Emerson SpongeBob SquarePants 13 inch TV

The Emerson SpongeBob 13" TV/DVD Combo may be a good item if you purchase it NEW (though I have to question that, since there are so many "refurbished" items on eBay, which indicates items being repaired and resold, which indicates a lot of defective items).

However... BEWARE of refurbished items. I purchased one of these TVs from an eBay PowerSeller in January 2008. He described the item as "Like New" with a 30 day warranty against defects. He even offered a SquareTrade Extended Warranty Plan with his item... so I purchased the item and the warranty in good faith.

When the item arrived... the shipping carton was in fine shape... but the item box inside was dirty and damaged. The TV appeared clean... but the remote had an ink stain about an inch long on the front, that wouldn't wash off.

Then... we set up the TV and my son began playing his DVDs. It worked for about 1-2 hours, then it would no longer read the discs. I tried everything I could think of (changed the discs, cleaned the discs, unplugged and restarted the TV)... but nothing worked. The item was DOA, less than 2 hours after receipt.

I contacted the seller and requested that he issue a UPS call tag and have them pick up the DOA item. I requested a full refund once he received my return. I didn't think he sent the DOA item on purpose... but I did feel that he was responsible and that I should not have to lose money when he shipped a DOA item.

The seller wanted me to pay the $35 return shipping... and said he would only refund the price of the TV, once he received it. This meant that I would pay $35 return shipping and I would lose the $35 original shipping.

So... I would pay $70 in shipping fees and have nothing to show for it!

Now... I'm not unreasonable. If I purchase an item and change my mind... I expect to pay the return shipping fees and lose the original shipping fees... because it's my fault for changing my mind and I shouldn't expect the seller to lose money over my error.

However... when I purchase an item described as "Like New" with a 30-Day Warranty and an extended warranty plan... and the item is immediately defective and "significantly not as described*... well, this is NOT my fault and I expect the seller to take care of the issue and handle the cost.

I could not reach an agreement with the seller. I had to file a Dispute with PayPal... which they decided in my favor. They issued a $35 credit to my PayPal account, to cover the return shipping. I provided PayPal with the UPS tracking number and they issued a full refund of my original purchase price, plus the original shipping, once the seller received my return.

So... it took about 2 weeks to resolve this issue and get a full refund. I wasted my time and effort with the seller and his defective item... and if it wasn't for PayPal... I would have lost $70 in shipping fees.

Please learn from my mistake and beware of buying this item when it's listed as "refurbished". You're not really saving money if you get an item that's defective.