How would you handle purchase of a reg with a very bad leak?

[SlugLife]

I purchased an octo on eBay, listed "used" and in the description: "Equipment should be serviced by a certified technician before use."

When I received the item, I hooked it up to a tank with about 700psi, and turned on the air. Immediately, there was a VERY BAD leak, coming from inside the first-stage (maybe piston/diaphragm, and not any of the hoses, 2nd-stage, regs, etc). The seller shows no refunds.

Obviously, I plan on servicing it regardless. I don't yet know the condition of the rest of the components. Is this leak likely something that should likely be fixed with a standard servicing? Would this bother you out enough to request/demand a refund?

 

[rsingler]

Depends upon what you paid for it.
A titanium Atomic set for $400 was too good to pass up, and surprise, surprise! It leaked.
Serviced it and now I'm up $1000.

Could your leak be something unserviceable?
Yes.

I go by pictures a lot.
If it's in great condition outside, then the odds are it can be serviced. But it's just playing the odds.

 

[SaltyFrog]

even though seller says no refund, they still have to present the item truthfully and is liable if any of the descriptions are not accurate.

If the listing says anything like "working", "no issue" and you ended up finding issues, then you can initiate Return and have ebay jump in.
If eBay determine that Seller is liable then they are responsible for all the shipping costs.

 

[oly5050user]

I purchased an octo on eBay, listed "used" and in the description: "Equipment should be serviced by a certified technician before use."

When I received the item, I hooked it up to a tank with about 700psi, and turned on the air. Immediately, there was a VERY BAD leak, coming from inside the first-stage (maybe piston/diaphragm, and not any of the hoses, 2nd-stage, regs, etc). The seller shows no refunds.

Obviously, I plan on servicing it regardless. I don't yet know the condition of the rest of the components. Is this leak likely something that should likely be fixed with a standard servicing? Would this bother you out enough to request/demand a refund?

Buy used off eBay take your chances. Get full service done. May cost around $150. If this is a old regulator that is are no longer supported by manufacturer no parts available you got a door stop

 

[tridacna]

What did you buy? How much did you pay? Hard to assess otherwise. Taking it to a dealer for a service will run “about” $100. $35/stage and $15 x 2 in parts.

 

[runsongas]

did the listing say sold as-is? if not, get it serviced first and see if it just due to an oring or seat which will be replaced during normal service.

 

[BackAfter30]

You need to judge if you think the seller was trying to be deceitful or not. The way I list items on eBay, i would have disclosed that I knew there was a leak...if I knew that. Buying off of eBay is a bit of an art, you gotta figure out who is honest and who isn't. One thing you can do is contact the seller and talk to him. You might ask him if he minds you getting it inspected before you decide if you will ask for a refund.You should ask him first because, if it were me, you tinker with it, you own it. It could also give you another opportunity to judge if he is being honest or not. But first of all, re-read the listing and see if he really was honest and you just didn't notice the clue that you might be buying a paperweight.

 

[wnissen]

Have a look at the listing, at the very top, under Condition. Does it say "For parts or not working"? Or does it say New, New (other), or Used? If one of the latter, it's supposed to be in working condition and the seller is obligated to accept a return even if they say no returns. eBay is known to be pretty buyer-friendly in this scenario.

 

[SlugLife]

There is no indication in the listing of any problems, other than an included console/computer was broken. No "as is" or "parts." The description is shorter than this 1st paragraph, so I didn't miss anything. In another auction from the same seller, I bought an EPG that showed the incorrect pressure (about 1800psi on a full tank), and I already requested a refund on that. I believe the vendor is a scuba-store.

It was a ScubaPro MK15, G250, sherwood secondary-regulator (that's also a BCD inflator), and sherwood SPG. Cost me about $100 total. I'm not exactly breaking the bank on this, but I'm still rather annoyed.

There's a little bit of blue-ish corrosion (not a lot) inside the 2st stages. There's a lot of corrosion on the threads of the din-valve on the 1st stage & the inlet hole in the center looks slightly dirty or dusty. Unfortunately I don't yet have the tools to take apart the 1st stage.

I didn't perform any tests on 2nd stages or SPG, although I thought I may have heard another leak or light freeflow (I turned off the air to avoid wasting air). Tomorrow, I'll probably swap everything onto another 1st stage, and see if I can verify the 2nd stages & spg work or are broken. Free-flow is a simple adjustment of course. If the 2nd stages are fine (I'll service them before use obviously), I might request a partial refund as I can still salvage and use much of the rest of the equipment.

I'll try to put up some pictures tomorrow.

 

[GJC]

My rules for EBay are:

Anticipate that the item I receive may be totally unusable and accept that the money I spent is part of my tuition for learning about EBay.

Be really, really nice when asking for a refund. I got a refund every time I asked for one and usually they don't want me to return what I bought.

Service every scuba item before use regardless of the decription saying "just serviced" "like new" or "never used" even if it seems to work OK for you and looks good externally. You will be surprised by what you sometimes find inside.

Even if the first stage is trashed, you still got a good deal for the other parts and the first stage may just need to be serviced and be fine after that.