Screwed by China seller again: Laserlands

[Alaskan]

I contacted Laserlands on ebay to get assurances if I bought their 85 dollar 20X beam expander that I would indeed get the 2mm input X20 unit. Assurances were received by them in email, purchased. Today I received a beam expander with a 28mm clear aperture output lens! For an expansion of a 2mm diameter laser beam to the specified 20X expansion would require a minimum output diameter of 40mm, the 30mm diameter unit I received cuts off more than 30% of a 2mm laser beam and barely allows the beam to clear the 28mm wide clear aperture output when using a smaller beamwidth of 1.4mm diameter. Never have faith in that outfit, techhood has been accurate, but these folks either can't get it right or just don't care and ship what ever they have whether it is what you wanted or not, I give up, never again.

LATE EDIT, ADDED PHOTO's:

This is junk, is not a "laser expander" to reduce divergence, it won't even focus to infinity without running out of thread and does NOT match their description, they even use a photo of another expander, not the one you get:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Beam-Ex...-Diode-LD-1064nm-Stage-Lighting-/191285024782

This is what they say you will get, a 2mm input 40mm output 20X laser beam expander:

In this photo you can see the output lens is 40 cm wide, or more.

Below, this is what you really get, a 1.4mm max beamwidth input 30mm output lens 20X expander. What happened to the 40cm output lens? Replaced with something they can make more profit on? This is not what I paid for, not what they advertised I would get in exchange for my earnings and now they argue with me that nothing is wrong, that I received what I paid for:

Left photo in cm, right most photo in inches.

Perhaps what has happened here is they never intended to sell this as a true laser expander, it won't hardly focus to infinity anyway, this is a spot beam expander but even at that, their advertising is not truthful because the output lens is much smaller and the unit is not the one shown in their ebay photo. Either way, this is dishonest advertising. I've read several posts from others that Laserlands does not know what they are doing, or their products are over specified for what they can really do, I thought by emailing them for assurances first I would circumvent their tricks, obviously that didn't work, they still sold me something which has far less value than they presented it to have.

 

[mortuus]

if u bought on ebay then u are covered, just do a claim item is not as stated in description and u should get money back, ebay is hard now on that if the item is not exactly as stated in auction.

 

[Alaskan]

Laserlands is arguing with me in email that there is nothing wrong with it, that my 28.5 mm measured spot at 10 meters is normal. This is wrong because the ebay sale specified the expander to be capable of a full 2mm input beam and 20X expansion which should produce a 40mm diameter spot. To make my beam the 40mm diameter it should be (for a 2mm wide input), they are telling me to take it out of infinity focus to make the spot expand to that diameter, because the output lens is only 30mm wide and thus incapable of producing a 40mm spot unless taken out of infinity focus. At worst they lied, at best they specified it wrong.

My tests show that the maximum diameter of the input beam for 20X expansion is 1.5mm and at that, there is too much clipping of the beam out the end. It could rightfully be a 20X expander for a 1.2mm diameter input beam, but not the 2mm they specified it for which would require larger than a 40mm output lens in order not to overfill or clip the beam.

One other big problem with this unit, to focus to infinity you have to unscrew the front end so far that it nearly falls off due to running out of thread.

The ebay choices for not as described is only to return the item for refund. Returning to China is very expensive on our end, they can ship to the USA with their government subsidized shipping for almost nothing compared to what it costs us to send to China.

 

[rhd]

Something seems off here.

The expander in the photo is conveniently placed on top of a 1cm grid, and although it's hard to be precise given the angle, I see at least 45mm of diameter to that output lens. So does the unit you received, with a 30mm diameter output lens, look totally different?

If so, dispute.

EDIT: scratch that. It was only $85. You're in the Chinese loophole range. IE, if it's worth less than $100, the cost of tracked return shipping will cost more than the refunded purchase price.

 

[Alaskan]

Yes, it is much smaller and has a joint in the middle. The one in their photo appears to be closer to 40 or more mm diameter which would work for 20X. If any members would send them a email expressing your own mistrust of them after seeing this, it would help them understand bad business is bad for business, not that it would matter if they are completely short sighted.

 

[VisibleGreen]

See if you can ask them for a partial refund. Say you didn't get what you wanted and shipping it back would cost more than the item. But then again it might be too late now if that was you that gave the negative feedback?

Thanks for the heads up though

 

[Pi R Squared]

The ebay choices for not as described is only to return the item for refund. Returning to China is very expensive on our end, they can ship to the USA with their government subsidized shipping for almost nothing compared to what it costs us to send to China.

Sorry to hear you got screwed like that. This is a little off topic maybe but as far as shipping costs some people don't seem to be aware that it is due to The USPS subsidized ePacket service that makes it so foreign sellers especially in China and HK but in other countries too can sell online and ship stuff cheaper than a local seller. The USPS is loosing a fortune to shift Americans buying habits to cheap imported goods instead of any US goods.
https://www.google.com/#q=usps+subsidized+shipping+from+china

Alan

 

[rhd]

See if you can ask them for a partial refund. Say you didn't get what you wanted and shipping it back would cost more than the item. But then again it might be too late now if that was you that gave the negative feedback?

Thanks for the heads up though

You still have the ability to remove negative feedback, so there's motivation for them to want to resolve things.

If your item is visibly a different item, it seems to me that you'd have an easy dispute win. Simply say that they sent you the lower valued 10x version, and upload a photo proving that you didn't get what was pictured. Paypal should offer to refund the difference.

 

[Alaskan]

The price for 10X is the same as 20X

 

[olympus mons]

LP, seriously consider making a claim with Ebay for the item being not as advertised. Raise as much of a fuss as you can. These sellers rely on ratings and often will bend over backwards to get good ones especially the Chinese sellers. ALWAYS, always leave feedback for every single purchase good or bad it doesn't matter. I buy approx 2-3 items a week on ebay and leave feedback for everyone. It really matters. I've had just a few disputes and 2 of the 3 returned my money and told me to keep the items.The other happily accepted the item back for full refund. Ebay and paypal put a lot of weight on sellers and buyers not doing right by people. Use it to your full advantage mate.

I agree you can negotiate for a partial refund and keep the item. Find out how much shipping will cost but with flat rate international mailers these days Its not as bad as your thinking. Good luck

 

[rhd]

LP, can you show us a picture of the one you received?

Thanks!

 

[USAbro]

Dude, no matter eBay, PayPal, it doesn't matter, go complain to your CC and if they're Visa or MC they WILL refund without shipment back.

Edit: Yes, eBay may not like it very much.

 

[Alaskan]

I've heard ebay doesn't take kindly to it because it's taking money from them if you do that, photo later.

Photo on the left in cm, on the right in inches.

 

[rhd]

I've heard ebay doesn't take kindly to it because it's taking money from them if you do that, photo later.

That's clearly a different item.

I've had a couple of these scenarios arise, and I've considered CC reversals, I'm just concerned about how PayPal would respond. If they closed my account, which I use to pay for a couple dozen items a month, that would be a significant inconvenience.

Frankly though, I think ebay is incorrectly and deceptively advertising their buyer protection program: "We guarantee you get the item you ordered, or your money back".

If eBay (or PayPal) impose, as part of claiming that protection, a requirement that you spend upwards of $50 on tracked return shipping, then the practical effect of their program is not a return of your money. For items worth under $50 (or the cost of return tracked shipping to wherever the seller is), the practical effect may actually be an even further loss in addition to the purchase price.

Frankly, someone should push back on them legally here, because they are purporting to protect buyers, but the practical result is that many buyers aren't protected because of known loopholes in their system.

 

[Alaskan]

Laserlands just did it again, sold a "200 mw" 532nm laser module to a member when it is really 100mw, if that. When pressing them if it was really 100mw they offered to send two of them to him in compensation, two together is 200mw right! They no lie!

 

[rhd]

Laserlands just did it again, sold a "200 mw" 532nm laser module to a member when it is really 100mw, if that. When pressing them if it was really 100mw they offered to send two of them to him in compensation, two together is 200mw right! They no lie!

Why are you posting about this here, and not the "member" themself?