I need to have the gauge cluster repair done on my Suburban, so naturally I've looked around on eBay. There are a ton of choices, all very similar in what the repair consists of, pricing and the turnaround time to get the cluster back. Imagine my surprise when I came across a listing from a seller named 'channel-one' that in huge red letters refers to potential buyers as idiots. ('IDIOTS PLEASE READ AD') While I understand the need to make a listing as clear as possible so buyers know exactly what you are getting, as this is a 'repair service' and not a 'gauge cluster-replacement purchase', this listing makes it pretty clear by stating it at least six times AND the seller doesn't even send you his shipping address until AFTER you pay, so it's impossible for any buyer to pre-ship the old cluster and expect a brand-new one back.

Since I was a little surprised about calling potential buyers of this service 'idiots', I contacted the seller, and I can tell you that the seller doubled-down on his views, twice, in fact. Clearly, apparently from old previous transactions, this is one angry seller and is up-front with his disdain of buyers. I can only imagine the customer service you'd get once you've completed your eBay transaction and posted feedback. His reply probably starts with 'Dear Idiot'...

When researching eBay for this repair service, I also noticed that some sellers offer warranties at 6 months, others a few years, and others as 'lifetime'. Those sellers also state that they use new parts... this seller states "All parts are used unless stated otherwise. All parts will come with a 30 day warranty; this guarantees the part to work for 30 days beginning from the invoice date." So for the same pricing as other sellers, you get used parts AND a almost nonexistent warranty that starts from the date of the invoice, not the date you've received the gauge cluster back.

There are a lot of choices out there when you want to spend your money; you should always get what you pay for AND be treated with respect. Calling potential buyers 'idiots' doesn't fall in that category, at least to me, but members here are free to decide for themselves.

Maybe others here will think being treated with a lack of respect is funny; you tell me if in this day and age this is what we should expect from sellers...

 

I'm not saying it's right by any means, but as an eBay buyer and seller, I know eBay ALWAYS sides with the buyer. and I've been burned. But as a buyer I've also have things sent to me that were NOT what was in the photo. and I just got tired of it... I've pretty much give up on Flea Bay for a lot of stuff...

 

Bingo!

No one says you have to use that jerk. Just click past his listing and move on. I wouldn't give him a second thought let alone post about it...unless of course it's winter, then I'll complain until spring. Nothin' else to do :headband: :

 

Way too many sellers on eBay that offer the same service within a similar price range... it's not like the guy has a corner of the market doing repairs, especially since his warranty is almost non-exsistent compared to some other sellers. Just offering up a 'heads-up' to others that might be considering this type of repair.

 

On the topic of this repair, I have the same issue and planned to just fix it myself. Isn't just typically 1-2 broken solder joints that need to be reconnected? I am not proficient in soldering by any means, but can do the basics, and had planned to give it a shot myself. I didn't realize eBay sellers offered this repair as a service...interesting. So is it more complicated than I am imagining?

The source of my knowledge on this is here: Dim Or Dark Prnd21 Fix - How To - SilveradoSS.com

 

It's a pretty straight-forward repair, and the eBay seller listings show that most replace all the motors and back-lighting bulbs while it's opened up. Most of the sellers on eBay also update the software at the same time, which seller channel-one doesn't even do. All the other sellers state they use new parts, while this seller, at least in his disclaimer, states he uses used.

Do a search on eBay and you'll find a lot of places that do the repair, (but only ONE seller that calls you an idiot!) such as 2003 2004 2005 2006 Chevrolet Silverado Gauge Cluster Dashboard Repair Service | eBay

If you want to do the repair yourself, all the parts and tools are available on eBay too.

You'll find a YouTube video that shows how to easily remove the cluster in just a few minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...r&spfreload=10