dutt7...very bad to deal with..

[nynex]

I had some nice Custom Sealife 96 watt power compacts for sale.
dutt7 emailed me wanting to purchase them. I explained to him that the light
fixtures were in good shape, but the bulbs were over a year and half old and
would need to be replaced. He said he didnt care about how old they were
cause they were going on a freshwater tank. He said light bulbs that old are
fine on a freshwater tank. I disagree...but anyway..


I took the light fixtures over to UPS and they made a box for them and packaged
them, I seen them they were packed very well. They only thing I was not
happy with was that they were suppose to take the bulbs out and rap them
in bubblerap. They left them in the fixtures. I didnt find out till the lights were
already all packed and ready to go. They were packed so well, I figured they
would be ok.

Well dutt7 emailed me 3 days after they were shipped to tell me he received the
box. He said the packaging was very good. But when he opened the box the bulbs
were broken and acrylic covers were messed up. He said the the fixtures were
fine though and he used his voltage meter and tested them and they worked.

I responded right away and with an apology and said I would call UPS and file a
claim. Which I did. UPS told me that it would take up to 30 days for the claim
(most cases 2 weeks) and the UPS store told me the same. I told dutt7 (dustin)
this and that I would contact him as soon as the UPS claim went through, and I
would replace the bulbs. Now keep in mind the bulbs that were sold with the
fixture were over a year and half old and dutt7 knew this when he purchased
them.

Seeing that he didnt care about the quality of the bulbs, I told him there was a guy
on ebay that sold 30" 50/50 96 watt power compact bulbs on ebay two for $24.
I told him this and that I would be happy to replace them with these. All of sudden
this guy who didnt care about the bulbs and was happy using bulbs that were a
year and half old...all of sudden now those arnt good enough and he wants me to
get him top of the line 96 watt PC bulbs. These are around $35 to 45 each. He
only paid me $50 (minus the shipping cost) for the BOTH fixtures. So I think
replacing the broken bulbs with top of the line bulbs that cost more then what I
sold him the fixtures for is a little unfair.

Then he emailed me yesterday and said..one of the light fixtures is broken too.
and I didnt get back to him right away. For I found out yesterday I had a death in
the family and was dealing with that. Then this morning I see hes filed a paypal
dispute agaisnt me, saying he received items that were not as described
and broken,scratched and dented. I emailed him asking why would you file a
paypal dispute??? Ive been in contact through the whole ordeal and was
attempting to try to work things out with him. This guy wants everything now
now now...and I tried to explain to him that UPS doesnt work like that and I
would replace the bulbs with the ones from ebay for $24..Thats not good
enough for him..

Im an honest person, as a matter of fact I just got ripped off by glasscages.com
and Im dealing with that mess right now too.

His reply to me was that he thinks I intentionally sent him damaged broken items
and that im flying off the handle. Its my fault glasscages ripped me off....and that
he was trying to protect himself filing a dispute. I would understand if the guy
paid me and never heard from me again. But ive been in contact with him the
whole time. I told him if I was out to rip him off, why would I be bothering with
the communication?

Im an honest person...am I wrong? did I handle this wrong? I dont like being
accused of trying rip someone off when I didnt.

I feel like this guy dutt7 is trying to get something for free!!!

[chaffey]

wow, tell him to send it back and you refund his money, I don't think the claim with paypal will do him any good, since they can't guarantee the quality of the good.

I purchased a UV light and the bulb/quartz arrived broken, paypal didn't do a damn thing.

Just tell him, send it back for a refund minus shipping cost or wait out for the UPS claim. I just hate those buyers.

[nynex]

I know..this guy expects everything right now and has no patients.

[ReefRockerLive]

Tell him to send you pics as proof of the dents and damage. He agreed that getting old bulbs was not a big deal, so just get him the ebay bulbs and call it a day. If getting old bulbs was not a problem, why should ebay bulbs be a problem? Besides, why get him top of the line bulbs if it's only going on a FW tank?

[Ladipyg]

I am learning big time from reading these forums. I now take pictures of what I'm selling, how it's packaged and e-mail it to the buyer...he prints out the pics on his end and signs the pics and accepts or rejects it and e-mails it back to me...
You should have all your e-mails that shows what he said about the bulbs, etc...so you're covered...lots of buyers either suffer "buyers remorse" or decide to get more than they deserve...we should also have a Buyers forum so that we can keep track of buyers who are constantly changing the rules and trying to get more... Good luck...

[skeet1]

How did you get ripped off by glass cages? I have a quote from them for a 70g rr with stand and canopy for 700 and change shipped to Texas. I was about to order, any info would be very much appreciated. Curt

[aquarius77]

I would have him send it back for a refund, ups will pay for your new bulbs. Every package shipped through them is covered up to 100$, all you will need to do is show them how much the bulbs go for new.
He sounds like a scammer to me, i feel for you.

[nynex]

Skeet you obviously didnt read my post in the Nano Section on glasscages.
Its about 4 pages with over 67 post of people who have been ripped off by that
company.

Here are the links to my posts in the Nano Section and Vendor Experience sections.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1175106

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&pagenumber=1


I tried to PM you this info..but it says your mailbox is full...

[skeet1]

Thanks. I'll read it now. Curt

[gadgetboy]

My suggestion -- NEVER ship with UPS!!! They stole an iPod - $200, broke THEN stole a $300 sound board, broke the computer parts I was using to build someone else's computer on a schedule. STUPID!! That's what they are, and thieves, too.

[Ladipyg]

They don't read instructions on the box, that's for sure...I NEVER want any packages left on the front porch due to access in the city....so far I've had a $300 mp3 player and a 12 gallon nano cube and stand stolen off the front porch, despite instructions saying to leave it in the driveway by the rear gate. When I'm home and boxes come totally trashed, I tell the guy to take them to the UPS office and I pick them up there. Then I can open them in front of an agent and any damage documented by them.

[mskohl]

I thought dutt7 was long gone. I wouldn't do business with him.

I bought a mag18 from him awhile back (it's still on the first page of his post history). He shipped it fine, but it didn't work when I finally tried it. I was aquiring all the equipment to run my 225g, so I didn't try it right away (my fault, I know). The problem wasn't something that could have broken in shipping either. I ended up having to replace the impeller and really clean it.

I didn't post any feedback because it was so long after the purchase, I didn't really know to, and he sold it when he had 50 posts and hadn't posted anything since so I thought he was gone anyway.

So, now, for anyone looking - I would be wary of either buying or selling from this person.

[dutt7]

Sorry, but I'm not long gone as you referred to. I do not in fact keep saltwater tanks like I once did though. All I have running now is a 12 gallon aquapod. But I do have 6-7 other tanks over 110 gallons that are setup for the Wild Caught African Fish that I raise now.

I constantly browse the forums here and am a regular on my local reef clubs forum. I have bought and sold many items there and here as well.

I just picked up two 100 gallon setups from a member.

I dont see how you got the gall to come on here and say to not buy from me b/c of the mag.

I purchased the mag from big als and it was on my 150 for three months. I sold it to you there after in working condition. If there was a problem with it when you got it, all you had to do was let me know. You never contacted me in regards to it. I would have gladly paid for you to ship it back to me and refund your money. But its kind of hard to do that if you never tell me there was an issue.

And yes, maybe after being used a few months then sitting around a few more, maybe it did just need a good cleaning.

But sorry buddy, that is your fault for not checking it out when you got it and for not contacting me, so I think its a pretty ignorant response to come on here and make a comment as such when it was you that did not do your part.

I've bought and sold many items on here and never had a problem until this above situation from Gino. You can take a look at my feedback on aquadid 100% positive and also on ebay 100% positive if you question anything.

Originally posted by mskohl
I thought dutt7 was long gone. I wouldn't do business with him.

I bought a mag18 from him awhile back (it's still on the first page of his post history). He shipped it fine, but it didn't work when I finally tried it. I was aquiring all the equipment to run my 225g, so I didn't try it right away (my fault, I know). The problem wasn't something that could have broken in shipping either. I ended up having to replace the impeller and really clean it.

I didn't post any feedback because it was so long after the purchase, I didn't really know to, and he sold it when he had 50 posts and hadn't posted anything since so I thought he was gone anyway.

So, now, for anyone looking - I would be wary of either buying or selling from this person.

[dutt7]

Here are a few pics that I did indeed take of the lights:

[dutt7]

I informed Gino and UPS of the damages.

Gino said he did not need the pics and UPS also waived the inspection portion of the claim.

[dutt7]

Let me clear up a few things here that Gino doesnt mention to each of you:

First off, I knew of the used condition of the lights and bulbs. And yes, I was fine with the used bulbs b/c they were going on a fish only freshwater tank, so the intensity of the 50/50 bulbs were not an issue as long as they worked.

However, with both being cracked, they dont really work well that way.

Being the bulbs were broken, I did not know if the lights worked. I put a meter on both the next day and got a reading from both and Gino was informed of this.

Few days down the road, I got a bulb that fits into the units from a friend and only one of the fixtures worked. Gino was again notified.

Few more days down the road, I re-wired the light that did not work and got it to fire up. As well as changed out the acrylic portion of both lights that were messed up. Again, Gino was notified and I thought he would be happy about me getting the light to work.

In the mean time, the damages were reported for the "bulbs only" to UPS. I looked at 3 different sites and the average price of a replacement 50/50 96w bulb was anywheres between $30-$45. So I said $85 for the two bulbs (in which Gino would have to bring proof of this to UPS anyways).

The only possible way to find any bulbs cheaper than this would be on ebay and the reason I did not want to use these bulbs were because of three reasons:

1. I have purchased bulbs already from ebay and not very happy with them.

2. UPS does not usually accept ebay auctions as verification of prices for most items

3. The claim was made for $85 which would be more than enough to cover some average 50/50 bulbs from any website, not the "TOP OF THE LINE" that Gino constantly refers to.

(PLEASE CHECK OTHER AQUARIUM WEBSITES FOR THESE BULBS AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE AVG PRICE OF THEM IS)

As for the paypal issue, there was never a dispute filed.

I learned from when I got screwed by a seller previously that if you wait so long after your paypal purchase, you cannot file a dispute. I was waiting on a UPS claim that a guy didnt do what he needed to, so the claim was not granted and when I went to file a dispute, paypal said the time frame in which I had to file it had expired.

I spoke to a rep with paypal and he informed me that if this is ever the case, to go in and log it in the resolution center. That way the seller and buyer have a means to communicate, they comments are logged onto the site and also, its all there in case you need to file a claim.

This is what was done. The issue was just mearly brought into the resolution center in which paypal does nothing on it. Its just a basis for communication in which it is all documented instead of people trying to hold onto email after email.

I told Gino I'm sorry for his issues with Glasscages, I even posted on his thread about my experiences with them and also my friends.

I gave him my condolences on the death in his family. I told him I've lost 5 people in my family in the past 2 years, so I know the feeling.

I subsequently emailed him and let him know I'd take whichever bulbs he would want to send that life is too short to bicker over little things like this.

I had not heard anything from him in weeks in regards to this except his bashing on here. I hate to lower myself to this, but I was requested by a mod to address this.

I forwarded Gino an email from paypal stating that Aug 30th will be the last day I will be eligible to file a dispute with them.

So this finally draws an email from him last night that stated "i'm working on it"

If in fact he is working on it and buying the ebay bulbs, thats great. But I know he will get angry again when I file the dispute.

He does not understand that that process also takes time and that at anytime the dispute is over, I can go in and cancel it.

But I'm the one thats called impatient.

I think I handled the situation as well as could be handled and that I did my part on this entire transaction.

I do not feel that I'm "trying to get something for free" as Gino referred to above and I dont think he handled the situation as well as he should have.

I know he had alot going on with his family and glasscages, but that should not change what kind of person you are and how you handle things.

So call me a scammer or whatever as Aquarius77 has or impatient, but to make some of the comments that you have without hearing the full story is putting you on borderline ignorance. Sorry but its true.

[dutt7]

what about a sellers forum? instead of changing the rules, they make their own or feel that the normal rules do not apply to them.

I do not doubt that UPS was at fault with these bulbs. The bulbs and lights were very very well packaged and took awhile to unwrap.

However the box was pretty dented up as well as the fixture in the same location as the box's dents. Not to mention the broken bulb holders and shattered bulbs.

FYI, buyers remorse can also be identified as the buyer's second thoughts about whether or not he/she should have used a particular seller.

Originally posted by Ladipyg
I am learning big time from reading these forums. I now take pictures of what I'm selling, how it's packaged and e-mail it to the buyer...he prints out the pics on his end and signs the pics and accepts or rejects it and e-mails it back to me...
You should have all your e-mails that shows what he said about the bulbs, etc...so you're covered...lots of buyers either suffer "buyers remorse" or decide to get more than they deserve...we should also have a Buyers forum so that we can keep track of buyers who are constantly changing the rules and trying to get more... Good luck...

[dutt7]

Thanks buddy! feel for you too

Originally posted by aquarius77
I would have him send it back for a refund, ups will pay for your new bulbs. Every package shipped through them is covered up to 100$, all you will need to do is show them how much the bulbs go for new.
He sounds like a scammer to me, i feel for you.

[nynex]

Well he escalated the paypal complaint to a Dispute and Paypal instantly
closed it and will not investigate it...Reason...The Lights work, so therefore
the dispute doesn't meet Paypals guidelines for reason to file a dispute.

I sold him 2 Power Compact Fixtures. Yes bulbs came with them, but the bulbs
were old and needed to be replaced. I told Dutt 7 before he purchased them and
he said "I dont care about the Bulbs.

Oh Photos!!!...Interesting I never seen these....

For anyone reading this long draw out post. Dutt 7 never offered to send these
photos to me...
Never offered any evidence or even to Return the items for a
Refund. I would be more the happy to post the emails on here. Then he files a
Paypal Dispute against me,when I had been in constant contact with him trying
to work this out.

I dont think I should have to pay $35 to $45 per bulb to make this guy happy
when he only paid $60 ($25 was the shipping) for both lights and the bulbs were
over a year and half old!!! I offered to either refund his full amount and he
would have to return the lights..or I would replace the bulbs with lower end
ones off of ebay. There is a seller on there that sells two 96 watt PCs for $24.

How could expect me to spend more then what he paid for the fixtures on top of
the line bulbs???.

Also he forgot to mention that he emailed me begging me to buy him the bulbs
off ebay a few days ago.

Then he tried to claim one of the fixtures didnt work...Now he says it does!

I wish I would have never sold these lights to him!!!!

[dutt7]

There was never an option to file the dispute, thats another reason it went to resolution center. Paypal doesnt investigate claims in which there was damage by the shipping company.

Thought you would know that since your last email stated, "I havent lost a dispute in over 8 years" - GOOD RECORD BUDDY.

I wish you would read the posts before you go on rambling.

I was talking to the other guy about the mag and returning it, not the lights.

As for the bulbs, not like your paying for the bulbs either way. UPS will pay for the damaged goods. You just want to make more money off the transaction. But hey, do what you like, if you can live with yourself, by all means, go ahead and screw me out the bulbs. I dont care anymore.

How many times do I have to state, I did not care about the bulbs AS LONG AS THEY WERE WORKING. How is that so hard to understand????? and they dont work when they are in 100's of pieces.

Stop acting like more money will come out of your pockets for this. Your going to end up making alot more out if now for sure than what you were ever asking for them.

If he would go back up and actually read my post, I did state that I would take whichever bulbs he would offer. right after I stated its not worth all this trouble and after sending out the condolences about the death in his family. Its right there in the post. And as you said, I did email and tell you that.

Here is the first email to him after the lights were broken and his response::

Dustin,

Awhhhh man...Are you kidding..I hate UPS!!!!! I am so sorry...I thought for sure they
would be ok..by the way the guy said they would pack them. Is there anyway to figure
out if the lights still work? Also how were they Packed..Was there bubble rap,packing
peanuts..ect. I was promised by that UPS store they would be solid packed.

Was the boxes damaged? Was it just the bulbs that were broken. The lights might be
ok. There is a guy on ebay that sells those 96 watt sqaure pin bulbs for pretty cheap.

If the lights still work. You can go to lowes and buy thin acrylic and have them cut 2 pieces
to that size. There acrylic is really cheap there. Or I have the 2 acrylic covers from my other
2 broken lights I can send you.

This day just keeps gettin better and better. I got a custom made acrylic 21 gallon cube from glasscages.com
and the tank came with a bunch of scratches on the inside of the tank and I called customer service
to complain and the woman was totally rude and said they would not make me a replacement tank
and that I would have to pay to ship the tank back to them to get a refund minus shipping. I was
****ed. Im emailing the owner and im filing a dispute with paypal to do a chargeback of my funds.

Im going into that UPS store tomorrow and really let them know im ****ed. I will also call the 800 number
and file a complaint of shipping damage. I think you need to call the 800 # too and let them the item was
damaged.

Let me know if you can figure out if the lights still work. I will email you tomorrow after I talk to UPS..

Once again im really sorry....
Gino


On 7/26/07, Dustin Zimmer wrote:
Gino,

Hey, got the package today but the good news stops there.
Got to admit though, you had them things packed just about as good as possible.

However, after opening up the package and seperating the lights, you could see clearly that one of the tubes were broken.
It was actually pretty shattered and I took some pics in and out of the package for you.

The other one looked pretty beat up as well. The tube was no longer in the tube clip and the plexiglass was all bent in and out of shape.
I tried plugging that one in and it doesnt work either.

I'm hoping that its nothing major but since I cant get that one to work, I cant switch bulbs to see if the other light works.

I'm not sure how you want to handle this, what you think is fair or if you want to file a complaint with ups or not, so just email me back and let me know what you want to do.
also let me know if you want pics, b/c i can upload them tonight of the lights.

AS YOU CAN SEE, I DID LET HIM KNOW ABOUT THE PICS BUT HE NEVER REQUESTED THEM.

Things started off pretty good after these first few emails, but obviously went downhill ever since then.

oh, wish you wouldnt have sold me the lights too.
Could have just gotten the 48" fixtures from that other guy and would have came out alot cheaper after I had to replace the wires on one light, the acrylic covers and bulbs on each.

Hell if I had a ballast or two, I could have built my lights for cheaper.
Dustin

[dutt7]

by the way, the lights do work, one always did work and i re-wired the other.

I dont have any bulbs for some reason to run the lights, but hey, they do work.

If I remember, its always been the bulbs that were the issue.

[dutt7]

I can kinda understand now why the customer service reps at glasscages got rude, you are a hard person to rationalize with.

[dutt7]

I really think you should quit posting.

Keep your money and I'll get my own bulbs.

The more you talk, the more you prove you dont pay attention, dont read whats posted and more you just sound silly.

[nynex]

LOL.....ON and On and ON...this guy never stops!

Kinda of funny now hes still complaining when he just emailed me and said
he was sorry for this and he closed the dispute...now hes lying. Then in the email
he said to forget the whole thing..and that he was sorry. But yet right above
this post he still complaining and also posting emails..

I do pay attention and seems most who have read this agree with me.

Yes Ive never lost a Dispute in over 8 years. 99.9% of those disputes were
filed by me against ebay sellers. Yes I sell on ebay and have had one or two
disputes filed against me. I won those as well.

I think that is a good track record!

[nynex]

.