Man makes online bid for walkie-talkie -- which ends up not matching product description

Submitted by Stomper E

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When you shop online, there is a risk of ending up with products that do not fit their descriptions. 

Stomper E told Stomp about one such example, when he recently purchased a walkie-talkie from a Facebook live auction page, which grossly overstated the gadget’s effective range.

After securing the winning bid last Wednesday (Nov 8), E collected the walkie-talkie a day later, on Nov 10. 

Excited, E immediately tested out the new gadget but found that the range would not extend beyond 1km, whereas the website description listed the range as 5km. 

E immediately dropped the page a private message to ask for an explanation.

He was appalled when the administrator became defensive and told him that they would not do a refund as the product was in working condition, despite E having never asked for one. 

The administrator then told E that the site simply ‘reads what’s written on the net or the description paper provided’. 

Unhappy with their reply, E struck back, saying that it was unfair from the viewpoint of a consumer, as the item was not what he had paid for. 

However, the administrator insisted that the fault did not lie with the site, as it was ‘cheated’ by the supplier of the walkie-talkies too. 

E then told him: “So it’s faulty on the range!

"You got cheated, (that) is your problem. You can’t go cheat your viewers."

Despite the conversation, the two sides could not come to an agreement, with the administrator asking E to 'go ahead' in escalating the matter. 

E continued, adding: "I don't need a refund, I just want an explanation for the situation."