I purchased a 2MB MP4 Player, a version of 2007 for $91, - including an inflated shipping charge. The player was advertised as new. The port to transfer data and to charge the device was loose and did not operate at all. The included adapter was not approved to be sold in the US.

I returned the defective product to their distributor and requested a refund. I informed uBid of the non-compliant adapter by letter.

An associate of the distributor informed me that she was instructed by uBid to deny a credit/substitution and to replace the defective item. She confirmed that another new 2GB MP4 Player was found in their stock and that it was shipped.

I received a replacement, the box arrived sealed with a tape. The 'new' box included an alternate adapter. The second player's data socket is also loose, as the one before, but operable. The product has no name identifying the manufacturer and has neither a serial number nor an inspection ID. I looked at the replaced device and found that the screws show slight marks of manipulation. I suspected this player was opened to repair the socket.

I compared the replacement with photos I had taken of the original, it confirmed that they were identical. Since two other functions had stopped working I thought that maybe the attempted repair had further damaged the player. So, I wrote another letter.

I thought of charging the battery when I noticed that the second adapter felt like a hollow toy. I checked the code and found it had an illegal UL sticker instead.

I paid for a new MP4 player, received defective gray-market junk with an illegal adapter. Then it was replaced with the same player, still defective with a different adapter that is also noncompliant.

I'm just speachless.