Posted this on another forum about 18 months ago, but it's worth reposting here as it appears nothing much has changed with him:
Wheeljackslab.
Item #: 6027507361 (Brainstorm)
Item #: 6027507393 (Slapdash)
It's interesting to note that all the positive things which I've heard people say about him seem to relate to domestic dealings, and here in the fan community in Australia, I have yet to hear of a single positive experience people have had with him.
A few months ago, I made the mistake of buying a G1 Brainstorm and Slapdash from him. First off, he'd said no Paypal payments for international sellers with the auction yet had listed Bidpay as an option, which to be frank, was the only reason I bid on both items. When the auction ended I discovered that he hadn't done his homework on Bidpay and they had since shut down. This left me in a position of trying to find a relatively safe alternative to sending cash or a cheque, and in the process of doing so, he left me with a payment not received dispute on both items. It's also worth noting that in his auction listings, he'd mentioned Slapdash but had a picture of Triggerhappy. When I messaged him to confirm that it was Slapdash and not Triggerhappy, he assured me it was Slapdash.
Fortunately at the same time, I'd managed to find a payment method which did at least cover me to some extent. I informed him on both items and both non paying bidder disputes were closed. About a week after this, I read the TFW2005 bad buyers thread and so I emailed him politely asking for clarification over concerns i had with his packing methods after reading about another Australian member's misfortunes over a G1 Shockwave he had acquired through him, only to be greeted not by the usual helpful and friendly tone of his emails, but by what was essentially a rant about how he ALWAYS packs Shockwave well and about "bad buyers". He also told me point blank that he indulges in retaliatory feedback on ebay. I should have realised that this would be the calm before the storm.
About a week and a half later (I can check dates on all of this later on if need be), Brainstorm arrived but not Slapdash, and one of the wing joints on Brainstorm was VERY badly worn! I emailed him about both items and was told that because I didn't specify with the payment that it was for both auctions, it was my problem. With Brainstorm, he also insisted on me shipping it halfway round the world for me to inspect it so he could "consider" giving me a refund.
Now considering that this is exactly what had happened with this other member's Shockwave (literally arriving in pieces), naturally alarm bells went off. As for Slapdash, if it were a standard situation, then fair enough. However this was not a standard situation as he had unpaid item disputes on both items, and payment was sent to him for $110 (the quoted total for both shipped with insurance), where Brainstorm was worth $50 and Slapdash was worth $45. I learned from him at the end of things that he doesn't use any of the standard ebay tools, as in my ebay and his ebay inbox- things the average buyer would EXPECT from an ebay seller - at least when it doesn't suit him anyway.
He also insisted on me sending over a money order for the additional shipping amount- the cost of which was as much as the shipping amount i was sending, rather than allowing me to send it through ebay. When I brought up paying the $8 I believed it to be at that time (the guy is very good at being difficult and intimidating via emails to the point where if he catches you off guard, it's very easy to get flustered and not be thinking straight).
Considering that I had tried resolving things with the seller and had been given an unsatisfactory result, I followed standard ebay procedures and filed an "item not as described" and "item not received" dispute for Brainstorm and Slapdash respectively. This resulted in a "how dare you be so unreasonable" response from him. He then turned around and insisted on charging me a 20% penalty on a refund for a "restocking fee" for Slapdash, or he would "allow me" to choose another item of the same value. He also insisted on sending me the refund through Paypal- which while seemingly being "the devil incarnate" when he receives money- it's perfectly ok when he's the one sending it. The figure he claimed was short though, and when I argued that he accused me of trying to con him. I had to scan in and send him my carbon copy of the money order to which I got a response of "Well how was I supposed to know you'd payed me that much?!", and an extremely grudging acceptance of the new amount. When I asked again about Slapdash, he argued that I didn't have the credit according to his 20% rule, yet at the time, the Auction for Slapdash was still active and won by me.
Feeling intimidated, I caved in at the time and accepted another item (which I now regret) and he went offline. About 2-5 minutes later, the intimidation faded and I argued a new proposal. As the shipping difference with the extra amount was such that there was a difference of $3 US as far as the shipping cost for Slapdash went, as both items were still active (It's also worth noting that at this point, he'd banned me from bidding on any of his items, as I discovered when checking on the other item) and I had a worn wing joint which was not as described; I suggested partial compensation for $3USD for the wing joint damage which would take care of the shipping and that way there'd be a reasonable compromise.
To make sure the message was there before he came back online and cancelled the emails, I sent him a message through the "contact seller" option (as that way it would be instantaneous) saying that I'd changed my mind on Punch (the other figure I'd caved in on with) and that I proposed the above idea of a partial compensation for Brainstorm in the way of a shipping difference to square things up.
He then demanded we stick to the 20% option. When I refused to play ball on it as post auction extra charges like that are against ebay TOU, he got nasty saying take Punch or the refund - 20% and that as he was blocking my email address from his email account after the next email and a reply from him, if I gave him an answer other than either option not only would I get no reply from him, but he'd decide what course of action he would take and I'd just have to live with it.
He sent me a refund, minus 20% for a "restocking fee from having to cancel both auctions" to an email address which wasn't even linked to my Paypal account. At this point, I was through being reasonable, and so I not only bounced his refund back, but filed an additional charges complaint with ebay, a false contact info complaint (his listed phone number at the time was disconnected) and left neg feedback, to which he carried through on his retaliatory feedback veiled threat.
About a week later I got an email from him, claiming he'd refund me the full price of Slapdash but insisted on keeping the $6USD and that I had better take this refund because there would not be another.
So not only did I wind up losing a whole night's sleep on this, but am now out of pocket and have a transformer which was not as described with a bad precedent in terms of having faith that if I returned the item he would actually inspect it in good faith and play fair on a refund; I'm also out of pocket.
While I can't speak for his domestic dealings and he may well be a dream to deal with in them; with international dealings, I can honestly say that he's a nightmare to deal with. In short, if you'll be dealing with him internationally; avoid him like the plague!