for once id like to agree with tazo. pay pal is supposed to secure your rights in case of fraud, right?
bomb those ***** and that kid
bomb those ***** and that kid
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Wanted to switch but it wasn't meant to be, Ebay Fraud
- Thread starter Yomama
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your in a much better situation than most. 1 is that you didnt ship anything toh im, so you really didnt lose anything. you payed with credit card. if both paypal and mastercard are giving you the runaround contact a lawyer. just having a lawyer email them saying answer us now or we will pursue legal action will more than likey have them take a 2nd look at your case.
iJon
iJon
Who to blame
Guys,
Imagine you need a car, and your friend says he saw an ad you might like and gives you the phone number. The car turns out to be a lemon -- the seller lies about the condition of the car and hides it's ugly past. Do you blame your friend? No, you blame the guy who lied about the condition! What's the parallel? Blame the seller, not eBay or PayPal.
Yes, this guy seems like a snake, and I wish you all the luck recovering your money. There are lots of great tips on this thread about how to track the guy down; hopefully they pan out.
BUT, please don't assume that companies will give you stuff for free, or almost-free, expecially if they have never claimed they would give you that stuff! Specifically, neither eBay nor PayPal ever claim that they guarantee that sellers will follow through. READ YOUR USER AGREEMENTS! PayPal will guarantee that payments will get through to their recipients -- because that is what their business is, and they can see that it gets done. They can't, for pennies on the dollar, ensure that people they have never met and who don't work for them will always be good people and send merchandise that is as-promised. PayPal and eBay both have fraud detection programs and they work hard to reduce fraud, but they *don't* guarantee you won't be a fraud victim. And they can't -- at least not for the level of fees they collect. eBay and PayPal will kick out the bad apples as best they can, but the ball is still in your court to protect yourself. I have bought and sold through eBay and Paypal for years, including buying and selling macs occasionally. I have never had a problem. As another poster said, DO NOT BID if you have any doubts. And DO NOT SEND MONEY if you don't have a physical address and a phone number. Call the number and verify it. Or use escrow services (which cost a lot more than PayPal, because they *do* guarantee the safety of your money pending the delivery of the iems). Checking feedback is a good place to start, and that is probably all I will check when I am buying an $8 magic card. But for a computer, I do my homework! I will know exactly where my $$$ is going!
-- Glenn
Guys,
Imagine you need a car, and your friend says he saw an ad you might like and gives you the phone number. The car turns out to be a lemon -- the seller lies about the condition of the car and hides it's ugly past. Do you blame your friend? No, you blame the guy who lied about the condition! What's the parallel? Blame the seller, not eBay or PayPal.
Yes, this guy seems like a snake, and I wish you all the luck recovering your money. There are lots of great tips on this thread about how to track the guy down; hopefully they pan out.
BUT, please don't assume that companies will give you stuff for free, or almost-free, expecially if they have never claimed they would give you that stuff! Specifically, neither eBay nor PayPal ever claim that they guarantee that sellers will follow through. READ YOUR USER AGREEMENTS! PayPal will guarantee that payments will get through to their recipients -- because that is what their business is, and they can see that it gets done. They can't, for pennies on the dollar, ensure that people they have never met and who don't work for them will always be good people and send merchandise that is as-promised. PayPal and eBay both have fraud detection programs and they work hard to reduce fraud, but they *don't* guarantee you won't be a fraud victim. And they can't -- at least not for the level of fees they collect. eBay and PayPal will kick out the bad apples as best they can, but the ball is still in your court to protect yourself. I have bought and sold through eBay and Paypal for years, including buying and selling macs occasionally. I have never had a problem. As another poster said, DO NOT BID if you have any doubts. And DO NOT SEND MONEY if you don't have a physical address and a phone number. Call the number and verify it. Or use escrow services (which cost a lot more than PayPal, because they *do* guarantee the safety of your money pending the delivery of the iems). Checking feedback is a good place to start, and that is probably all I will check when I am buying an $8 magic card. But for a computer, I do my homework! I will know exactly where my $$$ is going!
-- Glenn
"I can't believe Paypal couldn't return your money. What good is the service if those are the results."
I've sold two computers on ebay and I useed escrow.com. I think ebay suggests using an escrow service for anything over $200.00. Paypal was not ever supposed to be for expensive items.
Hint - for those looking for an escow service...there are a lot of scams. Escrow.com is a wonderful service that is simple and and easy to deal with.
I've sold two computers on ebay and I useed escrow.com. I think ebay suggests using an escrow service for anything over $200.00. Paypal was not ever supposed to be for expensive items.
Hint - for those looking for an escow service...there are a lot of scams. Escrow.com is a wonderful service that is simple and and easy to deal with.
I personally would opt to do this with the police or your credit card company instead of eBay. At best eBay would refund your money to your account. But what would you do with $1500 worth of pre-paid sellers fees?
I am pretty sure that eBay legally owes you nothing, since the transaction was done outside of eBay. Their policy does not cover such transactions. If you won the auction eBay would refund your money (yet still in eBay pre-paid fees).
I would first make copies of the paypal invoice. Secondly speak with people who have done bussiness with him, and get their statements to link that name to that account, and take their reference number. Now, you have an address that someone provided you here, you can call up the local sheriff and tell them about the situation. But I'd first suggest getting pushy with your credit card company. Most likely they will fold in. Contact a lawyer if you must.
If ALL else fails, and neither the ideas people on this board, other boards, or your legal advice have suggested fail....call his house...over and over.....and over and over.....and sent him mail...again and again.
I am pretty sure that eBay legally owes you nothing, since the transaction was done outside of eBay. Their policy does not cover such transactions. If you won the auction eBay would refund your money (yet still in eBay pre-paid fees).
I would first make copies of the paypal invoice. Secondly speak with people who have done bussiness with him, and get their statements to link that name to that account, and take their reference number. Now, you have an address that someone provided you here, you can call up the local sheriff and tell them about the situation. But I'd first suggest getting pushy with your credit card company. Most likely they will fold in. Contact a lawyer if you must.
If ALL else fails, and neither the ideas people on this board, other boards, or your legal advice have suggested fail....call his house...over and over.....and over and over.....and sent him mail...again and again.
you dont really do the transaction through ebay. they help you sell it, you pay for it how ever you want, you just use them to get your product out there. ebay tries to prevent fraud, but the do jack s*** if you get screwed over. he just needs to consult his credit card company and tell them he sent money and didnt recieve anything. the credit you back and that guy gets nothing. this happened to my mom, she payed for something with her credit card and never recieved. item never shipped so she didnt lose any money. using a credit card through paypal may work differently, i doubt very much though, he should get his money back easily and nicely.
iJon
That's not what I meant. If you win an auction and get scammed, eBay will return you the money. But if you call the seller and do a transaction without winning an auction from eBay, eBay has no liability to refund you any money at all.
Never buy an Apple product on Ebay from anyone with less than a 50 rating. Powerbooks especially are being scammed all the time - Ebay shuts them down as quickly as possible. I feel for you man, but you have to do your homework with Ebay.
Hey, easy now. I have my iMac listed on eBay (see sig) and I certainly must be one of the best sellers on eBay. I answer emails within the hour, and offer any contact info the buyer wants.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, and I'm one of them (my feedback rating is 100% positive and a "37"). Also, just because you talk to the person on the telephone doesn't mean the deal is legit. I almost got taken for a $1670 ride months ago over a powerbook flim-flam:
When I bought my first mac...let the scam begin
I realize I'd been taken
Be careful out there. eBay is a minefield of scams...
Update
Thank you guys for the tips. Really aprociate it.
Our company laywer wrote a letter wich I send with certified mail as well as email.
3 hours later Mr. Divin send 2 emails and left 3 message on my phone explaining the situation. He told me Paypal took the money out of his account to pay for another fraud for $1550. He also was concernd about the law sued as well as his job and house. blablabla
It didn't make any sense,
Of course I called Paypal right away to confirm his story and they told me he took out the money.
My credit card company is informed as well. So lets hope for the best.
Thanks again.
Thank you guys for the tips. Really aprociate it.
Our company laywer wrote a letter wich I send with certified mail as well as email.
3 hours later Mr. Divin send 2 emails and left 3 message on my phone explaining the situation. He told me Paypal took the money out of his account to pay for another fraud for $1550. He also was concernd about the law sued as well as his job and house. blablabla
It didn't make any sense,
Of course I called Paypal right away to confirm his story and they told me he took out the money.
My credit card company is informed as well. So lets hope for the best.
Thanks again.
ebay will refund your money, thats a good one. ebay will help you out up to 200 dollars, so he just basically lost 1300. ebay fraud happens all the time and ebay will do nothign about it. i feel sorry for these people but it just happens so often, just go buy if locally or a trusted online store, but he bought it with a credit card so mastercard will refund him 100%.
iJon
Here is an interesting (and recent) article about eBay from Fortune magazine: eBay's Worst Nightmare.
