vicestan: not a good seller?
08-10-06, 08:09 AM
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vicestan: not a good seller?
i've already spoken to DaveGS4 about this. i wasn't going to say anything publicly, but because of vicestan's lack of response i'm forced to post here as a warning to others.
I bought a set of ls430 conversion headlights from vicestan back in june for almost $900 on the classifieds, but the post has since been deleted by the moderators because of sponsorship issues i'm not involved with. my communication with vicestan was through PM here. i had bought from him before almost a year ago and that went well, so i didn't hesitate to do business with him again.
there were a number of delays, and i didn't get the lights until the end of june. PM communication had been good with him. but when i took delivery, what i got had some internal damage to one of the lights (may have been caused by shipping), some quality control issues, missing parts, and some electrical problems (broken plug, exposed wiring, missing bulb, etc.). because of some of these issues, 2 professional installers i went to locally with the lights refused to put them into my car. i PM'd vicestan and he said to ship them back and he would get them fixed or replaced... if it was still not satisfactory, i would get a refund.
i shipped them back to vicestan at the beginning of july at my expense, and he PM'd me confirming they had arrived soon after, and he was working on fixing them ASAP because he was leaving the country on holidays in august. but then problems arose... he had a car accident, the car was totalled, his dog died, he had to go to court because of the accident, he had login issues on CL... i tried to be understanding, but by the end of august i wasn't getting much in the way of a progress report on the lights, and my requests for at least pictures of them were not met.
by the end of june, my PM's went unanswered because of his login issues. i resorted to email instead. i got some late replies back, with the last one being almost 2 weeks ago, saying that he had to push his holiday to september and pics were attached, but there were no pics. after that, all email communication ceased.
i have refrained from calling him because long-distance is expensive for me (i'm in canada), but i was left with no other options so i started phoning him, but i never got a live reply back.
i contacted DaveGS4 and explained the situation, and he has tried to contact vicestan but was also met with no response. dave also could not find any login issues from his side. i did a search online and found out that SoCAL_VIP is also having problems with his purchase as well (i will let him explain that if he chooses). i also found an old post from end of last year by Alexus_Kia who had problems with vicestan as well, but the post was locked and did not mention that kia had to take action with her credit card company and paypal to get him to finally respond.
because of this news, i've been forced to take action to protect myself. paypal so far hasn't been too good to me, and gave me the bad news that the paypal account he told me to send money to belongs to someone else. but i did use a credit card through paypal to make this purchase so i will have to do the chargeback route.
so here i am... i've used up a borrowed long distance calling card and i have to go buy another... not sure if i should even bother and just let the credit card company and paypal deal with him
I bought a set of ls430 conversion headlights from vicestan back in june for almost $900 on the classifieds, but the post has since been deleted by the moderators because of sponsorship issues i'm not involved with. my communication with vicestan was through PM here. i had bought from him before almost a year ago and that went well, so i didn't hesitate to do business with him again.
there were a number of delays, and i didn't get the lights until the end of june. PM communication had been good with him. but when i took delivery, what i got had some internal damage to one of the lights (may have been caused by shipping), some quality control issues, missing parts, and some electrical problems (broken plug, exposed wiring, missing bulb, etc.). because of some of these issues, 2 professional installers i went to locally with the lights refused to put them into my car. i PM'd vicestan and he said to ship them back and he would get them fixed or replaced... if it was still not satisfactory, i would get a refund.
i shipped them back to vicestan at the beginning of july at my expense, and he PM'd me confirming they had arrived soon after, and he was working on fixing them ASAP because he was leaving the country on holidays in august. but then problems arose... he had a car accident, the car was totalled, his dog died, he had to go to court because of the accident, he had login issues on CL... i tried to be understanding, but by the end of august i wasn't getting much in the way of a progress report on the lights, and my requests for at least pictures of them were not met.
by the end of june, my PM's went unanswered because of his login issues. i resorted to email instead. i got some late replies back, with the last one being almost 2 weeks ago, saying that he had to push his holiday to september and pics were attached, but there were no pics. after that, all email communication ceased.
i have refrained from calling him because long-distance is expensive for me (i'm in canada), but i was left with no other options so i started phoning him, but i never got a live reply back.
i contacted DaveGS4 and explained the situation, and he has tried to contact vicestan but was also met with no response. dave also could not find any login issues from his side. i did a search online and found out that SoCAL_VIP is also having problems with his purchase as well (i will let him explain that if he chooses). i also found an old post from end of last year by Alexus_Kia who had problems with vicestan as well, but the post was locked and did not mention that kia had to take action with her credit card company and paypal to get him to finally respond.
because of this news, i've been forced to take action to protect myself. paypal so far hasn't been too good to me, and gave me the bad news that the paypal account he told me to send money to belongs to someone else. but i did use a credit card through paypal to make this purchase so i will have to do the chargeback route.
so here i am... i've used up a borrowed long distance calling card and i have to go buy another... not sure if i should even bother and just let the credit card company and paypal deal with him
Last edited by Benjamin T; 12-20-06 at 08:44 AM.
08-10-06, 08:18 AM
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I bought a steering wheel from vicestan around the end of June. No problems with the transaction at all. Good communication, recieved tracking number quickly, and got the item as described. Sorry to hear about your transaction, but it sounds like the guy might just be going thru some stuff.
08-10-06, 08:26 AM
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that's what i thought. like i said before, i tried to be understanding, but the sudden loss in communication, along with the hard deadlines set by the credit card company and paypal has left me with no choice
i hope this will work out...
i hope this will work out...
08-10-06, 08:33 AM
#4
I bought some OEM HID headlights from him a little over a year ago
When I received them, they had broken mounting tabs.
Via PM, he stated they were in perfect shape. When I questioned him about the tabs, he stated I didn't ask him specifically about the tabs thus he didn't feel the need to inform me. His reply was also that I should have seen in the pic.
I've never seen GS headlights out of a car - so even if I saw a picture, I couldn't tell you what was missing or not
I felt I got taken advantage of.
I coughed it up to lesson learned and am more careful now
I'm sure you'll get your item. I don't think he'll rip someone off intentionally. But, I wasn't surprised about the condition of the parts you received. Good luck
edit:
He did try to make it right, by sending me another non-lexus ballast. It didn't fit in the lexus housing - but at least he followed through and shipped it to me. For what it's worth - he did that.
When I received them, they had broken mounting tabs.
Via PM, he stated they were in perfect shape. When I questioned him about the tabs, he stated I didn't ask him specifically about the tabs thus he didn't feel the need to inform me. His reply was also that I should have seen in the pic.
I've never seen GS headlights out of a car - so even if I saw a picture, I couldn't tell you what was missing or not
I felt I got taken advantage of.
I coughed it up to lesson learned and am more careful now
I'm sure you'll get your item. I don't think he'll rip someone off intentionally. But, I wasn't surprised about the condition of the parts you received. Good luck
edit:
He did try to make it right, by sending me another non-lexus ballast. It didn't fit in the lexus housing - but at least he followed through and shipped it to me. For what it's worth - he did that.
Last edited by runyun; 08-10-06 at 11:14 AM.
08-10-06, 10:48 AM
#5
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And another one!!!!
Well, I wasn't going to post about my transaction with Vicestan, thinking this was just a one time deal gone bad but it seems to be a reoccuring problem! 
I also had a negative experience with Vicestan in reference to my OEM HID's(Sport Design) that I purchased from him! Upon me sending $600.00 next day service to him for a set of HID's he did send me pictures of a set of HID's that I would be recieving in a timely manner through DHL! Well several weeks went by and no sign of a package arriving!
I called Vicestan up and asked him what was going on and he told me he had shipped the lights and provided me with a tracking #. Well the package was placed to be sent but it wasn't the day he said it was! After waiting a couple more weeks, still no package! 
I call him and DHL several times and neither could tell me what happened to the package! After a few day's DHL tells the both of us that the package was shipped, but has now been lost in transit and they can't find it! At this point I'm happy to know the lights are on the way ,but disappointed that they got lost! A couple of weeks go by and DHL can't find the package and request Vicestan to file a lost claim! In the process of filing the lost claim the package arrives to my house with the boxes damaged and product(HID's) broken during shipping,or atleast that's what I thought! The auto leveling motors on both backs were broken off with glue around the motor of one and a tab broken off of one with glue around it! I found it strange that DHL would go through the hassle of trying to repair these parts without any knowlede of what to fix! My car was non HID equipped from the begining anyway ,so the motors would have been no good to me other than keeping the lights at a constant level postion! After the package arrives I call DHL and Vicestan and advise them of the condition of the lights and damage with DHL requesting me to file a damage claim and for Vicestan to cancel his lost claim! I initially planned to file a claim to get the maximum for the lights knowing that they were a rare find and it would be almost impossible to get a second set! The dealer wants $1300.00 per side for these if they could find them anywhere! Conversation went back and forth with me and Vicestan about the damage, claims and the possibilty of trying to salvage the lights with replacements that was almost impossible,but never a portion of a refund was offered! Understanding that the lights were rare and that they were hard to find I wanted to salvage the lights and decided to keep them! I didn't expect the whole payment in return,but felt atleast for him to meet me with a percentage of what it was going to cost me to salvage the lights! I never filed the claim and decided to keep the lights and chalked it up as a lesson learned! I don't have money to throw around and really didn't care about the money spent $600.00, it was the principle of doing business! Vicestan offered me steering wheels and other HID's in return,but nothing was ever agreed upon and I left it alone! I've spoke with him about the negative transaction and decided to move on and not do business again! I never even planned to do a write up about this incident, until I read this thread expressing the same damage complaints from this seller! To end this whole thing, I kept the lights and was able to get them salvaged through Mike(Tiguy99),after spending a couple hundred more dollars! Would I buy from this seller again, NO! I'm happy with the lights but that's about it! This whole transaction was ugly for me and left a bad taste with me here on CL in dealing with members! I'm very cautious as to who I purchase from unless I know of others that can vouch for them! 
Take it for what it's worth! 
I also had a negative experience with Vicestan in reference to my OEM HID's(Sport Design) that I purchased from him! Upon me sending $600.00 next day service to him for a set of HID's he did send me pictures of a set of HID's that I would be recieving in a timely manner through DHL! Well several weeks went by and no sign of a package arriving!
I called Vicestan up and asked him what was going on and he told me he had shipped the lights and provided me with a tracking #. Well the package was placed to be sent but it wasn't the day he said it was! After waiting a couple more weeks, still no package! I call him and DHL several times and neither could tell me what happened to the package! After a few day's DHL tells the both of us that the package was shipped, but has now been lost in transit and they can't find it! At this point I'm happy to know the lights are on the way ,but disappointed that they got lost! A couple of weeks go by and DHL can't find the package and request Vicestan to file a lost claim! In the process of filing the lost claim the package arrives to my house with the boxes damaged and product(HID's) broken during shipping,or atleast that's what I thought! The auto leveling motors on both backs were broken off with glue around the motor of one and a tab broken off of one with glue around it! I found it strange that DHL would go through the hassle of trying to repair these parts without any knowlede of what to fix! My car was non HID equipped from the begining anyway ,so the motors would have been no good to me other than keeping the lights at a constant level postion! After the package arrives I call DHL and Vicestan and advise them of the condition of the lights and damage with DHL requesting me to file a damage claim and for Vicestan to cancel his lost claim! I initially planned to file a claim to get the maximum for the lights knowing that they were a rare find and it would be almost impossible to get a second set! The dealer wants $1300.00 per side for these if they could find them anywhere! Conversation went back and forth with me and Vicestan about the damage, claims and the possibilty of trying to salvage the lights with replacements that was almost impossible,but never a portion of a refund was offered! Understanding that the lights were rare and that they were hard to find I wanted to salvage the lights and decided to keep them! I didn't expect the whole payment in return,but felt atleast for him to meet me with a percentage of what it was going to cost me to salvage the lights! I never filed the claim and decided to keep the lights and chalked it up as a lesson learned! I don't have money to throw around and really didn't care about the money spent $600.00, it was the principle of doing business! Vicestan offered me steering wheels and other HID's in return,but nothing was ever agreed upon and I left it alone! I've spoke with him about the negative transaction and decided to move on and not do business again! I never even planned to do a write up about this incident, until I read this thread expressing the same damage complaints from this seller! To end this whole thing, I kept the lights and was able to get them salvaged through Mike(Tiguy99),after spending a couple hundred more dollars! Would I buy from this seller again, NO! I'm happy with the lights but that's about it! This whole transaction was ugly for me and left a bad taste with me here on CL in dealing with members! I'm very cautious as to who I purchase from unless I know of others that can vouch for them! Take it for what it's worth!
08-10-06, 10:55 AM
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i wish you guys had posted... i had searched and found very little negative feedback prior to paying him... now everything looks so bad 
at least he was willing to talk to you... i haven't been able to get even that far
at least he was willing to talk to you... i haven't been able to get even that far
08-10-06, 11:44 AM
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Wow sorry to hear about everyones troubles. I guess I didnt think too much of buying from him because it was a fairly cheap item and communication was good. I did think it was wierd that he was selling a couple steering wheels though.
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08-10-06, 02:17 PM
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I sent Stan a small amount of money. To the tune of $30.00 for some trunk emblems, the last I heard from him was when he recieved the Cashiers Check in the mail. He confirmed he recieved it and never heard from him again. I have heard here and there that the guy uis going through some rough times. Maybe money problems and family issues. I have no problem with it, but it's not hard to jump on the computer every other day for a few hours and keep people updated. It's the principal at this point I only feel for those whom have been waiting for their parts or cash back. I just hope the guy see's it in himself to do the right thing and etheir return our money or finally ship out our products.
Stan if you are reading this, bud no one is mad at you. I'm sure everyone on this site is mature enough to understand that life throws curve ***** at you and you have to adjust. But please contact us and let us know what the deal is bro.
Hope things get resolved sooner then later.
I only feel for those whom have been waiting for their parts or cash back. I just hope the guy see's it in himself to do the right thing and etheir return our money or finally ship out our products. Stan if you are reading this, bud no one is mad at you. I'm sure everyone on this site is mature enough to understand that life throws curve ***** at you and you have to adjust. But please contact us and let us know what the deal is bro.
Hope things get resolved sooner then later.
08-10-06, 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by AutoCoutureSC
i was duped by vicestan as well. He hasn't responded to my PM about a steering wheel either. 
08-14-06, 08:40 AM
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bump... has anyone else out there waiting gotten any response from vicestan? it's been a week since i filed a chargeback claim and VISA still hasn't sent me the paperwork i'm supposed to fill out for processing 
all i know is that his court date is august 25th.
all i know is that his court date is august 25th.
09-18-06, 08:22 AM
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as of today VISA has refunded me my money. between then and now i never heard back from vicestan ever. i gave up long ago trying to call him because i spent a fortune on long distance phone cards.
moderators please don't close this thread... i have a bad feeling this isn't over.
moderators please don't close this thread... i have a bad feeling this isn't over.
Last edited by Benjamin T; 09-24-06 at 09:20 AM.
09-19-06, 07:27 PM
#14
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I can understand someone being busy to the point they may not communicate every day but doing people like this is unacceptable. I don't even know where to begin
09-20-06, 07:35 AM
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well, it's happened.
i just got an email notice from paypal that a claim against me disputing the chargeback is being made against me. information from the seller is supposed to be posted to me within the next 10 days.
it goes on to say paypal will use that information to determine whether the chargeback is valid, and if they rule in the seller's favor, they will make all means necessary to take back my money from me
i have shipping paperwork showing when i received it and when i sent it back. i have pictures of the missing or damaged parts from when i originally received it. i have the pm's from vicestan on this board, and most of the limited email responses i got back to him, including the very last one from a month back saying he was sending pics... and then nothing.
is there anything else i need to be prepared with?
i just got an email notice from paypal that a claim against me disputing the chargeback is being made against me. information from the seller is supposed to be posted to me within the next 10 days.
it goes on to say paypal will use that information to determine whether the chargeback is valid, and if they rule in the seller's favor, they will make all means necessary to take back my money from me
i have shipping paperwork showing when i received it and when i sent it back. i have pictures of the missing or damaged parts from when i originally received it. i have the pm's from vicestan on this board, and most of the limited email responses i got back to him, including the very last one from a month back saying he was sending pics... and then nothing.
is there anything else i need to be prepared with?
Last edited by Benjamin T; 09-24-06 at 02:10 PM.