Ebay Identity Crisis

[jeebowhite]

Hi Guys,

So having been looking for a heated washer jet for my car, I came across a very familiar looking article. The seller is "Genuine Ford Shop".

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/genuine-ford-shop?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Now, for those of you who are more long term readers of the forum, you will note that a lot of us have had a lot of issues with a particular dealer on eBay, by the name of "Allen Parts", basically, they would quote one price, charge you it, then cancel the order telling you it was a "system error" and that your parts had not been dispatched, and you needed to pay the same amount again to get both jets, or otherwise, you would have only recieved one if at all.

it seems that Allen Parts have had a bit of an identity crisis, however if you look at the business details for the "Genuine Ford Shop" they seem awefully familiar. So I would advise if you do go looking for anything for your car, be wary of this 'new' seller.

If you fancy a back story... http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/43026-cheap-genuine-heated-ford-mist-jets/

[Preee]

Well spotted Jeeb

[Captain Haddock]

That's 100% Allen Parts/Ford (whatever).

Just do a google search on the VAT number on any of the recent items and it comes up as Allen Ford,

but the first page of results are curiously titled as being for Allen Kia.

[stef123]

and to confirm..

[stef123]

not to be confused with http://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=allenparts-uk

????

I have used them a few times with no problems..

[Stoney871]

They obviously realised that their card was marked and decided to be 'clever'.

[stef123]

They obviously realised that their card was marked and decided to be 'clever'.

but just not quite clever enough

[jeebowhite]

Not clever enough at all!

But no as you say, they appear seperate, but I wasnt going to let their new card go unnoticed ;)

[jeebowhite]

Actually, I wonder if the company that Stef refers to are in fact related... Perhaps a seperate controlled arm rather than the core we all hate!

[stef123]

One is Swindon and the other is Bolton? Is that correct?

[jeebowhite]

Could be, to be fair, each dealer chain can span over a county! :p

[Captain Haddock]

Just tripped over another of Allen Ford's pseudonyms (on uk amazon) - Auto-Accessorize

[jeebowhite]

Good spot there Rob! another to monitor!

[stevegtuk]

Theres quite alot of businesses that have several different Ids on eBay.

Often they sell the same item at a completely different price with each id, I'm guessing to catch out the people who don't look around and pick the first item they see, even though it may be more expensive.

[jeebowhite]

That does tend to be the case! I personally search always by price low to high, it comes up best match, so I start by looking at the quality of the "best match" material and I then just look for the lowest price matching that spec. More often than not I can save up to 50% (bargain hunter, stingey begger. whatever the preferred term might be :p) is certainly my nature.

[stevegtuk]

That does tend to be the case! I personally search always by price low to high, it comes up best match, so I start by looking at the quality of the "best match" material and I then just look for the lowest price matching that spec. More often than not I can save up to 50% (bargain hunter, stingey begger. whatever the preferred term might be :P) is certainly my nature.

"TIght a*se" I believe is the popular term

I do the same with the low to high, but also see how many on the item each seller has sold. If one has sold none and one has sold 20+ for a few pence more, I'll pay the extra few pence. I Also check feedback too just to make sure they haven't let too many people down.

[Stoney871]

It's when they vary the price but change the postal costs so something costs exactly the same that amuses me.

[jeebowhite]

I tend to work on the premise of feedback, anything less than 99.5% I will probably avoid.

I am happy to give young sellers a chance, but it depends on the item. I have bought things from people with no feedback and got good service, likewise I got shafted!