Disappointments at eBay (31 august 2004)
If you visit this site regularly, you'll probably know that it accommodates a collection of chess computers (click).
You may wonder how I get hold of all these computers. Well, if you really want to know: I buy them almost anywhere: shops, department stores, markets and second-hand stores. And I've bought them in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and England.
Recently, I discovered that quite a few chess computers are being offered via eBay, the Internet auction.
Another thing I discovered is that after you have sent the money, you don't necessarily get a working computer.
The first one I bought via eBay was the Super System III.
The name sounds impressive, doesn't it? And the computer looks impressive too. But it never even produced so much as a beep. Later I discovered that the woman who offered it had mentioned that she wasn't sure if it worked , which seems to be an eBay euphemism for not functioning.
So with the second computer I tried to be extra careful. But no problems were mentioned here. I paid 48.50 euros and expected to receive a fully functioning Chess Challenger 10.
Well, the desired object arrived and looked alright. But when I tried to play a game, it became clear this would be virtually impossible: the display was broken. A move like e2-e4 looked like this:
I contacted the sender, a certain Herr Herbert Wucherer, about this problem and we agreed he would send me part of the money back. After a few weeks he wrote me that his computer had suffered a virus attack. Could I please send all the information again? Now, about four months later, I haven't received a single cent.
A third computer that was a let-down was the Kishon Chesster, a computer with a voice that I bought from an Austrian, a certain Harald Petz. The machine looks quite pretty, I agree. But when it's switched on, it starts uttering random remarks. But that's all it does. However hard I've tried, it's never played one game of chess.
I got in touch with Mr Petz, who acts at eBay under the name of peha1966. Mr Petz seemed quite friendly ... until I told him the computer was no good and I wanted some kind of compensation. "How could I claim his computer was no good?"
Well, in the end it resulted in Mr Petz writing a warning about me at eBay, which said "VORSICHT! sehr unfreundlich, unkorrekt, gemeine - unbegründete Anschuldigungen".
So what can we learn from this?
Don't think everything you buy at eBay will arrive at your home in working order. Or in more general terms: don't believe all you are told. There are people who will go to any lengths just to get hold of your money.
