Radioguy - banned trader

[murphyv310]

Hi All.
I have been watching this thread on the quiet and after the fiasco on the last one I thought I'd keep back. I have though decided to add my comments as I think some may be unaware of how business runs.
I'm not here to slag anyone off but perhaps make some useful suggestions.

When I ran my TV & Radio business I had many accounts, to name a few CPC, RS, HBL, Samsung, B&O Hitachi, Sony etc.
You would order the parts, full finished goods and all sorts, and having an account you would get free credit up to 54 days with some suppliers, in the main it was 28 days. Between the time you received the items and paid your monthly accounts the "Ownership of the goods" belonged to the supplier. Now this is normal practice, everyone from small business to BT, Virgin works this way, in fact the big boys often don't pay on time by a long chalk and cause headaches for small suppliers.

Sean has admitted about the issues in Germany, totally out of his control and he can't be blamed for that.
In my mind two things are an issue.
1, It seems Sean you have issues with communication not only in replies but any problems really should be intimated on your website. Also it should be clearly stated that items are in stock or not and an ETA notified.

2, Rather than taking full payment for an item out of stock you should be taking a deposit, you wont have paid for the item from the supplier I hope and I would suggest that if you do it should only be a small percentage until you have the item and checked it off for full fulfilment and damage. If all well and good then pay your supplier.

Both parities need to have a good relationship, I dislike companies that demand payment upfront without the goods, if the business is not sufficiently buoyant to absorb costs between orders and delivery then I'd be worrying about that and I am talking about suppliers not end customers.

Personally if it was myself I'd not advertise anything till I had it in my shop to sell, that way you keep your customers, you don't get a bad name and you are not trying to appease people everyday. The recent threads about problems can be easily fixed by improving communications, have a decent back up service in the UK, honouring warranties and not selling items you don't have, keep the website up to date and any issues put your hands up and be open with people, guaranteed anyone that does this will do well and have good feedback.
Good luck Sean I do hope you take on board what has been said.

[mystabe]

Originally Posted by Avulon

I'd also add to the ownership & sales discussion. When do you think a sale actually occurs? It's not on receipt of payment - it's on supply of goods (or services - and services don't exist until they are performed). Acceptance of payment is usually part of entering into a contract to supply. And that's a whole other kettle of fish. My point being that it's not illegal to offer to supply goods you don't own and take payment before you have ownership. In a sense bl52krz is correct: you can't sell something you don't own (apart from the several exceptions outlined in laymans terms on the page at netlawman.co.uk). This doesn't mean that you can't accept payment for goods that you don't own. Failure to supply is possibly a breach of contract and not fraud unless mis-representation occurred. The actual sale only occurs when both halves of the sale contract are satisfied. The purchaser has paid or otherwise satisfied the requirement of the vendor, and the vendor has supplied the goods (or services) promised with good title: i.e. at the time of supply the vendor had ownership of or acted in good faith for the goods owner.

Exactly this - obviously you can't sell something that isn't yours to sell (which is where the confusion is possibly occurring here) but offering for sale something that isn't actually isn't in your possession/ownership is a different matter - subject obviously to the conditions in Avulon's post.

You only ever notice it's happening when things go wrong but I guarantee pretty much every one of us has bought things that aren't actually in the sellers possession via the internet, it's how a lot of e-commerce works and why it's often cheaper than buying things from a shop. People love cheap no matter how much they protest otherwise

[mystabe]

Originally Posted by murphyv310

Hi All.
I have been watching this thread on the quiet and after the fiasco on the last one I thought I'd keep back. I have though decided to add my comments as I think some may be unaware of how business runs.
I'm not here to slag anyone off but perhaps make some useful suggestions.

When I ran my TV & Radio business I had many accounts, to name a few CPC, RS, HBL, Samsung, B&O Hitachi, Sony etc.
You would order the parts, full finished goods and all sorts, and having an account you would get free credit up to 54 days with some suppliers, in the main it was 28 days. Between the time you received the items and paid your monthly accounts the "Ownership of the goods" belonged to the supplier. Now this is normal practice, everyone from small business to BT, Virgin works this way, in fact the big boys often don't pay on time by a long chalk and cause headaches for small suppliers.

Sean has admitted about the issues in Germany, totally out of his control and he can't be blamed for that.
In my mind two things are an issue.
1, It seems Sean you have issues with communication not only in replies but any problems really should be intimated on your website. Also it should be clearly stated that items are in stock or not and an ETA notified.

2, Rather than taking full payment for an item out of stock you should be taking a deposit, you wont have paid for the item from the supplier I hope and I would suggest that if you do it should only be a small percentage until you have the item and checked it off for full fulfilment and damage. If all well and good then pay your supplier.

Both parities need to have a good relationship, I dislike companies that demand payment upfront without the goods, if the business is not sufficiently buoyant to absorb costs between orders and delivery then I'd be worrying about that and I am talking about suppliers not end customers.

Personally if it was myself I'd not advertise anything till I had it in my shop to sell, that way you keep your customers, you don't get a bad name and you are not trying to appease people everyday. The recent threads about problems can be easily fixed by improving communications, have a decent back up service in the UK, honouring warranties and not selling items you don't have, keep the website up to date and any issues put your hands up and be open with people, guaranteed anyone that does this will do well and have good feedback.
Good luck Sean I do hope you take on board what has been said.

Sean's actual basic problem is the product, people paying £400 for a car stereo expect at least some basic spares backup when they go wrong but because it's China, once something is a year old (if that) then they probably stopped making it a year ago and have no interest in people wanting to fix problems because they just make new ones. That's very frustrating (speaking from experience) but it's not Sean's fault.

You can buy a 7" Chinese Android tablet for what £30? (and they must be making some profit on that as well) having looked inside a Navall or two they are cheap and nasty and I really struggle to see £350 in it above the £30 tablet part and to be honest the head units Dallas finds for < £100 seem a much more realistic price for what they are.

[murphyv310]

Originally Posted by mystabe

You can buy a 7" Chinese Android tablet for what £30? (and they must be making some profit on that as well) having looked inside a Navall or two they are cheap and nasty and I really struggle to see £350 in it above the £30 tablet part and to be honest the head units Dallas finds for < £100 seem a much more realistic price for what they are.

I think we realise that profit margins are really good on Chinese Head units and no doubt Sean will make a decent living.
I do think that the snag is as you have said, the Chinese have abysmal back up for discontinued models, why do you think so many TV and Radio service repair shops have gone....... it the old story..... I told you so. Try to get service info on a Chinese LCD/LED TV or any spare parts.
One reason that after 1 day after the guarantee is out many outlets refuse service. The snag is if you buy a unit from a non UK seller you are basically stuffed, buy it here then you have protection with SOGA https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54
This also explains about ownership of goods as well.
So its really up to the buyer, after a year and a £400 unit could be unrepairable.

Also look here as well... http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...ntents/enacted

[Ennine]

I also do not wish to get too involved in this, Sean falls down badly on his comms, he is unlike any other trader I have known and certainly unlike any others on this forum. It is not unreasonable for customers to expect replies within 24hrs. It's either a business or a hobby, no half measures. I had issues with Sean last year and spent a lot of time going back over all his posts (not just on this site) back to 2010. I have pages and pages of contradictions, excuses and side steps. I read these threads with interest and have no wish to trawl up my issues with the man but it is really about time he was told to toe the line or trade off-site. Lastly, I emailed DHL regarding the Germany issue and their response to the situation there was very different to Sean's account.
I've no more to say on the matter.

Nige

[murphyv310]

Originally Posted by Ennine

I emailed DHL regarding the Germany issue and their response to the situation there was very different to Sean's account.
I've no more to say on the matter.
Nige

Interesting Nige

[Jamiewelch]

Originally Posted by murphyv310

I think we realise that profit margins are really good on Chinese Head units and no doubt Sean will make a decent living.
I do think that the snag is as you have said, the Chinese have abysmal back up for discontinued models, why do you think so many TV and Radio service repair shops have gone....... it the old story..... I told you so. Try to get service info on a Chinese LCD/LED TV or any spare parts.
One reason that after 1 day after the guarantee is out many outlets refuse service. The snag is if you buy a unit from a non UK seller you are basically stuffed, buy it here then you have protection with SOGA https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54
This also explains about ownership of goods as well.
So its really up to the buyer, after a year and a £400 unit could be unrepairable.

Also look here as well... http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...ntents/enacted

Sean is a non uk seller , he lives in Canada? He's definitely not based in the UK himself

[Mike Trident]

Does anyone actually email him direct as apposed to leaving a message on here?

I emailed him last night and got a reply within the hour. In fact every time I have sent him an email, he has got straight back to me.

[mystabe]

Originally Posted by murphyv310

I think we realise that profit margins are really good on Chinese Head units and no doubt Sean will make a decent living.
I do think that the snag is as you have said, the Chinese have abysmal back up for discontinued models, why do you think so many TV and Radio service repair shops have gone....... it the old story..... I told you so. Try to get service info on a Chinese LCD/LED TV or any spare parts.
One reason that after 1 day after the guarantee is out many outlets refuse service. The snag is if you buy a unit from a non UK seller you are basically stuffed, buy it here then you have protection with SOGA https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54
This also explains about ownership of goods as well.
So its really up to the buyer, after a year and a £400 unit could be unrepairable.

Also look here as well... http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...ntents/enacted

I'm not interested in bashing Sean or his profit margin but I do think however that until fairly recently people thought they were buying a product worthy of £400 and also believed that buying from someone they 'know' meant they had some kind of avenue to go down if it breaks. They aren't and just because of the nature of the things and where they are made you actually don't. Spare parts for the model before last even (and new ones seem to appear every couple of months) just don't exist.

I know lots of people are happy with theirs but I honestly wouldn't ever recommend anyone spending over about £150 on one now

[coab]

I just bought a unit from ebay for my Focus. It was £170 and a perfect fit. Sat nav voice is quiet on max level and the radio reception can jump. Been onto the seller and they have given me a few things to try. Because I have purchased it through ebay and Paypal if this fix does not work i will return the unit via ebay.
These units are by in large cheap nasty units and no way would I buy one away from a site like ebay after reading all the faults and problems on here over the last few years.
No real comeback is there to be honest that can sort it quickly.