I bought a "40MHZ DDS FUNCTION SIGNAL GENERATOR DIY KIT SPI I2C MASTER SLAVE PULSE GENERATOR" on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111149124406Issues so far....
1) Listing states: "Item location: Seattle, Washington, United States" But the item shipped from Israel.
I specifically selected that vendor because he claimed he was shipping from the USA.
Now that by itself wouldn't be significant except when combined with the other issues....
2) Listing states: "This module includes: An AC/DC to USB power converter (220V to 5V) to allow you use power outlet.
No power supply, cable, or anything remotely resembling powering method included. No mention of why it was not included.
Now that by itself wouldn't be a show-stopper, either as I have plenty of power sources already I don't need another one.
Furthermore, no mention in subsequent communication even acknowledging the discrepancy.
3) Listing states: "Kit Features: Assembly drawing, and components (BOM) list for easy kit assembly"
Again, not included. And no mention of why it wasn't included.
He offers a link to the operation manual, which I downloaded. But zero kit assembly documents.
Impossible to correctly assemble the PC board without
4) Seller sent me a "pre-emptive" email message essentially warning me about poor service, To wit:
Hi dear friend,
Thanks for your purchase.
Have you received the item that we sent to you? Are you satisfied with it?
If you have any problems, please feel free to contact me.
I'm writing to you because sometime items may arrive ealier than usual.
Your satisfaction is the most important thing to us. Please leave 5 star for us if you like the item.
And if you have any dissatisfaction, please feel free to contact me in advance before you left any feedback for us. The reputation is extremely important for us. Your negative feedback will be very harmful to us and will not solve any problems.
I promise I'll always be here for any help.
Hope you can get the item smoothly and like it.
Thanks and have a good day.
5) After complaining that two months after ordering and receiving the kit, there was still no evidence that he ever sent the promised documents either by snail mail nor by email. I emailed him and complained about the missing power supply and the missing assembly documents and he replied:
"Hi, Please don't be worry, i sell that item during 3 years, and i sent the assembly instructions to my customers in the past by mail, but follow their request i started to send the instructions by e-mail, they said that is more comfortable way to assembly the kits. I am here to help you, so please send me your direct e-mail address, and i will send you all relevant docs there. About the shipping. When you ordered that item, it was out of stock in my Seattle branch, so to avoid you the waiting time, i decided to send it to you from my Israel is branch. For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Sorry for any inconvenience. Pavel."
6) So now, several days after that response, I have had no subsequent communication from the seller at all.
He claims (if I am interpreting his poor English properly) that he has been selling these for 3 years.
Yet, now, two months after ordering the item, all I get from him is excuses and hand-waving, but none of the promised documents.
Since I attempted to give him the benefit of the doubt, I missed the deadline, so "This item is not covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee."
I should have looked at the evidence more carefully before I ordered something from this person.
He has a history of only 23 feedbacks, and a rating of 87.5% positive responses.
Another person also gave negative feedback and complained about the item being shipped from Israel after being listed as coming from Seattle, WA, USA
So it's not as if the deception hasn't already been brought to his attention.
Now, the kit itself looks reasonably nice. And I don't have any significant worries about the quality, etc.
Of course, without the BOM list, I also have no way to inventory the included parts to see if anything is missing.
This item appears to be sold by several different people on Ebay.
Anybody know someone who has got one of these and could send me a copy of the kit assembly docs?
Indeed, ordering most anything on Ebay is a gamble. But it has slightly better odds than buying a lottery ticket.
I would never dream of ordering anything from this vendor ever again.
I have no expectation that there is any effective way of alerting Ebay of this questionable vendor.