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question on lens sales ethics

nostatic

New member
Slightly OT, but this group does a lot of buying/selling.

I sold one of my Pentax lenses to a guy in Austrailia via the another bbs. The lens worked fine when I packed it up, and I have a couple hundred shots from a few days previous to show that. I put it in the original packaging, bubble wrapped the crap out of it and sent it off.

New owner gets it, says it is great but it won't auto focus. I suggested he wipe off the contacts as this is a known possible issue. He does so and says it works, he's happy, etc. I don't think anything else about it until today when I get a PM from the owner - 1 month after he received the lens. He says the auto focus now doesn't work, that he only shot like 10-20 pictures with it, and wants a full refund. He doesn't trust the local Pentax dealer to do a repair.

What is a reasonable resolution?
 

robertwright

New member
So how much are we talking here-3-4 hundred dollars?

I don't believe you owe the buyer anything actually, he/she has had the lens a month, you don't know what other problems there are with the camera, and it is always buyer beware. If the buyer had wanted a warranty, he/she should have bought new.

I would offer to split the repair cost as the only solution you are willing to go with. That is more than your responsibility. If the buyer cannot see that as reasonable then imo this buyer is not being reasonable.
 

nostatic

New member
Lens was $675US (new they are about $1K now - I had multiple people ping me on it). My original thought was to split the repair cost but he requested a full refund.
 

ibcj

Member
I would offer to split the repair cost as the only solution you are willing to go with. That is more than your responsibility. If the buyer cannot see that as reasonable then imo this buyer is not being reasonable.
I agree with Robert here. When I buy a used lens, I am sure to test it out thoroughly within a few days of receiving it. I either accept it's condition or would ask for a refund immediately if I weren't comfortable with things. If there are issues down the road, I don't see that as the seller's responsibility unless the seller stated that he would assist with sending the item in for warranty work.
 

simonclivehughes

Active member
I think a few days grace is appropriate, but it is incumbent on a buyer to make a firm decision within that timeframe as to either live with the purchase or negotiate a refund. Assuming all is as you stated, I don't see there's any onus on you at this point.

Cheers,
 

nostatic

New member
This is the pm from 21Sep09:

"I've had the chance to play with the lens a bit more today.
Great news. It can AF

I cleaned the contacts, put it on and take it off few times. Now it works flawlessly
I am so happy.

I am used to the F and FA lenses and they make noise when focusing. This one is near silent and I have a feeling it's a tiny bit slower in focusing.

Thanks for this great lens. It feels like I bought it new from the shop.
And thanks for your concern and quick response."
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
I would say that the pm confirms that you are off the hook. You were notified that it had been received and was working properly. The notice was given almost a month ago. I don't think that you can be held responsible for the lens a month later.
If you are feeling that you would like to do something for him/her, I would do as Robert has said, and offer to split a repair. I would make it contingent upon receiving a copy of the bill.
 

robertwright

New member
This is the pm from 21Sep09:

"I've had the chance to play with the lens a bit more today.
Great news. It can AF

I cleaned the contacts, put it on and take it off few times. Now it works flawlessly
I am so happy.

I am used to the F and FA lenses and they make noise when focusing. This one is near silent and I have a feeling it's a tiny bit slower in focusing.

Thanks for this great lens. It feels like I bought it new from the shop.
And thanks for your concern and quick response."
a friend of mine has a 5D and was told by canon techs that the reason her new 50 1.8 was not working was that the contacts from the 24-70 were larger and moved the pins back further in the body, and that the consumer grade lenses often didn't make contact because of this. dunno if I believe this but I had a rental 85 the other day that intermittently gave me error messages on my 5DII which went away after remounting the lens, so contact issues are real and can be either body or lens related.

sounds like this person needs to get the whole kit checked out by a repair facility.
 

m3photo

New member
Re: reasonable resolution

... until today when I get a PM from the owner - 1 month after he received the lens. He says the auto focus now doesn't work, that he only shot like 10-20 pictures with it, and wants a full refund. He doesn't trust the local Pentax dealer to do a repair.
Hmm, one can read all sorts from this but basically I get the feeling the buyer has had second thoughts or run into economical difficulties and has decided to test the waters so-to-speak.
My first question is "Who would spend $675 on a piece of kit to just use it 10-20 times in a month?"
The second is "Why not trust a Pentax dealer to repair a Pentax product?

My suggestion is the following: Tell him to send it back to you and you'll check it out first. If the lens is exactly in the same condition, you get to put the lens up for sale again and he gets the refund less any amount below the second sale price if this is the case, i.e. if your second auction only comes up with $500 that's what he gets. If the lens does not come back in the same condition he gets the refund less any repair charges incurred. Anything else would be unacceptable bearing in mind the time elapsed between the first satisfied response and this second dubious reaction.
 
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