Cheated on eBay
I found out I was cheated out of over US$1000 today. I was buying a new laptop to replace my aging Dell monster. I bid on a new Apple 12″ Powerbook over eBay and won it for a good price. Too good, it would turn out.
The seller said he shipped the laptop using a slow shipping method. It didn’t arrive after a few weeks. I emailed the seller and he reassured me it would arrive very soon. After a few more weeks I email the guy again but he didn’t respond.
Now, I check the eBay website and the guy’s account has been cancelled. A whole bunch of people have posted negative feedback saying how they too have been ripped off. It seems he spent one year setting up his account, auctioning off a few items, building his ebay reputation (he had 100% positive feedback) and then set up a whole load of fraud auctions, took people’s money and ran. It is past ebay’s buyer protection/complaints deadline (45 days after the sale), so no way for me to get the money back. Nothing I can do. Just spent over $1000 learning a lesson.
Lessons learnt:
Material nature tempts you with a attractive looking promises: “do this and you’ll be happy”, “buy this, it’s cheap”, “this is for you to enjoy”. However, things rarely turn out as one expects. You get cheated and exploited. A horrible feeling. Better to practice Krishna consciousness and escape the cruel, merciless grip of the material world.
Conclusions and advice:
- Never buy anything over $1000 on eBay
- Don’t trust anyone
- Be extremely careful with anyone that has less than 1000 positive feedbacks
- If the item doesn’t arrive in 30 days, never wait, file a fraud claim immediately
September 17th, 2005 at 8:47 pm
Hi, just discovered your blog through Technorati. Sorry to hear about you being ripped off. I just won an auction the other day for an out of the box new OS X Tiger software for $74. I’m not sure if that was the best deal, but hey I saved at least sixty bucks. It was my first win.
But I was wondering did you check the seller’s profile and history before you bid? I’ve read that a reliable seller especially for someone selling expensive items should have at least a 98% approval rating. The guy I purchased had a lot of positive comments, and I’ll be sure to ad mine if the software turns out legit.
I’m weary about buying any hardware over the internet, especially used items for you just don’t know what you’re getting in the end.
So did you contact eBay? If so, what did they say?
September 18th, 2005 at 3:38 am
ouch!!! ouch! ouch!!!
(I FEEL FOR YOU BROTHER. THAT’S GOTTA HURT!!)
(I’VE DONE STUPIDER THINGS - IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER TO KNOW)
September 18th, 2005 at 9:34 am
ouch!!
September 18th, 2005 at 1:15 pm
(ebay/paypal’s response)
Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. I am happy to assist you further.
While we appreciate your position we are only able to pursue claims filed within the legally agreed period under our User Agreement. You can still file your claim and there may be a possibility for this to be pursued at a later date should the seller have further account issues however this can not be guaranteed.
Exercise caution when purchasing items with a significantly delayed delivery date. Delivery dates more than 20 days after your payment involve more risk. Please note, PayPal sellers are not allowed to sell goods with delivery dates delayed more than 20 days from the date of payment.
Per our User Agreement, claims must be filed no later than 45 days from the date of payment. Only one claim may be filed per PayPal transaction. PayPal will seek to resolve the claim within 30 days of the date the claim is filed, though such time frame may be extended, if appropriate, to accommodate the investigation.
Please let me know if you need further assistance.
Sincerely,
Sean
PayPal Resolution Services
October 16th, 2006 at 11:58 pm
Ouch…i feel your pain too, i think i have just been cheated $130 too, this guy’s bank sent me a few e-mails asking me to send the parcel and scan a receipt ,then they will only send me my money, but it’s been a few days past the expected time and my money is not here yet, i tried calling but the number is not in service anymore…arrrghh.I wanna kill that guy!!!
February 5th, 2007 at 12:38 am
This thread on this blog is about #1 on the Google search for the phrase “cheated by ebay”. Congratulations!
At http://www.cheatedbyebay.com we are more a community for sellers ripped off by ebay, it is astounding the volume of buyers who were also cheated. Do you not have recourse with your credit card company? I trust you have filed a formal police complaint? (yeah yeah I know, but still……)
Please refer any businessed cheated by ebay to our site.
Ombudsman
August 16th, 2007 at 7:30 am
This person is no longer a ebay member he was using bait and switch sales adds with nice pictures and super small small print off to the side. After i complained he changed the auction page. By the look of his total neutral (cowards)complaints he was doing the same thing to a lot of other people i assume he may have lost his membership i find it unfair to be punished for not allowing myself to be cheated like all the other people who would pay for something they didn’t want. Some had actually paid hundreds of dollars. The shock of ebays lack of concern over a obviously crooked seller was a slap in the face, I was new to ebay when i bid on his LIST of places that sold the picture that he was selling as a digital cam corder. I explained to him on the phone that i had bid on his item with only seconds to spair before the auction ended he told me to %#@* off and send him the money. i would have but that was enough to piss me off ,, you F@&$ing is a bad way to start a conversation with me! You would think it was 1945 Berlin and i was hunting nazi war criminals or something by the lack of help i have recieved from EBAY. and all i wanted was the negative feedback removed because i refused to be cheated . They dont give a poop all they want is their cut .
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:02 pm
In July I bid on a Designer SE embroidery/sewing machine. I did not think I would “win” because the bidding was not supposed to end for another 10 hours. To my surprise, a couple of hours later I had an email that I won. The seller called me to give me the address to send a check. (Mistake number one on my part). I went to the bank and got a teller’s check and mailed it off. I spoke to the seller a couple of times. She said she was selling the machine because she needed the money for her daughter’s wedding. When several days went by, I called her asking for an update. She said the check just cleared and she would ship the machine that day. That was August 1. When I didn’t receive it within a week, I emailed her and she emailed back that she shipped it on August 6 by USPS and gave me a “delivery confirmation” number. I entered this on the post office website and it was not found. However, the post office website did say that delivery confirmation numbers cannot be used to trace items. I emailed her again to say that I was going to report her for fraud. She emailed back that she was not out to rip anyone off and that “it was in the works”. and to wait a little bit longer and thanked me for my patience. I paid $2700. Think I’ll ever see it?
August 24th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Nope, I think this is a classic case of a cheating seller. Report the seller for fraud, but I doubt you’ll get any money back since you paid by cheque. I’m sorry for your loss.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Man- I got my self into a similar nasty situation, Paid this guy(Oleg V Mashkov Address:18 Ware Ave,West Hartford,
CT 06119 United States Phone:(860) 680-9592) $780 for a Dell Laptop in the Month of July2007, Since then got a partial refund from paypal of $175.00 and thats all. I have called paypal-they reportedly say they will make all the efforts to recoverer my money- but can not guaranty any thing..The best part is they charge a $25.00 as processing fee out of the $200.00 coverage on my purchase, Wonder what PROCESSING?
Mailed that guy several times, wasted a lot on money making international call to this Fraus Seller for no good-Contacted the West Hartford Police- they say since its not a Criminal issue they cant look into it(Pretty funny ha?).
So Ideally I have been ripped off –And paypal wants me to just sit back and wait…wait how long????
So Guys If any body can help me I would be Really Greatfull. My Id is rajesh.mohan@gmail.com
PLEASE DONT BUY ANY HIGH VALUE PRODUCT ON EBAY,——–REGARDS
December 13th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
O Hi,Its me again .Thats my wrong email ID ,Its rajesh.mohann@gmail.com OR rajesh.simha@gmail.com
Please refor to the above comment, Thx.