Lithuanian RNS510 via Canada

[nilo8533]

I am about to purchase an RNS510 from our lithuanian friend 'Tadas' but he made a bit of a strange request. I completed the purchase process on this sale

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

But at the end of the 'pay now' process it says to contact the seller in order to pay by credit card.

He says his paypal account has been locked so he will only accept direct deposit or credit card payments. I don't feel comfortable just handing over $1000 into someones bank account so I requested credit card. Now he has requested I go to a website run by a friend of his out of Canada and make the credit card payment. This is the website he gave me

http://www.bimmerretrofit.com/store/vm_payment.php?amount=xx.xx

Now I haven't made many eBay purchases but everyone that I have made has been through paypal. From what I can tell from reading these forums he appears to be a trustworthy seller. Even with his reputation and good feedback I am concerned about the transaction being completed outside of eBay.

Is it safe to make my payment through this 3rd party website?
Will I be protected if something goes bad in the sale?
How can I know that he recieves my payment and will follow through with the sale?

[dibdib dubdub]

Hi,

I'm only posting because I've recently purchased an RNS510 from Lithuania.

There were no strange requests like the one you've raised.

I'd be very suspicious and certainly wouldn't go giving my credit card details away willy nilly.

Did you notice it's not a secure website? Did you also notice our Lithuanian friend's good eBay reputation. Do you think he would've got that if he made strange requests about how he should get paid after he made the sale?

Please don't do anything rash....

[technopato]

I've bought quite a number of units from Tadas, if it is truly him you're dealing with then you are safe!!!!

[FJ Steve]

Paypal????

[ricos]

I recently bought a RNS510 unit from Tadas.
I recieved it and found that there was a big chip/dint in the front panel that would be visible once installed.

I told Tadas and sent him a few photos. He was happy to sort the issue out by sending me out a nice new facia for the unit (which i recieved) - he was very helpful.

Payment method i used was PayPal. No strange payments request were made with me either.

Id hold off until you can pay via paypal.

[Idle]

Sounds fishy to me, too — you might try an enquiry to Paypal, they ought to be able to tell you if his account is valid or not.

[nilo8533]

Sounds fishy to me, too — you might try an enquiry to Paypal, they ought to be able to tell you if his account is valid or not.

Thats a good idea, I think I will do that.

I did a bit of internet searching regarding bimmerretrofit and Tardas. It seems he answers enquiries and processes transactions for them from time to time. The feedback is generally good regarding the customer service from that particular website

Even so I'm still nervous about paying through the external website. I know I can post negative feedback if things go wrong because the sale still went through eBay. I just wonder if my credit card company would protect me if the sale went bad after making the payment to this 3rd party.

[Rsome]

If you check his site now, you will see the same article for sale, but now PayPal is available.

[MrGTIandRfan]

Is it safe to purchase an RNS510 off of this Tadas guy?

I don't want to lay down good cash on a dodgy/stolen unit.

[Guy_H]

Buyer beware.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/forums/f112/rns510-cost-justified-49814-12.html#post724222

[nilo8533]

If you check his site now, you will see the same article for sale, but now PayPal is available.

Yeh I noticed that as well.

I tried emailing paypal regarding his account status and surprise surprise, no reply

I decided to trust in his good name and the (slim) protection eBay gave me by having the sale go through them and the security of my credit card. I payed through his 3rd party site (bimmerretrofit). About 3 hours later he confirmed my payment had gone through. Following day he sent me a TNT tracking number and 4 business days later the unit has arrived at my door. Unit looks good, no scratches on the face, model numbers match up.

I'll be off to Camden GTI tomorrow to have the RNS510 plus 9WZ (bluetooth) unit installed. Hopefully everything goes smooth with the install.

[zardoz]

Hi guys,

I bought an RNS510 several months ago (still haven't put it in as I haven't gotten around to getting it coded yet but did test it briefly) from an eBay seller in Lithuania as used_parts_specialists. The unit came with a card on it that required a code (and I had to input the code to get it to work with the car) but no manual.

Have I got a dodgy unit? The seller claimed it was a refurb - there are some very very light scratches on the glossy metal part of the front fascia but the display is immaculate. It has a sticker on the top of the unit that ends in a D with the production date etc.

I had no suspicions that this was going to be a bad deal but now I'm getting a little worried after reading this thread. The seller on eBay seems to be selling a lot of other car sat nab units such including the iDrive kits for the BMWs.

[aussietig]

Don't worry. That's our trusty Lithuanian friend, Tadas!

Mate ... you get what you pay for!

Sounds like you've scored yourself a D unit.

They all are refurbished units on eBay (if around $1,000 or so).

[nilo8533]

Just an update

Unit installed at Camden GTI and is running without any faults for past few months. Maps appear up to date, integrated perfectly with bluetooth unit i installed at the same time.

Was a bit scared buying the unit over ebay and through dodgy 3rd party payment. Took a bit of a risk but appears all is well

---------- Post added at 05:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ----------

On another note, selling my RCD310

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

[masev]

Just an update

Unit installed at Camden GTI and is running without any faults for past few months. Maps appear up to date, integrated perfectly with bluetooth unit i installed at the same time.

Was a bit scared buying the unit over ebay and through dodgy 3rd party payment. Took a bit of a risk but appears all is well

---------- Post added at 05:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ----------

On another note, selling my RCD310

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the install - That was for the RNS and Bluetooth, right?