I think I bought a firebomb off ebay!!!

Hi guys and gals. First post but long time lurker. I find the info on this site invaluable especially the cell database.

I come looking for help/feedback. I recently made an ebay purchase for dismantled dewalt battery packs. My intention was to build some Roomba battery packs some dewalt battery packs and maybe some Dyson ones too. The ebay listing shows all the cells with sticky labels with capacities written on them and the listing states the capacity range. The listing is described as for spares/parts etc. It all looked like the sale was by someone who knew what they were doing.

Now the problem is when I received the package (incidentally it was not marked as containing li-ion cells) on first opening there was a solvent/ester smell suggesting leaking electrolyte. When I took the first cell out of the box there was a hole at the bottom where the nickel strip had been removed from the cell. On further inspection about half of the cells are like this.

I told the seller that I am not happy with these and want a refund. His response is as follows The cells can be used like I said if you now what you doing! you knew what the condition of them were Im not accepting any return or giving and refund I dont believe theses to be of any danger but if you think otherwise then thats up too you . I dont think English is his first language but its quite clear the message he is conveying.

I have to wait until the 7th of February before e-bay will step in. In the meantime can you guys confirm Ive been sold a firebomb?

I will add photos later.

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Here is the original listing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEWALT-D...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

He definitely should not have sold cells that are leaking electrolyte and definitely did not ship them legally. The dude sounds like a total idiot. I wouldn't wait until February 7th. You can call eBay now and talk to somebody.

I'd say it's shitty of him/her to send cells leaking toxic and flammable electrolyte. Certainly against the rules of Royal Mail, possibly even criminal. But that an issue between him/her and the carrier.

As for the quality and state of the product, it was sold as
"For parts or not working: An item that does not function as intended or is not fully operational. This includes items that are defective in ways that render them difficult to use, items that require service or repair, or items missing essential components. See the sellers listing for full details.",
so I think it'd be wrong to reject it for containing [some] faulty cells. Sure, s/he implied that all the cells were in a good enough state to capacity test. But given the description, you should have been prepared to receive rusted, dinged up, self-discharging, and even leaking cells.
But definitely grounds for leaving a very "toxic" review.

You have several grounds to fighting back with eBay. He shipped damaged/leaking cells without proper packaging. This is "ILLEGAL". He didn't label the outside of the box. This is "ILLEGAL". He says the cells are functional and can be used. This is a "LIE" and "UNSAFE". You can NEVER EVER use a cell that has the shell casing compromised. From a safety perspective, this is a fire waiting to happen.

Take several pictures of different angles, of the box, inside the box, of the cells, etc. Upload those with the ebay dispute. The seller will get into trouble with ebay, and possible get their acct closed. Shipping items that you 'know' is harmful and hazardous without labeling, proper shipping, and clearly in the description is against ebays terms and conditions, and every shipping company.

Looking at the listing, they know what they are doing. There is no image that shows the Negative end of the cells close enough to see the damage. They are getting mass quantities of battery packs to use for their own purposes, and selling off the junk without listing it as such.

You got jipped and you need to report it asap!

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btw, thanks for posting the link to the item. This shows us the seller and will help others to NOT buy from that person.

Cells from packs like that are notorious to get damaged when stripped apart. Unfortunately they often get holes in them when not doing it properly....
Just tell him that holes in cells are not any type of cell that can or should be used. He should either refund you or you will give negative and take it up with Ebay directly. I hope you used Paypal?

If we want more input you can always give him a link to this forum as well.

For people that arent aware they do try to profit on this "market" but its important that they get educated that damaged casings of cells are not useable cells.

unfortunately he did mark it as "parts or not working" and doing that you might not get anything back since Ebay most likely will take them as "not working".....
Im sorry to say this but never buy listings marked as "not working"

i have won cases that were marked as "Not working" before. So it is possible. The good thing is that the process is not done by a bot, but a person, or a well trained AI to make the decisions. They do take the description in the listing into consideration, even if it's marked as "Not Working". This is also why you need to send pictures of everything to show what you received. eBay takes into consideration also the pictures of advertised item, and pictures of received item.

Of course you can win Them IF it states its 100% working.

But doing 1000s of Transactions on auction sites its.actually more Common that the One selling get to Keep it all due to marked as not working.

What im saying is that you need to Read Up on listing rules because if you try to play it out badly you loose directly.

With that Said holes in cells= clear case of not working battery... So need to tackle it from that perspective.
And unfortunately what i can see There is nothing stating that the cells actually works....
Note im not on the sellers Side but i know how its exploited.... Been There and been fucked myself several Times so i make sure it says working or Good condition

Documentation.

If you have good documentation and can make a reasonable argument against the seller, you should be able to navigate the eBay buyer protection in way that will help you.

Spend the time you have now to take photos of damaged and or dangerous items and put in writing all of your observations. I would also include comments and notes about how the shipping was not done per the rules.

Just for clarity the cells were shipped loose in the cardboard box or were they placed back in the battery packs

I have often wondered if returning cells back to there packs after testing would make it easier to ship

I have had a look at the listing and my take on it is that the battery packs are for parts or not working, but the cells are being advertised as usable.
"Opened for testing of cells which have all been labelled to show state of conditions ranges are from 1275 - 2071"
Shows that the cells have been tested and have usable capacity.
If they are damaged and not safe to use, then they are not as advertised.

beware that not many people knows what is useable or not im afraid They may determine a hole in the cell as useable as example

daromer said:

beware that not many people knows what is useable or not im afraid They may determine a hole in the cell as useable as example

Click to expand...

This may be true, but doesn't make it less for having sold something incorrectly. But I do agree with you completely.

I also agree with Oz. The wording implies the cells are able to be reused, but just not in battery pack form.

It is not sold incorrectly from a legal view unless the seller know about the aspect of the holes Causing the cells to be useless.

The seller havent clearly done it wrong. Once again this is very Common and we can all agree in that they are useless... But.. legal aspects is not consider what it should be but what is written and IF he didnt know...

I have Read the ad several Times now and its about intepretating IF a meassured capacity determines IF the cell is Good or not. In My world it doesnt state that...

But you should Still fight it of course bad of the Hole part doesnt Pan out retest capacity too...

As Said the spare parts and not working is dangerous...... I have Lost 100s of dollars due to it and know many that have.

In Australia, we can rely on the details in the advertisement being accurate.
If the advertiser is mistaken then it is the advertisers problem, not the buyer.
In Australia I believe that stating a capacity means it can be used for the stated capacity.
If it cannot be used for that capacity (because it 8s dangerous) then the ad is misleading/deceptive.
This would be seen as the fault of the seller.

Plus one on Korishan!
His quote:
You have several grounds to fighting back with eBay. He shipped damaged/leaking cells without proper packaging. This is "ILLEGAL". He didn't label the outside of the box. This is "ILLEGAL". He says the cells are functional and can be used. This is a "LIE" and "UNSAFE". You can NEVER EVER use a cell that has the shell casing compromised. From a safety perspective, this is a fire waiting to happen.

The eBay arbitrator is unlikely to be an expert with batteries or chemistry, so probably best to keep it simple to see (pics) and google basic facts for confirmation. Perhaps something like this:

The sender punctured the lithium-ion battery cells during his/her bungled disassembly, so that toxic and flammable lithium-ion electrolyte was leaking. S/he failed to disclose this material fact in the ad or to the carrier, and basically sold & sent hazardous waste in a dangerous and illegal manner. You are outraged to have been exposed to toxic gases upon opening the package.

But shipment done illegal dont get you money back. Its just waste of time.

Ajw22 is proper action. The other wont do any good