I tried to buy a miter saw on ebay several months ago now, and dropped upwards of $500. The guy has never written to me, and now I am out the money with nothing to show for it. Is there anything I can do?
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Ebay customer support.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
How did you pay for it?
If you used your credit card or Pay Pal, contact them to see if you have recourse there. As Mike mentioned, contact eBay.
That's a stinker. I'm usually very careful about the sellers' ratings. I try to restrain myself from bidding on items sold by people with no or too many negative feedbacks, unless it's something I really need. Even then I limit the spending amount. Paypal is safest but many people are not set up for that sort of transaction. Not sure why though. It would weed out the scammers.
Anyway I used to buy old photos on Ebay from sellers in Germany (many from former East Germany) and most of them required cash, euro or dollar. That is truly blind faith. I did this at least two dozen times and never had a problem. We seem to be plagued by opportunists in America.
Another possibility is he could be dead. Few years ago, I bid on a beautiful panel plane at the Tony Murland tool auction but lost it to some guy. Few weeks later I received a letter from the auctioneer telling me that the guy died before making the payment. They offered it to me for my bidding price but I declined.
Just keep the pressure on the buyer and customer service.
Use pay pal or their escrow program. Look at the Seller's other sales and I would be hesitant to buy anything from anyone with less than 10-20 sales. I also look at the exact items the Seller sold. Were they really small deals and this a large ticket item? Beware. Sometimes they churn sales, e.g., sell to themselves to generate a good feedback. Contact those buyers if you can and ask for specific feedback.
Get a street address and full name of the seller.
I am sorry you got scammed.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Thanks. I went through my brother(not sure if I mentioned that) because he has the ebay account. He paid through Paypal, or whatever that thing is called. The guy had no or minimal negative reviews. None, I think. My brother said he contacted Paypal, and we've been emailing to the guy for months. I'll see if my brother can do anything, but he's in Spain now. And how do I get his address? All I know is that his name was marketman777 and I think his name is Rich.
He wrote once saying "If you can give me a little more time I will make good and will be repaying you as soon as I can."
That was months ago.
Edited 12/16/2003 7:34:57 PM ET by SBerruezo
You got scammed and have lost your money. Marketman777 is not a valid user id in ebay (I checked). They typically remove id's of those crooks they no longer want as sellers. He will appear again, I'm sure with a different hotmail account and with a different user id.
Again, I check the number of sales the guy has. Under 20? Then I look at all feedback, positive and negative, and even consider emailing those successfull positive buyers over their experience with seller. Of course, I do the same with negative buyers.
If there is a lack of positive sales, then I won't bid as much as I normally would. I don't think I would bid much over $50 to any seller with less than 20 positives. I have bid and blindly mailed $20 to a clown and hoped on a wing and prayer that I would get my stuff.
If the product was something I really wanted or was over $50, I would use ebay's escrow program. If the guy is a crook, he won't agree to the escrow program, and that fact will tell you a lot.
I feel sorry for you. Welcome to the world of ebay.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
I occasionally buy something on E-bay. Its important to print off the auction info itself and the winning bid info. This way you've got documentation about the auction and the seller's account name, etc.
Since your brother is in Spain take whatever info you have to a friend who is familiar with how things work on E-bay. You'll need your brother's cooperation if you can get in touch with him. Have the friend report this guy to Pay-Pal and to E-bay customer service. They're equipped to deal with clowns like marketman777.
PayPal is your only recourse, and your brother will need to deal with it. PayPal is not going to deal with you since it wasn't your account. It'd be a good idea "next time" to be sure you know the time limits and recourse procedure and follow it closely.
Ebay can be an OK place to shop with due caution. Sounds like you've been victimized by one of the many bad apples.forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Just my thing about Paypal.
I purchased Quickbooks on eBay from someone who specifically said that this was the official program, and that they don't sell hackware. I used Paypal.
I received hackware. When I complained to Paypal, they said that they don't resolve "product not as specified" type issues, only if product was not recieved, or something like that.
The guy could've sent be a brick and I would not have a recourse through Paypal. I told them so, and have not heard from them since...
That's part and parcel of knowing what the terms of the "Buyer Protection" are. Since I rarely buy on eBay (sell there as a back-up to my storefront business) I haven't paid much attention lately to their BP program, but I know if I was relying on them for protection, I'd read it carefully before bidding.
Did you notify eBay of the pirated software? Probaby wouldn't help your pocketbook any, but they'll terminate the seller if they know s/he's selling pirated software, and that's one less evildoer for the rest of the bidders to deal with. Microsoft would be interested to know to, LOL.forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Thanks for posting that info. I've thought about getting a chpsaw on ebay but was concerned about it still being accurate. This is another reason why I won't by through them. I got ripped off on another internet scam and am dubious about purchases from private parties or small companies.
Perhaps not right on thread, but there is a newly discovered windows bug that lets evildoers spoof real websites (like ebay) by putting a false address into the address bar. The site looks like ebay and has the ebay address in the address bar, but it's a fake there to collect your visa number!
If you type "www.ebay.com" into the address bar and hit "go", you go to ebay. If you click on a link in a spam email or a popup window, you may to to a fraudulent site, not the one you meant to go to!
Doesn't bode well for the electronic future, does it?
So why are we letting Windows hold the electronic future hostage?
Boycott Microsoft.
Bill Gates is the Devil.
Edited 12/17/2003 1:56:56 AM ET by Uncle Dunc
Maybe you should post the guy's address and see if anyone on the board lives close to him. Somebody could go over to his house and make sure he sends the package out soon.
I would love to do that, but I don't know how to get his address. Any hints?
I recall when I registered with Ebay you're required to submit your address and various other pertinent info. Paypal requires a bit more, including your credit card and bank account for verification. I don't think they'll readily hand over his personal address though.
Use the "Find Members" feature -- go to bottom of page to "Contact Info":http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MemberSearchShow&ssPageName=h:h:fmem:US
Problem is you may have waited too long, I don't know for sure. You'll need to enter the item#.
Here is the page on fraud and buyer protection at eBay:http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-fraud-protection.htmlforestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG
I have never been scammed on e-bay. My wife sells about 60 item or so (give or take) there and has a perfect rating. My rule of thumb is sell on e-bay and buy local. :>)
Just thought I would get you stirred up for what hopefully will be a great retail day at your shop. I feel sorry for the buyer as that's a considerable sum to be out of, especially this time of year.
Good Retailing...
sarge..jtProud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Hiya Sarge, quiet this weekend but I've resigned myself to a ho-hum retail season -- made very conservative decisions about inventory levels, and those decisions are definitely paying off. Thinned out some overstock from the fall by selling it on eBay, so that was a good thing! I can take special orders through Tuesday, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.
The only times I've lost out as a buyer on eBay was when I was new and not paying close attention to the ads. Never been stiffed. I always read the feedback, not just looking at the number. It's easier now that they also give you a percentage. I have more trouble as a seller, because I sell in a high-risk area -- too many kids and space cadets buying cards and video games. Have about 15% non-paying bidders.
Eeeek, I gotta get to bed. Been a busy weekend, what with taking Nick out for shopping and his bro out for dinner tonight. Have to finish up some "horseshoe" ornaments tomorrow for the landlord -- he's going to buy a couple for his wife and daughter.forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG
Glad you had a good week-end. I had to go out today and everything is packed. I think the money is out there, it's just headed in different directions than the past. I won't tell you I don't have any to spend, but I have been tight with it this year and I'm not sure why? ha.. ha...
Regards...
sarge..jtProud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Sarge,
"I won't tell you I don't have any to spend, but I have been tight with it this year and I'm not sure why? ha.. ha..."
The rest of us can sure tell you why you've been tight with the money.....planes...lol. Your trying to squirl away a little nest egg....and buy a brown box from LN....
Your not fooling me...the bottom shelf on that workbench was not an afterthought...lol
BG
:>) he... he....
sarge..jtProud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Sorry you got scammed. I didnt realize ebay was so treaturous. Ive bought several items and never had any problem. Never anything as expensive as 500 bucks. I sell furniture plans on the web and list some of them on ebay sometimes. I have noticed that when I have something listed on ebay that my website traffic dramatically improves. I love ebay for that reason and I hate to hear that so many folks are having bad experiences there, its not good for my business or the many billions of other folks trying to do honest biz there. I cant help you with your situation but I will give you a Chrismas present. If you are interested in plans, go to my website and pick your favorite plan and email me with the name of the plan and your address and it is yours free of charge. Originalfurnitureplans.com
Merry Chrismas,
Bryan McMinn
Sorry to hear about your problems on Ebay - You know Ebay is great but the few jerks that rip people off almost make it not worth it. Ebay should help you but not sure how much BS you will have to go through with them.
I buy a few things from Ebay but I never buy expensive things and always check their feedback + plus write the seller to check shipping but mainly to see If they will write back If they wont I don't buy.
You know most people on Ebay are honest and will go out of their way to make things right if theres a problem.
Hope you get your money back
Ron
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