Does this look like electrical failure?

A customer returned this charger I sold them, claiming it overheated and melted the wires.
I opened the case and it looks flawless inside. Is it me or do these wires look like they were cut? I just don't see melted insulation anywhere.
This customer has said some conflicting things about how they used it.

Those cables were cut somehow.

What he said.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Probably got stuck in the spokes. Rewire, test, and send it.

IMO the insulation was cut, the wires pulled and cut and the mess was made. Shorts happen on one spot that is closest/is the short. You have seen it before, a burned spot where the short happened. As stated above, rewire and test. BTW, document your testing of the unit for future proof in case of dispute.

Thanks guys.

I can't believe how evil some customers can be.

Actually, that looks exactly like assorted cords that Yogi (one of my St Bernards) chewed thru when he first came here. The shearing and tearing is virtually identical to the way his teeth tore thru stuff.


But is most definitely NOT electrical failure.

If that cord had been plugged in to the wall and powered on at the time it was destroyed, it would be melted with plasma burns and spattered copper all over the place, at minimum.

You wouldn't believe the elaborate story she concocted with so much detail. Its crazy. I did some research and she has a dog that is an aggressive chewer. That also explains why the paper sticker on the unit had some moisture damage (from dog saliva and cleaning attempt). And indentations from teeth.

Oh and I replaced the wires today and the charger works fine.

veloman said:

You wouldn't believe the elaborate story she concocted with so much detail. Its crazy. I did some research and she has a dog that is an aggressive chewer. That also explains why the paper sticker on the unit had some moisture damage (from dog saliva and cleaning attempt). And indentations from teeth.

Oh and I replaced the wires today and the charger works fine.

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Replace the sticker too and its as good as new!
Did you sell it via ebay or amazon?

If you have her contact info you should call her and tell her that her dog ate the cord and she needs to bring him to the vet immediately as the flux inside of the wires is toxic and he will die a slow and pain death if she doesn't get him help as soon as possible.

That's not true either and it won't make you whole, but it'll feel good to know she'll be coming out of pocket for that charger one way or another. Payback is a bitch too.

markz said:

veloman said:

You wouldn't believe the elaborate story she concocted with so much detail. Its crazy. I did some research and she has a dog that is an aggressive chewer. That also explains why the paper sticker on the unit had some moisture damage (from dog saliva and cleaning attempt). And indentations from teeth.

Oh and I replaced the wires today and the charger works fine.

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Replace the sticker too and its as good as new!
Did you sell it via ebay or amazon?

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Ebay. Before I looked closely at the wires, I believed her story enough to refund her. Then I realized it was BS. But I asked her to update her negative feedback and she did. I played her game and she won. But I getting ebay involved may not have necessarily gone well for me. I do plan on telling ebay that she is a shady person and make a note of this scam she pulled.

veloman said:

Ebay. Before I looked closely at the wires, I believed her story enough to refund her. Then I realized it was BS. But I asked her to update her negative feedback and she did. I played her game and she won. But I getting ebay involved may not have necessarily gone well for me. I do plan on telling ebay that she is a shady person and make a note of this scam she pulled.

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Yeah but does telling ebay work, do they even care because they get their fee's.
How many items has this person purchased on ebay and whats the buyers rating?

I sold an guitar amp through eBay once. The customer calmed that it arrived damaged. eBay made me pay for return shipping and refund the guys money. When I got it back, I opened it to see why it didn't work and found the buyer had tried to pull some of the parts out of it and had damaged it that way. (the reverb tank was 1/2 removed.) In any case I reported him to eBay and they said they would watch him. I never heard anything more from it and was never able to sell the damaged amp again.

I was thinking dog chewed too, but spoke cut also possible.

The evil customer is why a good CS needs to include a price able to support a few to no questions asked warranty.

You have been defrauded and scammed. The topmost wire in the first and last pictures show several clear indentations which appear to be teeth marks, there is no evidence of melting, scorching, carbon deposits, or excessive heat of any kind.

If this was transported through the US mail, that is mail fraud and a serious Federal offense. Many countries have similar laws.

I would send a strongly worded written document stating your intention to pursue a criminal prosecution involving prison time, which you will forgo provided she submit a complete, signed, witnessed and notarized, description of her willful attempt to defraud, which will be submitted publicly in multiple locations. Any negative comments on your business, by her, will result in immediate instigation of the criminal proceeding, which in most jurisdictions can be done at any time for anywhere from 3 to 7 years from now.

Nail her lying ass to the wall.

Or just lie down, roll over, put your ass in the air and take it.

HK12K said:

If you have her contact info you should call her and tell her that her dog ate the cord and she needs to bring him to the vet immediately as the flux inside of the wires is toxic and he will die a slow and pain death if she doesn't get him help as soon as possible.

That's not true either and it won't make you whole, but it'll feel good to know she'll be coming out of pocket for that charger one way or another. Payback is a bitch too.

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Flux and toxic asbesto's.

AngryBob said:

If this was transported through the US mail, that is mail fraud and a serious Federal offense. Many countries have similar laws.

I would send a strongly worded written document stating your intention to pursue a criminal prosecution involving prison time, which you will forgo provided she submit a complete, signed, witnessed and notarized, description of her willful attempt to defraud, which will be submitted publicly in multiple locations. Any negative comments on your business, by her, will result in immediate instigation of the criminal proceeding, which in most jurisdictions can be done at any time for anywhere from 3 to 7 years from now.

Nail her lying ass to the wall.

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It'll never work. Not how capitalism works. Funny how the real winners are the scum that are complaining about it. I don't suggest doing anything unless you don't want to sell anything on eBay anymore. Which I've never wanted to do.

eBay is a strange place, and I have close to 5,000 transactions over a 20 year time span, so I know. 99% of the time everything goes well, but sometimes you just can't win. I stopped selling any big ticket photography stuff on there due to their policies, which lean totally toward the buyer. They could claim anything. Keep the item, send you a rock in a box with a tracking number, and claim they returned the item and eBay will debit your seller account for the refund. Don't ask me how I know this. It's easier to just refund their money and block them so they can't buy anything else from me.

Dauntless said:

AngryBob said:

If this was transported through the US mail, that is mail fraud and a serious Federal offense. Many countries have similar laws.

I would send a strongly worded written document stating your intention to pursue a criminal prosecution involving prison time, which you will forgo provided she submit a complete, signed, witnessed and notarized, description of her willful attempt to defraud, which will be submitted publicly in multiple locations. Any negative comments on your business, by her, will result in immediate instigation of the criminal proceeding, which in most jurisdictions can be done at any time for anywhere from 3 to 7 years from now.

Nail her lying ass to the wall.

Click to expand...

It'll never work. Not how capitalism works. Funny how the real winners are the scum that are complaining about it. I don't suggest doing anything unless you don't want to sell anything on eBay anymore. Which I've never wanted to do.

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I want to prosecute her but yes, I'm more concerned about it affecting my ability to sell on eBay where I've been making some decent money. I've read numerous stories about eBay suspending accounts in similar situations. This criminal has a convincing story with elaborate detail and eBay may not want to risk me selling if they think her story could be true.

veloman said:

I want to prosecute her but yes, I'm more concerned about it affecting my ability to sell on eBay where I've been making some decent money. I've read numerous stories about eBay suspending accounts in similar situations. This criminal has a convincing story with elaborate detail and eBay may not want to risk me selling if they think her story could be true.

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I have been selling on eBay since June 2001. In all that time I have only had only 2 real bad experiences with buyers. I contacted the eBay dispute resolution center both times and reported them. In one of the cases the buyer gave me a negative feedback and I got eBay to removed it because it was inaccurate. I would contact eBay and report her to the eBay resolution department if for nothing else to help some other eBay seller when she try's it again. If your seller dashboard says your performance is above standard and you have 100% feedback, (or close to it) eBay isn't going to stop you from selling there. (check out evassemble's positive feedback...87% !!! ) With eBay it is all about the money and if you are making them money you will be able to sell there. As for the lost money on this deal, write it off as a business loss if you can, and move on. If you really want to prove your point, make a video of what a short really does to a zip cord of that gauge. A real short will either melt all the insulation off the wires as they get as hot as a toaster oven heating element, or it will pop the cord where the wires are frayed and only a few wires are carrying the total current. In any case, the cord will not fall apart like it was 100 years old and had leprosy.



Edit: Also, if the cord you replaced looks as good as new, sell the unit as refurbished for about 90% of a new price so you can keep from loosing all the money on that deal.

Good advice, thanks guys.
I ended up reporting her to ebay.

You use the threat of prosecution to get her letter admitting the truth, then submit that to Ebay.

I once had a competitor arrange to have a ton of cow manure delivered to my front yard. I decided it was necessary for that individual to sincerely and deeply regret his action. He did.

You can just eat it, or you can decide to take action. Five minutes to write the letter. Less than an hour to research jurisdictions and applicable laws, so you can cite them specifically. Much less hassle of this type in the future, and satisfaction that lasts a very long time.

If helps if you have learned how to be mean and nasty, and like to read law books.

If you just want everybody to think you are a nice guy, you are going to get screwed a lot, and not in the good way.