Battery issue - HELP!?

Rola86 · 11 Dec 2010 at 12:47

I just sold my old IBM ThinkPad R40e on ebay and am having trouble with the buyer....

The laptop worked fine while connected to the mains but if you moved the machine / disturbed the adapter the laptop switched off!!
The battery gauge (on the taskbar) showed an error but the yellow/orange light (LED on the casing) was lit!!

I deduced that the problem was that the battery was dead - and that it wouldn't hold its charge anymore....

I added this in my listing (also suggested that if the any buyer wanted to use the laptop away from the mains - that they should get a new battery)!!

The buyer received last thurs and said it was working 'as expected'!!!!!!!!!!
NOW he is saying that it just randomly turns itself off & wont turn back on again for ages....??
He is sure that the problem isn't the battery because he has tried using another battery (from his old but faulty R40e that he was replacing)...!!

Im unwilling to offer a refund at the moment because it DID work (as described) when i sent it - AND when he first received it...

What else could be the problem.... if not the battery?! Could the adapter be faulty (sending fragments of power through....? is that even possible?)

Emphacy · 11 Dec 2010 at 13:27

It could be possibly that, the mains adapter connection in the laptop (The small port in which you plug the mains power into) has become damaged.
It's extremely common in laptops, people forcing/ not being careful with the power socket, and damaging it.

It usually comes loose and starts wobbling around inside the casing. It starts breaking the solder, and the tracks on the board around it.

It's possible that it's shorting something out inside and either;
1. The laptop turns off because the battery is dead and the mains supply is cut off.
2. The short is causing power glitches, forcing the laptop off.
It's obviously something that the buyer has done to the laptop to damage it, now that it's not working anymore they want their money back.

Like you said, the buyer said it was working perfectly when they first recieved it, and it was fine when you sent it.
Obviously trying to con you! Explain the situation, refuse to give a refund.

Rola86 · 11 Dec 2010 at 15:02

Thanks for the reply.

I have posted this on another forum and they are saying that I should just give the buyer a refund (saving my feedback) cause if it went to SNAD the buyer would almost certainly win!! :mad:

sja360 · 11 Dec 2010 at 15:39

and this is why im not sure about getting rid of my old laptop, its battery is knackered and the adapter needs tweaking to power laptop.
if the person recieved the laptop and it worked for a few hours or even he used it more than once over a few days i'd see that as grounds for it working as described.

i think you've possibly troubleshooted this wrongly and it was the power adapter similar to my laptop.

so its going to be complicated, it has been working ovbiously so its as described, but i think your diagnosed it wrongly

Rola86 · 11 Dec 2010 at 15:46

But a new adapter is far cheaper/easier to get than a new battery (isn't it)!! He should be happy... that is why Im suspicious that he is trying it on!!

sja360 · 11 Dec 2010 at 17:06

does he live far away?

Rola86 · 11 Dec 2010 at 17:36

A few hrs... far enough!!

albert · 11 Dec 2010 at 18:00

Unfortunately when a buyer wants a refund then eBay and papal always sides with him.

I was scammed when I sold an old CPU on eBay. It was working perfectly but the buyer insisted it was faulty and filed a Paypal dispute. I argued that the CPU was working but the fella insisted it was faulty. He got his refund and I got the CPU back. I paid to get the CPU tested at my local computer shop and it was working fine.

Ebay doesn't look after the sellers and always favours the buyers no matter what.

Rola86 · 11 Dec 2010 at 18:10

Thats a kick in the nuts... still, I suppose it has to be to that way to combat fraudulent selling!!

The only thing working in my favor atm is the fact that he emailed me to say it was working as expected when he got it.... not sure how much weight that will carry but it's a start!!

Rroff · 11 Dec 2010 at 19:05

Be careful hes not trying to unload his old faulty laptop back to you in the hope you don't notice the difference to get his money back.

Rola86 · 11 Dec 2010 at 19:38

Someone asked me (in another thread) whether or not I had made a note of the serial number in the BIOS. I didn't - but I think if he starts demanding a refund, I'll just say that I did!! That should (?) make him think twice if, indeed he is trying to do swap them without me knowing.

Rola86 · 12 Dec 2010 at 22:20

It turns out that the buyer is a computer engineer & says "I know a faulty motherboard when I see one"!! He is saying that having a faulty connector is immaterial....!?

The laptop worked fine when I had it - it never 'switched itself off' other than when you disconnected it form the mains.... so how has he come to that conclusion??

badcompany · 12 Dec 2010 at 22:28

he is conning you, just BS him and tell him to return it but you will check the serials and the ultra violet markings you put on it. I done this on 8800GT sale that went sour has he claimed it was faulty ( it wasn't) and I refunded and I got back what I sent.

badcompany · 12 Dec 2010 at 22:29

Rola86 said:
It turns out that the buyer is a computer engineer & says ]

That old chestnut

LOL everyone who buys pc bits on ebay is a computer engineer when they are claiming it don't work.

Rola86 · 12 Dec 2010 at 22:37

Is there any way I can make him qualify his claim!
It worked fine when I had it - and before I let it go it was on for ages (restoring factory settings etc) and it never 'turned itself off' once!!
How would the laptop have managed to get through both the factory restore, and the Windows re-install that I undertook (which took a couple of hours in total), if it was intermittently turning itself off?
I dont understand how its possible that i didn't notice the motherboard was faulty - surely i would have noticed something........
How do you test to see if it's faulty?