Stainless steel chainrings

Just a heads up on the ebay stainless rings from seller ttekno; I bought one last week for my commuter as it sees way more miles than my 'weekend' bikes. Despite the seller making a point of saying 'why pay dura ace prices' there is actually a problem here in that if you want to use one with dura ace cranks it'll look a bit funky (Pics below)
Basically the profile around the bolt holes is slimmer than genuine DA rings so looks kind of shit when attached to a DA crank. Despite my efforts to return the ring the seller decided to be a prick about it so I'm stuck with it. My ethos is that a seller should always try to do right by a buyer regardless but hey ho!

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I'm with the seller on this one. It's not reasonable to expect the shape would be identical to chainring brand x.

Buyers on eBay hold all the cards so you could get your money back if you really want. This is why most sellers will just take the hit and refund immediately - arguably best for everyone long-term.

You could probably return with reason - significantly not as described - although it is a bit of a stretch in this case. The claim is about quality being 'dura-ace' level, not that it is a direct replacement for. Plus, it's your commuting bike - it's about function.

I would never have expected it to be the same shape as the DA ring and I certainly wouldn't have expected the seller to lose a single penny but being unhappy with the mismatch I think is reasonable. I would have happily paid for return postage and was friendly in my request.
Unfortunately I shot myself in the foot by not saying 'not as described' because I knew this would be a stretch. It was more just 'this kind of thing bothers me; can I return it?' and just got a 'no returns' case closed response.

I certainly wouldn't have expected the seller to lose a single penny

This is naive. Would you have paid for their initial postage and time? The seller will always lose on a return.

it's your commuting bike - it's about function.

Agreed; and no doubt it'll save me the price of replacement dura-ace rings many times over.

I would have only expected the price of the item; not the postage; which is why I didn't want to be dishonest and say 'not as described'.
As for time, I think that's just part and parcel of selling on ebay. I've been selling on ebay for over 18 years and had to deal with a few similar situations and it's always served me well. As I say, I think any seller should strive to do right by a buyer and not take the attitude of 'you bought it, you're stuck with it'.
One guy bought some forks from me that didn't fit his bike (his mistake and he admitted it) I could have easily taken the same stance as my seller but I explained that the forks cost quite a lot to post and as long as he covered the postage costs I'd gladly have them back. I've always been able to reach amicable agreements with people in these circumstances.
We can argue the toss over who was right or wrong all day long; that's not why I posted here. I posted as a heads up that if anyone was intending to buy one of these for a DA crank to expect a mismatch.

You didn't 'just' let us know about a visual mismatch. You called the seller a prick.

I did; and that is my opinion based on the events described above. I don't expect everyone to agree with me; what does it matter?....

Enough not to expect zero pushback on an open forum I guess.

The seller will always lose on a return.

But presumably profit on a completed sale. Leaving aside whether Tekno is bound by distance selling regulations to accept returns just because the buyer doesn't like the look of the item once he has it in his hands to inspect, the small cost of accepting a no-fault return is a price he might choose to pay for the reputational benefit.

On balance, and for reasons unconnected with this thread, a reasonable person might conclude that Tekno is a bit of a prick, but he's certainly being given a run for his money if we're trying to conclude who is the bigger prick in this transaction.

Now I'm off to the Post office to send a replacement headset cover to somebody who measured wrong the first time 🙂

Hahaha yes, indeed.

Just a heads up on the ebay stainless rings from seller ttekno; I bought one last week for my commuter as it sees way more miles than my 'weekend' bikes. Despite the seller making a point of saying 'why pay dura ace prices' there is actually a problem here in that if you want to use one with dura ace cranks it'll look a bit funky (Pics below)
Basically the profile around the bolt holes is slimmer than genuine DA rings so looks kind of shit when attached to a DA crank. Despite my efforts to return the ring the seller decided to be a prick about it so I'm stuck with it. My ethos is that a seller should always try to do right by a buyer regardless but hey ho!

And here's that post translated into non-prick:

Just a heads up on the ebay stainless rings from seller ttekno; I bought one last week for my commuter as it sees way more miles than my 'weekend' bikes.
The profile around the bolt holes is slimmer than genuine DA rings so if you're after #tartmode aesthetics it's probably not for you, but fuck it, it's only a commuter.