First stinging on e-bay

[Madsaw]

I've always wondered what would happen if a seller on ebay died whiile they had listings. Most likely other people would not know the account name or password, or even if they were selling. I guess you don't worry about it if your dead. But just think, the last thing you did on earth was ticked people off.

Been there. I bought a little item with shipping was only 8 bucks. Emailed a couple of times. No response. Then I got a retruned email from him telling me he was haveing problems getting around and his daughter was going to help ship items out. Well by this time I had a address adn name of the guy from his emails. About a month later no item so another email, the dauahget replyed back he died in the mean time. A quick search of the local paper there confirmed it. I figured I would just leave it well enoguh alone and consider the 8 bucks to a memorial fund.
Bob

 

[oneoldbanjo]

How long has passed since you purchased the Saw? Ebay allows you to file a complaint within 10-60 days. Once the complaint is filed and eBay begins negotiations the seller has 10 days to respond. It also appears that you can request contact information for the seller from eBay.....probably email address, telephone number, address, etc.

So far I have filed two complaints on eBay for an item that was not as advertised - and in both cases eBay came through. In both cases the seller was not cooperating and eBay/PayPal settled by giving me a monetary difference. In both cases I had to get letters on business letterhead that documented the difference in value from what was advertised and what was recieved. I have never yet had someone not mail anything......that should be even easier. Some PayPal items are covered more than others....I think it may be dependant upon the Sellers Feedback rating.

 

[Bill G]

I've had 2 Pay Pal refunds. I think they can only refund to you if the money is in the guys account. I have my Pay Pal attached to a credit card, and its easier to get refunded through them, especially if its from a business. Be prepared for bad feedback though.

That has been my experience also. They can refund only what is in the guiys account and I can assure you if they are a scammer they will have their account drained. Now if you used a CC then that is probably different. I have not had any experience with that. I did have a guy claim he did not receive an item that USPS showed being delivered.

I have been scammed more tahn I like to admit. I got partially scammed on a couple 2100's. I have quite a few bars get lost on their way to me. As for outright theft I gotten taken on a Mac 3-10E for about $80. The one that really bothers me is a non-current member here has a 066 that was never paid for.


Good luck Larry

Bill

Good luck

 

[blsnelling]

I just went through this in the last 2-3 weeks. I purchase a VX2100 camcorder for our church for $1550. I paid via PayPal with a CC. I never received the item. Several messages sent back and forth between me and the seller, always with emptly promises to ship next day air. Finally, I filed a "complaint" with PayPal. At this point, they send an email to both parties involved and provide a means of replying to the complaint. The seller never replied to it. At this point I escallated the complaint to a "claim". The seller has the burden of responsibility to show proof that the item was shipped, ie. a tracking number. Again, no response from the seller. One or two days later, I had my money back. It was unclear in the details of the transaction if she refunded of her own volition or if PayPal took the money from her. The way I found out was through an email from PayPal as a resolution to the claim. If PayPal's investigation is in your favor, they will put the sellers account in a negative balance and come after them with collectors to bring it back up.

File the complaint and you should get your money back.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Which makes me resolute to change my PayPal account. Currently my PayPal account pulls the money out of my checking account to pay for stuff I buy. If I change the account to let them get the money from my Credit Card - I would also then have the benefit of having my Credit Card company go to bat for me if I paid for something and never got it. I don't see that my bank would be nearly as cooperative.

 

[blsnelling]

They can refund only what is in the guiys account and I can assure you if they are a scammer they will have their account drained.

Not true in my case. I learned what I know the hard way. I sold an item for >$300. I shipped it without a tracking #. The seller said they never got it. I had no proof otherwise, so PayPal refunded the buyer their money and put my account in a negative balance and threatened with further action if I didn't bring it back up.

In another case, I shipped an item to a foreign country. It turned out that the item had been paid for with a hijacked PayPal account. Again, the money was taken from my account and returned to the owner of the hijacked account. In this case I had not shipped to a "confirmed" shipping address. Most foreign addresses cannot be "confirmed".

The key to this is to only ship to a confimed US shipping address, with tracking, and proof of delivery. These things allow you the seller to be covered under PayPal's "Seller Protection Plan". If you don't follow the rules, you're on your own. That's why you see in all my auctions that I will only ship to a confirmed US shipping address.

 

[blsnelling]

Which makes me resolute to change my PayPal account. Currently my PayPal account pulls the money out of my checking account to pay for stuff I buy. If I change the account to let them get the money from my Credit Card - I would also then have the benefit of having my Credit Card company go to bat for me if I paid for something and never got it. I don't see that my bank would be nearly as cooperative.

When paying for an item, PayPal will always take money from the balance of your PayPal account first. No way around that. If there's no balance, you can choose for it to come from your checking account, or from a CC. If the item is of much value at all, drain your PP account, and pay with a CC.

 

[taplinhill]

Ticking off folks with your funeral procession, snarling traffic, makes me worry as well...........

So I want to be cremated and shot out of a potato gun.........

Ashes to ashes..........BOOM...........Dust to dust...............Amen :angel:

 

[Zodiac45]

You can attach a CC too your Paypal account. Then when you pay for an item, just before you hit Pay, check the method of funding. They always want to use your bank account first and even when you check the CC instead, they will ask if you are sure and blah blah... They don't want the discount they have to pay the card company I suppose. None the less, using a card through Paypal is the safer way to go because if Paypal will not fix it, your Card usually will.
That said, I always look carefully at the "feedback" and transactions of a given seller. Under 10 transactions and/or less than 100%, forget it, go somewhere else before it all ends in tears. I've done several transactions with guys less than 100% if they have allot of history(but I look at the negative feedbackand see if it was resolved) because you can't keep everyone happy 100% of the time.

 

[bcorradi]

Larry - hopefully your able to get your money back out of the deal.

 

[wanab]

always suck the monies off paypig first. then pay with CC.

when they say they cant get your money back they lied so they can still get the fee.



fleabay is really bad now. mostly all scams and damaged goods. too bad!

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I think there is a lot of good potential on eBay....but unfortunately a lot of people are bidding too much money for stuff and the prices seem to be pretty darn inflated. Very often used Stihl chainsaws are selling for nearly the list price of a new one. Some saws are very nice - but a saw that lists for $ 459 new (MS260) can often be within $ 50 or $ 100 of a new one. Sellers are also very good at taking pictures that hide damage or word their listings in a way that hides the truth ("Only had this saw 2 months" doesn't necessarily mean it is 2 months old....the seller could be the 3rd owner). The hard cases for Stihl very often sell for more than you can get them at the dealer by the time you add in shipping.

In general if you watch for an item for an extended period and get to know the market, buy from a reliable seller with good feedback and some form of guarantee, don't get caught up in a bidding war, and are careful about how you are supposed to pay for the item you have a good chance of getting a decent deal.

Avoid any listings that require you to send payment to an address different than the one eBay provides - chances are that account has been hijacked. If you check the feedback and see that an account has been idle for an extended period......it may have been recently hijacked. I once saw a listing for a banjo that I had sold on eBay and they used my pictures from when I had sold it 2 years earlier....the seller had 100% positive feedback. I contacted the person I sold it to and he still had it and was not selling it. Someone had hijacked an inactive account and posted my old listing to sell a banjo he didn't own. Luckily the banjo crowd is a tight knit group and we pretty much know who owns what vintage banjo.....and we watch out for each other. We contacted eBay and the listing was removed.

 

[Fish]

Where in Ky are you Banjo?

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I am just south of Cincinnati......about 15 minutes from downtown. Pretty neat place as I am in a rural area and get the benefits of living in the country with cows, horses, deer, turkeys and trees around me....yet I can be in the City in 15 minutes.

 

[blsnelling]

Hey Dave. I'm going to be down your way at Germantown Pizza tonight.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Brad:

I don't even know where Germantown Pizza is.....let me know if it is worth looking for. I believe you have Cassano's Pizza King up your way, and I am pretty fond of their pizza.....or Larosa's.

 

[clintb]

If you pay with paypal and use a credit card, claim anything you want and tell pp you want a refund. PP will not go against the credit card co. The seller don't have to have any money in his account. I didn't and now have a -$382 balance.

 

[PA Plumber]

I am currently in the middle of a "not as advertised" dispute. Paid with credit card through paypal. The seller did not respond within the 10 day period.

I am out return shipping to the seller, but that beats having a piece of junk and out $100.00. I tried to get the return shipping back from the seller, but no go. Still waiting on the credit from paypal.

 

[davefr]

If the item wasn't shipped file an INR. The seller has to prove the item was delivered. If the item doesn't meet the description then file a SNAD. If neither of these meet our satisfaction then do a credit card chargeback. All this assumes you paid via Paypal and credit card. Never do otherwise unless the seller is nearly perfect. (Long reputation and plenty of good feedback.)

Paypal rules for the buyer 99.99% of the time. It's usually the sellers that get scammed.

 

[weenieroaster]

I'm honest, and don't live in the US, so I hate that.