eBay Alert!

BobWitte

Member
I'm posting my thread about problems with an eBay vendor of alleged engine protection bars made to fit the CTX700 fairing bikes. I'm quoting it here to benefit users that don't read the other forum:

Get yourself a fresh cup of coffee, this is going to be long!!

Near the end of July I decided to try a set of engine "crash" bars that had recently appeared on eBay. All of a sudden there were about a dozen vendors touting bars that looked very much like the Fehling Protection Bars I bought in Jan 2017. Much to my delight, all but one of them said they had a version for the Fairing CTX700's!

As documented elsewhere in this thread, the German Fehling Protection Bars were designed only for the naked model CTX's. Ever the optimist, I bought a set to see if they could be adapted. My initial observations were that the bars wouldn't fit without some serious modifications including some cutting/welding. All I wanted these bars for was as mounting points for my Ooogah horns and for a place to install a set of highway cruising foot pegs. I didn't want to mess with it then and sold the set to a Forum member in NY, who himself figured what it would take to modify them, re-sold the bars instead of doing them.

Being cautious, I messaged the Seller (UK_direct_wholesaler) and specifically asked for confirmation that they had a version for the CTX700 with fairing. At this point I'll just quote all the correspondence between the seller and myself:

Bob Witte: Do these bars fit the Fairing Models of the CTX?

UK_direct_wholesaler: plz tell us your car model and years

Bob Witte: Your response makes no sense. We are not talking about cars, but a Honda CTX700 motorcycle. I have a 2014 6 speed manual trans with a full fairing (it is normally considered as the CTX700). So again, do these engine bars fit my motorcycle?

UK_direct_wholesaler: Sorry, my colleague sent this email to you by mistake. We checked your motor model with our supplier and glad to tell you this will fit for your bike. Hope you could order it soon.

Based upon their positive response to my direct question, I ordered the bars the end of July.

Bob Witte: My order finally arrived yesterday. It was poorly packed with the bars able to rattle around because there was not proper packing to prevent movement. There was no instructions sent even though your listing photos show what should be instructions(Really??). A single sheet with just pictures of the bars installed on a CTX could have done the job! If these bars are powder coated, it is that typical cheap-ass Chinese junk that passes for true powder coating and clearly won't hold up very long (places arrived chipped and one of the black bolt threads was already rusted!).

The worst problem is the deception of your listing which led me to think they would fit a fairing version of the CTX700. The listing asks me if I have a naked (the CTX700N) or the fairing version (CTX700). After asking you in the message quoted below, you confirmed it would fit my fairing. However, your supplier is either incompetent, since they sent me the version designed for the naked CTX700N or they are dishonest and lied to you and don't have a version built to fit the fairing bike. What was sent me is not what I ordered. This is in fact, the design for the naked bikes and cannot fit without major cutting, welding, bending bracktes, repaint, extra spacers, longer bolts.

Okay before I get eBay and PayPal involved, here's what I think should be done to make things right:

1) If this was a shipping mistake and you actually have a set available that was built to bolt on to a faired CTX700, send me one of those sets as a replacement. Since this would be your mistake, when you provide me with a pre-paid return shipping label I'll be happy to re-pack them properly and send you the naked set back while I await the correct product. No harm, no foul in this case. A five star feedback would be earned.

2) Just so you know, it was a bit hard to tell from the pictures in your listing, but once I actually saw the bars sent me it was immediately confirmed that they were just a Chinese rip-off of the German Fehling naked design (and very much substandard to the real thing). I know this to be a fact since I bought the Fehling bars a year ago and re-sold them because of all the modifications that would be required, so I'm quite familar with what they looked like.

3) If there is no model with the changes from the naked version to allow it to fit the faired CTX700, then I expect a full refund. including freight and if you want these returned, again I'll be happy to ship them back on your pre-paid shipping label.

Please share your thoughts on this whole situation.

UK_direct_wholesaler: Dear friend, Sorry to hear that. Could you plz send us some photo to show the problems? We will checked it and solved to you.

Bob Witte: You make me assemble your product and take pictures, yet you sent me no pictures or instructions to begin with. I have a physical handicap, so it wasn't easy for me to do. I've spent about 4.5 hours working on getting you the information you requested and a couple of hours writing all this up. So your response better be a good one and a fast one (my bike is torn apart right now from all this). I had to disassemble all of my upper body panels and several of the front lower engine panels to install the bars. I don't have a lift but I do have artificial knees that make it very difficult to get up and down. And without any instructions or pictures, I had to do a lot of that since everything was trial & error finding the right positions for the brackets. The end result is absolute confirmation that you sold me bars are designed only to fit CTX700N naked version, and not the fairing model that was listed and ordered.

The attached annotated photos of the left side will show exactly what is wrong with these bars that prevent a proper install on a fairing CTX. The tube with the welded two part clamp on the left side needs to be 19-20mm longer and the corresponding tube for the clamp on the right side needs another 12-13mm added to it. Both of them could use an 8 to 10 degree bend halfway up the rearmost mounting point on both sides as well as 10 or 15mm spacers on the lower engine clamps.

I would very much like to have you send me what I actually ordered. If (as I suspect) bars made to fit the fairing bikes do not exist, then come get this Chinese junk and refund the full price I paid because of your false and/or misleading eBay listing. I'm not interested in "fixing" these bars. I'm aware of what's involved to do so around here and will easily cost more that I paid for your defective product in the first place. Paypal and eBay will be called in by me if there is anymore dancing around on this issue.

UK_direct_wholesaler: Could you plz try to fix it in your local shop? We would like to give you 15% refund on this order as compensation. (No further response since the 09/03/2018)

Bob Witte: You are offering only $22?? Stop wasting my time! I've been in the motorcylce parts manufacturing business on and off since 2007. I already told you I'm well aware of the kind of pricing that powder coating would be and what the welding might cost. The welding would easily be upwards of $100 and the powder could easily be $60 for the pair. So nothing less than a full refund of $149.95 will do. Otherwise, I'm going to PayPal and eBay for their intervention.

It is my position that since I was sent what I DID NOT order, I should be refunded my full purchase price and that since this situation is entirely their fault, the eBay vendor should be responsible for the cost of shipping the defective product back to their location of choice.

What is the next step in this process?. Thanks for your consideration in this dispute.

(This is the end of the narratives between the vendor and myself, so far.)

The Seller has until the 11th to resolve this request. If as I expect, there's no response by them, then eBay will get involved. Based up on the circumstances involved, and eBay's published guarentee in cases like this, I expect full satisfaction.

Since the dozen eBay sellers featuring these Chinese knock-off bars use the same text and photographs (and they all appear to have started with only two sets), I suspect there is only one factory producing them. Even if you have the naked CTX and the bars would fit, I would steer you to the Germans. If I get my refund, I will likely buy another set of the Fehling bars and modify them to fit. The German quality is that much better that it is worth the 30% extra the Fehling bars cost. I have every reason to believe that the bars shown in their photos could be the Fehling bars they used to copy! Note the printed instructions shown in several photos yet I got no instructions and many of the listings even say there are no instructions. Hmmmm! :confused:
>:)

Then on 09/06/2018 I further posted the following:

This outfit I'm dealing with could very well be two guys in a thatched roof mud hut with a solar powered laptop for communication. Almost every time they respond it is like they never heard from me before!!:mad: Oh, and by the way, although their eBay ID is UK_direct_wholesaler they are further from the UK than they are from me here in FL! These clowns are actually in China themselves.

Here's last nights message and my reply:

UK_direct_wholesaler: May I have your bike model and year plz? Plz send us some photos to show the problem. Sorry for the troubles.

Bob Witte: I already told you I had the fairing model known as the CTX700 back in July and have confirmed that to you several times in our correspondence!

I also sent you four annotated photos proving that what you sent me last month is the version of the bars designed for the CTX700N (aka, naked model). NOT my bike.

Make no mistake, I want what I paid for. So, I expect no further delay from you to either (1) refund the $149.95 I paid you for the wrong product you sent, or (2) you ship me immediately the correct version of these bars.

Finally, I fully expect you to pay for and arrange shipment of your defective product back to China. I will re-pack them, but you must send me the pre-paid shipping label.

Here's the annotated photographs I mentioned above:

BobWitte#2.jpg

BobWitte#3.jpg

BobWitte#1.jpg

BobWitte#4.jpg

I'll keep you all posted of course.:cool:
 
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pipster326

New member
I'm posting my thread about problems with an eBay vendor of alleged engine protection bars made to fit the CTX700 fairing bikes. I'm quoting it here to benefit users that don't read the other forum:

Get yourself a fresh cup of coffee, this is going to be long!!

Near the end of July I decided to try a set of engine "crash" bars that had recently appeared on eBay. All of a sudden there were about a dozen vendors touting bars that looked very much like the Fehling Protection Bars I bought in Jan 2017. Much to my delight, all but one of them said they had a version for the Fairing CTX700's!

As documented elsewhere in this thread, the German Fehling Protection Bars were designed only for the naked model CTX's. Ever the optimist, I bought a set to see if they could be adapted. My initial observations were that the bars wouldn't fit without some serious modifications including some cutting/welding. All I wanted these bars for was as mounting points for my Ooogah horns and for a place to install a set of highway cruising foot pegs. I didn't want to mess with it then and sold the set to a Forum member in NY, who himself figured what it would take to modify them, re-sold the bars instead of doing them.

Being cautious, I messaged the Seller (UK_direct_wholesaler) and specifically asked for confirmation that they had a version for the CTX700 with fairing. At this point I'll just quote all the correspondence between the seller and myself:

Bob Witte: Do these bars fit the Fairing Models of the CTX?

UK_direct_wholesaler: plz tell us your car model and years

Bob Witte: Your response makes no sense. We are not talking about cars, but a Honda CTX700 motorcycle. I have a 2014 6 speed manual trans with a full fairing (it is normally considered as the CTX700). So again, do these engine bars fit my motorcycle?

UK_direct_wholesaler: Sorry, my colleague sent this email to you by mistake. We checked your motor model with our supplier and glad to tell you this will fit for your bike. Hope you could order it soon.

Based upon their positive response to my direct question, I ordered the bars the end of July.

Bob Witte: My order finally arrived yesterday. It was poorly packed with the bars able to rattle around because there was not proper packing to prevent movement. There was no instructions sent even though your listing photos show what should be instructions(Really??). A single sheet with just pictures of the bars installed on a CTX could have done the job! If these bars are powder coated, it is that typical cheap-ass Chinese junk that passes for true powder coating and clearly won't hold up very long (places arrived chipped and one of the black bolt threads was already rusted!).

The worst problem is the deception of your listing which led me to think they would fit a fairing version of the CTX700. The listing asks me if I have a naked (the CTX700N) or the fairing version (CTX700). After asking you in the message quoted below, you confirmed it would fit my fairing. However, your supplier is either incompetent, since they sent me the version designed for the naked CTX700N or they are dishonest and lied to you and don't have a version built to fit the fairing bike. What was sent me is not what I ordered. This is in fact, the design for the naked bikes and cannot fit without major cutting, welding, bending bracktes, repaint, extra spacers, longer bolts.

Okay before I get eBay and PayPal involved, here's what I think should be done to make things right:

1) If this was a shipping mistake and you actually have a set available that was built to bolt on to a faired CTX700, send me one of those sets as a replacement. Since this would be your mistake, when you provide me with a pre-paid return shipping label I'll be happy to re-pack them properly and send you the naked set back while I await the correct product. No harm, no foul in this case. A five star feedback would be earned.

2) Just so you know, it was a bit hard to tell from the pictures in your listing, but once I actually saw the bars sent me it was immediately confirmed that they were just a Chinese rip-off of the German Fehling naked design (and very much substandard to the real thing). I know this to be a fact since I bought the Fehling bars a year ago and re-sold them because of all the modifications that would be required, so I'm quite familar with what they looked like.

3) If there is no model with the changes from the naked version to allow it to fit the faired CTX700, then I expect a full refund. including freight and if you want these returned, again I'll be happy to ship them back on your pre-paid shipping label.

Please share your thoughts on this whole situation.

UK_direct_wholesaler: Dear friend, Sorry to hear that. Could you plz send us some photo to show the problems? We will checked it and solved to you.

Bob Witte: You make me assemble your product and take pictures, yet you sent me no pictures or instructions to begin with. I have a physical handicap, so it wasn't easy for me to do. I've spent about 4.5 hours working on getting you the information you requested and a couple of hours writing all this up. So your response better be a good one and a fast one (my bike is torn apart right now from all this). I had to disassemble all of my upper body panels and several of the front lower engine panels to install the bars. I don't have a lift but I do have artificial knees that make it very difficult to get up and down. And without any instructions or pictures, I had to do a lot of that since everything was trial & error finding the right positions for the brackets. The end result is absolute confirmation that you sold me bars are designed only to fit CTX700N naked version, and not the fairing model that was listed and ordered.

The attached annotated photos of the left side will show exactly what is wrong with these bars that prevent a proper install on a fairing CTX. The tube with the welded two part clamp on the left side needs to be 19-20mm longer and the corresponding tube for the clamp on the right side needs another 12-13mm added to it. Both of them could use an 8 to 10 degree bend halfway up the rearmost mounting point on both sides as well as 10 or 15mm spacers on the lower engine clamps.

I would very much like to have you send me what I actually ordered. If (as I suspect) bars made to fit the fairing bikes do not exist, then come get this Chinese junk and refund the full price I paid because of your false and/or misleading eBay listing. I'm not interested in "fixing" these bars. I'm aware of what's involved to do so around here and will easily cost more that I paid for your defective product in the first place. Paypal and eBay will be called in by me if there is anymore dancing around on this issue.

UK_direct_wholesaler: Could you plz try to fix it in your local shop? We would like to give you 15% refund on this order as compensation. (No further response since the 09/03/2018)

Bob Witte: You are offering only $22?? Stop wasting my time! I've been in the motorcylce parts manufacturing business on and off since 2007. I already told you I'm well aware of the kind of pricing that powder coating would be and what the welding might cost. The welding would easily be upwards of $100 and the powder could easily be $60 for the pair. So nothing less than a full refund of $149.95 will do. Otherwise, I'm going to PayPal and eBay for their intervention.

It is my position that since I was sent what I DID NOT order, I should be refunded my full purchase price and that since this situation is entirely their fault, the eBay vendor should be responsible for the cost of shipping the defective product back to their location of choice.

What is the next step in this process?. Thanks for your consideration in this dispute.

(This is the end of the narratives between the vendor and myself, so far.)

The Seller has until the 11th to resolve this request. If as I expect, there's no response by them, then eBay will get involved. Based up on the circumstances involved, and eBay's published guarentee in cases like this, I expect full satisfaction.

Since the dozen eBay sellers featuring these Chinese knock-off bars use the same text and photographs (and they all appear to have started with only two sets), I suspect there is only one factory producing them. Even if you have the naked CTX and the bars would fit, I would steer you to the Germans. If I get my refund, I will likely buy another set of the Fehling bars and modify them to fit. The German quality is that much better that it is worth the 30% extra the Fehling bars cost. I have every reason to believe that the bars shown in their photos could be the Fehling bars they used to copy! Note the printed instructions shown in several photos yet I got no instructions and many of the listings even say there are no instructions. Hmmmm! :confused:
>:)

Then on 09/06/2018 I further posted the following:

This outfit I'm dealing with could very well be two guys in a thatched roof mud hut with a solar powered laptop for communication. Almost every time they respond it is like they never heard from me before!!:mad: Oh, and by the way, although their eBay ID is UK_direct_wholesaler they are further from the UK than they are from me here in FL! These clowns are actually in China themselves.

Here's last nights message and my reply:

UK_direct_wholesaler: May I have your bike model and year plz? Plz send us some photos to show the problem. Sorry for the troubles.

Bob Witte: I already told you I had the fairing model known as the CTX700 back in July and have confirmed that to you several times in our correspondence!

I also sent you four annotated photos proving that what you sent me last month is the version of the bars designed for the CTX700N (aka, naked model). NOT my bike.

Make no mistake, I want what I paid for. So, I expect no further delay from you to either (1) refund the $149.95 I paid you for the wrong product you sent, or (2) you ship me immediately the correct version of these bars.

Finally, I fully expect you to pay for and arrange shipment of your defective product back to China. I will re-pack them, but you must send me the pre-paid shipping label.

Here's the annotated photographs I mentioned above:

View attachment 1111

View attachment 1112

View attachment 1113

View attachment 1114

I'll keep you all posted of course.:cool:





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

BobWitte

Member
I've danced around with these Chinese thugs at UK_direct_wholesaler for the last several days. I even talked to the eBay conflict resolution folks twice this week, who by the way, have been very helpful and have clearly been responsible for goosing these seller jerks. The eBay folks made it clear that I would eventually get my $149.95 back and that I'd also get the return shipping I paid for today to FedEx the Chinese Junk to some warehouse in Illinois. I'll issue a final report once I have all my money back.

I've already ordered a set of the Fehling bars that should arrive by the end of next week. I decided that if I was going to have to modify the 700N version bars to work with my fairing, that I'd much rather do it to the genuine article. Having owned both, it was clear to me that the German product was vastly superior to the Chinese Junk stuff. This is especially true when even at retail, the Fehling bars are no more than a couple dozen bucks more expensive than the Chinese rip-off clones. And actually several of the other Chinese sellers are actually charging even more than Fehling!:confused:

The modification I'll be making is somewhat uncomplicated and should prove quite affordable. I try to do a good job on the pictorial and narrative steps to follow. Watch for it.

Okay, Step 1 has now been accomplished. The seller returned my initial full purchase price of $149.95 which includes shipping. What remains to be seen is if I get the $23 cost of the FedEx to ship their product to Illinois.

One more step to come....:)
 
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