As Raven just said, you could have purchased (at full price) a brand new juicer only to have it malfunction. At least with a reconditioned item, you know that the manufacturer has gone over it and fixed any problems, so it should be "better than new." I agree with you, though, that it's disconcerting to purchase something that you thought was simply "slightly used," only to find out after getting it that it has been reconditioned. If I were in your shoes for this one, I would contact the seller and tell him that you wouldn't have made the purchase if the true condition of the item had been disclosed, and request a refund of however much money you feel is appropriate. If the seller refuses, then contact PayPal (I presume you paid via PayPal since I think that's the only choice folks have these days on eBay), as well as eBay and say that the item was not as described. They will want to know if you have made an attempt to settle the matter directly with the seller, so you can't do this step until you've given the seller a chance to "settle up" with you. PayPal and eBay will investigate and will likely refund your money, but they may make you return the item to the seller (at your expense for shipping costs). If your PayPal payment was made via a credit card linked to your PayPal account, you can also contact the cc company and dispute the charge with them, telling them that the item you received was not what was described when you made the purchase. I actually did this once, for a purchase of 30 filters for my husband's CPAP machine. The eBay listing had a photo of, and the description stated, three brand-new, unopened boxes of 10 filters each. What I received was a gallon-size ziplock baggie with 30 filters (loose) in it. I was really p-o'd because I had no way of knowing who had handled the filters or in what manner, how many people may have handled them, etc. I sent several messages to the seller through eBay, but never got a response. I filed a dispute with eBay and PayPal, but didn't get anywhere with them because I hadn't sent the filters back to the seller (why would I do that when I had no advance guarantee that I'd receive a refund). So, I disputed it with the cc company (which happened to be Discover). Discover at first denied my dispute, saying that they contacted the seller who said that I had received the item(s). So I sent Discover a screen print of the eBay listing as well as a photo of what I had received. They immediately credited the purchase amount as well as interest on the purchase amount. And that's why I ALWAYS take screen shots of the eBay listings that I purchase.

When you let people intimidate you into doing things that are wrong or not doing things that you believe are right is a crime in itself and only encourages more. Ironic how some will talk about bullies and we have to "do something" about bullies, yet when the bully comes outside of the schoolyard, the bully rules. It shouldn't be tolerated on the school property or off the school property and yes it probably take some effort to do something and it definitely takes some courage. I don't know if many people can feel good about themselves when they let others push them around. I differ from a lot of people here because I strongly believe you need to stand up for what you believe is right, even if it is occasionally to your detriment. I firmly believe that when people witness crime but refuse to get involved, they're nothing less than an accessory to the crime and many times worse than the perp. How many times have you had or known people who had car damage from careless people but witnesses are so chicken-schick they won't get involved. This belief that everyone carries a gun or a knife and are out to get you personally turns my stomach. It's a copout IMO and nothing more. An excuse for laziness often. And often these are the people who cry the loudest when they're the victim of something. You need to decide what *your* morals, ethics and beliefs suggest you do. To do nothing condones and contributes to the actions. As a business owner I was still very involved in opposing things or supporting things when I felt they were *right*. Did it cost me some business? Yes. But then again, it also gained me a lot of respect with the people whose respect meant something to me and also actually gained me some business too. When a politician was giving gift contracts to relatives I stood up at a televised council meeting and called for the Mayor's resignation. I've never regretted it nor any other activities in crime prevention. Yes it cost me time, and cost me money since I contributed heavily to crime prevention, but I believe it's right. It's probably a little late now to go to the police, but you could talk to them. Depends on how ethical the local law folk are. They might not do anything official but planting a bug in their ear might be of some use. Contacting a superintendent is of little value. Remember, the superintendent works *for* the school board! Do you think a sup is going to challenge his/her boss on something like this? If they had ethics they would, but I don't believe they will. I know a lot of school district employees, and let's leave it at that! I think notifying the vehicle owner is a proper thing to do. I also would probably either write the offenders or more likely talk to them personally and suggest they resign to gauge their reaction before going to a school board meeting and bring it up there. Possibly invite some local media to attend that meeting too. I might not immediately identify the people at the meeting, depending on the situation but I'd outline the situation factually, state that I don't believe this is proper conduct for school board officials and ask the perpetrators to voluntarily resign. I also like Marry's suggestion of asking for an explanation. Perhaps do that before requesting the resignation (and skip talking to them personally). There's no way I could ignore this. It's wrong in too many ways and the ramifications of intimidation are too serious. Crime swells when people refuse to get involved. This is more than having long grass because the mower won't start. This is more than a speeding ticket by a public official.

I wasn't quite sure what you were asking until you later clarified. I guess I usually move over when there isn't traffic. So many people just don't know how to merge it's a way for me to eliminate frustration. Actually I usually stay in the middle or left lane to eliminate merging issues like this too. And I seldom use cruise control. It wasn't until the vehicle I got about 12 years ago or so that was the first vehicle I ever had with cruise but living in a climate that has winter, I found that cruise isn't something I use much for several reasons but that's another topic. SO, back to the initial question! Although I would probably move over, I'd also likely speed up a bit or if they're moving up enough to obviously give some speed I'd let them go in front of me. Occasionally I get "people" (and I'll refrain from calling them what I want to call them!) who play chicken, so I try to avoid it. I run into it a lot around here when there's a lane ending and someone tries to get that extra car length... It's frustrating but the older I get the more I try to make it not bother me. The piece of driving advice that sticks in my mind is from a friend's father who told his son "Drive like the other guy is crazy!" Best advice I ever heard.

[For Mr Fudd] From 18 hours ago: JeCrigler, thanks for putting up Amazon's Customer Service number. I've noted it for future use. A few weeks ago I had a problem processing an A-Z Guarantee---suddenly my order number was invalid, and they kept insisting I contact the seller. Well, that only lead to an e-mail from Amazon letting me know that the seller was no longer with Amazon, and could not accept e-mails. The claim was only for $10, yet I spent 15 minutes trying to find a Customer Service number. Finally I found a way to get them to call me, and another 15 minutes to get my claim okayed and processed. Guess it is good that I so rarely have problems with Amazon to need to call them. ---------------------- I spent time trying to use the contact links provided through the A-Z Guarantee, that I was directed to use by Amazon in their e-mails, that were supposed get me through the claim process. The A-to-Z pages also have links you are supposed to use if there were additional problems. After answering some questions about the order that had problems, it was supposed to take me to their Customer Service page. But it would not because it claimed the order number was invalid. So I had to use a different method to contact Amazon's Customer Service to get my problem resolved. In comparison, Amazon was less trouble.