Yeah, I'd have AMEX send them a letter or something, if you still care to reopen your Paypal account; and/or file a complaint with the BBB.
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Anyone got cheated in eBay before?
- Thread starter Son of Matrix
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Yeah, I'd have AMEX send them a letter or something, if you still care to reopen your Paypal account; and/or file a complaint with the BBB.
I have been using ebay for many years, and I never had any problem. I always received the item I purchased, and when selling, the buyer never tried to cheat me.
The description were often very accurate, I simply pay careful attention to the people's ratings before buying.
The description were often very accurate, I simply pay careful attention to the people's ratings before buying.
Don't wait. Go to the police NOW. The longer you wait the harder it is for the police to help. Get your butt over there and report this. The faster you move the more likely you'll get your money back. Your seller WILL NOT respond to you, so forget trying to communicate with him.
You. Cops. Now.
Don't feel too bad, It Happens.
I am in the process of trying to get 900.00 refunded for a Adobe Master Suite. Guy printed a shipping label & Never sent the item. It's been 3 weeks+ now & I reported it to PayPal and they started an investigation. I contacted the FBI also as it's wire fraud & A felony, Luckily, I Paid with PayPal & through my business Credit card, so I am confident it will sort out.
I also bought a bootleg Tiger disc a few months ago & Turned that fellow in to the feds & Apple (Got a 50.00 apple store gift certificate for my troubles)I also got immediate refund of my expenditures.
By all means get the authorities involved.
I am in the process of trying to get 900.00 refunded for a Adobe Master Suite. Guy printed a shipping label & Never sent the item. It's been 3 weeks+ now & I reported it to PayPal and they started an investigation. I contacted the FBI also as it's wire fraud & A felony, Luckily, I Paid with PayPal & through my business Credit card, so I am confident it will sort out.
I also bought a bootleg Tiger disc a few months ago & Turned that fellow in to the feds & Apple (Got a 50.00 apple store gift certificate for my troubles)I also got immediate refund of my expenditures.
By all means get the authorities involved.
Not a sign at all. Wow, I begin to suspect you are my neighbour.
I have reported to ebay on suspicious activity and hijacking of account. I haven't file a dispute yet in ebay because ebay guidelines said I need to wait for 10 days! However, I have also warned the winner of his relisted item not to pay him unless I get my laptop first.
I sold a TV for collection only. The guy paid by PayPal (safe, I thought) and collected it.
About a month later he lodged a complaint saying the item had not arrived - at which point PayPal took back the £600 from my bank account. PayPal told me to produce a postal tracking number but, when I explained he collected it, they decided in his favour and gave him the £600.
eBay and PayPal assisted the guy in stealing my TV. I invited him into my home and allowed him to steal from me.
eBay weren't interested, PayPal couldn't care less and the Police said there was nothing they could do.
And to add insult to injury, I still had to pay the eBay fees and final value fee.
Bastards.
About a month later he lodged a complaint saying the item had not arrived - at which point PayPal took back the £600 from my bank account. PayPal told me to produce a postal tracking number but, when I explained he collected it, they decided in his favour and gave him the £600.
eBay and PayPal assisted the guy in stealing my TV. I invited him into my home and allowed him to steal from me.
eBay weren't interested, PayPal couldn't care less and the Police said there was nothing they could do.
And to add insult to injury, I still had to pay the eBay fees and final value fee.
Bastards.
my goodness...that's so unfair!!!
Now's the time to post his username so we can do some digging
lol...you just can't wait...like a leashed tiger waiting to be unleashed and tear the victim apart...hahahha...i tell you now...an internet manhunt will be launched soon...that 3"$"£$£"$
I've done over 100 transactions on eBay and just got burned two weeks ago. I sold a DVD and the seller emailed me before the auction ended and asked if I did delivery confirmation. I replied no, he bought it and put that he was fine with not having delivery confirmation on the Paypal transaction notes. 3 weeks later I get a complaint through paypal from him in broken english stating that he never received the DVD. Fine, so I email him and ask why he didn't email me first. No response. I had the receipt from the Post Office in my hand showing it had been shipped. I emailed paypal and they told me I couldn't do anything, I needed a tracking number/delivery confirmation. So they took the 15 dollars back out of my account and took it out of my bank account to cover. I will never deal with paypal again. I just need something better come out soon and I'll switch ASAP, I hate Paypal.
I got conned on Ebay this weekend too (in the UK) for a Mac Mini. My gut feeling told me it was too good a deal, and it seems I should listen to my gut feelings a little more.
In my case I exchanged several emails with the seller in advance, and they seemed competent enough to pass the usual tests (fulls stops, capital letters, spelling). They were reasonably eloquent and supplied more information about the computer (including some not in their favour, which made me believe them more).
I didn't win, but got a 'second-chance offer'. I should have ignored it, but the price was pretty good, so I went for it, and exchanged a few more emails with them.
Twenty-four hours later, and their account has gone from Ebay, as has all record of my purchase, and I got an email from Ebay advising me to not send them any money, and if I had, to contact the police. Luckily I've got all the emails about the sale.
The good news is that I paid via Paypal, using my credit card to fund the payment, and I think there's a good chance I can get the money back. I've been using Ebay for nearly 8 years now, and thought I was pretty experienced and able to spot these things: but obviously I was wrong.
In my case I exchanged several emails with the seller in advance, and they seemed competent enough to pass the usual tests (fulls stops, capital letters, spelling). They were reasonably eloquent and supplied more information about the computer (including some not in their favour, which made me believe them more).
I didn't win, but got a 'second-chance offer'. I should have ignored it, but the price was pretty good, so I went for it, and exchanged a few more emails with them.
Twenty-four hours later, and their account has gone from Ebay, as has all record of my purchase, and I got an email from Ebay advising me to not send them any money, and if I had, to contact the police. Luckily I've got all the emails about the sale.
The good news is that I paid via Paypal, using my credit card to fund the payment, and I think there's a good chance I can get the money back. I've been using Ebay for nearly 8 years now, and thought I was pretty experienced and able to spot these things: but obviously I was wrong.
To be fair, I got burned like this before and now I ship EVERYTHING recorded delivery.
If a seller claims they didn't receive it and you don't have proof that they did, you're screwed.
Proof of shipping is not proof it was delivered.
But eBay should clearly warn you of this. I still think that, if you tick the 'collect only' box, eBay should stop you from offering PayPal (in the same way that some items, PSPs for example, can ONLY be sold using PayPal).
Of course they wouldn't do this though, cos eBay couldn't care less.
Didn't you make him sign an acknowledgement of collection? A receipt?
I sold an antique table a few months back and when the guy came to collect I had him sign a receipt/collection note on which all details of the transaction were recorded.
Call me paranoid, but… you cannot be too careful.If you use Royal Mail Recorded Delivery you can even view a scan of the signature that received the item.
Didn't you make him sign an acknowledgement of collection? A receipt?
I sold an antique table a few months back and when the guy came to collect I had him sign a receipt/collection note on which all details of the transaction were recorded.
I did and still have it - they said that is not proof of postage (?!) and they would only accept a tracking number. The guy also left feedback on eBay about the item and sent me two emails asking how to work something on the TV but PP were not prepared to take this into consideration.
PayPal simply don't care.
Well. You can take them buyer and PayPal to court if you have the signed proof you say you have.
It is theft, and eBay/PayPal are aiding and abetting
You shouldn't have to pay the ebay or final value fee. In a twisted way you can still report him for non payment to ebay, it will show he has not paid on your ebay records, because he has got his money back.
I have successfully done this when I had, putting it niceley, some issues with a buyer called Zaman78 ( mods, please delete if required ).
The scam I encountered was, the buyer only ever bought items listed for postage, as sellers standard rate. This meant that most of these items would not be sent via recorded delivery. The buyer would pay immediately, but as soon as he recieved the item, he would report it as not being delivered.
Paypal and ebay always side with the buyer when delivery cannot be proved. The same buyer has done the con 14 times in the last year and continues to get away with it. Ebay and Paypal are not interested.
What makes the whole experience quite funny is, that the item I got scammed of, was a Xbox HD DVD player, which are of little use to anyone now !
The moral is, always send everything via recorded delivery, make sure you pay by paypal, check what paypal coverage applies to the sale, and use a credit card with your paypal account.
Are you serious? That's (literally) unbelievable, although I'll take your word for it!
I'm planning to sell some stuff collection only - what proof would eBay accept?? A photograph of the guy with my old PowerMac G3 in his hands?
The problem is PayPal - just don't let people pay by PayPal and you should be ok. Cash on collection is the obvious one.
Of course, this opens the chance that people will win, turn up and then start to haggle the price (which makes a mockery of the bidding idea!), so I advise being as honest as possible in the listing. I always mention that I have many more photos which can be emailed if wished and request that people ask any questions they may have - that tends to cover you!!
Although, I sold my old PowerBook for £320 and the guy turned up with £300 saying that's all the cash machine would give him and could he send me a cheque for the final £20. I've never seen that £20...
I need to chime in here with a slightly different perspective on paypal and ebay -- I had a pretty positive experience when I was scammed. Obviously I hope that the thread starter gets his macbook, or, at least, that ebay and paypal makes him whole. My advice is to be persistent with them. It may pay off.
Here's what happened to me:
I bought a few iPhones to unlock and sell back in September. My goal was to make just enough money so that I could afford to buy one for myself.
One of the first I posted on ebay was purchased by a guy a Florida who wanted me to ship it to his friend in Vietnam. Of course, in hindsight, there were probably 95 different reasons why this was a scam, but I was greedy and I wanted to sell it. So I ignored them.
I shipped it UPS. I realized that I might be getting scammed when the buyer left positive feedback for me before his "friend in vietnam" received the item. Finally, about a week after I shipped it, paypal placed a hold on the payment and took the money out of my account, alleging that the transaction was unauthorized activity on the buyer's account. Ebay also cancelled the auction, deleted the feedback, and, at least, refunded my selling fees. So apparently, someone had hacked into this guy's ebay and paypal accounts. Because I had shipped to a non-confirmed address, outside of the US, I was ineligible for the paypal seller protection plan or whatever it's called. I thought I was screwed.
I emailed paypal and ebay almost daily. I forwarded them all of the emails from the "buyer". I kept them updated with the status, including my attempts to get UPS to stop delivery and send me back the phone. I gave them the tracking number.
I also sent paypal a polite email asking for all of the relevant facts so that I could determine what my rights were against ebay, paypal, and the account holder under the various agreements and the laws of the relevant states law (my state, Florida, wherever ebay and paypal are headquartered) for possible failure to take adequate steps to protect the integrity of the process. About a week after my email, paypal emailed me and told me the "buyer" had dropped his dispute. I find this hard to believe -- I suspect that they simply didn't want to deal with my email. Of course, I don't know for sure.
I was also successful in getting UPS to get the iPhone back for me, albeit at my own cost (about $175 for expedited shipping from vietnam to the US). I had to call UPS basically everyday for about three weeks to get them to find the package, stop delivery, and send it back to me. When I emailed ebay and paypal, telling them that UPS was sending me back the phone, I got automated responses telling me that the relevant cases/disputes had been finally resolved.
So the bottom line was that I bought an 8GB iPhone for $420 (including tax), sold it for $500, paid paypal a fee of about $40, spent $175 to getting it back from vietnam. So, basically, I got an iPhone for approx. $135. But, it took about a month to get it back from vietnam and way too much of my time. Definitely not worth it.
Here's what happened to me:
I bought a few iPhones to unlock and sell back in September. My goal was to make just enough money so that I could afford to buy one for myself.
One of the first I posted on ebay was purchased by a guy a Florida who wanted me to ship it to his friend in Vietnam. Of course, in hindsight, there were probably 95 different reasons why this was a scam, but I was greedy and I wanted to sell it. So I ignored them.
I shipped it UPS. I realized that I might be getting scammed when the buyer left positive feedback for me before his "friend in vietnam" received the item. Finally, about a week after I shipped it, paypal placed a hold on the payment and took the money out of my account, alleging that the transaction was unauthorized activity on the buyer's account. Ebay also cancelled the auction, deleted the feedback, and, at least, refunded my selling fees. So apparently, someone had hacked into this guy's ebay and paypal accounts. Because I had shipped to a non-confirmed address, outside of the US, I was ineligible for the paypal seller protection plan or whatever it's called. I thought I was screwed.
I emailed paypal and ebay almost daily. I forwarded them all of the emails from the "buyer". I kept them updated with the status, including my attempts to get UPS to stop delivery and send me back the phone. I gave them the tracking number.
I also sent paypal a polite email asking for all of the relevant facts so that I could determine what my rights were against ebay, paypal, and the account holder under the various agreements and the laws of the relevant states law (my state, Florida, wherever ebay and paypal are headquartered) for possible failure to take adequate steps to protect the integrity of the process. About a week after my email, paypal emailed me and told me the "buyer" had dropped his dispute. I find this hard to believe -- I suspect that they simply didn't want to deal with my email. Of course, I don't know for sure.
I was also successful in getting UPS to get the iPhone back for me, albeit at my own cost (about $175 for expedited shipping from vietnam to the US). I had to call UPS basically everyday for about three weeks to get them to find the package, stop delivery, and send it back to me. When I emailed ebay and paypal, telling them that UPS was sending me back the phone, I got automated responses telling me that the relevant cases/disputes had been finally resolved.
So the bottom line was that I bought an 8GB iPhone for $420 (including tax), sold it for $500, paid paypal a fee of about $40, spent $175 to getting it back from vietnam. So, basically, I got an iPhone for approx. $135. But, it took about a month to get it back from vietnam and way too much of my time. Definitely not worth it.
I'm totally serious. Because the buyer said the problem was that the item hadn't arrived, the only thing they'd accept is a tracking number. I guess it massively cuts down on their paperwork/need for a legal team; fulfil the criteria or go away.
I even recorded all my phone conversations with PayPal if you're that interested!!
Take a look at www.paypalsucks.com and you'll see many more similar stories.