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Anyone got cheated in eBay before?
- Thread starter Son of Matrix
- Start date
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After correspondence with a buyer to advise them take out postal insurance on a PC i sold, they still refused to take it out. I posted the item, and sure enough it arrived damaged.
I lost the dispute, paypal tried to chargeback £500 for the buyer protection. I ended up having to pay the buyer the repair cost on the item of £150. I did have proof that it was damaged, I'm sure it wasn't a scam, I have a lot of experience selling on ebay.
Payapl saw all the correspondence and yet still put liability on me. Sure if i hadn't offered postal insurance, it would be a completely different story, but this was a buyer decision, yet it's still my fault in ebay and paypal's eyes. I sure as hell wont be shipping PC's on there again.
For future reference don't use DHL to ship anything of value. They managed to detach the motherboard from the case, snapping 4mm bolts in half. Dents in a case which was packaged with a couple of layers of bubble wrap and a double walled box. I can't imagine what they must have done to it, for it to sustain that much damage. I even tried following a gross negligence claim against DHL, but in the end i didn't have the time or money to do it.
Lesson learned.
I lost the dispute, paypal tried to chargeback £500 for the buyer protection. I ended up having to pay the buyer the repair cost on the item of £150. I did have proof that it was damaged, I'm sure it wasn't a scam, I have a lot of experience selling on ebay.
Payapl saw all the correspondence and yet still put liability on me. Sure if i hadn't offered postal insurance, it would be a completely different story, but this was a buyer decision, yet it's still my fault in ebay and paypal's eyes. I sure as hell wont be shipping PC's on there again.
For future reference don't use DHL to ship anything of value. They managed to detach the motherboard from the case, snapping 4mm bolts in half. Dents in a case which was packaged with a couple of layers of bubble wrap and a double walled box. I can't imagine what they must have done to it, for it to sustain that much damage. I even tried following a gross negligence claim against DHL, but in the end i didn't have the time or money to do it.
Lesson learned.
The problem is that eBay (and so PayPal) have cornered the market - they can almost do what they want.
If you want to sell something, where do you go?? I tried to sell a TV on the Loot and after a month gave up. I then sold it on eBay and, sure enough, got scammed for £600.
And people who buy on eBay are obsessed. Take Gran Turismo Prologue for example - £17.99 on various sites (like play.com) but people are paying £24.99 to buy it from some random seller on eBay.
Madness.
If you want to sell something, where do you go?? I tried to sell a TV on the Loot and after a month gave up. I then sold it on eBay and, sure enough, got scammed for £600.
And people who buy on eBay are obsessed. Take Gran Turismo Prologue for example - £17.99 on various sites (like play.com) but people are paying £24.99 to buy it from some random seller on eBay.
Madness.
It is staggering, but people will only put up with it for so long. It might not be so wrong to compare this to Microsoft, people still *think* they're cornered by them, your average buyer anyway... and when people realise there are options beyond PC+Windows they're jumping ship because it dawns of them that they don't need to put up with the BS they provide any more. All eBay and paypal need are a viable rival.
I insure everything I ship with ebay and Paypal and add this to my shipping charge. I don't give the buyer any options on this, except local pickup and then it must be cash. I see sellers on ebay advertise all the time and state "insurance is $$$$ extra if you want it or I will not be responsible for shipping". The seller is responsible for shipping in ebay and Paypals eyes.
I got screwed over last week via ebay but it all turned out ok in the end. I had purchased an item and the seller said it had been dispatched... I waited 2 weeks without any delivery so emailed the seller and was told he would dispatch another one for me but again after a week of no show i got pissed and emailed the seller a few times (50 r so... spammed him) but he refunded me the full amount.. the item has eventually showed up though so it turned out ok in the end since i got it for free 
good things come to those who wait... speaking of waiting weren't the new iMac's supposed to be released a few weeks ago lol.
good things come to those who wait... speaking of waiting weren't the new iMac's supposed to be released a few weeks ago lol.
I got screwed over last week via ebay but it all turned out ok in the end. I had purchased an item and the seller said it had been dispatched... I waited 2 weeks without any delivery so emailed the seller and was told he would dispatch another one for me but again after a week of no show i got pissed and emailed the seller a few times (50 r so... spammed him) but he refunded me the full amount.. the item has eventually showed up though so it turned out ok in the end since i got it for free
good things come to those who wait... speaking of waiting weren't the new iMac's supposed to be released a few weeks ago lol.
You should have given the money back, or sent the item back. Thats not fair to the seller
I got screwed over last week via ebay but it all turned out ok in the end. I had purchased an item and the seller said it had been dispatched... I waited 2 weeks without any delivery so emailed the seller and was told he would dispatch another one for me but again after a week of no show i got pissed and emailed the seller a few times (50 r so... spammed him) but he refunded me the full amount.. the item has eventually showed up though so it turned out ok in the end since i got it for free
And this makes it OK?
The postal services screw up, you screw the seller, and you feel good about that?
If I were you I wouldn't broadcast it about
Yeah not cool... you're just as bad as any scammer out there if you don't pay or return the item.
Yeah, I do the same thing. Especially with things like computers that are more likely to be damage. When the actually shipping cost is $60 and insurance to cover the amount is $5 or $6 dollars, I'll charge $66 for shipping to the buyer and insure it.
Hi
I've been following this thread for the past days and I'd like to ad that I use eBay to sell and buy on, have been for years.
I've only ever had two bad experiences - 1. Sold a car that the buyer never bothered to pay for or show to collect., 2. Sold two VHS videos to a woman who claims she thought she was buying DVDs, even though the picture showed VHS cassettes still in the plastic wrap. I offered her her money back even though I said on the auction that I was selling on consignment and that there were no refunds.
I offered the refund for two reasons a) She seemed sincere (until she started her rants at me) and b) because the videos were still new and wouldn't be hard to resell.
That wasn't good enough for her, she wanted her money back plus postage both ways. I told no, just the price of the videos because it was her fault and the post office won't give me my money back. Then I got all kinds of nasty emails from her calling me all kinds of names.
At that point I went into my PayPal account and pulled my CC, and stopped my bank debit with PayPal because I knew of the horror stories with PayPal siding with the buyer from http://www.paypalsucks.com/
And she went screaming to PayPal and PayPal told me that I had to refund her the postage plus videos price - I refused the postage, explained the situation to PayPal and still offered the price of the videos. And I told PayPal that she had a history of buying and demanding refunds that were not justified and leaving unjustified negatives. I directed them to her feedback scores.
And PayPal ignored it all. As not to drag this out any further, PayPal told her she had to send me the videos back in the same condition, and she did, and I sent her a postal money order for the price of the videos less the postage.
She left me two ridiculous negative feedbacks. I then closed out my PayPal account and reopened another to ONLY buy from not to sell from.
eBay is a great way to pick up bargains, as you know, but don't ever let them control how the buyer pays you - the hassle just ain't worth it. I now request from my buyers postal money orders, or cheques that take 5-7 working days to clear and have had no problem with people buying/paying. It's hard for scammers to hide behind pay-on-demand MOs, and cheques that wait to clear.
I'm sure eBay will probably find a way to stop even MOs and Cheques, but for now I make a good amount of cash for the stuff I sell because I set the rules for paying not eBay or PayPal.
Cheers
Jerry
I've been following this thread for the past days and I'd like to ad that I use eBay to sell and buy on, have been for years.
I've only ever had two bad experiences - 1. Sold a car that the buyer never bothered to pay for or show to collect., 2. Sold two VHS videos to a woman who claims she thought she was buying DVDs, even though the picture showed VHS cassettes still in the plastic wrap. I offered her her money back even though I said on the auction that I was selling on consignment and that there were no refunds.
I offered the refund for two reasons a) She seemed sincere (until she started her rants at me) and b) because the videos were still new and wouldn't be hard to resell.
That wasn't good enough for her, she wanted her money back plus postage both ways. I told no, just the price of the videos because it was her fault and the post office won't give me my money back. Then I got all kinds of nasty emails from her calling me all kinds of names.
At that point I went into my PayPal account and pulled my CC, and stopped my bank debit with PayPal because I knew of the horror stories with PayPal siding with the buyer from http://www.paypalsucks.com/
And she went screaming to PayPal and PayPal told me that I had to refund her the postage plus videos price - I refused the postage, explained the situation to PayPal and still offered the price of the videos. And I told PayPal that she had a history of buying and demanding refunds that were not justified and leaving unjustified negatives. I directed them to her feedback scores.
And PayPal ignored it all. As not to drag this out any further, PayPal told her she had to send me the videos back in the same condition, and she did, and I sent her a postal money order for the price of the videos less the postage.
She left me two ridiculous negative feedbacks. I then closed out my PayPal account and reopened another to ONLY buy from not to sell from.
eBay is a great way to pick up bargains, as you know, but don't ever let them control how the buyer pays you - the hassle just ain't worth it. I now request from my buyers postal money orders, or cheques that take 5-7 working days to clear and have had no problem with people buying/paying. It's hard for scammers to hide behind pay-on-demand MOs, and cheques that wait to clear.
I'm sure eBay will probably find a way to stop even MOs and Cheques, but for now I make a good amount of cash for the stuff I sell because I set the rules for paying not eBay or PayPal.
Cheers
Jerry
the item has eventually showed up though so it turned out ok in the end since i got it for free
So, in fact, YOU are the scammer.
You didn't get it for free - you stole it.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Sellers need to keep a separate bank account for PayPal transactions - and transfer the money out of that account as soon as it comes in! Sure, you might get hit with an overdraft charge when PayPal comes back and tries to suck your money out of the account - and finds it empty. But that's less than what you could get hit for.
as for paddykev - Thanks for telling us how you succeeded in scamming a legitimate seller out of his merchandise. Unfortunately, we're not impressed. Perhaps you'd find a more appreciative audience elsewhere . . . .
as for paddykev -
Thanks for telling us how you succeeded in scamming a legitimate seller out of his merchandise. Unfortunately, we're not impressed. Perhaps you'd find a more appreciative audience elsewhere . . . .So far... ***knocks on wood*** I have not had any problems with PayPal or eBay, but then again, I never buy well-known electronic gizmos on eBay.
For those seeking alternatives: has anyone mentioned Craigslist? That's how I sell most of my stuff. Sure, you get some lame emails and people that don't show up, but for the most part they get to look the item over, try it out, and then pay with cash. I've never had any problems.
For those seeking alternatives: has anyone mentioned Craigslist? That's how I sell most of my stuff. Sure, you get some lame emails and people that don't show up, but for the most part they get to look the item over, try it out, and then pay with cash. I've never had any problems.
PayPal
I told a story earier in this thread and didn't quite tell the whole truth.
When I found that the buyer had lodged a complaint that the item he collected had not 'arrived', I pulled all details off my PayPal account and cancelled direct debits.
My PayPal account went to -£600 and I figured that I'd just never use PayPal again.
About two months later I got letters from a debt collection agency so had to pay the £600 - even though I had been scammed and had my TV 'stolen'
I don't see how having different PayPal accounts can help - there are still debt collection agencies who'll come after the money.
I told a story earier in this thread and didn't quite tell the whole truth.
When I found that the buyer had lodged a complaint that the item he collected had not 'arrived', I pulled all details off my PayPal account and cancelled direct debits.
My PayPal account went to -£600 and I figured that I'd just never use PayPal again.
About two months later I got letters from a debt collection agency so had to pay the £600 - even though I had been scammed and had my TV 'stolen'
I don't see how having different PayPal accounts can help - there are still debt collection agencies who'll come after the money.
I was threatened with debt collection also.
You should always check your rights as a seller, with your local Citizens advice bureau (UK only?), if you aren't a business seller you may have little obligation.
You should always check your rights as a seller, with your local Citizens advice bureau (UK only?), if you aren't a business seller you may have little obligation.
Well here is PayPal's official word on the matter:
I emailed them yesterday to confirm.
My question:
"What Proof of shipment or delivery is accepted by Paypal if item is collected by buyer and not sent via post?"
PayPal's answer:
"Thank you for contacting PayPal.
*snip lots of guff about how good they are*
If an item is picked up in person and buyer claims they have not
received the product, a seller is still required to provide verifiable
online tracking information showing delivery. There are no procedures
in place to protect a seller during a local pickup."
So PayPal will not accept anything other than online tracking information.
Astonishing just jaw-droppingly astonishing
I emailed them yesterday to confirm.
My question:
"What Proof of shipment or delivery is accepted by Paypal if item is collected by buyer and not sent via post?"
PayPal's answer:
"Thank you for contacting PayPal.
*snip lots of guff about how good they are*
If an item is picked up in person and buyer claims they have not
received the product, a seller is still required to provide verifiable
online tracking information showing delivery. There are no procedures
in place to protect a seller during a local pickup."
So PayPal will not accept anything other than online tracking information.
Astonishing just jaw-droppingly astonishing
*Sigh* The point of some posts here is/was that you get screwed if you use PayPal and the item gets picked up…
This just confirms it.
I know hindsight is great but you should have taken them to court or seen a solicitor.
My wife had a incident with a collection agency regarding an alleged debt owed for a refrigerator that she received damage. She bought it on a Friday and was told it would be delivered on a Monday. Monday came and it arrived damaged, so she sent it back. She called the store and they told her that she couldn't get another for a month. They said they'd refund her money with in the next 5-7 days. Instead she went to her bank and canceled the cheque. Then 4 months later she gets a letter from a collection agency saying that they want the money owed for the refrigerator, further stating she had accepted the rerifg and then canceled the cheque.
She went to a solicitor and he told her to write a letter to the collection agency not admitting anything other than to say in simple language -"Prove It." She did and the only thing she heard back from the collection agency was that they were looking into it, and that was over 3 years ago.
Seems the collection agency has to prove the debt is valid before they can collect, and they rely upon people just bending over and paying after they've sent their friendly persuasive letter of we just want to help you. The solicitor said that the majority of collection agencies never bother to ask for proof that the debt is owed, as they will buy discounted debts in bulk and then shotgun out the collection letters hoping for a return.
Jerry