jonnodotsg
Member
hi guys, i am in a bit of a conundrum here, and hope the more senior forumers can provide some guidance.
i accompanied a friend today to buy his first DSLR. he was on a pretty tight budget, so opted to go with a second hand piece to mess around with first. naturally, we trawled the buy/sell section for suitable deals and managed to find one. he arranged for a meet up, and today, we both went down to hopefully complete the deal.
unfortunately, the item was very falsely advertised. first off, the item condition was rated at 9. this was far from the case. the kit lens appeared to be rather banged up, with scuffs all over the barrel, smudges on the front element, and even a significant dent near the rim of the front element. the body itself didn't appear to be too well taken care of, but we did not feel that the looks (or lack thereof) were too much of a deal-breaker as long as the camera functioned properly. we realized almost immediately that we might have spoken too soon. while the camera could be switched on, the SDHC card slot's catch was broken, so a memory card could be inserted but would never stay in place. this obviously meant that shots could not be taken and saved.
we asked to see the warranty papers, thinking that maybe we could get it at a discounted price and then bring to nikon to have them service it under warranty. two unfilled warranty cards were offered, but no receipt. we asked for it, but when he could not provide one, he tried to subtly draw our attention back to the warranty cards. when we mentioned that these cards were useless without a receipt, that the camera is essentially not under warranty, he quickly relented.
lastly, and although this might seem trivial to most, the camera was advertised as belonging to a female user, but the person who turned up was a guy. i'm bringing this up because he appeared to have a pretty decent camera with him (some nikon with a battery grip, inside his "nikon professional" bag). as such, i would assume that he would possess at least a basic understanding of the nature of the item he is selling; falsely advertised condition, broken memory card catch rendering it unusable, not under warranty anymore.
right now, i'm worried that he might try to pass off this item to an unsuspecting beginner, but i'm unsure as to whether i should expose him. please advise.
i accompanied a friend today to buy his first DSLR. he was on a pretty tight budget, so opted to go with a second hand piece to mess around with first. naturally, we trawled the buy/sell section for suitable deals and managed to find one. he arranged for a meet up, and today, we both went down to hopefully complete the deal.
unfortunately, the item was very falsely advertised. first off, the item condition was rated at 9. this was far from the case. the kit lens appeared to be rather banged up, with scuffs all over the barrel, smudges on the front element, and even a significant dent near the rim of the front element. the body itself didn't appear to be too well taken care of, but we did not feel that the looks (or lack thereof) were too much of a deal-breaker as long as the camera functioned properly. we realized almost immediately that we might have spoken too soon. while the camera could be switched on, the SDHC card slot's catch was broken, so a memory card could be inserted but would never stay in place. this obviously meant that shots could not be taken and saved.
we asked to see the warranty papers, thinking that maybe we could get it at a discounted price and then bring to nikon to have them service it under warranty. two unfilled warranty cards were offered, but no receipt. we asked for it, but when he could not provide one, he tried to subtly draw our attention back to the warranty cards. when we mentioned that these cards were useless without a receipt, that the camera is essentially not under warranty, he quickly relented.
lastly, and although this might seem trivial to most, the camera was advertised as belonging to a female user, but the person who turned up was a guy. i'm bringing this up because he appeared to have a pretty decent camera with him (some nikon with a battery grip, inside his "nikon professional" bag). as such, i would assume that he would possess at least a basic understanding of the nature of the item he is selling; falsely advertised condition, broken memory card catch rendering it unusable, not under warranty anymore.
right now, i'm worried that he might try to pass off this item to an unsuspecting beginner, but i'm unsure as to whether i should expose him. please advise.
