I got screwed on a deal in classifieds- do I have any recourse?

[jeffchap]

I have no tie to either buyer or seller, but in the seller's defense, I think it's highly possible that the Unichip worked perfectly for him. The reason I say so is because I also have one, and it does the same exact thing on my cat as it does on yours, CEL and P0172 code.



I tried to sell mine (see http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104905) and was perfectly upfront about the problem. I just think some cars are more sensitive to this, like yours and mine, whereas it works fine on others. It may be something peculiar with our MAF or O2 sensors. BTW, my buyer backed out if anyone wants to take a chance on it.



Like you, I spent considerable time troubleshooting it, downloading many different maps. I could never find one that worked long term without throwing a code. Unichip Jack was ZERO help. He kept insisting I had to have a leak in the intake somewhere. Funny, but I've driven this car for 3 years, and it's never thrown that code without the Unichip installed. I wish he'd man up and admit it and put out a map to address it. I'd like to keep my Unichip, but not when I have to reset the CEL multiple times per day. And it runs like complete crap once it comes on, hesitating and missing at idle.



Sorry for the rant, just get all worked up about it again. But my point is, ndreim may have sold it in perfectly good working condition as far as he knew.

[guybo]

Maybe we should swap LOL. Maybe yours would work in my car and mine in yours!

My total fuel trims were terrible around -15 to -20 when I first installed it but I stuck with it since there was no CEL and the car ran well with perfect AFR. I used Virtual Dyno and it did give me more Tq and HP and the car felt a lot better UNTIL the fuel trims got worse at the end of the week then the trouble began. I tried 3 intake setups (Weapon R intake, bone stock and silicone elbow with K&N drop in) and a lot of different maps and yes, it took a month to troubleshoot but at the end of the week everytime the same thing.

But this thread isn't to troubleshoot because the general consensus on this forum (mostly from people who have never tried the Unichip...) that it's crap; so I knew I wouldn't get any help here. This thread about sums up what I expected- uninformed, unhelpful and unsolicited opinions when what I wanted was HELP (that I did solicit.) So far one person made a suggestion for something I could do about the issue. But Paypal won't help because even though we did a sale not a gift payment, the seller is not a certain type of seller (I can't remember the bullshit excuse Paypal gave) and they said to go to him directly which failed. Thanks for the help Pandaspur, I did give it a shot. I think the Paypal dispute resolution only works for the bigger sellers and not a small private sale. I ran into a stone wall.

Jack@Unichip did email with me and helped at least to diagnose that the Unichip itself is the issue. Why go to a forum full of unhelpful people (on this subject anyway- for a lot of other things this forum is great and very helpful but Unichip is strangely polarizing) when I can go straight to the source? I contacted the manufacturer who is an expert on the item and he has said that the problem must be a defective Unichip. If the forum mods want to see the emails, I can forward them over. But I'm not going to bother sending them or posting here to a bunch of random people with nothing better to do who can't help anyway.

So I got an item- what that item is is unimportant- off the classsifieds of this forum that is defective and does not work. THAT is the reason I posted this. The seller won't refund my money. Does the classified section have any sort of buyer protection at all- such as putting pressure on the seller, suspending his account, banning him or keeping him from posting in the classifieds or deleting the classified ads he has now?

I really just want my money back from Ndreim. That'd be easiest and neatest. Time to go to the next level since I'm getting nowhere with him.

[CSG Mike]

caveat emptor

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ndreim

Hey guybo, I am truly sorry for the headaches I may have caused you. I have not have had any problems with the unichip with the stock intake. My 3" perrin one, I couldn't get the tune right because according to Jack it is not as easy as inputting the MAF table in, it modulates the signal. So, I gave up on it and went the OFT route.

The email you have forwarded to me:

"Donald,
Thanks for the email. The firmware and maps are paired together, and I doubt there’s an issue there. You can always update the firmware with the MapsQ software, but it’s not something I recommend. It can easily get messed up and can take a hundred attempts to correct.
There really aren’t any mapping things that lead to that fault code. It’s typically an air leak in the intake somewhere or a hardware problem.

Cheers,
Jack"

Talk to him about this. This appears to be your issue. It did take me a couple times sometimes to flash a map on there to get it to work.




I would not say unichip is garbage, there's no footprint but it is quite limited as what you can do with it. OFT is much more versatile and they upload new maps as new parts come out.

As to what you said to me about the frayed wires, that must be just the liquid electrical tape that Unichip recommends in the install video to prevent water getting inside the chip.

Originally Posted by guybo

Maybe we should swap LOL. Maybe yours would work in my car and mine in yours!

My total fuel trims were terrible around -15 to -20 when I first installed it but I stuck with it since there was no CEL and the car ran well with perfect AFR. I used Virtual Dyno and it did give me more Tq and HP and the car felt a lot better UNTIL the fuel trims got worse at the end of the week then the trouble began. I tried 3 intake setups (Weapon R intake, bone stock and silicone elbow with K&N drop in) and a lot of different maps and yes, it took a month to troubleshoot but at the end of the week everytime the same thing.

But this thread isn't to troubleshoot because the general consensus on this forum (mostly from people who have never tried the Unichip...) that it's crap; so I knew I wouldn't get any help here. This thread about sums up what I expected- uninformed, unhelpful and unsolicited opinions when what I wanted was HELP (that I did solicit.) So far one person made a suggestion for something I could do about the issue. But Paypal won't help because even though we did a sale not a gift payment, the seller is not a certain type of seller (I can't remember the bullshit excuse Paypal gave) and they said to go to him directly which failed. Thanks for the help Pandaspur, I did give it a shot. I think the Paypal dispute resolution only works for the bigger sellers and not a small private sale. I ran into a stone wall.

Jack@Unichip did email with me and helped at least to diagnose that the Unichip itself is the issue. Why go to a forum full of unhelpful people (on this subject anyway- for a lot of other things this forum is great and very helpful but Unichip is strangely polarizing) when I can go straight to the source? I contacted the manufacturer who is an expert on the item and he has said that the problem must be a defective Unichip. If the forum mods want to see the emails, I can forward them over. But I'm not going to bother sending them or posting here to a bunch of random people with nothing better to do who can't help anyway.

So I got an item- what that item is is unimportant- off the classsifieds of this forum that is defective and does not work. THAT is the reason I posted this. The seller won't refund my money. Does the classified section have any sort of buyer protection at all- such as putting pressure on the seller, suspending his account, banning him or keeping him from posting in the classifieds or deleting the classified ads he has now?

I really just want my money back from Ndreim. That'd be easiest and neatest. Time to go to the next level since I'm getting nowhere with him.

OK so now the seller has responded the chip was working.
A moderator has responded that this issue is not a forum problem.
Yet the OP ignores both these facts and carries on claiming defective and wanting the forum to collect his money for him.

I give up since it is ovious that no matter what is said it will be disregarded.

[DGM-BRZ]

Originally Posted by guybo

Maybe we should swap LOL. Maybe yours would work in my car and mine in yours!

My total fuel trims were terrible around -15 to -20 when I first installed it but I stuck with it since there was no CEL and the car ran well with perfect AFR. I used Virtual Dyno and it did give me more Tq and HP and the car felt a lot better UNTIL the fuel trims got worse at the end of the week then the trouble began. I tried 3 intake setups (Weapon R intake, bone stock and silicone elbow with K&N drop in) and a lot of different maps and yes, it took a month to troubleshoot but at the end of the week everytime the same thing.

But this thread isn't to troubleshoot because the general consensus on this forum (mostly from people who have never tried the Unichip...) that it's crap; so I knew I wouldn't get any help here. This thread about sums up what I expected- uninformed, unhelpful and unsolicited opinions when what I wanted was HELP (that I did solicit.) So far one person made a suggestion for something I could do about the issue. But Paypal won't help because even though we did a sale not a gift payment, the seller is not a certain type of seller (I can't remember the bullshit excuse Paypal gave) and they said to go to him directly which failed. Thanks for the help Pandaspur, I did give it a shot. I think the Paypal dispute resolution only works for the bigger sellers and not a small private sale. I ran into a stone wall.

Jack@Unichip did email with me and helped at least to diagnose that the Unichip itself is the issue. Why go to a forum full of unhelpful people (on this subject anyway- for a lot of other things this forum is great and very helpful but Unichip is strangely polarizing) when I can go straight to the source? I contacted the manufacturer who is an expert on the item and he has said that the problem must be a defective Unichip. If the forum mods want to see the emails, I can forward them over. But I'm not going to bother sending them or posting here to a bunch of random people with nothing better to do who can't help anyway.

So I got an item- what that item is is unimportant- off the classsifieds of this forum that is defective and does not work. THAT is the reason I posted this. The seller won't refund my money. Does the classified section have any sort of buyer protection at all- such as putting pressure on the seller, suspending his account, banning him or keeping him from posting in the classifieds or deleting the classified ads he has now?

I really just want my money back from Ndreim. That'd be easiest and neatest. Time to go to the next level since I'm getting nowhere with him.

I never understood the "ban him" mentality. That's the most retarded punishment on an online forum that i've ever heard. Ban me, I'll just make another account. IP Ban? I'll just get a proxy or router, change my ip. Use my cellphone data to post instead. Literally useless.

Bro, you're not getting your money back. You knowingly purchased a poorly reviewed item that is well known gives people many problems. The seller owes you nothing. Even if it was defective, wtf can you do to get your money back? Nothing.

Not sure what bitching on a public forum would accomplish for you. At most tarnish his online name. Lmao, make a new account and problem solved.

[justatroll]

Decides to try something that many on this forum say "never use a unichip, they don't work worth a crap".
Figures "hey with such bad reviews I might as well try a used one".


Is surprised when it does not work "worth a crap".
Wants money back.......Priceless....


Hey if he will fall for that I have a free energy source that I am willing to reveal the blueprints for, for only $100 with a money back guarantee if it doesn't do exactly what I say it will (more or less).....
And then there are these Lightweight Pulleys that are guaranteed to give you +5hp (+/-5hp) on the dyno.

[86 South Africa]

Originally Posted by guybo

Recently I bought a Unichip from a seller, ndreim in the forums here. It hasn't worked right since I got it and after a bunch of emails with Jack@unichip we've come to the conclusion that I got a bad Unichip. It works for a few days then the LTFT goes nuts, the car runs very rich, CEL, and in the end I tried a lot of different tunes, but always the same result.

Ndreim won't refund the money, saying he has no money. He also claimed he had problems with the Unichip too, so he sold me his problem. I left a bad seller review, but that's not worth much. Do I have any sort of recourse? I assume my money ($180, PayPal ) is gone, but what about the seller who screwed me in the deal?

And... UNIChip not prepared to help/swap/resolve?

[guybo]

well to be fair, it is a second hand item and I don't know how it was treated before. Unichip is not responsible for this.

The real issue is that I received an item that was advertised as working and it is not. No one seems to understand this concept. What that item is doesn't matter. Advertised as working. Doesn't work. I'm out money. What happens to sellers here when this happens?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107884


Proving it was faulty when received may be tough!

Originally Posted by guybo

well to be fair, it is a second hand item and I don't know how it was treated before. Unichip is not responsible for this.

The real issue is that I received an item that was advertised as working and it is not. No one seems to understand this concept. What that item is doesn't matter. Advertised as working. Doesn't work. I'm out money. What happens to sellers here when this happens?

It was working .according to your own statement.
Then it didn't after you had it a while.
Manufacturer says it is a problem with the unit (how they know this I still don't understand) but does not offer to replace.
You broke it you bought it.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by guybo

Somebody buy things from this guy!

I got the Unichip really fast and it works perfectly, great seller. He even included extra stuff and help after the sale.

Remember when you said this?

You need to make up your mind about whether or not it works. Cause 22 days later you said that there was a problem. If I was @ndreim, I'd be assuming that you fucked something up, and that I had no responsibility.

Not to mention that there was no warranty expressed by the seller. If I was him, I'd have also said "tough shit" to you.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Cole

Remember when you said this?

You need to make up your mind about whether or not it works. Cause 22 days later you said that there was a problem. If I was @ndreim, I'd be assuming that you fucked something up, and that I had no responsibility.

Not to mention that there was no warranty expressed by the seller. If I was him, I'd have also said "tough shit" to you.

Actually if it took 22 days to figure out a Unichip doesn't work worth shit he was way above the average! Probably one of the biggest scam items in the auto mod industry.

[justatroll]

Originally Posted by guybo

Advertised as working. Worked at first when I received it. Doesn't work after I fucked with it for a couple of weeks. I'm out money. What happens to sellers here when this happens?

Fixed it for you.
The question should be "what happens to buyers when this happens?"
I'll answer that - You broke it you bought it.


Electronics can be sensitive. You can hook things up backwards, you can have an ESD event, you can even induce noise in a way that can make components fail.


Even if you bought something like this new from Best Buy, then messed with it for weeks, you would probably be pushing the limits of 'ethical' by attempting to return it for a refund.


Just the other day I fried a $20 electronic component by hooking it up backwards. I said "oops just threw away $20" and tossed it in the trash. I didnt cry about it.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by guybo

This thread about sums up what I expected- uninformed, unhelpful and unsolicited opinions when what I wanted was HELP (that I did solicit.)

You know what?

Perhaps you should learn how to write better threads when asking for help.

To have a thread titled "I got screwed on a deal in classified - do I have any recourse?" invites the usual scrutiny about how you got to the "I got screwed" conclusion.

Being that almost everyone posting a response here is shooting holes in your main argument (that the seller sold you a known bad product in a fraudulent manner), perhaps you should just realize that we are collectively changing your thread title to "I may have gotten a bad product but I'm not sure if I am at fault.. can I get my money back?"

But fuck it, I'm done with providing useful input on your issue.

[finch1750]

Sounds like OP got pissed something wrong and nobody can bail him out. Dont see anything wrong on the seller based on public comment. If fuel trims were bad from the get go why post saying it worked great?

Thanks for some morning reading though I guess.