New Mastech MS8218 arrived......BROKEN!

[mskobier]

All,
     A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a new DMM. I ordered one of the MastechS 8218 as it had the specifications I wanted at a reasonable price. I know it's not a Fluke, but I could live with the limitations. There are at least two variations of this meter on the market. The one with the optical interface and RS232 (DB9 connector) and one with built in USB interface. I chose the USB version. Anyway, It arrived about when expected, wrapped in two plastic shipping bags. The shipping company must have played football with it as the box inside the bags was pretty mangled (crushed/dented/torn). I was not happy at this point. Anyway, I proceeded to open the package and inspect the meter. Fortunately, it has a padded carrying case, which appeared to protect it from obvious physical damage. So I inserted the batteries, and gave it a test. Well, it did at least work on the dc voltage setting, but that was about all. It would not measure any AC voltages, resistances, and when trying to perform a continuity test it continuously indicated the probes were shorted together, even when the probes were not plugged in. I was very disappointed. So contact the seller and arrange to return it for a refund. So now the wait. Of course, since I am sending it back to China, I am a little concerned that it will not make it back to the seller and I will be out my purchase price plus the expensive return shipping charges. Hopefully all will turn out ok.

Now for the plus. Upon inspection, the meter did look every bit as good as the you tube video review showed. However, they have replaced the little plastic battery compartment cover clips as shown in the video clip with a pair of machine screws. Looks like a much better battery cover attachment method. The second, no longer do you need a RS232 to USB adapter to connect the meter to your computer. It is actually has a built in USB port on the meter, and came with the mini USB to USB cable. OF course, I did not get a chance to test it.

Anyway, I figured the group would like to hear about this unfortunate turn of events.

Mitch

[Fraser]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Did you send the unit back to China with tracking ? I hope so as without tracking there is a good chance that is the last you will hear of it    The risk of buying from China is that the equipment will be faulty and very expensive to return. This is especially serious if the equipment is expensive and without Worldwide support. I have bought a lot of items from China over the years and have no complaints. I may have been lucky but I have had more issues with poor packing and associated damage when buying within the UK !

I hope you receive your refund or a replacement meter.

All the Best

Aurora

[retiredcaps]

Did you send the unit back to China with tracking ? I hope so as without tracking there is a good chance that is the last you will hear of it    The risk of buying from China is that the equipment will be faulty and very expensive to return. This is especially serious if the equipment is expensive and without Worldwide support.

I had to return a Fluke 87IV to an ebay seller and sent it to the seller without tracking, in order to save her money as she said she would pay return shipping costs, and of course, it never arrived. 

[retiredcaps]

I ordered one of the MastechS 8218 as it had the specifications I wanted at a reasonable price.

Did you see this Sinometer MS8218 on Amazon for $100 + free shipping?

http://mjlorton.com/forum/index.php?topic=108.msg5206#msg5206

It doesn't have the USB, but you get it for $100 USD + free shipping + legendary Amazon customer service for USA residents.

[retiredcaps]

Looks like you bought this one at $180 + free ship?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171548445776

[mskobier]

Yes, I did see the Sinometer. Wasn't sure if it was the exact same meter. It appears to be an older version, but who knows. Yes that is the one I purchased from that seller. I did do the return stuff through Ebay, so hopefully I have a bit of protection. Hopefully it works out. I did like the $99.00 price tag of the one through Amazon, but I wanted the USB interface. Of course, I'll probably never use it now that I know just how limited the software is for it.

There are a number of clones of that particular meter (or is it a clone of something else?) on the net. IF you do a search 50000 count DMM USB, quite a number of meters come up. Most, other than color, look physically the same.

Mitch

[Fraser]

@retiredcaps,,

Sadly it is not just buyers who can be dishonest on ebay. Some sellers receive returned goods and if not tracked, they know you cannot prove to that they received it and so claim loss in transit and your loss. Paypal insist on tracking or they disallow any claim that follows.

Some sellers refuse to pay the return postage even when an item is faulty. I will not bore you with details but I had to send an item back to a really nasty seller and she refused to pay postage, insisted the obviously used item was new and then stated that it never arrived. I noted several buyers telling the same story in the feedback over the following weeks. Ebay refunded me in full and also gave me a £5 voucher for reporting her obvious dishonourable behaviour. 

Sadly you need to track items when asking for a refund or exchange, that is the only safe option.

Aurora

[retiredcaps]

There are a number of clones of that particular meter (or is it a clone of something else?) on the net. IF you do a search 50000 count DMM USB, quite a number of meters come up. Most, other than color, look physically the same.

Mastech is likely the OEM/ODM for all the clones.

Anyway, I hope it works out for you.

[mskobier]

I too hope it works out. I took great pain with the addressing (large letters) in the proper format for that country. There is a lot more to a China address that one in the US. Like I said, It has all been done through Ebay so that gives me some hope. I have purchased a lot of items from China, and with the exception of a few IC's that were bad (refund promptly received), its been a positive experience. Hopefully this does not change that. If it does turn out sour, I'll post a link so other members can see which seller to avoid doing business with. This particular seller is not a newcomer. He does have a number of negative feedbacks, but has over 300,000 successful auctions. I would think with that history, he should be reputable.

Mitch

[Rick Law]

All,
     A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a new DMM. I ordered one of the MastechS 8218.
... So now the wait. Of course, since I am sending it back to China, I am a little concerned that it will not make it back to the seller and I will be out my purchase price plus the expensive return shipping charges. Hopefully all will turn out ok.
...Anyway, I figured the group would like to hear about this unfortunate turn of events.

Mitch

Sorry to hear about that.
Most frustrating.

Best of luck!  Perhaps (let's hope) this one happens to be one of those honest sellers.

[IconicPCB]

Same instrument is offered for USD140.-- at

http://gsmserver.com/item/electrical-value-meters/digital-multimeter-mastech-ms8218/

sadly out of stock.

Next closest items

http://gsmserver.com/item/electrical-value-meters/digital-multimeter-mastech-ms8218/#analogues

[mskobier]

All,
    Well it took quite a while, but I finally received a refund earlier this week for the purchase price of the MS8218. However, at this point, I am still out the return shipping charges. I emailed the seller and reminded him that he had stated in one of the messages we exchanged that he would cover the return shipping charges. I received an email from him stating that I would be receiving a refund to my PayPal account. I have not yet received that refund, but at least I did get a refund for the initial price. So far, other than slow, I am not disappointed with this seller. If I actually receive the shipping charges refund, I will be quite pleased. So as it stands now, this seller appears to be quite reputable. I'll post on this topic again if I don't receive the refund in a reasonable amount of time.

I did end up ordering the RS232 version from Amazon for close to half the price. Besides the price difference, with Amazon, their warranty system works fairly well, and they will send a shipping label covering the cost of return shipping. Hopefully I do not have to do that again.

Mitch