Bad experience buying spares from eBay - avoid this seller

I’d like to share my experiences on purchasing spare parts from http://www.bitzforbikes.co.uk/

I own a Suzuki Intruder VS1400 year 1994. I purchased it at 2012. Together we’ve had 35.000 km/s in sun and rain. Recently the bike developed a problem - rear cylinder was not running good. It was either misfiring or running roughly, smelling gas. After ruling out several possible faulties cylinder’s coil appeared to be failed

I purchased a new ignition coil from eBay. Seller was Bitsforbikerz.com. The item arrived within 10 days from order, which is ok.

I opened the parcel and noticed that the coil was some 15-20mm shorter than original. Original bolts that attach the coil to the frame couldn’t be used. “Compatible” means plug-and-play in my vocabulary, apparently the seller has different idea on compatibility. I detached original coil and fitted the spare, connected it and started the bike.

At first idle was ok, then a bit rough, then a lot rough. Rear cylinder start misfiring. Then it died completely. “Oh boy, this is not good!” Turned the bike off. After a while performed spark test on rear cylinder. No spark whatsoever. Front plug was sparking ok. Changing plugs front <> back made no difference.

I noticed that my ICU (ignition control unit) was hot. Turned off the power, detached the ICU and opened it for inspection. Please refer to following pics. Some components of the unit were melted and the smell was awful! An aftermarket replacement for ICU is some 300-350 euros. Saving a few euros on Bitzforbikers’ coil cost me dearly. To say I was angry was an underestimate of the year.

http://s18.postimg.org/llus50kg5/icu_01.jpg

http://s18.postimg.org/ip7r4qemd/icu_02.jpg

Then I measured the resistance from both coils. Front cylinder 4.6 ohms, rear (new) 0.06 ohms (!) with a fractured coil-body. Accepted values are 2-6 ohms according to Clymer service manual. Spark plug cap (with an 0.8mm gap) and the plug were brand new, inside the cap there wasn’t any signs of melting etc. HT wire was good. Primary circuit wires were in good condition with new adapters. Further inspection showed that the body of the coil was fractured. How, this I don’t now. The coil was not mishandled, dropped etc in any way prior to installation.

I contacted the seller late Monday 7th via their web page. The seller states that usually they respond within a day. No response some 24 hrs later. “So much for their next-day-reply -policy”, I thought.

“Dear Sir/Ma'am

I contacted you 24 hours ago concerning the faulty coil you sold me via eBay. The coil in question burned my ignition unit causing considerable monetary damage. Measuring the coils resistance clearly shows that the unit is faulty, furthermore the body of the coil is fractured.

So far I havent have a reply from you.

Please contact me on this matter asap. The way I see this is that you as the seller are responsible of this damage and I’m entitled to a new coil and either monetary compensation (new aftermarket ICU is some 300-350e) or new working ICU. By denying your responsibility and ignoring my messages you leave me very few options to make things right again.”

Days later a reply:

“I'm very sorry to hear about this. Looking at this part we have sold you we have never had this problem with the part. So as a gesture of good will we can send you a replacement part free of charge”

I replied the seller that this weren’t enough, due the damages to the ICU.

After that I presented to box to local electronics repairman. He estimated that the box could be fixed, with a cost of approx. 100 e. I contacted the seller again, suggesting that they would compensate the damage with 100e worth of spare parts, I would have the box fixed and everyone’s happy. No reply whatsoever. Couple of day later the Nth email went without answer also. At this point I wasn’t ready to wait any longer, but proceeded on reclaiming my money back and sharing this sad story to the widest audience possible.

I understand that in mass production sometimes sh*t happens and faulty item passes manufacturer’s inspection. Quote from the coil’s eBay-ad: “Our aftermarket replacement ignition coils are a good quality (well, not this time), direct replacement part (no they are not) and are a cost effective alternative (if you don’t mind extra costs on damages, that is) to often expensive original equipment parts.”

However it’s still the seller’s and/or manufacturer’s responsibility. If someone sells you a faulty item, it must be replaced, with no extra costs. If the faulty item causes considerable damage like in this case, the buyer is just to a reasonable compensation. I would settle for a working coil and a fixed ICU. Bitzforbikers.co.uk obviously don’t share my view.

Even – for arguments sake – if we rule out the coil in question as the “killer” of my ICU, fact remains that Bitzforbikers.co.uk uses false advertising (stating that the part is direct replacement, when its not). They also show a very bad practice on customer relations by either neglecting or replying days later to their customer emails, even though they promise that emails will be replied at latest the next business day.

It’s your money and your choice, but I strongly recommend avoiding this seller. In this case their “good quality product” cost me 100 euros and lots of no-can-ride time.

You paid £18.50 for a new coil that in the pictures looks considerably shorter then the OEM one?

I don't think you can complain that it was unexpectedly small as presumably you have eyes and for £18.50, did you expect the highest quality item?

If something is cheap, it's usually cheap for a reason.

You naturally have the right to a new coil as laid down by distance selling regs. Don't know how successful you'll be with the board repair.