I consider this an ebay ripoff... what do you guys think?

[Spanky Deluxe]

Ok, I really wanted to get the Star Trek Original Series boxsets as something to watch in my post exam relaxation period. They're still really expensive in the shops so I thought I'd check out ebay. I found a seller who was selling both boxsets for pretty cheap. I didn't win the auctions but whoever else did refused to go through with things and I got a second chance to buy them at my original bid price (this was all through ebay and legit, not some out-of-ebay contact).
I paid, I waited, the items arrived today.

Now, they're clearly not what was advertised as far as I can see. The DVD boxsets come in a bright, plastic yellow, red or blue box. The pictures in the auction were the same, although they did say 'stock photo' on. The boxsets I've received are some hong kong rip offs. They look like they're legitimate boxsets but they're cardback and have a bit of chinese on the bottom of the front. They're sealed in selophane and I haven't opened them yet.
I'm pretty pissed though because no matter how cheap I got them for, if they're advertised as one thing, surely they should *be* that.

Here are the links to the auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9141221632
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9141221347

Attatched is a photo of what I received.

What do you think? I've drafted a reply basically saying that obviously there's been a mistake and he sent the wrong thing and that if he pays for my postage for these back and sends out the 'real' boxsets then all will be fine. Incidentally, he ripped me off on the postage, I asked him if I had to pay the full £5 postage on both and he simply invoiced me for it all. Came in a jiffy bag wrapped in selotape and a £2.89 paid postage sticker, not really worth £10.

 

[Queso]

Spanky, when it comes to eBay, Caveat Emptor. You have been conned by some piracy outfit. You could report them to eBay themselves for selling counterfeit goods, but I doubt that will get you anywhere. eBay UK are notorious for turning a blind eye to these things.

There is of course the Federation Against Copyright Theft, but that will be unlikely to get you your money back either. Just put it down to experience and be more careful in the future is my advice.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

While yeah I know there probably won't be a lot I can do about this I did check his feedback and its over 100 with barely a negative. I've been conned on ebay before years ago but then I was buying from someone with 0 feedback, idiot.
Basically, I think I've been done over and wanted to get second opinions on here as to whether this ebayers done nothing wrong or whether I'm in the right before I send a message to him.

Edit: On closer examination of the boxes, you can see through the yellow of one that it says 'Kiefer Sutherland' behind the stuck on yellow and lots of chinese. There's something written behind the blue one too but I can't quite read it because the blue's darker in colour.

 

[Sdashiki]

If it truly is a Chinese Knockoff of BURNED, what are the color of the DVDs bottom face, then you can have them banned from eBay.

I knew someone who bought tons from a Hong Kong seller on eBay, then that person got banned. Then the guy I knew tried to sell his stuff on eBay after watching them, and he got banned.

 

[dogbone]

Ebay only look after themselves and their (pay) pals. You do have to be careful. But if you do your research you should be OK.

Some helpful tools are available here. Good for searching private feedback.

Having said that I got the emac 1.42 I'm typing on brand new sealed in a box from eBay. (unwanted insurance job) for 2/3 of the new price).

 

[0098386]

I had some similar happen to me. I bought Pokemon Emerald off this guy for £23. At that price I was pretty much guaranteed it was a UK game. Fake games go for £9 so this looked legit.
So it was a fake.
I gave him positive feedback as soon as it arrived however. My second mistake.
Angry words were exchanged. He agreed to refund me so I would only pay £9 for the item. Which didn't happen. I got bored of his excuses so I sent it back to him, First Class Mail recorded delivery. Brilliant. I'd get my £23 back. Only he denies receiving it. Even though the Royal Mail have his signature and received date he refuses to give me a full refund.

I went through all the proper channels, and improper ones, to try and put a stop to him. I contacted his other buyers (I recommend this) to check if their items were fake. They all contacted eBay too. But, he's still selling! Got away with it scott-free. Apparently I had to send off for a claim form but nothing came from that.

I googled his name and found a lot of people angry at him too

eBay.co.uk do not care, frankly. He's a known crook but nobody cares.

Try PayPal too. Run a "Item not received or as described" report on eBay. There are many channels for you to try, I hope one of them will give you your money back.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I haven't opened the boxes yet, they're still wrapped in selophane. The auctions were going for about £20 when I bid, about a day before they finished. The boxsets seem to go for about £40 on ebay normally so I just thought bid up to about £27 and then if I get lucky then so be it. I looked at his other auctions but most of them were pretty descriptive of the quality of the video.
I doubt I'll get my money back but I'll give it 24 hours before I report it to ebay and paypal. I gave FACT a call and reported his username for selling counterfit dvds. Its one thing to download tv shows illegally to watch in your own time, its another thing to sell pirated tv shows and its a whole other thing to sell pirated tv shows on dvd after advertising them as the full retail copies! Its pretty obvious that these are complete and utter rip offs. Just look at the scan below at the top... Kiefer Sutherland??? Yeah, right.

 

[Applespider]

I had a similar problem with Amazon's marketplace when buying a Sony camcorder battery. It was advertised as a genuine Sony battery and was only about 10% cheaper so I wouldn't have bothered but Amazon were out of stock and I wanted one. The generic batteries and fakes on eBay were going for less than half the proper price so figured it was probably OK.

It turned up in a Sony-style package and with Sony printed onto it but it wasn't real. If I compared it to a real battery closely, it was fake although several people who glanced at it, thought it was fine. I sent it back though and told Amazon (he's still selling too on their Marketplace) since it's all very well having a generic battery but not at an inflated price!

Good luck getting the cash back...