DOG ON

I'm posting this as a bit of a warning for other members. Don't let this happen to you.

To make a long story short, I purchased a (not inexpensive) part off of our marketplace here on rennlist. The part, a 2015 GTS engine grille cover, was described in the ad and displayed its pictures as being in perfect condition. After settling on a price, I split the shipping costs with the seller and sent the funds.
The part arrived in what I can only describe as "apathetically packed". There was no bubble wrap or other support materials. It was just wedged into the cardboard box... and wouldn't you know it, one of the slats was broken.

I immediately contacted the seller. He sounded very surprised and said that he'd take it up with UPS. Weeks later I still hadn't heard anything back. Then the excuses started:
He no longer returned my PMs.
He was out of town.
He didn't have time to talk. (on the rare chance that he answered the phone)
He asked if I'd had any luck with UPS.
He claimed that he had paid for insurance on the shipment and would send me the information. (which, of course never happened)
He suggested that I just glue it back on.

Aside from how insulting I felt that last one was considering that I'd purchased a "perfect condition" part in good faith which arrived broken, I tried to always approach him with the respect due to our forum members, giving him the benefit of the doubt and trying to take him at his word as much as possible. Now, however, it has literally been months and he has shown no concern or empathy for my position, no apology... and certainly no insinuation that he was willing to do anything to "make it right" at any level.
One of the forum moderators even reached out to him for me. Weeks later they have also gotten no reply.

Looking back at his profile and judging by his activity, I can reasonably assume that he only joined the forum to post a few items for sale.

I don't want to see this happen to anyone else. I don't think that the majority of our members would do something like this, but apparently, some would. So, if you're buying something relatively expensive (and, what isn't for our cars, right?) then make sure that you have appropriately vetted the seller and gotten a copy of the shipping insurance, if any.

And, whatever you do, don't buy from this guy:
seller: David Augustine (New Jersey)
forum name: Daveaug

If anyone on the forum knows him and is willing to try to help facilitate a resolution, I'm open to it... but I'm not holding my breath.
For reference, here are pics of my "perfect condition" grille immediately after taking it out of the box.

Joec500

PM me if you decide to sell it.

Porsche_nuts

Wow, that really sux.

Have to agree that most member here are enthusiasts, honest, and above board, and would do the right thing.

However, there are those few that slip through the cracks.

Sorry to hear. I never transfer funds to pay for anything. Always use a CC and therefore can dispute the charge.

If they don't accept it, see you later, I'll look elsewhere.

MJG911

FWIW, only the shipper can initiate a claim with UPS, not the receiver. That really sucks.

DOG ON

Solid. I think I'll have to adopt that policy going forward.

DOG ON

Not completely true. UPS says that the receiver can initiate a claim, but they prefer the shipper do it. Regardless, the shipper in my situation was unwilling to do so, and considering the level of care taken with the packaging, there is absolutely zero chance that UPS would have paid a single cent.

Penn4S

I traded a 2013 4S a few years back and striped all the swag off before giving to the dealers. I believe I sold between $10,000 - $12,000 worth of goodies including Cobb AP and Kline Iconel exhaust. I reached out to every buyer to make sure they were satisfied with what they received.

Pulling a stunt like this is lame and you are right to call him out on it.
I ordered a very expensive carbon rear valance for my TTS from a RL sponsor after ordering several thousands of dollars worth of parts a year or 2 before. It came without even toilet paper in the box for stuffing and the part had a crack in a curved area that was noticeable. This well known resource refused to help in any way unless I bought more product and he would kindly discount. I never called him out but he will never see another penny of business from me again even if he becomes the only producer of carbon parts in the universe.
Good luck I hope you get some resolution sometimes these are lessons we learn.

Carrera-T

NJ991

Psorcery

Sorry to hear this... Something similar happened to me (parts received were in very poor shape, looked good in pics).. The guy sounded desperate for the money and said he had hit near rock bottom (before he even shipped the parts).

At first I was pretty upset but I did not pursue.. Just took the "L".

Papa Fittig

Thanks for posting. I hate when these things happen. Perhaps we would've benefited from seller's feedback/rating scores if we had them?

Dom991.1

DOG ON

Agreed. Another idea may be to make it so that members must have a certain number of posts/comments to the forum (like 50 or so) before they are allowed to post an ad to the marketplace. A forum for one of my previous cars had that kind of system. People looking to offload parts quickly and/or scam might be discouraged by having to jump through such hoops, but for those of us who frequent the forum, it would hardly be an inconvenience.

NJ991

Yep, moderators need to go to Hellcat.org. One of the best put together forums I have been on. The posting/ratings, selling practices, it all works.This template we use on these forums are really antiquated.

JSETarga