Man am I F'ing mad! NEED HELP!

[Jfire]

First off I am thankful for my family, health, job, BOTL brothers Etc.
For the listed reasons above I thought I would do some good deeds lately to pay it forward.
Free contest this week for cigars.(had a blast)
New donor to BOTL (Yeah it was time!)
Donation to the troops to help N J spread some cheer (thanks again for doing that)
And today while picking up my wifes car from the Ford dealer (that needed a new radiator on a 2.5 yr old 40,000 dollar EXplorer.)(that not all was covered under ext. warranty) I washed her car an tipped every worker (5) that worked on it 5 bucks each because it was late and they were closing in honor of thanksgiving.

SO HERES WERE I NEED YOUR BROTHERS HELP!
I orderd a early X mas present for myself. A barely used Ebad S.T. Dupont Palladium Ligne 2 lighter. It was the only thing I wanted for Xmas and didn't want to wait. I've been looking for around a month. Did alot of research about all the fakes Etc.
So I find 1 two weeks ago on Ebad and win the auction for 350.00.
Well I get it today
1st its wrapped in a Paper towel.
2nd even though 7 serial #s are present the Monogram is not present on the foot of the lighter where it is supposed to be.(I was under the impression that they all had the stamped Monogram next to the Serial #s) am I correct? 3rd the lighter has some major dents and dings and the dude listed it as Like new!
4th and final I'm not shure I hyped myself up but when opening up the lighter the "Ping" is very flat toned and muffled almost like it dosn't want to make the correct sound.
If any Brothers have Duponts please fill me In.
I thought that with all my good deeds lately and research I wouldn't of gotten screwed.( Im contacting Ppal and Ebad and yes I will get my money back.
Brothers please help fill me in on some Dupont knowledge thanks.
"By the way ebad buddy if your reading this and a member here get ahold of me we need to talk about some dinero":angerFU:

 

[WhiteLightning]

That sucks to here. Hope all works out well. I'm sure ebad will take care of it.

 

[caseabb]

A real dupont has a very audible PING. It almost rings.

 

[CWS]

Tis a beautiful sound...."Ping"

 

[Mitch]

Can you return it?

 

[weskimad]

Did the seller have much feedback? If so and you contact him, most would want to resolve the situation. I've been extremely fortunate using Ebay so far, but I'm very quick to pass on sellers with low feedback or poor feedback.

 

[openendstraight]

Not to pour salt on an open wound, but $350 is kinda cheap to pay for one, even second hand. Especially if it has Chinese Lacquer. I would see about sending it back and getting your money back.

 

[Jfire]

Thats the thing I did all the research before buying. I looked at all the pictures of the lighter he took. He even had the lighter working in one. I thought I seen the Monogram on the bottom, but it wasn't clear and assummed the "blur was it". Also the seller had 73 sales and almost perfect98% feedback. And yeah what makes me the most suspicious of being a good fake is the "ping" is reel flat and quite.
I should be able to resolve it either thru Ppal or Ebad but it my first buy from ebay where I failed to protect myself.

 

[Cyrann]

I have a Dupont Gatsby and from talking to the rep the distinguishing features of a Dupont lighter are two fold:

(1.) Unscrew the filler screw and look if there is a color dot in the piece.
(2.) The serial number on legit Duponts are slightly uneven intentionally (up a little then down a little per #) because without knowing and or taking the time to look hard... you wouldn't notice.

Also if you go to the ST Dupont site, there is an audible ping that you can compare to.

 

[Jfire]

The yellow color dot is in place under the gas cap. And the seven digit serial# is unaligned (not straight) like it is suppose to be. The lighter works but no monogram and a flat Ping.
And i disagree the Brushed Paladium lighter I bought sells on many Authorized Dupont dealers for anound 580.00. So I dont think 350.00 for a sligtly used one of ebay is a indicator of a china product.

 

[Volusianator]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. E-bad is probably the worst place to buy a DuPont from, there's by far more fakes on there than there is the legit thing.

 

[Jfire]

Check out the pics from the Auction and let me know what you guys think. I thought it was a no brainer.(NOW I obviously feel different.)


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=270299788777

 

[TexaSmoke]

A real dupont has a very audible PING. It almost rings.

Yep, I have one and it has a bueatiful "Ping" sound when you open it.

 

[terrantheman]

I would hurry and file a complaint through ** so his account is locked up. Check and see if he has other auctions? This way you'll know if he's gonna need the ** account and you'll be able to resolve this quicker. After communication has begun you just tell him you want your money back and you will refrain from leaving negative feedback.

 

[indyrob]

He does say 100% garauntee in his listing. If it is a fake you should have no problem getting your money back with that claim in his listing.

 

[Erik T]

The guy selling it is in Taiwan. If this is the same guy that you bought yours from I would say that increases the chance of it being a knockoff quite a bit.

 

[openendstraight]

The yellow color dot is in place under the gas cap. And the seven digit serial# is unaligned (not straight) like it is suppose to be. The lighter works but no monogram and a flat Ping.
And i disagree the Brushed Paladium lighter I bought sells on many Authorized Dupont dealers for anound 580.00. So I dont think 350.00 for a sligtly used one of ebay is a indicator of a china product.

Chinese Lacquer is a finish not where it might have been made. But after looking at your it is gold, so not Chinese Lacquer (which is black). $350.00 for slightly used is alittle low, but as you explained it is more than slightly so price should be about right, now I would worry if he is shipping from the Taiwan.

 

[Crypto Sailor]

I'm at my b&m and she showed me how to adjust the ping on the lighter you have. Get a tiny screwdriver and when u open the lid there is a tiny screw to adjust the ping sound...

 

[_Lac_Man_]

Like indy said, he said it's 100% authentic - if you paid with P.P. it will be an even quicker return on your money. eBad would handle it though.

That is pretty cheap for a dual flame Palladium Ligne. At least at the B&Ms I've ever been to, or online...they are usually ballpark $650-$750. Used though, I guess the price makes sense. Maybe if you considered a different Ligne, you could go with a cheaper one fron a reputable site. If everything works out for you, PM me and I can give you the address to a site with decent prices.

Lignes nearly all have different *Ping* pitches, adjustable by a small screw, see if you tighten/loosen it if it changes the sound to something more vibrant.

 

[tazbigdog]

I bet it is bogus. Look at his past sales...really cheap stuff and then sells an expensive lighter that starts at 50 cents with no reserve?! As I sell there, many warning signals are sent! I would get my money back!

Jeff