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First things first with a new lathe?
- Thread starter Tired&Retired
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2020
- Messages
- 111
Been trying to work this out with the seller. I have been checking as much as I can (and know how to) on this lathe, and honestly it would be much easier to list the things that are "right" about it, than to list the things that are "wrong".
The seller has offered to either (1) send me all the parts I need to repair the lathe, or (2) send me another lathe (for an additional $400) and I can keep the original lathe as a spare parts backup. He claimed that it would take 2 weeks to get the parts to me, and that sending the additional lathe would take 3 to 7 days after receiving payment.
I checked around to see if anyone was still selling this lathe, and I only found one, with the seller listing it for a ridiculous $6,000.00! All the other ads have vanished. Then out of curiosity, I checked the Ebay account of the seller and discovered that he had pulled all of his ads that he had running the last time I checked. RED FLAG!!
It was bad enough that correspondence was very slow with the seller since he is obviously on a much different time zone than the EST that I am on. So that usually meant one reply every 24 hours. I guess this is great for someone who wants to drag their feet to try to run the Ebay claim clock out.
Anyway, I filed a refund claim with Ebay today. I paid via credit card through PayPal through Ebay, so if the seller doesn't make it good by the time my credit card bill is due, and if Ebay doesn't appear to be helping me out, I will file a dispute with the credit card company. I know Ebay doesn't like you to do that, and threatens severe consequences, but screw it. I'm not losing money over them letting Chinese sellers scam people on their site. If they want to close my account that I have had since 1998 with them, then so be it. I'm sure that won't kill me. My feedback has been sterling all that time.
My last contact to the seller was earlier today when I explained why I filed the Ebay claim. I also told him that I was not going to pay an additional $400 just to get what I already paid for. If he wants to send me a replacement lathe, so that I can attempt to get one good lathe out of the two, I will then send what is back to him (on his dime). Or else send arrange with UPS Freight or whoever to pick up this defective lathe and issue me a full refund.
So I don't know. If he is intent on scamming me, he will likely send a bogus tracking number to try to further delay things while he melts down through the floorboards. If he does send me a second unit, then I will just try to make the best of it with what I have. When I was thinking hard about just sending this back a few days ago, my wife asked me "Don't you think you can fix it?" I guess she has gotten used to me being able to fix just about anything around here.
I know I looked around again and there is nothing with the specs of this machine in the weight that I can handle and even within twice the price, weight not being an issue. So that means this either works out or I give up the idea of getting a larger lathe. I just cannot get a 500 pound lathe into the spot it needs to go. Putting one in the garage where there exists the possibility that some part might go flying through the windshield of one of the vehicles in a no-go.Oh well, trying the best I can. Just might not be good enough to have a happy ending.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2013
- Messages
- 595
This is why I do not buy any thing off Ebay anymore. Only chinese junk for sale any more or chinese junk hawked by US sellers that waon’t stand behind their goods. The California sellers are just Chinese agents networked here in the US.and supported by illegals. So you pays your money and don’t get what you pay for. I would hammer Ebay for a full refund and if they refuse file small claims court case.If they don’t show then you win and if they do show it will cost more than the lathe to send a rep to court.
I feel for ya.
CH
I feel for ya.
CH
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2020
- Messages
- 765
A dispute through PayPal may actually be more effective. But by all means, try eBay first, that way you will have the secondary action of PayPal should it not go how you expect.
Be sure to mention to PayPal that the vendor appears to be erasing his trail and eliminating his listings on eBay.
Be sure to mention to PayPal that the vendor appears to be erasing his trail and eliminating his listings on eBay.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2019
- Messages
- 7,138
That stinks.
Wish I hadn’t been right but this sounds like the same old thing. You can stop wasting your time corresponding with them, either they send you a working unit or you get your money back
Could it be fixed? Maybe, but that’s not what you ordered.
Wish I hadn’t been right but this sounds like the same old thing. You can stop wasting your time corresponding with them, either they send you a working unit or you get your money back
Could it be fixed? Maybe, but that’s not what you ordered.
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2020
- Messages
- 111
Oh, I'm not going to lose money on this deal. I specifically paid like I did as insurance. Last line of defense is I just dispute the payment on my credit card.
I did get a reply from the seller tonight already, which is pretty early for him. He asked that I pack up the unit and take photos inside and out, so that is what I will be doing over the weekend. He said he would arrange to have it picked up here by the trucking company and he would pay the return shipping.
The seller is still trying to angle for getting that extra $400 out of me, but I'm not biting. I hate to tell someone I don't trust them, but when the shoe fits..... I told him he could send me the replacement lathe and if it checked out fine I would then send him the $400, because honestly this model in great shape would work very well for what I want and it would be worth that to me. But his window to get this done is rapidly closing. And obviously the guy spooked me when he shut down all his other auctions on Ebay. To me, that was tossing all the dead weight out of the balloon so he could just drift away and be gone.
He also mentioned that he could send the parts for me to do the repair and refund $500 since I would be doing the work. But his earlier stated 2 weeks to get the parts is a no-go. Besides, I would basically have to get the entire lathe replaced as a kit, since just about every part on it has a problem. The control board seems to have an issue in that when I press the OFF button it can take 3 to 5 seconds for power to the motor to be shut off. That would be a VERY long time if you are trying to do an emergency shutdown. Heck, the tailstock is canted at an angle, and the upper section skewed over about a quarter of an inch. The cross slide has a full quarter turn of backlash, and has much too thin of a gib in it, as the adjustment screws are all fully screwed in to end of travel. Of course we have that ground down gouge on the slideway, and the gearbox is pretty much hosed up to where it takes an act of GOD to get those controls to work. The entire carriage has so much play in it that I can wiggle the entire thing 20 thousandths just by tugging on it. Two of the pulleys wiggle like drunken sailors, and the gears don't mesh evenly. No power lockouts for the chuck cover nor for the geartrain cover. The three jaw chuck does not have a back cover on it because it was bored out for that larger spindle hole and that cut right into the threads for the bolts that would hold that cover in place. The steady rest has one of the adjustment screws drilled incorrectly for the hold down screw. And the follow rest would scrape against the front wayslide when bolted onto the carriage. Yeah, probably many of these things could be fixed, but heck, enough is enough. I expected I would have to fix a couple of things, but not EVERYTHING. About the only good things I can think of is that the chuck has nearly zero runout, and the compound slide has zero backlash.
I know I can be pretty picky sometimes, and sometimes I just have to stand back and ask myself if I am being TOO picky about this. But a I told the seller, I am pretty certain that this lathe is nothing more than a conglomeration of a bunch of rejected parts left over at the factory to dump on Ebay. There is just no way in Hell this ever could have passed a quality control inspection. Just the gouge on the wayslide would have been enough to get it rejected.
Ah well. So much for this idea. Have to put the Emco-Maier back where it used to be.
If anything noteworthy happens, I'll let you guys know. But I'm not expecting anything beyond packing it up and having a trucking company pick it up now.
Thanks for the help and advice.
I did get a reply from the seller tonight already, which is pretty early for him. He asked that I pack up the unit and take photos inside and out, so that is what I will be doing over the weekend. He said he would arrange to have it picked up here by the trucking company and he would pay the return shipping.
The seller is still trying to angle for getting that extra $400 out of me, but I'm not biting. I hate to tell someone I don't trust them, but when the shoe fits..... I told him he could send me the replacement lathe and if it checked out fine I would then send him the $400, because honestly this model in great shape would work very well for what I want and it would be worth that to me. But his window to get this done is rapidly closing. And obviously the guy spooked me when he shut down all his other auctions on Ebay. To me, that was tossing all the dead weight out of the balloon so he could just drift away and be gone.
He also mentioned that he could send the parts for me to do the repair and refund $500 since I would be doing the work. But his earlier stated 2 weeks to get the parts is a no-go. Besides, I would basically have to get the entire lathe replaced as a kit, since just about every part on it has a problem. The control board seems to have an issue in that when I press the OFF button it can take 3 to 5 seconds for power to the motor to be shut off. That would be a VERY long time if you are trying to do an emergency shutdown. Heck, the tailstock is canted at an angle, and the upper section skewed over about a quarter of an inch. The cross slide has a full quarter turn of backlash, and has much too thin of a gib in it, as the adjustment screws are all fully screwed in to end of travel. Of course we have that ground down gouge on the slideway, and the gearbox is pretty much hosed up to where it takes an act of GOD to get those controls to work. The entire carriage has so much play in it that I can wiggle the entire thing 20 thousandths just by tugging on it. Two of the pulleys wiggle like drunken sailors, and the gears don't mesh evenly. No power lockouts for the chuck cover nor for the geartrain cover. The three jaw chuck does not have a back cover on it because it was bored out for that larger spindle hole and that cut right into the threads for the bolts that would hold that cover in place. The steady rest has one of the adjustment screws drilled incorrectly for the hold down screw. And the follow rest would scrape against the front wayslide when bolted onto the carriage. Yeah, probably many of these things could be fixed, but heck, enough is enough. I expected I would have to fix a couple of things, but not EVERYTHING. About the only good things I can think of is that the chuck has nearly zero runout, and the compound slide has zero backlash.
I know I can be pretty picky sometimes, and sometimes I just have to stand back and ask myself if I am being TOO picky about this. But a I told the seller, I am pretty certain that this lathe is nothing more than a conglomeration of a bunch of rejected parts left over at the factory to dump on Ebay. There is just no way in Hell this ever could have passed a quality control inspection. Just the gouge on the wayslide would have been enough to get it rejected.
Ah well. So much for this idea. Have to put the Emco-Maier back where it used to be.
If anything noteworthy happens, I'll let you guys know. But I'm not expecting anything beyond packing it up and having a trucking company pick it up now.
Thanks for the help and advice.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 9,157
You are definitely NOT being too picky.
More than half of what you got is not made right.
If anything you've been too easy on this seller.
I am glad you filed the dispute before the seller could make you miss the deadline!
-brino
More than half of what you got is not made right.
If anything you've been too easy on this seller.
I am glad you filed the dispute before the seller could make you miss the deadline!
-brino
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2020
- Messages
- 111
While I was packing the lathe up, I had to move the compound slide and I noticed something odd there. Pic attached. How in the world did they get that hole in the side like that? And here I was thinking that at least the compound slide didn't seem to have any problems. Lord only knows what I would have found had I opened up the headstock to take a peek inside.
Attachments
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2020
- Messages
- 111
Oh, btw, there is one good thing that seems to have come out of this. My wife said I should go ahead and get a QUALITY lathe from someone, no matter what the price, even if we had to pay someone to set it up for us. I just have to figure out if I really do want a larger and heavier lathe, and where exactly I could put something like that.