I am SOOOOOOO tempted!!!!


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=008

Pete, would you like to make me some a-pillar mounts?

Did it reach reserve then, if so did you get them if so well done.

According to his text earlier SteveP is now the proud owner of a set of absolutes... We may never see or hear from him again when he tells Zoe

Actually Zoe was quite relieved that I wasn't having a heart attack and was just reacting to the last few seconds of the auction.
Called me a daft bugger and asked what she could have....
I said "My Rainbow Platinums".... She wasn't impressed.....
Got them for the reserve price.
Now got to drive from North Lincs to Crawley to pick them up.
The seller seemed surprised that I wouldn't be able to do this till next weekend!
Also want me to pay the £27 paypal/ebay fee!

oh well. think I can handle an extra £27 for the price I paid.

Don't think I'll install them.... they look too nice in the box!!!!!

dont understand why you should have to pay his selling fees ebay is a weird place at times

i sold some wheels not so long ago marked them as collection only the guy who won then wanted me to pay his fuel to come and collect them ? funny old world

I think the guy is a bit annoyed that they didn't go for more money.
The Buy-It-Now price was £2000 Glad I didn't pay that!
I've just got my fingers crossed that it was a legit auction.

Think my petrol costs will outweight his paypal fee bay a fair margin.
20-25MPG at "cruising speed" on the mway....

I think asking for the fees is a bit cheaky but then ebay is a funny play, we won a car a couple nights ago to then get a message from the lister that there was suppose to be a reserve on there and would we pay the higher price. Hum no was our reply. Its not like he had not had 7 days to check his listing anyway but we just gave up and let it go. But im not withdrawing the bid so that meens he will have fees to pay hee hee.

The seller fees are exactly that - the fees the seller has to pay for the auction. Same as any auction!

Check E-bay T&C's to see if these can be passed on... I don't think they can be, afterall, I'm pretty sure there's something in place to stop people charging extra for paypal...

As soon as the Abs are safely locked on my car, I might just remind him of that!

Off to collect on the morning.
Fingers crossed that there are no problems with them.
Maybe I should pop by Southend and ask Gordon to check them out
Or failing that, Pete.....

You'd best get them installed then. In by Sunday evening?

Sure... No worries

I've been scanning the web for Abs installs looking for inspiration!

I've got a lot of decisions to make before they even come out of the box.
First I've got to decide on the position of the processor.
Would be useful if there was space upfront (but I doubt it) otherwise I need a longer DIN cable to get it in the boot. It's position will decide the RCA's I need.
Gordon did recommend making my own RCA's. Can't remember the cable he suggested though.


Once that's figured out, I've got to think about crossover placement. Have seen an install with them in the doors but that would require new door cards. (don't want to carve up mine.)
If they go in the boot, I've got to buy/fit a third pair of speaker cables.

Then I've got to finish the boot install, get the headunit installed and build some dash pods (of some sort)
Oh... and get the doors Dyn'ed up and Mid-bass mounts made.....

It's all too much!!!!

Any advice would be very welcome!!!!
I don't fancy getting the cabling/carpets in and finding out I've buggered it up!!!

so they are all in a fitted now then, com on you have had since yesturday afternoon



lovely set of speakers. take your time and get them in right

Evening all.
Well I'm back after a 500 mile round trip.
Pretty good run down and back. Only really got stuck at the end of the M1 where it meets the M25.

So, I've now got a huge box (steady folks....) sat on the carpet in my front room.
Here is what I got. (Please Pete or anyone else who have got a set, shout out if I'm missing any items)

1x Large Box!
2x Mid bass
2x Mids
2x Tweeters
2x Crossovers
1x 8 page installation manual. (silver paper in black binder)

No tweeter (or any other for that matter) grills.

That its it, nothing else.

Now, as for the state of them.....

First, I am fully aware of the numerous warnings about ebay and the "buyer beware" philosophy. !!

This is not a new set as stated in the ebay add. They have definitely been used before.
So, from Mid bass up, this is what I found

Mid bass.
Cones good and clean, no marks. rears have poly sheet but the odd small scratch on the polished back and slightly marked, bent cable connectors. "internals" look clean and undamaged. Evidence of Dynamat tar on the cage fingers towards the front of each speaker...


Off to collect a curry, back in a mo for the rest....

glad to find out they were real at least. I really wish people would not lie if they have been used or not. Maybe they have just been used when building a system but not powered up?

Anyways... (just finished a very very nice curry!!! )

On to the Mids.....

looking down on them, close inspection shows that the surface of one of the cone appears "rubbed" around it's surface.
Not sure what to think about this. The cone on the other mid appears as new.
Turning over and this same mid, has a bent cage.
The horizontal ring that holds the cable connectors and the corrugated fabric was bent on one of its third/quarters.
Closer inspection show it to be broken off where it meets the cage fingers and it has been glued on
Glue which has subsequently come loose.
Devastated to see this.

The remains of two reasonable gauge cables are soldered to the connectors of this mid
Internals appear fine with no damage.

The other mid appears fine.

Both tweeters have nice clean unmarked cones and faceplates.
The rears are marked as if they have been installed. One at least has some metal fillings attached to the magnet.

Other than that, I think they look ok.

Crossovers appear clean and free of marks. One does have a rattle when shaken. ?!?!?!

I notice a slot on the side of each crossover with a "tweeter high/low" This just seems to be a hole with no switch/toggle/latch or anything behind it. is this normal? Is there an easy way to get in to the crossovers to check the internals to ensure they have not been gutted?

So that's about it really. not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Will provide some pics when I get a minute.

Cheers
Steve

Sorry to hear this Steve!! I would be livid if I found that out!!

Have to ask though - why didn't you check before you parted with the cash?

I know I know..... usual ebay transaction, pay up then get the item.
Complete lack of any tools to get the buggers out of the case didnt help.
My fault because I forgot my alan keys.

Before I get too many more comments, I know I've not stuck to my usual rules of buyer beware and check it all out fully before finalising anything. I live by these rules.
So any comments of "ha ha, told you so" ( not saying you did this Rog!! ) are not really going to help
I feel sick enough as it is.....

Just found out that the crossovers are in fact empty......
Please hold the line while I throw up......

Back to the ebay/paypal claims department.


Edit.... It appears that the title of this thread has become strangely prophetic. I currently look like my avatar.

It just gets worse.

So... things are not going well at the moment.
After a number of emails, the seller is still instisting that they Abs left him in perfect condition.
Even though he admits to never having them out of the box. Yes, they do look pretty much Perfect when screwed into the box. It's the other side that isthe problem.

He claims he bought them off a guy who got them in Hove who says they were perfect when sold to him.

Says I have every opportunity to unscrew each speaker from the box to examine it.
Like this would have happened if I'd had them posted.....

I am now being accused of swapping out his speakers and replacing them with duff ones and empty cases and trying to rip him off
What a complete pile of S**T!

To give you all a laugh, here's a few pics of what I've been lumbered with.


Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment
On unscrewing two of the mounting screws, the cable terminals fell inside the empty case

Click to view attachment
Remnants of Dynamat tar and scratched/bent terminals on the Mid/bass's

Click to view attachment
His own ebay picture showing the mid with the "rubbed/marked" cone

Click to view attachment
The same speaker at my house.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment
Damage to the mid basket and soldered cable terminal.

So, is there anywhere I can find out if the Mid-Bass speakers and the tweeters are in working order??
One of the tweeters has a numbered sticker on it (Serial Number???) it is traceable through this?

Suspect the damaged mid is completely knackered.

B*****ks B*****ks B*****ks B*****ks B*****ks

edit: Added picture of one of the tweeters and a second picture of one of the Mid-Bass speakers showing more glue than I would have expected.
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Anyone else think on his ebay advert the line "These speakers really have to be seen to realise how very special they are!" has a slight different meening now?

Im sorry but i did not spot that on his photos, he said nothing about it in the advert either, only thing he said was "The outside of the box itself has 2 light marks from bringing the box home and no other marks."

Hows he know they have protective film on them if he has never took them out.

He lists them as condition NEW there not.

A VERY missleading advert on there.

I could go on but won't.

I think you should also post this on talkaudio.co.uk or post a link to this thread here as a warning to what can happen especially on ebay.
I will admit it from his advert at the time i was tempted.

Not good mate, the guy has clearly screwed you over

You can run the midbass and mids and tweeters off a hifi at low volume and you'll be fine. One of my tweets had the midbass output put through them for a week before I figured out the problem, and I've seen Mr T run an R1 full range off a monoblock so you can test them without crossovers if you're careful.

That mid does look knackered, it would have taken some force to break that off.

I know for £800 i would take him to court as one option.

Screwed over sounds right to me.
He's still claiming that I'm the one to blame and that I should have fully checked them over.
How the am I meant to do that with what feels like a fairly heavy crossover. Take it to pieces?
Invalidate any warranty should it actually be real?

So, from the photo's, do these actually look like real speakers and not fakes?
I have never seen the reverse of a real abs.

Anyway, it's all been escalated through to the Paypal claims unit.
They will have to decide who it telling the truth.
needless to say I am seriously off

Once this is all over, I will post the full thread of discussion and argument as an example to others.

edit... added a "?"

Its horrable when this happens i saved up for a mobile on ebay cost me £250 been saveing for weeks i paid and after 4 months waiting i contacted paypal and they didnt do a thing found out the chap done a runner to egypt its sickning when your made to feel you havent got a leg to stand on when you know you have not done anything wrong and gone by the book

"These are brand new never used items still bolted into the box (having never been taken out) complete with protective film."

I can't see any film?

The bottom of the magnet has it on see this one below.
Thats why i said in a previous post hows he know there on if he has not had them out the box

If they were new the cross overs should have had a protection film! It was the last thing that we removed when we put them in the golf.

Just reading this and i am absolutley gutted for you mate.
I can understand how excited you must have been getting them,and then you find all thats wrong.
I realley hope it all goes your way,as it just bad what has happened to you.

Thankyou all for your kind words.

The Mid-bass and Mids do have the protective plastic film on them. (Over the top of various scratches.)
The crossovers also have the plastic film on them.
I half expect that this was what he was refering to in the auction.

I was very (probably too) excited about collecting them.
Probably why I let my usually very careful guard down.

May i ask if this went any further?

Hi,
Yeah, bit of a story to tell....
Off to work in a bit, will get online later on and fill you in.

Cheers,
Steve

Well, where to start?

A lot of email arguing went on between myself and the seller, Basically I was accused of trying to rip him off.
At that point, I raised a dispute with paypal. They asked for an expert verdict of the state of the speakers as they were sold to me.
So, I gave Gordon Taylor a call and asked for help.
He generously said he'd have a look at them and I drove them down to genesis HQ at Southend on a bank holiday Friday for a once over. (only a 500 mile round trip )
Gordon was wonderfully helpful. He gave the speakers a good looking over and after being told the circumstances of how/from who and where they had been bought, he was able to identify EXACTLY the history of the speakers.

I was gobsmacked to hear that they were NEVER a working set. The Mid-Bass speakers had come out of the Genesis Golf!
He was able to identify the car in which the mid cage had been broken (window mechanism caught the soldered on cable)
Both tweeters were dead and the crossovers NEVER had any internals!

The whole set was made as a visual display set for a trade show and given to the now defunct Torque Audio in Crawley.
It was never intended for sale.

Somehow it got through to be sold and I was unlucky enough to buy it.

Gordon put all this in a letter which I faxed to Paypal.

A couple of weeks later, Paypal agreed that I had been ripped off. The seller at first offered me a refund of the £800 purchase price IF I had the set posted back to him at MY cost.
Not overly impressed with this but these were Paypals rules.
Given the repair cost that Gordon had given me, I suggested a partial refund to cover some of the repairs.

After a lot of haggling and refusals from the seller, (by this time paypal had closed the case and so I had no protection left)
I agreed to a figure which was eventually paypal'ed to me.

This will cover only part of the repairs.

I will however, end up with new internals to the tweeters, a pair of new mids (I agreed to pay for two new ones rather than just getting one replaced) and internals fitted to the crossovers. The only original components will be the Mid-Bass whicH Gordon believed were in working order.

After much delay on my part, I have finally got the the point where I can send the speakers to Gordon for repair. I will be emailing him this week to confirm that this is still ok.
If so, I have a colleague who will be visiting Southend next week and has agreed to drop them off for me.

Overall this has been a harrowing experience which has caused an awful lot of stress and worry. Not to mention anger that I was accused of trying to rip someone off. Anyone that knows me, knows I am a truely honest guy who would never dreamof a scam such as this. To be accused of such really hurts.

I would like this thread to be a warning to all who buy things on Ebay. Things are not always as they seem. Feedback ratings stand for nothing. I have been extremely lucky in this case to have dealt with a manufacturer with such supreme customer service and MD who cares about his customers.
I would not however take it as red that anyone who buys a piece of kit on ebay will get the same treatment.
My willingness to pay £800 for them, collect them myself from Crawley (500 mile round trip) and take them back to the factory (500 miles) probably helped me in getting the help I did.
I was unbelievably lucky to have the sets history fully identified. I doubt anyone else could be that lucky.
Th gods were truly smiling on me.

I could very easily be out of pocket by £800 and the traveling costs.

As I said, I encourage anyone thinking to buy any decent kit, to think very carefully before getting it on ebay.
Please use a known legitimate dealer.

Cheers,
Steve

Glad to hear things have worked out to a level you're satisfied with

They will have once I've got them too and from Gordon.
Luckily have got a colleague who is moving to Southend and will take them down for me.
Saves on the courier/insurance fee.
Some might question why I didn't just take the full refund.
A few reasons.

1. Not convinced I would have got a refund once I had posted them.
2. Return postage at my own cost.
3. Repair cost combined with the partial refund still made them a VERY well priced set.
(Especially seeing as they would be new Tweeters/Mids and Xovers)
4. I'd already paid out nearly £200 in petrol to collect them and return them for checking over.
Plus an overnights stay at a hotel on my second visit. None of this I would get back.


Cheers,
Steve

Thanks for the update.

lad you have managed to get somthing back and on your way to a set at last.
As i said i was also watching that set so it could have just as easily been me and to me thats the shocker.

Were the mids part of a set used in a demo car in the genesis booth in the states by any chance? as i know an installer over there that did this with one of the first sets, far too many late nights and a doh moment he said.?

Hi Geoff.
Could'nt tell you any more than I have
Both Gordon and Panch (who popped over that day, , what a car!!!!!! ) seemed to know who it was.
I can't remember the name.
I'm glad for you that it wasn't you who bought them!!

cheers,
steve

Wohoo!!!!
Getting my Abs back from Genesis tomorrow!!!

Can't wait to get this saga over and done with!!

Lots of nice new shiney goodness

After 7 months and all the hassle, I really hope you feel they're worth it once you power them up! (I mean, we all know they're going to be, but I really hope you feel they are!)

Give me another 7 months and I might just have them installed

If he doesn't he needs his ears cleaning out...

Denpends a bit on the installation too......


Your A-Pillar pods still up for grabs Pete?