Marantz Receiver on eBay Not as Described. What Should I Do Now?

I won an auction on a Marantz receiver a week ago.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190221096696

The seller is in San Jose, so we arranged a pick up. I scheduled to meet the seller at a train station part of the way to San Jose. The first time we met up we missed each other and we had to schedule another meeting.

Once I got the receiver home, right away it was obvious that there was something wrong. Nothing was coming out of the left channel. If I cranked the volume up, the left channel all of a sudden began to work. After chatting with some folks on Audio Karma, they determined that it is in all likelihood an relay problem.

The seller offered no guarantees, but it seems to me that such an obvious problem should have been noted. If I had bought the receiver from some guy in Florida I would have sent it back, but in this case it's problematic. I didn't pay for shipping, and the seller is unwilling to refund my money.

What should I do at this point?

 

Strange but he has feedback but no ratings.It says This information will be available when this member receives at least 10 detailed seller ratings but he has pages of feedback so something is wrong or i'm missing something.

 

The seller ratings are for very current transactions only. I've got over 400 total feedbacks, but no seller ratings because I haven't sold anything in a long time. It's one of the new "improvements." This guy hasn't sold anything since '06.

As for what to do, I would file a claim stating that the item was not as described. Did you pay cash or by PayPal? If the former, the complaint should go to eBay. If the latter, then PP.

 

Apparently, he had not sold anything in a while. He has no ratings in the last 12 months so his rating (under the new rules) is 0%.

 

not that it should matter since it was specifically noted that it was a tested piece that had no problems stated, but was this a "good deal" or did you pay what the unit was worth?

 

It would have been quite a bargain if it worked properly.

 

that's what i was thinking.

the listing was misleading for sure.

 

So what did the seller say when you told him of the problem?

 

What means of payment did you use?

 

He said it worked fine when he tested it. Although he admitted to only testing the radio and a tape deck.

 

I paid cash when I met up with him.

 

I think he owes you a refund, personally, but at the same time, how difficult would it be to simply fix this beautiful receiver? It is worth what you paid even with the problem you describe, my friend.

 

Ouch.

Have a tech look at the receiver to see if it can be fixed.

 

It can be fixed, but it would cost three or four times what I paid at least.

 

I've been burned several times on ebay buying vintage equipment.

Hopefully the seller will work with you.

Either way I would check into getting the unit repaired. Looks like a beautiful unit to me.

 

On the one hand, he says "Everything on this unit has been tested and works great."

On the other he says, "It is being sold AS IS. I can offer no guarantees as to its functionality. The sale is final, and I do not provide refunds." And, "No technical support is offered. By bidding on this item, you agree that you are capable of operating this unit yourself, or you will obtain your own support."

You can ask but he is under no obligation to help.

 

Except everything doesn't "work great."

I've bought three, make that four, pieces of vintage equipment. Two were sold with the guarantee of "not DOA," but that was it. Each died in one channel in about a month.

I'd already had the experience of paying $75 for an "as-is" NAD integrated, on which I then spent $150 to fix it up. I didn't feel like paying for more repairs, so I sold the two previously mentioned components as defective. I gave away the fourth piece.

I'm done with vintage. If you know how to do it yourself, it's probably a lot of fun. I have no skills in this area, though.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

I'm not sure I agree. I can understand that if the unit breaks down in a week I'm out of luck. But the seller has the obligation not to sell a defective unit as fully functional - to the best of his knowledge. He claimed to have tested all inputs. He admitted to me that he only tested FM and a tape deck. The problem that is has is not subtle. The left channel doesn't work.

 

Maybe a can of contact cleaner and pull the cover and bottom plate and spray all the pots and switches. Cycle them as you spray.

If there are relays inside, try to determine if there are couple being used for the amp outputs. If so, they're most likely there to delay the power-up cycle so your speakers don't pop when the amp comes alive.

The covers on the relays can be removed so the contacts can be cleaned.

 

On this receiver the relay is in a clear plastic box. It does not come off easily. I can't just use Deoxit on it.

The pots and switches all sound pretty clean otherwise.

 

Just as an update, I suggested to the seller that he refund half my money. He agreed.

 

sweet. now get it fixed and you have an awesome piece of vintage gear.

 

I think I will do that.

I'm trying to decide who to send it to at this point.

 

Try this first. I am sure this unit has been in storage for a while. It looks beautiful.


While the unit is off rotate the volume control up and down (all the way up then all the way down). Do this a few times (around 25 times). Then power up (making sure the power is all the way down 1st). I'm betting there are deposits in the attenuator and not the relay. I had to do this on an old Marantz 2270 receiver and doing this clear up the problem. Good luck!