posted on March 13, 2001 02:44:53 AM
I've seen a number of threads here about trying to call/correspond with deadbeat bidders with eBay's contact information. Some of you may not be aware of websites that can help: www.whowhere.com and www.anywho.com are just two of them. You can put even minimal information in and be able to search for anyone. I believe they have both regular and reverse lookup.
A few things to keep in mind since these websites rely on telephone records (Note: these are just my observations; I do not work for them or the phone company!):
1. Sometimes they will list a phone number that has already been disconnected but was in service at one time. Maybe the old info stays on the website as long as there's a forwarding number?????
2. If you just put in the address, the "name" that comes up will be the name that's listed on phone records (i.e. your buyer may live there, but the phone could be in a roommate's or family member's name). The only way to verify in that case is to call.
3. Phone prefix boundaries do NOT always follow city boundaries! For example, I live within the city limits of a large city, about 1 mile from the border of a suburb. Even though I live in the large city, my phone prefix is actually assigned to the suburb. I do not have my address listed in the phone book (and so it won't show on these website), so a search on either of these sites shows that I live in the suburb (because of the prefix), not the large city.
I hope this info helps someone out there, and for those of you who are already familiar with it, sorry for posting a primer!
