eBay Scam
Posted October 2nd, 2003 @ 12:00am by Erik J. Barzeski
Nearly two weeks ago I won an eBay auction for a GPS. I promptly paid - within minutes of the auction closing - plus $18 for USPS priority shipping and $5 for insurance. Today, my money was refunded to me.
On the 23rd, my item was shipped. The shipper/seller did not provide a tracking number as is given to those who ship USPS priority (with insurance). The "your item shipped" email stated that I should contact them if my item was not received within "7 business days" (substantially longer than USPS priority mail). I did so last night. My auction was one of several similar auctions running at the same time by the same seller.
It's my belief - and the belief of others who have experienced similar treatment by this seller - that they only had one item, and simply shipped it to the person who won the auction with the highest total. Imagine: you have one item, yet you create ten auctions for it. Some fetch around $350 while others fetch $250 or so. You ship it to the highest bidding winner, and claim "it was lost in the mail" to the others.
Here is what I wrote in an email to the seller after they informed me that they would have to wait 30 days to file a claim to reclaim their money.
Thank you.
USPS priority with insurance is given a tracking number. I'd like that tracking number so that I may, should it arrive (and if it was in fact sent to begin with) return it to you.
If the item is not delivered, I will graciously and gladly confirm non-receipt, though the lack of a signature on a USPS insured item should be all you would need, I would think.
My money was refunded, so at this point I really don't care about this seller other than to note that he or she wasted my time and is potentially scamming other customers as well. What if I hadn't been persistent? They'd still have my money. Perhaps a small part of their business relies on such forgetfulness?
I don't know that I'll ever know, and I doubt that there's really an "eBay investigative team" to which I can pass this suspicion. Oh well. Anyone got a NIB Magellan Meridian Marine to sell?
P.S. The seller has a feedback rating of 3326 with a positive feedback percentage of 98.8%. However, what feedback could I leave? It'd have to be negative, but what?
Donate Life
Posted 02 Oct 2003 at 1:35pm #
A similar thing is currently happening me to actually. In my case though, the seller isn't so readily willing to get out of hot water. I won two auctions from the same individual, both for two concert tickets (buying concert tickets from ebay is a mistake, and will not be repeated). After quite a bit of headache about actually getting the items (the bitch wouldn't combine 9.99 shipping, so I said fuck it and paid the full amount, they were still a steal), I get them. And they're fake. Or, at least two of them are. Fucking copied tickets, what kind of balls does that take?
Sigh, she still hasn't admitted that *she* made the mistake, claims that ticketmaster is at fault, and will send me a refund as soon as I send her the "tickets" Has a refund ever worked like that? Product *before* refund? Every time I've refunded something online, I get my money and then I send them the item.
Sigh, so at this point ebay's fraud people and PayPal's people can take care of it, I'm sick of trying to resolve it myself.
Consider yourself lucky.
Posted 03 Oct 2003 at 4:28pm #
From Emily and Lily's feedback, it looks like they just screwed somebody again. A guy won an auction for a Kodak CX4230 6XZ 16MB for $96.03. The camera seems to normally go for between $120 and $200.
Posted 23 Oct 2003 at 2:40am #
Just a note that you are wrong about priority mail with insurance have a tracking number. If the insurance is over $50.00 there is a number placed on the package but this is used internally at the US mail service and does not provide tracking to either the buyer or seller. Now if the seller had used delivery confirmation there is a tracking number (sort of). I say sort of because delivery confirmation is not meant to be a tracking service but only to confirm delivery. If you want real tracking you have to use Express mail or a private company like UPS / Fedex.
Posted 23 Oct 2003 at 2:45am #
RE: Concert ticket
Yes this is how refund always work. Exactly where do you shop? You go buy something at Target, Kmart, macys whatever and are not happy with it you have to take the item back before you get a refund. You can't just walk into a store and demand a refund without giving the product back. The same goes for online sales. Try pulling the same thing with Amazon.com, Walmart.com or someone else and you will be told you have to return the item first. Again just where the heck do you shop that does not require the item returned first?
Posted 30 Dec 2003 at 11:38am #
When someone screws you or gives you bad service, it's your responsibility as a resonsible Ebay or other auction site user to leave negative or neutral feedback. That is the primary protection all users have against getting ripped off.
I got swindled out of $540 a few years ago on a Yahoo auction when I bid on a digital camera. I checked out the seller's feedback and he had 5 recent positives in total.
When I didn't receive my item after a few weeks and got no response to my inquiries, I realized I was getting ripped off. I left negative feedback and a flood of negative feedback was left for the seller, all with the same complaint: they buyer did not get the item they paid for.
All of these new feedbacks were for sales prior to mine, so why hadn't the buyers left it earlier? It would have saved me from getting ripped off and probably a few others. Maybe the other buyers thought that it was still coming, but after a few weeks, they should have had a clue.
If I had seen even one negative feedback connected to that seller, I would NEVER had bid on this seller's auction and would have kept my $540.
The moral of the story: Always leave feedback, good or bad. It's an easy way to protect your fellow auction buyers as well as yourself.
Posted 02 Mar 2004 at 6:50pm #
I think the ebay feedback system is somehow open to massive easy scamming... I've seen sellers with a 99% Positve feedback, but the feedback is so Cheesy and obviously faked... and often there's 10 lots of the same feedback!
Posted 19 May 2006 at 7:04pm #
I think I might be in the process of getting ripped off. I purchased an item that was a buy it now. I made a bid of the low bid with a higher maximum bid. No one else bid on the item and I won. I paid for insurance on the item. I've been asking the seller when they mailed the item and she said I should have had the item by now. I asked her for a Tracking number and all she could give me was a insurance number. How do you track that? Usually my intuition is right. I bet I never get the item. She had another auction closing right before this one and I asked her if she was going to relist it because I wanted to buy it. She said no she decided to keep it! I am Wondering???? If it doesn't come by next week I will turn it into ebay for an investigation to get my money back over $200.
Posted 24 May 2006 at 4:51pm #
I was totally wrong above about being ripped off. I received the item today and my hope is back it was gorgeous, every bit of what I paid for it! One satisfied customer!
Posted 31 Jul 2006 at 1:48pm #
Shipping/Handling charges!!! Can be fair if it is clearly stated! The classics of Ebay and Paypal: + seller + buyer. If it is all clear... No dispute. Willing parties involved. My experience is I paid top dollars for
"CLEARLY LISTED MODE-GLOBAL PRIORTY MAIL-4-6 BUSINESS DAYS!!!!)
I have waited more than about 4weeks now??? The seller insisted that the shipping company is at fault. Inserted a UPS tracking number which does not work on Paypal account details. When I wrote to him about it.. He said that USPS is actually the company which ship my goods. #^%#@^
So sad and moody. It is a basic trust that Ebay is built upon. I will not buy from this seller again! Again there is this Feedback blackmail thingy....
If I leave a negative for the seller... He will do the same for me. In the course of these 4 weeks, I wrote to him max twice a week. He may give me a negative for bugging him? SAD 🙂 . Best forgotten experience. I do suspect that th parcel is sent out but using the 'CHEAPEST' mode available to maximise profit. I paid top dollar for shipping I expect top service!!! Fair trade. I want justice served.
My wait for the past 2 week for my item is priceless!
Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 11:08am #
I will never deal with this seller again. In fact, I have limited my eBay transactions. E&L are very unresponsive to emails. There shipping practices are poor. My item was shipped to a place with no one home and was left in the weather. A $350 GPS left in the snow and rain. Then shipped on to me at an additional cost. Paypal and this seller are at fault. I have sent repeated emails that would have at least shortened the time that the package was in the weather. The communication is terrible.
I would love to leave negative feedback but I have a hundred percent positive and wonder if it will be worth the negative feedback that they will leave on me. EBay has a system that protects them but does little to protect the buyers.
Bottom line: Beware of Emily and Lilly