Thank you for the comments. I would normally request a refund but this usually means the buyer has to return the item. The postage can end up being more than the item is worth.
Most ebay purchases turn out okay, but every now and then you come across a faulty item or a bad seller.
About 6 months ago I purchased a box of N.O.S. ("new old stock") NGK spark plugs. On opening the box I knew straight away that something was not right. The plugs looked like cheap rip-offs. They had plastic protection sleeves over the threaded part instead of cardboard, which seemed very sus'. I decided to send the whole box to NGK. They told me the bad news a few days later. The plugs were fakes.
The seller must have gone to some lengths to make these look genuine. He had even deliberately aged the box by leaving it in the sun and rain. They were advertised as being around 20 years old, but NGK told me they have never produced plugs like these. They also pointed out problems with the metal which was very poor quality and not joined properly to the ceramic. The threads were really rough. The printing on the stem of the plug was crooked and the metal stamping not correct.
I complained to the seller who repeated the same old line that they all use. He said he had been selling plugs for over 20 years and never received a single complaint before. As far as he was concerned the plugs were vintage NGK plugs that had been sitting in his shed unopened for the past 20 years. He refused to give me a refund.
Not all was lost on this occasion. NGK sent me a brand new box of real plugs. So I messaged the seller to let him know the "good news", that he was off the hook. I told him his plugs were now in the hands of NGK who are finding them very interesting and they may be contacting him shortly. The next day the seller had taken down all of his ads and has not advertised anything since.
