Massive problem with ebay seller Italy re: Bitubo Shocks

[Knapdog]

I purchased a pair of Bitubo rear shocks on ebay from Italy for my Honda Valkyrie on August 2nd. Due to factories shutting down in Italy through August I received them on September 13th. Cost £303 ( I also had £83 Customs charge on top of this)
I didn't fit them straight away but over a period of time I could feel that they were bottoming out.
Since they are adjustable, ride upon ride I kept tightening the preload until the collar was at its maximum adjustment. Still, the shocks bottomed out.
This I couldn't understand as I clearly informed the seller of my weight (85kg). This info was volunteered by me. He didn't ask for it. I could have bought the shocks without him knowing my weight yet Bitubo shocks are supplied "tailor made", as it were. They need your weight info.
The seller has a 60 day Returns Policy so I have until 11th November. My intention was to Return them as they are not fit for purpose.
When I went to the Listing it said my Return expired on 17th October. How can this be? Because of this, I now cannot start a Return or even ask ebay to get involved.
I have now had many conversations with the seller who insists I take them to my nearest Bitubo stockist, TBR Performance in Hungerford, to have them checked/fixed under Warranty at my expense.
He says I should have given him my luggage and passenger weight as well ( Shock manufacturers don't ask for that info for adjustable shocks).
I contacted TBR who told me almost certainly the wrong springs have been fitted. To fit new springs, labour, vat, postage etc will be around £230.
Ebay have been no help whatsoever. I have online chatted to Assistants on two occasions and all they suggest is I talk to the seller. I don't qualify for Money Back Guarantee as it is outside 30 Days. I have put a complaint in about the seller regarding him altering his 60 day Return time but they'll probably tell him not to do it again.
It's like talking to the wall with this seller. I've informed him it's not encumbent upon me to have to sort out his faulty goods. He says he is not at fault as he has only given me what I asked for and if I wanted stiffer springs I should have given him the extra weight figures.
He has continually evaded the question of why my 60 day Returns period expired on 17th October.
Now I'm normally like a dog with a bone in these situations but I'm now at my wit's end.
I feel as if I have a cast iron case in my favour but only appear to be faced with going down an expensive legal route and I really don't have the will or energy to do so.
All I can think of is paying the £230 to get the shocks sorted and either use them or sell them as new on ebay and get some money back.
This is just a warning to members of what can happen.
 If you have any sort of advice it would be greatly appreciated but I'm not raising my hopes.

[-mike-]

Sell them and be done with it (and with the manufacturer as well).

The size does fit to other, more lightweight motorcycles as well. I'm sure I've seen a model list somewhere in Tech archive.

No way something good will come out if you try to get all your expenses back in other ways.

-mike-

[hubcapsc]

Sell them and be done with it (and with the manufacturer as well).

Seems like a bad seller, but it is a good manufacturer... when I get mine I'll
get them from Traxxion.com in Georgia, I know they'll fit the shocks to me
and expect they'll stand behind what they sell...

-Mike

[Gondul]

Sounds like you tried to get a 'deal' through ebay vs going through a US reseller...

I agree going through Traxxion, I bought a YSS through them for a friends' Hawk GT I'm helping put back together.  Fits perfectly and the shock as already set when it arrived so no need to adjust the spring or damper.

[ridingron]

The OP list South Wales, UK as his location.

[steveB (VRCC UK)]

Bad news Knapdog - I've been getting quotes from around the UK for various makes of shocks (including custom built). https://motorcycleshockabsorbers.co.uk// have quoted £349 for the Bitubo WMB (pre-load adjustment only), £399 for the WME (pre-load and compression damping) or £715 for the WMT (pre-load, compression and rebound damping). They quoted on other makes and types of shock.
Interesting that your vendor didn't ask for weight of rider and pillion or type of riding as all the vendors I've contacted had a list of parameters to fill in.  I'd give VISA or which ever card you use, a call and ask for a refund, the shocks are not fit for purpose.  SteveB

[hubcapsc]

Since they are adjustable, ride upon ride I kept tightening the preload until the
collar was at its maximum adjustment. Still, the shocks bottomed out.

By the time your shocks bottom out, they've forgotten what you set the spring preload at.
A different hydraulic setting or a stiffer spring is what you need at that point. A tuned
combination of spring-rate/compression-damping/rebound-damping is the ideal... I'd
be just shooting in the dark hunting for the right combination, that's why I find value in
a seller like Traxxion who can help get the right specs...

My 1800 is Traxxionized. I didn't know what to say about it at first, it didn't turn me
into speed racer or anything. I liked how my bike was no longer all sagged out just
sitting there, I noticed that right away. But this summer... when I led my pals through
the pig trails and pot-holed back roads of Mississippi and Arkansas... without knowing
it, I was torturing them... my Traxxionized bike was just eating that stuff up 

-Mike

[Knapdog]

Bad news Knapdog - I've been getting quotes from around the UK for various makes of shocks (including custom built). https://motorcycleshockabsorbers.co.uk// have quoted £349 for the Bitubo WMB (pre-load adjustment only), £399 for the WME (pre-load and compression damping) or £715 for the WMT (pre-load, compression and rebound damping). They quoted on other makes and types of shock.
Interesting that your vendor didn't ask for weight of rider and pillion or type of riding as all the vendors I've contacted had a list of parameters to fill in.  I'd give VISA or which ever card you use, a call and ask for a refund, the shocks are not fit for purpose.  SteveB

Thanks, Steve.

Most of the Italian sellers of the Bitubo shocks do ask the relevant question. My seller doesn't.
Here is an example of a Seller who knows what he's doing.....



It's my guess that the guy I bought from (It's a big company, BTW, with thousands of sales and a very high percentage Feedback) didn't read my accompanying message and just sent me the Standard shocks.

[Knapdog]

I decided I wasn't giving up on a refund .....
With seemingly no options left for me to follow I contacted PayPal whose Resolution Centre will deal with cases up to 180 days after the transaction.
They found in my favour and today I received a full refund of £300.08, five weeks after starting the case. After returning the Bitubo shocks to "Dragomoto-bay", the seller in Napoli, Italy,  they sat in a depot in Rome for twenty days, waiting for acknowledgement from the seller. They could even still be there.
Anyway, the case is now closed.
I was also able to claim back £86 Customs/Import Duty
 from Border Force, that I'd paid.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I decided I wasn't giving up on a refund .....
With seemingly no options left for me to follow I contacted PayPal whose Resolution Centre will deal with cases up to 180 days after the transaction.
They found in my favour and today I received a full refund of £300.08, five weeks after starting the case. After returning the Bitubo shocks to "Dragomoto-bay", the seller in Napoli, Italy,  they sat in a depot in Rome for twenty days, waiting for acknowledgement from the seller. They could even still be there.
Anyway, the case is now closed.
I was also able to claim back £86 Customs/Import Duty
 from Border Force, that I'd paid.

did you get different shocks ?

[Knapdog]

I decided I wasn't giving up on a refund .....
With seemingly no options left for me to follow I contacted PayPal whose Resolution Centre will deal with cases up to 180 days after the transaction.
They found in my favour and today I received a full refund of £300.08, five weeks after starting the case. After returning the Bitubo shocks to "Dragomoto-bay", the seller in Napoli, Italy,  they sat in a depot in Rome for twenty days, waiting for acknowledgement from the seller. They could even still be there.
Anyway, the case is now closed.
I was also able to claim back £86 Customs/Import Duty
 from Border Force, that I'd paid.

did you get different shocks ?

Yes, I managed to get a great pair of used Interstate shocks on ebay.
Really pleased with them

[..]

I decided I wasn't giving up on a refund .....
With seemingly no options left for me to follow I contacted PayPal whose Resolution Centre will deal with cases up to 180 days after the transaction.
They found in my favour and today I received a full refund of £300.08, five weeks after starting the case. After returning the Bitubo shocks to "Dragomoto-bay", the seller in Napoli, Italy,  they sat in a depot in Rome for twenty days, waiting for acknowledgement from the seller. They could even still be there.
Anyway, the case is now closed.
I was also able to claim back £86 Customs/Import Duty
 from Border Force, that I'd paid.