First, what he fails to mention is that I felt bad that he found ANOTHER wire loose in the fixture when he first contacted me when he got the light home. I told him I found TWO loose wires after taking off he endcap when I attempted to re-attach the bulbs in the fixture..
Most of all, He also fails to mention I tried to make it "RIGHT" with him offering in the end of our discussions giving him approx $100.00 off MSRP of NEW Equipment for the hassles of the wiring on the unit and my lack of being CLEAR about it in the thread. I guess that wasnt good enough for him? After hearing the whole story from my side of the coin, I think you will see the ONLY one who lost money here is ME!
He asked me if I got the light this way or did i mess with it.. I could have EASILY LIED when he asked me If I recieved the fixture in this condtion, which would have been REALLY EASY. Would have been the end of it, just blame the ODY guy,, heck they are KNOWN FOR this,, But....No, I told the truth admitted I had fixed that one HQI wire and told him so right then. End of Story.
After this admission, he barraged me with all kinds of questions and drama about what I did or didnt do to the light and how I lied to him about it in the thread and modified this and that...etc etc.. Making claims and accusations about what I did or didnt do to the light and my intentions with it.
After thinking about how I listed the item after he complained about it, ( I Looked back at the thread where it was listed) I probably shouldnt have used "BRAND NEW" in the thread. And listed it as "USED" and "AS IS". But in my defense I stated CLEARLY that the item had been USED For 5 min or so testing the light out right in the thread! As for "perfect working condition" The last time I had power to it, EVERYTHING WORKED FINE, only the ballast was cooking and I righteously figured it was about to catch fire for other reasons.. (anyone who reads about this knows what Im talking about) Course he told me I was lying, the ballast weren't the problem and couldnt have gone bad so fast.
I told him he didnt do his HOMEWORK and provided ODYSSEA FIRE THREADS. hehehe (capacitors fry on these sometimes in minutes sometimes in days. also LOOSE stuff like bolts has and can short things out in the ballasts IMMEDIATELY)
As far as the fixture being "Brand NEW" the light was BRAND new as far as I was concerned. It was never used for more than 5 min total. Never saw a tank top, never PLUGGED IN FOR more than 5 min max. Also that BLue Wave Ballast that was also sold to him? Is BRAND NEW NEVER PLUGGE IN with about 50$ worth of free cords thrown in with it. IT also STILL Has 4yr MFG warranty on it.
The OVERALL CONDITION OF the fixture was IMMACTULATE and the bulbs were BRAND NEW with only minutes of time on them.. The only issue I felt he had about the condition was the wire that I repaired which I felt he had an argument there, esp with the way I posted the ad. Never denied this from day one.
Also despite what he says about that GROUNDED wire on the T5s I was not AWARE of that loose wire, and WOULD NEVER had sold the light to him that way? I mean think about it, why would I go through the trouble to repair the HQI line, and then leave the T5 wire loose? Not to mention THAT wire could have been weakened and then broken loose due to being CUT when the fixture was FIRST sent to me and the T5s were dangling. Its posiible it came apart on HIM when he opened the end cap and also during the TRANSPORTATION to his house..
God as my witness, I will take a lie detector test too, I had NO idea that a T5s wire was cut and not working when I sold him the light. For all i know it gave WAY when it was in transport with him or at some other time, or I missed it when i fixed the T5s. Either way I cannot be blamed for something I had NO knowledge of? I was a man bout the ONE repair wire, why would I LIE about this one? Ans. I didnt.
As far as the light being in "perfect working condition" I assumed it was working and would work just fine, since the ONLY lights that didnt work before the BALLAST SHOCKED me, was the SINGLE HQI BULB due to the one line that I repaired later. So as far as I was concerned the HQI should and WOULD FIRE up once they were connected to a WORKING ballast.
And now we get to the ballasts on that thing. I wasnt about to mess with that thing ONE minute longer than I had to once it started ARCING on me. Also he is DEAD wrong about the FIXTURE shocking me. .I never EVER EVER EVER said the LIGHT FIXTURE shocked me.. it was ONLY the BALLAST Housing.. and If I ever said "housing" I meant the metal housing on the BALLAST not the FIXTURe.
When the fixture arrived I noticed that the T5 bulbs were loose in there but stilll attached. So, I tested it with the stock ballast, to see if EVERYTHING WORKED, It worked Fine, but the T5 bulbs were loose after shipping so I had to open ONE end to get to them. And to address his LIE about me opening up the wire end, heck, I was not even AWARE that fixture could be opened at the other end with screws.. Had I known I would have done it that way, much easier
(despite what he says and some of you might think) I didnt really spend that much time with the light after I tested it, and fixed the T5s..putting them back in place and fixing that one loose wire.
Why? Despite what he says, if you look at my posts CLOSELY you will see that almost a few days AFTER getting the ODDY light I had decided to go with T5 fixture ONLY. Never planned on doing the DIY i was planning on doing to this light EVER myself. It was going to be sold from that day on, only minuse the junk ballast. I never opened that light INTENDING To Re wire it AT ALL.. Not ONCE. So who is the liar?
More later wait till you hear about the PRICE he got EVERYTHING FOR when you realistically look at the deal I let these products go for. Not that it applies to the wire thing, but IMHO it effects how he should have approached ME and the deal overall.
When you sit back tally all this stuff up on my next thread, I will show that I basically GAVE him that HQI FIXTURE for the LESS than the price of a NEW BWVII ballast with cords.
The light cost ME $375.00 NEW +SH which was $60. So if you deduct the crap ballast i tossed he got approx $300.00 worth of HQI fixture for the price of the NEW BWVII ballast. So whos geting ripped here? See what I mean? I couldnt believe the guy was freaking about one wire when he basically got the thing for free, I offered $100.00 dollars worth of Merchandise to him (in good faith) which he passed on, threatening me the whole time with going "public" on me.
I would have done it anyways after thinking about the whole thing I felt this offer was MORE than fair.. But he kept pressing for MORE MORE MORE!
I hope some of you can see my side of the story? I admitted the ad was misleading and I should have reworded it and told him more about the wires etc..
But honestly as I saw in the end, to use the BW VIIS THat WHOLE Fixture would have needed to be REWIRED internally to hook up the BWVII and the new T5 ballasts.. We even talked about this and I ASKED him if he was handy because
"THIS PROJECT was going to REQUIRE some good DIY SKILLS to rewire everything in there" He knew this GOING IN and complained it would take him 3 hours to splice two WIRES that were loose? hehehe
I also think once he found out that the light didnt have T5 internally that he was upset that he would have to lay out more funds for the light. He was BANKING on the ballast being internal, thats what he was fishing for in the Electric side of the light HIMSELF when he opened it and found the wiring was loose in the first place.
Look at this deal he got..in my next post. Also please consider my contrition about the wording of the ad, and also, After making offers for another $100.00 for the loose wires and light issues, and even admitting i should have worded the ad different, would you complain? and FREAK? Esp if you could fix the thing in minutes and get it working? (should take minutes, he claims it would take HOURS)
Finally my main complaint with the guy is that HE NEVER tried to FIRE UP THE HQI's to see if they worked FIRST. Just called me a liar.. Granted the broken,cut frayed, whatver T5 wire would not work as it was, but it worked for me the last time I fired it up with the stock ballast for tha 5 min test
No matter if the repairs I made werent PERFECT in HIs opinion, they would have held just fine, and at least for TESTING it. I dont know what he did to that HQI wire after opening it, but it was solidily connected when it left here.
Also, Saying I lied about it being in "WORKING condition" I had NO idea the T5 wasnt working, and the repairs I made to the HQI were simple and will work as is. Course he never mentioned ever connecting the BALLAST to the HQI repair I made to see if they did INDEED WORK as it WAS when he got it. Just accuses me.
Granted again, I assumed the person I was selling it to would be CUTTING EVERY WIRE anyways in there to hook up the new ballast to the thing. Granted the T5 wire broken he found was a good find to find before powering it up, But to claim I sold it KNOWING it was a NON working LIGHT is just wrong.