You're 100% correct, each part we're looking at individually not just the car as an entire unit as if buying a new car. Sounds like the vendor won't play ball (I rather just exchange it) so I'll likely have to just return through ebay.

Seller got nasty considering I was only trying to exchange this for another, which he refused upon my initial inquiry. I’m out of town so my better half got involved. He wasn’t very nice to her either, sarcasm isn’t necessary.

History...

1. Purchased early December, waited a couple weeks with no shipping update. I contacted him and he said it was damaged and now on backorder with no ETA. Honestly, I’m not sure why he couldn’t communicate this but I told him I appreciate him checking condition prior to shipping as this is actually a Christmas gift.
2. I reached out a few weeks later and got a rather short answer where seller seemed bothered I was checking, at least that was my impression. Still no ETA so I waited. I’m fairly patient so no worries.
3. This week I notice he’s selling more of the exact same steering wheel now. I never got tracking info or was notified my item shipped so I messaged him about it and he replied GM shipped it and I did get the item. If I waited two months I’m not sure why seller couldn’t let me know it was coming.
4. I received the item with defect (see pictures above) and seller told me no return would be given rather quickly when I pointed this out. I told him that when I’m back in town I’ll look at the item myself and that yes I will return it if the defect is really bad (in person, I’ve only seen pictures from my better half), if it’s not so bad I’ll just keep it. I did point out that I felt this was poor customer service on his end which likely triggered his ego, but I still feel that’s true.

The seller then accused me of making threats to him. Wow, really? I’m still not sure what he’s referring to here but that’s what he wrote.

5. Seller told my significant other (now she was messaging him) that we have two choices, either take it as-is or return it for a refund and get banned from ever buying from him again. This seems rather unjust, abusive and borderline extortion.
6. We have asked 2x now for a shipping label, nothing yet.

All this is documented through eBay messaging so I’ll be filing a complaint with eBay. I don’t need to take this. There’s no need for it to come to this and I’m too old to play these games, although I admit I was standing up for my rights as a customer and being frank with him about his poor customer service attitude. I’m not going to slander his name on the forum (honestly, this was an eBay transaction anyway) so just keep your eyes open for who you give business to.

Hi Dave,

I may be an isolated case. Or, perhaps the majority of people don’t have any issues and it’s just a small percentage. I do see some recent negative feedback on eBay. Despite how I feel about him and his business practices, I think my negative experience (although valid) is not enough to risk his future business. Also, I was standing up for myself so while I believe I kept it professional, there’s always room for improvement on my end too. My significant other perhaps wasn’t quite as patient but she still kept it objective.

My post was mainly intended to get feedback on the defect but I did want to update folks on the outcome and perhaps vent a little. Still, I think it’s important everyone shop carefully because even the vendors we trust the most are not always good vendors when there’s an issue they have to deal with.

A few months back I purchased a GM spoiler that arrived with paint defects. That vendor handled it professionally in my opinion. Not as quickly as I hoped but he tried and that’s what matters, the end result was good. So not all vendors are bad and I’m sure each has his/her good and bad days.

I won’t be checking the forum for a few days starting later today as I’m remote dealing with the death of a close friend. Well, unless I can sneak in some WiFi somewhere.