Bought pc used on eBay please help!!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
Hello All!
I am new to the forums so first I'll introduce myself. I go by Logisticz I'm a big gamer / recently trying to get into programming and graphic design as a hobby. So I recently decided to build a new rig to upgrade from my old 4790k setup I had previously. I had everything prebuilt on partpicker and was ready to go but changed my mind last minute as the price on the build was a little more than I wanted to spend. So I went searching and found this build pictured below for about half the price with very similar specs (though used not new). Anyways I go ahead and purchase the pc and it just arrived here at my office 30 minutes ago. I open it up to find that the coolant has leaked all over and the case kinda looks like a mess... Fan filters half flying out of case, nuts and bolts everywhere, gpu just sitting at bottom of box the main box that pc was in EVEN THOUGH he put the GPU box in the shipment box... so he could have easily thrown gpu in there for safe keeping instead of leaving it on the base level next to the tower. Anyways I am at the office right now so I cannot clean/test run the pc or anything to see if any actual damage occured but I wanted to come here first and see what yall thought. This is my first time going with a water cooler that isn't aio plug n play like the corsair h100i that I've always used. I'm not sure if this leaking would have destroyed the board or if since the computer is off I'm safe to just clean it off with isoprop and call it a day. I have never built a custom loop so the idea of having to take it apart scares me but obviously if it leaked something is loose so I'll have to figure that out as well even if nothing is damaged. So please tell me what would you do in my situation? Go home clean/test it and see if its all good? Immediately ship back the PC claim its damaged and ask for a refund? I've been out of a pc for a few weeks now as I had to sell my main one to buy this. If theres no damage I would be willing to keep it but I'm just afraid I don't know how to work with the cooling so if I had to take that all apart to ensure that its all dry there could be a problem. I know most of the leakage is dried up now but I definitely still saw some moisture and being that it has to lay down to fit in my car (it was standing up in the box he shipped it to me in) I dunno if its going to leak more now or what. Sorry for the huge wall of text but if theres anything more you'd like me to do/take pictures of please let me know and I will do my best. Thanks in advance.

-Logisticz

This is the PC in the box I just received.

http://prntscr.com/gu2ddv

http://prntscr.com/gu2dlp

This is the pictures from his listing prior to shipping it to me.

http://prntscr.com/gu2fce

http://prntscr.com/gu2fiv

http://prntscr.com/gu2frs

http://prntscr.com/gu2fx4
 
Solution
O
If you are lucky enough to be near microcenter, then buy the items there. They have a nice 2 year warranty they will sell you that if something goes wrong, you can cash it in and get a new part or a gift card for what you paid.

I do that on some of my parts and it's saved my bacon before.

In fact, I think they even have a deal where you buy all the parts and pay them 125 bucks or whatever amount, I think it was like 125 though, and they will actually assemble it for you. Plus, many times they will price match newegg or amazon for the same exact part, and are usually a good deal with their motherboard/cpu bundles. On AMD I think it's now you buy a cpu and get 30 dollars off a board.
Sort by date Sort by votes
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
Intel 5960x

Asus x99 deluxe motherboard

Corsair obsidian 900d

Gtx 1080 ti

64gb of patriot ddr4 ram

1 tb Samsung 840 evo ssd

2 tb 7200 rpm sea gate hdd

1tb wd 7200rpm black gaming hdd

2x 480 mm xspc radiators

12 white led corsair case fans

Ek supremacy clear water block

Ek black gpu water block

20 revolver primochill fittings

10+ specialty fittings to make complex angles.

Ek d5 pump reservoir combo

Nzxt digital fan controller

Nzxt multi media bay reader

thats the full specs listed on his post. The PC I was going to build was between 4-4300 and this one I purchased for $2500.

If there's no actual damage to anything I would like to keep it just because I "think" but correct me if I'm wrong but it seemed to be a good deal compared to what I've priced out and heard from other people. I've just been without a PC now for 3 weeks due to waiting for the money to release from my PC I sold to upgrade to this one so I'm getting antsy to get back into gaming. The seller assures me (which obviously he wouldn't admit fault and want it sent back) that its okay and I can just clean it up with isoprop let it dry and it should be fine. I've read similar things that as long as its powered off and dried that you often wont have damage but I'd hate to turn it on and have it work fine for a day a week a month then take a shit and im out of a machine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
O

ohiou_grad_2006

Splendid
Dec 3, 2011
3,551
10
24,115
Contact him first. If he does not want to respond, open a case with ebay and tell them item not as described. You purchased what was supposed to be a working PC. I'd about be afraid to start monkeying with it.

Honestly for that type of money, you could have probably built a nice Ryzen system, or even now, get an i7 8700k, a 1080 or 1080ti. If just gaming, even 16 or 32 gb of ram is plenty.

But if you open it up and start messing with stuff, then you give the seller reason to say that you modified it and that the damages are your fault.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
How do I go about sending it back I assume the seller will refuse to take it saying I should test it first. Though I didn't ask but hes telling me not to worry and offering to walk me thru cleaning it over the phone. Do I immediately contact eBay and go thru them or paypal?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4745454b

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Apr 29, 2006
29,241
437
93,590
Yeah, that's not good. I wouldn't do anything yourself. Only do things that he says to do or Ebay. I could see talking to him and doing whatever he says to see if it does work. But any/everyone should know to drain things before shipping. It's up to you if you want to try to salvage it or just send it back. Again, whatever you do DON'T do anything without his permission. If you monkey with it and it fails, he can blame it on you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
O

ohiou_grad_2006

Splendid
Dec 3, 2011
3,551
10
24,115
That's exactly what I'm saying. Don't touch a thing!!!

If you mess with it, it's on you because he can come back and say you broke it. Contact ebay directly if he only wants you to clean it up. Do not touch it.

I personally don't have an extra $2500 sitting around for a new system, but that is just me. Yet another reason not to get involved in water cooling that deeply. Sure those things look nice, but air is so much simpler, and no water damage:).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
okay I appreciate everyone's advice here. I think on my lunch break or something I'm going to contact eBay and see what my options are. I know his listing said no returns so I'm sure if I request it he will decline so I want to know what ebay will do for me and make sure I don't break any rules or anything to void my protection as a buyer.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
O

ohiou_grad_2006

Splendid
Dec 3, 2011
3,551
10
24,115
I think if you talk to ebay and say item was not as described and that it was damaged, I think you will have few issues. I had this with a ps4 controller once. It was sold as a wired controller. No problem, I'm good with that. But after playing a few minutes, you'd have to press the sync button as it would become unsynced even while plugged in. Then it would work a few minutes and so on. I opened a case saying item not as described, and the seller never responded. So ebay refunded my money with no problem.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
Okay awesome. I started out by messaging the seller and explaining to him that after consideration and speaking with peers that I think the best option is to return it. And that I would be calling ebay when I go on my lunch break in an hour to ask them what I should do in this situation and that I would follow whatever instructions they provide me to ensure that I don't do something that will void my buyer protection. I'm sure he isn't going to be too happy about it but oh well in the end it's my happiness that's important here since I'm the one dishing out the cash. I agree 100% with yall that not draining the liquid was just dumb and lazy. I can't imagine it would have taken more than 20 minutes to drain and either record a video of how or send me a youtube showing how to put it back in. I will let ya'll know how it plays out but I expect a rude message to be coming back to me shortly because I'm sure hes going to be pissed its being returned without me trying to fix.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
So this is the message I sent to the seller,

"I'll be honest with you man everyone I've talked to is telling me to 100% return the PC without attempting to mess with it. If I do anything to it then I guess I lose my buyer protection and could be blamed for the pc not working. I'm going to contact ebay and see what they say though first. If they tell me that I'm okay to open it up and do exactly what you instruct me to then I'll do that but otherwise I'm just going to request a return. I don't have time to call them for about an hour but i'll get back to you then once I'm able to phone them and see what they say."

And this is the response I just received... Seems sorta threatening like hes saying I video recorded no leaks so you won't get ur money back.... Anyways this was his exact response what do ya'll think?

"Well whoever you talked to doesn't know what they are talking about I shipped it with liquid so you didn't have to worry about messing with it that is a very small amount of liquid I have had small leaks in my pcs and it's always an easy fix even professional installers have leaks look on YouTubeit didn't leak until it was shipped I have video proof that that wasn't there until it shipped to you. I assure you we can fix this very easily I wouldn't want you to waste all that money on shipping over a small leak"
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
Yea exactly what I was thinking. Had he packed it better it probably wouldn't have leaked. I make sure to make everything snug when I send stuff out. Should I send his computer back (assuming he accepts return or ebaytells me to) in the exact packaging he sent it to me? Or should I add some material inside even though he didn't?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
O

ohiou_grad_2006

Splendid
Dec 3, 2011
3,551
10
24,115
I would use what he sent and attempt to pack it as best you can in order to make sure it does not look like your fault.

As far as that dude is concerned, I've sold some things on ebay before. As far as I'm concerned, if he didn't pack it properly that's his fault, not yours. He should have either undid that water cooling setup completely before selling, or he should have drained it. He obviously is ticked about the 2500 dollars he'll probably lose, but the thing is about it, that's a lot of money to take a chance with.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
Yea I don't even know how to reply to the guy... I don't want to argue with him because he obviously thinks he did a good job packing but literally this is all that was on the bottom

Bottom
http://prntscr.com/gu3g2y

and he threw these two in the case
http://prntscr.com/gu3gb0

wrapped a few paper towels around some of the fittings and called it a day... seems pretty terrible to me.. I'm always so paranoid shipping a computer I stuff it tight with instapak inside, bubble wrap then instapak outside and tons more bubble wrap outside... Also I always remove GPU when shipping or at the least ship it so the pc can lay on the mobo side so gravity isn't pulling down on the card when shippers drop box.. He did none of this... But I feel any further speaking with him will just lead to hostility.

I haven't replied to his message but he just sent me this..

"There's nothing I can't walk you through how to fix you don't even know if it leaks yet that could just be there from when they were jarring it around it was perfectly clean when I put it in the box look on YouTube about custom loops people have leaks all the time it's not as serious as it looks. I've had 2 pcs do this and it's just a clean and dry and they were good to go"

The more I think about it I would never send a pc and expect someone to fix/trouble shoot it upon receiving it so why should I have to now.. Thanks again everyone I'm glad you were able to get me thinking more clearly instead of just being impatient.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4745454b

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Apr 29, 2006
29,241
437
93,590
Wow. We "doesn't know what they are talking about". And here I was thinking we had some clue. Shame.

Of course it wasn't leaking when he packaged it up. That's before it got banged up in a plane and truck. Rule number one is to assume it will leak, which is why you drain it. Did you ask him to leave it filled so you wouldn't have to bother with it? I've seen people who remove air coolers so it doesn't snap the board. You just don't leave those things filled and plugged in. Period.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jaslion

Splendid
Dec 17, 2012
6,425
0
22,160


Once you contact ebay and send them the pictures and tell them the system leaked due too poor packaging they will side with you. Then you just need to send it back with the original packiging it arrived in (or better ones if the packaging got destroyed) and you get your money back.

Also for 2500$ you can get a better system just not with that insane watercooling loop (which you don't need anyways).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510
No I didn't. This was our conversation when I asked about draining it as that's what everyone else I talked to said they do.

Me:
"A custom cooler like that though. Is it harder to ship like that or how do you go about it? Would you drain it and then just ship me the coolant to throw in myself? Does it have a drain valve on it to replace the coolant annually or how does that work? I’ve always used aio coolers so this type of setup is new to me."

his reply:

"I have shipped 2 like this with no leaks I use the best fittings man I can't guarantee you 100% it won't leak a little bit if it does it's real easy to add more and I do have a valve installed. I put a lot of paper towels around fittings so you can see if one leaked or not. Just when you receive it check for any liquid around fittings maybe use compressed air all over the board to make sure and you should be fine that's what the last guys did and he is still a happy camper."

I didn't put much thought into it from there as I hadn't ever shipped/received a PC with liquid cooling in it I jsut know what I've heard from others and him being a highly repped seller assumed he knew what he was doing even though it was different than everything I'd heard.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

ryankahmann

Prominent
Oct 6, 2017
15
0
510


Yea thats my thing tho I really wantd to go with something like that. My last pc had a 4790k and the only way I was able to keep the temp under 100C during a full load stress test was to underclock the speed/volts on it otherwise it would run super hot on every stress test I tried. Granted during gaming it would generally be around 80 which isn't too terrible still I wanted to get something that was gonna be ice cold this time. My last system and most I've owned used AIO coolers like the h100i from corsair and I just never received the cooling I wanted from it. I may try n build a setup myself after I return this thing if I can't find another one thats alrdy built from someone else.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom