posted on May 26, 2001 02:32:06 PM
This is a response that was sent in response to an EOA email that was sent to an auction winner. What do you think?
=======================================
To Whom it may Concern,
This letter is in regards to an Ebay auction that I have been informed that
I am the winning bidder. I contacted Ebay and they told me to contact you. I
did not bid on the item, I do not know who has my I.D. and password but the
item was not bid on by me. I do not feel that it is my responsibility to pay
for an item that I did not bid on. Please contact me at your earliest
convenience so that we may come to an agreement regarding the situation.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
[email protected]
posted on May 26, 2001 02:39:02 PM
What do I think?
First inform your bidder, nicely, that he must change his password immediately because someone was able to obtain it.
Second, send your bidder the final auction page showing him as high bidder. Tell him that although you understand he doesn't know who bid, he's responsible for his user ID and password and someone used it, therefore he is responsible for the auction. Send him the part about it being a legal agreement, etc.
Now if you want to be really, really nice, you can let him out of the deal and file for final value fees stating he backed out or if you're really generous stating you both agreed to it.
posted on May 26, 2001 02:48:04 PM
ok I have had this done to me !!!!
It's a game they generally like to play with ebayer's.
First what is there feedback, if it is low generally they are playing around, They have given you a really big window to play with . I would write a letter to them really nice like this.
I am sorry to hear that your password has been given to someone, you say you have written ebay , this is very good. My company is prepared to do the following. When ebay responds to your letter we would like you to forward it to us. Ebay will reply to you within the next 2 or 3 day's and they can tell from your IOP adress were the password was entered. If we do not get a letter from ebay within the 10 day period that ebay allows you as a bidder to pay us. We will then be filing a non- paying bidder refund and after that point appropriate actions will be taken.
please remember all auctions are legally binding unless we get the letter from ebay
I did that and it ate at me all week. I felt that the buyer had taken advantage of me. That is, until I neg-ed them.
Kennycam, this buyer is playing with you. If their username and password were compromised, they should close their account and start a new one. Neg them to get the process started.
posted on May 26, 2001 03:17:12 PM
You can still do everything that you 've said but all in time..Give the seller a change to realize that there is no way in hell that it happend the way they say it's happening. In fact i think the more then likly never wrote ebay !!!
Makes the bidder think .....also you caN look there ebay nick name up and see if there are still bidding on product. If they are you can ...tell them that they are not a very smart ebayer...to continue there account when there is passowrd problem !!!!
posted on May 26, 2001 04:20:46 PM
I do believe eastwest gives the most excellent advice here.
The person claims they didn't bid on the item and that they don't feel responsible. If (not surmising whether they did or didn't, just if) they did write to eBay they would have been told they are responsible for their User ID and password, thereby making them responsible for purchasing the item bid on with their account.
Bottom line is each and every user is responsible for what happens with their User ID and password.
They can tell from your ISP address where the password was entered.
Is this true? Will eBay check on this when a password has been compromised? Have you had eBay actually do this or know of them doing this for someone or is it just seller tactic?
posted on May 26, 2001 05:00:06 PM
ebay if pushed legally will tell you if the IP address is the same address, but chances are they won't help. But the bidder doesn't know that does he?
posted on May 26, 2001 05:08:54 PM
I had this happen with a bidder a few months back, and took the advice of another poster here. I left a neutral feedback stating (paraphrase): High bidder didn't complete transaction; claimed password was compromised.
I think this is the best way to go...if the person is being truthful, then this type of feedback shouldn't bother them, and if they are lying, it helps to give other seller's a heads-up in case they make it a habit.
posted on May 26, 2001 06:15:24 PM
This is one of the popular scams that some of the deadbeats use, to avoid negs and FV credits. I've had this happen a few times already. Check the guy's past bidding history. I'll bet it's no coincidence that the person who " stole" his password, amazingly bids on exactly the same type of items your bidder has received feedback for. File for FV credit.
[ edited by mipakaco on May 26, 2001 06:17 PM ]
posted on May 26, 2001 06:43:38 PM
Thanks everyone for the responses. The high bidder is a newby with 0 feedback rating. She joined eBay on 5/17/01 and placed her bid on 5/21/01. Her bid history shows that she placed bids on only 2 items since she joined eBay, and both bids were placed on 5/21/01. Although she did not win the other item, several bid were made on that item with her account between May-21-01 09:01:58 PDT and May-21-01 11:55:24 PDT. She placed her bid on our item on May-21-01 11:53:54 PDT.
How can someone steal her ID and password within 4 days after she signed up with eBay and on the first day that she started making bids? An unscrupulous person stealing someone’s ID would bid on a lot more than just 2 items.
This happened last Christmas with a computer system that we had for sale on eBay. The high bidder claimed that her son had placed the bid because he wanted the computer, and because he had placed the bid with her account without her consent, he did not deserve it. Although she did not want to give her son the computer, she was willing to pay for it because she felt obligated since her account had won the bid. We told her to forget it, because we can relist the item, we understand her situation, and relist the item because she was very straight with us.
Eastwest, your idea is very good, and will be used to respond to the bidder.
posted on May 26, 2001 06:46:34 PM
I havn't had this happen with a closed auction, but I have had bidders retract their bids because "someone has stolen my password". That someone by an AMAZING coincidence bids on exactly the same merchandise as the "victim" of the password theft! Kennycam you're being scammed so show no mercy to this scum. Tell them to pay or be negged!
[ edited by iowaantiques on May 26, 2001 07:05 PM ]
Have you asked your "high bidder" why she didn't take action when she received the notices via email that bids were placed on her account? On the other item you mentioned, where she placed multiple bids, she must have received multiple notices...
posted on May 26, 2001 08:22:03 PM
Not to defend the bidder, because I am aware this is a scam that happens over and over, but I did want to say that this has happened to me. I happened to be sitting at my computer one afternoon when a bid notice came in thru email. The bid was placed using my selling account (which I very rarely use for bidding). I did not place the bid. Only one other person has my password and she was online talking to me at the time, so I know she didn't place the bid. I immediately emailed Ebay with all the info, forwarded the seller a copy of what I sent to Ebay, and immediately retracted the bid (the auction had several days to go). I then went and changed my password right away. Ebay never did a thing, I never even heard back from them. But I did want you to know that it does happen for real sometimes.
posted on May 26, 2001 08:32:58 PM
look at it another way...she is letting you know right away that the sale is not going to happen...why not contact the second highest bidder and see if you can do the deal that way ?
stating you both agreed to it. 
whassup?