Defrauded of $1600 Powermac G5

[Chip NoVaMac]

Could you have just sold it locally? I sold my eMac and iBook locally. I don't see the point of using eBay. It should be called ScamBay. The prices for stuff always seems so high from a buyer's view.

Good point!

I recently bought a eMac from a guy here only because he was under a 100 miles from my home. I looked at the computer, and I handed him cash.

 

[Rabidjade]

#3, hard to do with a Checkcard or Credit Card.

PayPal debit cards work wonders but you have to be verified for that. To be verified anything that verifies your address will do. (debit, credit cards, saving account, ect.)

 

[BWhaler]

First, off, I am sorry this happened to you. Paypal does suck, no question about it, but luckily it works for the most part not because of Paypal, but because most people are honest.

I think you should fight it, and don't worry about your credit. It takes more time, but you can protest it with the credit agencies, and if worse comes to worst, take Paypal to small claims court. Sue them for 5 grand. You don't need a lawyer, it'll cost you about 30 bucks, but I assure you this will get you good customer service from Paypal then. No more sitting on hold. Call your local newspaper and local news channel. Call the Better Business Bureau. But this is simply just too much money just to let it go and suffer poor customer service.


TIP for Everyone:

One of my buddies buys and sells a lot on ebay. He has a little trick he uses, which is swears by.

In his email after the transaction, he always drops in a friendly little line like, "I'll send you your money order Monday after I get back from training this weekend. (I'm an FBI agent, and we have to do annual trips to the "Farm" to ensure we are current in skills and still in good shape. It's a grueling four days, let me tell you. 🙂"

I know it sounds corny as hell, but it works. About 5% of the time the buyer or seller disappears or emails back that his wife sold the item or he no longer has the money to buy it. 5% is about the fraud rate on ebay.

It's simple and stupid as hell, I know, but it works like a charm.

 

[Elan0204]

TIP for Everyone:

One of my buddies buys and sells a lot on ebay. He has a little trick he uses, which is swears by.

In his email after the transaction, he always drops in a friendly little line like, "I'll send you your money order Monday after I get back from training this weekend. (I'm an FBI agent, and we have to do annual trips to the "Farm" to ensure we are current in skills and still in good shape. It's a grueling four days, let me tell you. 🙂"

I know it sounds corny as hell, but it works. About 5% of the time the buyer or seller disappears or emails back that his wife sold the item or he no longer has the money to buy it. 5% is about the fraud rate on ebay.

It's simple and stupid as hell, I know, but it works like a charm.

That is too funny! Even funnier that it actually has helped him detect scammers. Of course now that you've let his secret out, people will probably no longer believe that line. Although, the scammer may not want to risk it, because one day they really might be transacting with a real FBI agent.

 

[Rabidjade]

First, off, I am sorry this happened to you. Paypal does suck, no question about it, but luckily it works for the most part not because of Paypal, but because most people are honest.

I think you should fight it, and don't worry about your credit. It takes more time, but you can protest it with the credit agencies, and if worse comes to worst, take Paypal to small claims court. Sue them for 5 grand. You don't need a lawyer, it'll cost you about 30 bucks, but I assure you this will get you good customer service from Paypal then. No more sitting on hold. Call your local newspaper and local news channel. Call the Better Business Bureau. But this is simply just too much money just to let it go and suffer poor customer service.


TIP for Everyone:

One of my buddies buys and sells a lot on ebay. He has a little trick he uses, which is swears by.

In his email after the transaction, he always drops in a friendly little line like, "I'll send you your money order Monday after I get back from training this weekend. (I'm an FBI agent, and we have to do annual trips to the "Farm" to ensure we are current in skills and still in good shape. It's a grueling four days, let me tell you. 🙂"

I know it sounds corny as hell, but it works. About 5% of the time the buyer or seller disappears or emails back that his wife sold the item or he no longer has the money to buy it. 5% is about the fraud rate on ebay.

It's simple and stupid as hell, I know, but it works like a charm.

Might not be the smartest thing to impersonate a federal official. You could hit the wrong person with that.

 

[smharmon]

Call em up and yell a lot. Threaten to sue. Make up stuff until you talk to someone reeeeeaaly important. Then tell him your story. Tell them what you have been through to talk to them (e.g. I had to make up a story about sending and arm and a leg through the mail untill I could talk to you....etc). Do a lot of angry muttereing. Take down employee names and badge numbers. But make sure that you don't say anything like "PAYPAL SHOULD GO TO %!(*%)@#$ HECK!!!!!" because that will get you nowhere. And next time you (heck, IF you do ) buisiness on eBay, make sure that you are paid and have the money in your account before you send off the product.

I waited a week for the funds to clear into my checking account. They did, and I shipped it. The problem is that Paypal sent me e-mails saying I had to give th emoney back. Just because it makes it to your checking account doesn't mean anything.

 

[CrackedButter]

|'ve cancelled my paypal account because of this thread, thanks!

 

[smharmon]

|'ve cancelled my paypal account because of this thread, thanks!

Yeah, smart man... everyone has to be careful on ebay, but there should be no reason to be worried if you get to keep your money everytime you sell something using Paypal. I have gone to Post Office money orders, and checks (wait till they clear.) I hate that I will loose customers, but better that instead of this. I will also NEVER sell anything over $150 on ebay, as the high value stuff just draws the scammers...

 

[CrackedButter]

Yeah, smart man... everyone has to be careful on ebay, but there should be no reason to be worried if you get to keep your money everytime you sell something using Paypal. I have gone to Post Office money orders, and checks (wait till they clear.) I hate that I will loose customers, but better that instead of this. I will also NEVER sell anything over $150 on ebay, as the high value stuff just draws the scammers...

Your thread clearly outlines the problems that can happen when using a 3rd party, i hate cheques but its worth the hate rather than inccur the problems you are having. Also this decision stems from a bad experience I had once with a 3rd party when paying for something. A bank recommended me a 3rd party who could pay off a debt i owed, I used them but they made a mistake and the money went elsewhere. I didn't know until a couple of months later that my money was AWOL. I only found out when the bank still wanted their money and had tried to take it out of an account which I had closed.

Of course, whether its your fault or not, the bank never got their money and I got charged for somebodies mistake by the bank.

I think it affected my rating im not sure, if it did, not by a lot. The people i spoke too were incompetant when asking for them to pay my charges, now thinking about it they just weren't listening to me and weren't understanding with what I was saying. However in the end they found the money. I had forgot about that past incident and the issues you spoke about,this thread has reminded me, so I have cancelled the paypal service. I'll cope with cheques instead.

But I feel your pain, its the wait that is the longest part.

 

[justinshiding]

Just a bit of advice about banks and dealing with matters such as these.

I work for a company that makes quite a few charges that were "unauthorized " (it's a very evil company.) so I get to deal with banks quite often. Here are some things i've come across.

1) Even if you tell the bank to stop accepting charges to your account from company X, 9 times out of 10 they will accept further charges.

2) If the account is left open at all...the charges will go through (often overdrawing accounts, see point 1). So leaving the 100 dollars in the account instead of closing it was not a good move. (But from your point of view I understand why you would do that...) ALWAYS close the account if you want to escape further charges

3) With credit cards/ debit cards...changing the number (buy keeping the same account) will not always stop someone from charging you. I've spoken to people who have been charged by us , changed their card numbers and were still charged again. The card issuers assumed that our charges were authorized and simply sent the charges to the new card. Lovely. I know. So, again, close the account and start a new one.

4) get names. and extension numbers (or Id numbers). the better your records are the more credible you seem. I get calls like this every day, if a customer cant prove to me with a name AND extension that they spoke to someone i assume they're lying.

5) be polite and personable, but firm when dealing with people. Think of it from the point of view of your typical paypal cs rep. They get calls like this every day. Make yourself stand out in a positive way. These are real people, they realize your upset , but showing that you can still be professional and polite goes a long way. Usually cs reps are limited in how much they can credit / etc , so most likely you're asking this person to go to bat for you with their supervisors. I, personally, won't do this unless someone is nice to me. If you call and try to bully / scream your way into a credit, it isn't going to happen. If someone is nice , explains things in a calm manner then I have no issue with going and requesting a full credit. Keep in mind that usually these people are trained to say no to credits...so they'll probably have some sort of script to follow about this. if they say no..explain the situation again and ASK (don't command) if they could perhaps request a credit for them from a supervisor because of your circumstances. If they say no again then calmly ask to speak to a supervisor. Repeat the process again.

Remember , you want these people to help you , dont piss them off.

Don't threaten to get a lawyer. Use all over avenues before taking this one. I know it seems like a good card to play , but it's not going to help you out. I've gotten calls where people said they would sue the company I work for over 9.99. If i ever hear someone say they'll sue, I assume they're bluffing. Besides..how many threats of lawsuits do you think these people hear everyday....probably quite a few.

Use it as a last resort...if you speak to a manager and they still wont help you out , calmly explain that since it's quite a large amount of money that you will be seeking legal counsel to resolve the matter. Get all of the information about the company (address, fax number, etc ...because you'll probably need this)

Wow...this was something of a rant...but I deal with this alll day long...so I have strong feelings 🙂

Good luck though, you're in the right , I'm sure you'll manage to get your money back.

 

[Sun Baked]

>justinshiding

Almost sounds like you work for Girls Gone Wild or a Penis Pill companty.