an ebay question
#1

If someone knows about ebay theft; please tell me if there is anything i can do.

I bought something other than an rpn calculator almost 3 months ago. I was ripped off. The seller waited till after one month to send it and i didn't report it till it turned up, dissassembled and ruined; so she does not have to answer to paypal because they only go back a month. I have went through 4 of the little pretend ebay remedies and they just send me automated responses and do nothing. She has false contact info listed with ebay and refuses to answer ebay's automated questions to her. Ebay says in an automated response to me to report it to the post office. They won't answer my calls or emails.

I waited to that last day to leave negative feedback, thinking that something would work out. Now ebay's feedback system will not let me leave negative feedback. I have wrote about 15 or 20 statements for ebay and paypal, wrote paper letters to both of them, tried to contact the seller and the post office. No dice.

Is there a way to contact a person in the faceless festering fake "buyer assurance" program of ebay?

#2

I've never had any luck with eBay or Paypal. Never. They pass the buck back and forth until you give up and move on. Quite the scam if you ask me. What's the point of having a credit card on file as a seller or buyer? They seem totally unresponsive to recovering funds on either side so long as they get paid. Once that happens, you're on your own since all they send are form emails which are total garbage. I had a case of clearly documented non-shipment awhile back and they told me as buyer that they "could not recover my money". What a load of crap since they had a CC on file for the seller. They told me to file a dispute with the CC company which was a further joke, since it was a Paypal Visa card. If you ask me, they do absolutely nothing for the big money they suck off sellers.

The only possible solution based on my experiences: If it was paid for with a credit card, your only recourse is by filing a billing dispute. You'll probably have to send in documentation and spend considerable time with stupid forms and even stupider "customer service" personnel to get your money back. They will want to know in great detail your efforts to resolve the problem with seller before you filled the claim for non-delivery. Your persistence is the only thing that gets you your money back, they count on you giving up first.

#3

With a 4Gb MicroDrive. The seller told it would work in any CF device. But he forgoten to tell it picked it up from an Ipod MP3 Player, and these drives does not work in any other device.
After two months, there nothing I could do. Only see 150 go to the trash...

#4

I had a similar problem with one seller who just didn't ship the item and refused to answer any mails. Fortunately I was able to issue a negative feedback after the 3 months limit. You have to go to click on the "site map" link on ebay.com and you will find a link called "Leave feedback for a single transaction" Use this link to put your feedback here. In my case, the seller suddenly contacted me the day after I filed a negative feedback ...

Concerning paypal, I sent them an email explaining the situation and the refunded my money (it was 4 months after the transaction's end).

Good luck !

#5

Always keep in mind that eBay is simply coordinating an agreement between you and someone you've never met, somewhere else in the world. It's no secret that there are crooks out there, so be carefull.
1. I always check out the seller's rating, especially for pricier items. Most reputable sellers have 99%-100% ratings. Sellers with thousands of points may have a couple negatives, but casual sellers should have a perfect score. If you're buying something cheap, it may be worth taking a bigger chance, but remember that you're taking a chance. Also, I rarely bids to sellers with only a few points (or zero points).
2. I don't give a credit card number to someone I don't know. I normally use PayPal or Money Order.
3. You should have communications with the seller/buyer within a couple days. No contact within a week is a very bad sign.
4. Once payent is sent, you should expect notification if shipment within a couple days. No contact within a week is a very bad sign. A month is a dead givaway to a scammer.
We 'got burned' in a purchase over the holidays. A book seller did not ship the book, and relisted it a few days later. We attempted further contact, and the seller's account was canceled. Followed the procedure in PayPal, we were credited for the purchase the following day!

#6

I have discovered a very nasty thing about USPS money orders. I had one lost in the mail. After 2 months the post office replaced it after paying the 3-4 dollar search fee. Since the auction was long over and the seller had relisted the item, I cashed my replacement money order. Six months later, the original money order was cashed. The post office then sent ME a bill for the duplicate payment. They claim that they have NO way of stopping payment on a money order that is replaced. My only recourse is to file a mail fraud complaint.

#7

Is it possible that in fact your money order was not lost; rather, your adversary merely claimed it was lost, waited a while, and then cashed it? Seems like an easy way to loophole.

Does the USPS keep the order or its facsimilie, showing the reciever's signature? If so, then mail fraud is true---then what? small claims court?

It seems to me that certified, with return receipt, is the only safe way to use the money order. That way, there can be no fraud--they either get it, or not!

What dou you think?

Regards,

Bill

#8

I am not a lawyer so my comments are just that, comments. With difficult sellers you should be firm and act fast.

Here in the UK there is a class of crime if you know (or should have known) you have assisted a fraud. Ebay may just be introducing people but they should police their system and take action to stop or correct fraud when it is reported to them. But hey ebay are making millions and the people defrauded are not paying ebay's profits and only loosing a small amount so ebay don't care. As long as the fraudulent seller pays ebay then there is little incentive for ebay to do anything.

Trading across international borders puts the buyer in limbo if there is a dispute.

I have stopped buying anything from ebay over about $50, the amount of listings I see (of items I know about) that have so many glaring 'mistakes' that serve to make the item look better than it is I have many doubts about the seller's competence (or is that honesty?) If it's not listed as it should then I stay well clear.

I bid and won a camera, the buyer banked the cheque and then gave endless excuses why the item wasn't sent. I stuck to a date when he had to send me the item or a refund. When that date passed I immediately filed a non send fraud. Ebay (Europe) did eventually refund some of the money - 6 months later. This was about 18 months ago so they may have changed policy since then.



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