neutral feedback on the seller's profile (I should have left a negative). The seller contacted me much later and she said that he/she would be willing to give me a refund. However, that was the last I heard from "ohhelsbels".

Tried contacting Binatone - no replies from their customer service.
Tried contacting a rechargeable battery reseller - no reply. I guess they don't have batteries for the particular model.

I sometimes wonder what the hell's wrong with businesses in this country. No wonder they are going bankrupt one by one.

Now I am stuck with a pair of useless gadgets. I plan to get a replacement rechargeable battery when I go back to Malaysia next time. Some of my friends has assured me that I can find a replacement battery for any gadget back in Kuala Lumpur.

There are a number of great personal license-free two-way radios in the market with an average range of up to 3km (some like the MOTOTLKR T5 walkie talkie has a range of upto 6km²).

Of course you may wonder why we need a 2 way radio in this age of mobile phones.

You should be aware that some place don't have mobile phone reception. Plus, there's no monthly bills to worry about and no contract either.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

that sucks...i had some good and bad experiences on Ebay as well..kinda like hitting the reverse lottery.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great tips! competition in online business today is very tight.

Anonymous said...

Its always shoot and miss for ebay.
but those radios will be really useful though once you get them to work. Good luck battery hunting in KL.

Anonymous said...

Parden me for stating the obvious, but did you check the seller's feedback score before buying? That's usually a good indicator.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear of your loss. I once had a loss on eBay too. It was my thing I sold, I sold a DVD package. The guy that bought it was from Israel. I shipped it, and then he did a chargeback on his credit card. So I was left without my DVDs, and with a loss in money.

Till then,

Bill

Anonymous said...

Theres a lot of scammers around ebay. Well, buying less expensive stuffs are always risky

Anonymous said...

I have stopped buying on Ebay myself. The electronics do not work right, the clothes are usually knock offs, and the shipping is outrageous. I just go straight to Amazon and no longer waste my time.

Anonymous said...

nice days its guarantee despite those tall promises

Dilip Mutum said...

Hi guys: Thanks for all your comments.
Josh: Yes I did. All +ve and that's whay I went ahead so I guess I might have been unlucky. But I am really unhappy that the seller didn't reply to my last email.
Tashi: I don't understand what you mean.