Amazon – Misrepresentation of The Item Being Sold

This is post four of my 10-part series on Amazon

Problem: Misrepresentation of the item being sold

At the farm, I have several metal 55-gallon metal drums, which are used to store horse feed. I wanted some locking rings so I can keep others out of the drums. I found the exact product that I wanted, a locking ring that locks the lid to the body of the drum. I can simply put a padlock on them and be done with it. Everything in the description seemed to check out, including the measurements, so I ordered two of them.

A couple of days later, the UPS driver delivered two small boxes. There was no way that the rings that I thought I had ordered were going to fit into those boxes. I opened and sure enough, the rings were for a 5-gallon drum and about 14″ across, not 25″ like the description (25.5″ x 24.7″ x2.3″). I posted a negative review, which surprisingly Amazon approved, and the seller contacted me for a refund. He claimed that I must have been sent the incorrect item, but never offered to send me the correct item.

To ship them back, I had to pay $45 which I was ultimately reimbursed for, but it took a little while. These locking rings are no longer being sold on Amazon.

There was even someone who claimed that they purchased these, answering questions:

Question: Will this lever lock ring fit a standard size 55 gallon steel drum with solid lid with standard rolled lip?
Answer: You bet it will, thats what we bought them for.
By David Krebs on January 20, 2022

Question: Will this ring fit a 55 gallon drum with a 23 inch diameter?
Answer: Yes, i just measured it for you and all mine are 23″ diameter.
By David Krebs on January 20, 2022

And when did I make my purchase? In March of 2022, so, it looks like there is either a product switch going on or David is the seller. The seller was very quick to respond, take down the ad, and offer a refund (they even paid for the return shipping). The below screen grab is after the seller took down the product listing (thank you).