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Demo Unit -not For Resale


Toxey

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I bought a Magellan Sportrak color off of Ebay ,got it today.Put fresh batteries in it,turned it on and got this message-Demo unit ,not for resale.

Didnt really understand what that ment.Anyways went to steup hit initalize to get things setup up for my location,,,and nothing would happen.Scrooled down to Simulate to turn off simulation,,,and nothing would happen...

What do you guys think is going on here???

Any info would be helpful.

Thx

Edited by Toxey
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...Any other advise would be helpful. ...

A data cable and a firmware update would probably get you working. But...

 

I'm going to take a guess that you purchased stolen property. I'd certainly direct some questions to the seller. After all, these models usually ship with a data cable and working firmware.

 

What was the eBay auction number? Did the description mention any of these oddities?

 

Something similar happened to me a couple of years ago. "Great buy" on a GPS, but it arrived without a box or most of the accesories, and the serial number label was missing. It took a bit of work, but I got it all straightened out. The seller refunded my money, and the store he worked for (and stole from) got their GPS back.

Edited by lee_rimar
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The Ebay item # is 5784282975 .

It said nothing about any of this.

Great,,,,,a hot GPS unit B)B):mad:

The item was sold as used,and I didnt know that they usually come with a data cable.

I just thought I was buying it from a individual who ahd to get rid of it because of money problems

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Sounds like it was a store model, not one supposed to be in the hands of consumers. Hopefully, if you can't get it working, the seller will do the right thing and allow you to return it for a refund.

 

Edit: Actually thinking about it more, I think I'd contact Magellan FIRST before attempting to do ANYTHING with it. IF it is a demo model, it might not even have important things (like an antenna) since it was never intended to actually be used, just shown inside a store. After hearing from them about it's functionality, I'd decide how to proceed next.

Edited by IV_Warrior
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I would bet it is stolen... Does it have any residue on the back from where an anti-theft chain would have been glued to it?

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. 97.4% seller rating with over 1000 sales, iffy, but reading some of the negatove remarks tosses a red flag, just as Warbones indicated.

 

First try to work with him for a refund, that is bogus. Lodge a dispute with ebay, you could probably challenge this. If you paid via PayPal, you can lodge a dispute there, at least start the ball rolling. Show him you won't take any crap B)

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Sounds like it was a store model, not one supposed to be in the hands of consumers. Hopefully, if you can't get it working, the seller will do the right thing and allow you to return it for a refund.

 

Edit: Actually thinking about it more, I think I'd contact Magellan FIRST before attempting to do ANYTHING with it. IF it is a demo model, it might not even have important things (like an antenna) since it was never intended to actually be used, just shown inside a store. After hearing from them about it's functionality, I'd decide how to proceed next.

I never heard of such a thing, in the stores I was buying for we always just used the actual GPS for Demos, you cannot take use a non functional unit for a live demo This may be something that was put together as a prop for an add or it may have been a protoype that was used in a marketing survey.

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Sounds like you were ripped off. Feedback under 98% is generally considered a warning not to buy on eBay. Especially if the person has hundreds or thousands of ratings -- one bad feedback could ruin your percentage if you're new, but being at 97.4 with 1000+ ratings means a lot of people have had experiences bad enough to overcome the general pressure not to say anything bad in feedback (fear of getting bad feedback yourself in retaliation, etc). This seller also has a lot of swaggering "all sales final" nonsense in his terms of service. If he refuses to refund of his own volition, I would send the item back to him with delivery confirmation and file with PayPal for "item not as described." He did, after all, say it was in working condition. When/if they deny the claim -- which they in all likelihood will, since he doesn't offer buyer protection -- you can then reverse the credit card charge. But don't reverse a charge without disputing it with PayPal first -- even if they're going to automatically deny it, they get really touchy about people not going to them first, and may lock your account for it. Reversing a charge after they've said no, however, is totally kosher. Don't ask ME why. (But do go to the eBay "trust and safety" board if you need help dealing with the seller -- they've generally got good advice there about how to approach him, and what to do if he isn't being helpful.)

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This guy is a ripoff artist. I would dispute immediately through Pay-pal and e-bay, as item not as described. We should post his ebay name as beware of seller to help others avoid his crap products.

Good luck in this dispute, as others have said "beware of any seller with low customer satisfaction". I will not buy from any e-bayer with less than a 99% approval rate and a good feedback check. I too have been burned once on e-bay.

B)

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Sounds as if stolen from a store. Check with Megellan about your suspessions. They may be able to use serial number to track where the unit was shipped to. It is possible most of this guys ebay sales are stolen from store he works or "shops" in.

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I'd dispute it as it's not as he advertised

Seconded (or more like thirded by now). Dispute it with Ebay and Paypal immediately. AND contact Magellan - they might want to track the unit to see who it initially went to. In any event, it is not as advertised, and the seller should return your money. If your PayPal is linked to your VISA, you may have recourse through them also.

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All excellent advice.

 

As a long time eBay "volunteer community member", my only other advice is to file your disputes one at a time in the following order:

 

eBay

PayPal

CC company

 

If you tell Visa about it, eBay and PayPal immediately forget they know you. They figure at that point, it is out of their hands to help.

 

Also, do not wait more than 30 days (They actually give you 45, but you need to play it safe) from the EOA to start the process with eBay and Paypal.

 

Good luck!

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Also, do not wait more than 30 days (They actually give you 45, but you need to play it safe) from the EOA to start the process with eBay and Paypal.

When was 45 days implemented? I had a problem about a year ago and started thge dispute on the 32nd say and they told me I was out of luck. I pleaded, begged, dadgum near cried for some help and they patted me on the back and said "lesson learned, get in touch with us prior to 30 days".

 

I'll have to spend some time reviewing their site again, thanks!

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It has been within the last year. It may have been August/September of last year.

 

I can't remember if that is a PayPal timeline, or eBay and PayPal both. One or the other or both added the fifteen days.

 

It actually makes a lot of sense. Pre-sale auctions (which should be banned, imho) have to ship within 30 days. The only way to dispute a pre-sale auction is to wait until day 31 to report the seller for non-performance. But, under the old eBay rules, day 31 was the cut-off for their help. eBay recently saw the irony in that set of rules.

 

A bunch of users lobbied for additional days to get some eBay protection for pre-sale auctions and any auction where the seller didn't perform within 30 days.

 

It can be a full time job keeping up with their announcement board.

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The name of the dispute mechanism you want to use is the "Significantly Not As Described" or SNAD process.

 

Please visit the link to start that process!

 

Also, I was mistaken, the SNAD page says you have 60 days. I thought it was only 45.

 

You can't start until day 10 and I know they like to know you tried to work it out with the seller before you start the SNAD process.

 

Edit: Added text below:

 

There are a couple of other "tips" that are important to remember. Please forgive me if you already know this, but someone who reads this might not.

 

1. Keep all communication with the Seller and with eBay calm and factual. Resist the urge to call the seller names.

 

2. Leave feedback as the VERY LAST RESORT. Once you leave feedback, no one, including eBay, has any "reason" to help you. By leaving feedback, you are saying that the transaction is OVER.

 

3. Be calm and factual when you do leave feedback. Emotional feedback makes you look bad and can be removed by the Seller if it is bad enough.

 

4. Respond to any feedback you receive in a calm, factual manner. Again, you want people to know who the good-guy is in this transaction.

Edited by Langner91
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Toxey if you have a spare/old Mouse you can frankenstien a cable for your unit (I know it works with the MAG300 series and should be the same for your unit).

 

Here is the site to show you how.Magellan makeshift computer cable You can hold the GPS side of the connections in place with wide rubber elastics instead of fashioning the plastic mount if you want. Just make sure that after the connections are in place you set the unit down and don't touch it during the firmware upgrade, interupting it mid upload doesn't produce good results.

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