Bad traders

Good looking out. Yeah, he was totally aware of the defect prior to selling, totally misrepresented. Make a claim

Yep! That's it!

Didn't mention it because I didn't think it was applicable but when I rode off the nuts slipped and jammed the rear wheel against the stays so I had to carry it to a shop to buy a spanner. He was all soz about that too.

I'll get on that suggestion, it'd be great if this was rideable!

Take screen caps of the threads, in case he tries to edit them.

Googling his e-mail address, shows he's all over the internet so it shouldn't be hard to get his attention.

Mobilise the troops!

Thanks man, really appreciate the help. Screen shots taken.

Absolutely!

10/10 detective work there. The forum strikes again.

And fuck that guy. Did you pay with paypal?

Yeah but unfortunately didn't use 'pay for goods and services'

: /

Don't get yourself too wound up then, there's nothing really stopping the chap buggering off into the night with your cash with no comeback unfortunately, as much as I wish you luck.

Either way, he clearly knew the threads were fucked and it seems he's either bought a non-italian threadless bb (i.e 68mm instead of 70) or the BB shell itself is too deformed to even take a 70mm one, in which case the whole thing needs replaced which is not likely to make economic sense.

As with most things, name and shaming is probably the only way to either prick his conscience or at least make everyone else conscious that he's a prick...

Not if there is no material left to thread

LFGSS will always have material left to thread. :)

Cheers uber, and yeah I am always and ever a pragmatist, but if I can I will still try to remedy this as fairly as I feel is appropriate.
Either way, frame notwithstanding, the components can always be used on another bike, and there may be a workaround that I haven't yet considered.
Anyway, I'll keep you all posted as to how I get on with this! If I can find a shop that can ream and bore then I'll go down that route... We shall see...

Oh and if anyone has a beater steel frame in around 57 with track ends. I'm in the market. Gotta be cheap though because I'm pretty broke 😟

I've got one in perfect condition if you paypal gift me....too soon?

Yeah let's do it! 😉

I wouldn't totally give up on the threadless BB route just yet (putting aside the issue of trying to get your money back out of this crooked fool).

Forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs. But have you being using two BB tools on either side of the bottom bracket to tighten it up. you'll need two good size wrenches on either side too. I also found it helpful to grease up the threads of the bottom bracket itself too.

Yeah, I'm gonna give it another shot before I entirely write it off but I'll never be happy with what I consider to be a frame that is no longer performing adequately.
I did tighten both sides with two tools but I'll have another bash with another pair of hands to see if that helps. I'm also interested in getting it repaired, if I can find a builder who can rebore/shim/whatever. (Any ideas where or who?)

The seller has offered me fifty pounds back, which is something, I haven't yet responded to him as I don't know if I'll accept that as enough just yet.

Been re-reading this, to clarify, the payment was done at handover, rather than use cash, so in effect this outcome would have been the same either way. At least now he has my PayPal address to send back some money.

The seller has offered me fifty pounds back...

Would you have bought the frame at the discounted price, if you'd known the state of the shell?

If the shell is warped, then the only option is to have it replaced.

If it's still round, it may be possible to have the threads filled with weld/braze and re-cut.

Either way, I'd tell him to fuck off with his fifty quid: he owes you whatever it costs to have a usable shell.

Even if you get a threadless BB to work, your choice of cranks will be restricted by the available widths of BB.

The market for frames with fucked shells is limited, which you should consider unless it's a #beik4lyf.

If he doesn't like that, he can refund you the purchase price plus the cost of shipping to wherever he's hiding. And make sure you get it upfront.

The guy's a cunt of the highest order who deliberately fucked you: you're under no obligation to be reasonable.

Thanks dude, I'll email him back to let him know I've asked for quotes for repair. He is still claiming ignorance to the state of the bb shell though which is just weird.
The most frustrating thing for me is that this was indeed supposed to be my only bike after downsizing everything in preparation for the arrival of my first child. This means that all my money is now put well aside for the baby, and if this goes back for repair or refund I'll be out of a mode of transport.
Frustrating because I dropped my guard expecting everything to be cool because of the camaraderie and high standard of trading here.

To braze the threads and then recut I would charge the scumbag £125. DM if you have any questions.

@matteroftaste
I haven't tried this so maybe others can chip in.
There's a guy on CTC, who's quite knowledgeable, reckons you can epoxy BB cup/cups into the shell. When you need to get them out use some heat which softens it enough to make it work'able. If you've got the a spindle BB you can remove one cup only to service it?
The other trick people used to use was take the bike into a decent repair shop and they can "cut and shut" the BB shell. What they do is cut a line across the BB and weld it up and then re-tap the threads.
Good luck and I'd keep pushing for a full refund as it's always going to be hassle unless you pay for the full monty repair.

Hmm, the epoxy idea sounds like a interesting last resort, especially as I have a nice campy Italian bb laying around. Then I could cut my losses and just ride, as long as it gives me a decent chainline...

Is this as it sounds and chucking a bunch of brass in there and cutting new threads into it?

Yeah, not ideal but better than nothing. Replacing BB shells is really tedious as you can imagine, so can sometimes make sense.