posted on June 22, 2001 09:33:22 AM
not by ebay users, my dealings have been great - Perhaps I've been defrauded by ebay itself however, but I'm sure theres a thread here somewhere about that already...
edited to remove an "N" that showed up in the post for some unknown reasin
[ edited by rustybore on Jun 22, 2001 09:34 AM ]
posted on June 22, 2001 09:35:21 AM
Defrauded, no. Disappointments, yes. I've had some purchases I wasn't crazy about that I wouldn't have bought if I could have handled the item. I've had some items that were shipped in less than a timely manner also.
posted on June 22, 2001 09:56:11 AM
Yes, we've been defrauded by several buyers on eBay with bounced checks that were never made good. We've also caught several schemes from Indonesian buyers with stolen credit cards who tried to purchase our goods. Fortunately, we were aware of the scams and cancelled the trasnactions and payments.
Fraud is inherent in all business, regardless if it's on the web or other traditional business methods. You have to keep your eyes open and use your judgement to protect yourself.
I learned my lesson when I was 6 years old and a local ice cream man short changed me. I learned my lesson and it made me wiser and more cautious.
posted on June 22, 2001 10:27:40 AM
I got ripped off for $78. a few years ago. At that time $78 was a lot of money to me.
Come to think of it, it still is.
I went through every agency from the Postmaster to the Attorney General who after 8 months sent me a form letter saying, in effect, "Sorry, but because the thief didn't respond to our letter, there's nothing we can do..."
posted on June 22, 2001 11:05:36 AM
Nope---the majority of my purchases have been great. Very few (the ones I bought without thinking) have been disappointments, but that I blame on my itchy bid finger and not reading and asking
posted on June 22, 2001 11:10:20 AM
Myself, a few disappointments. Items not as described. I usually take "surprises" into account in my bid prices. On the other hand, I've added items to my collection I would never have found locally.
A collegue at work just got defrauded for approx. $700.00 a few days ago by a buyer. He sold a laptop and the buyer paid with a cc service. The next day, he rushed to pick up the computer at his door. The cc payment was cancelled after he left with it. The buyer's contact information seems to be false from reading the several negs he now posseses. The buyer was a newbie (less than one week), won several auctions worth several thousands in his first few days.
posted on June 22, 2001 11:51:02 AMAs a buyer (out of 110 purchases in last 4 months):
Disappointed: About 15% of my purchases. (somehow materially misdescribed, poor packing, broken (no compensation), bait and switch on shipping ($5 for "priority", comes in bag for $1.60))
Defrauded: Once. Seller pictured and described item as "new, never used" and did the bait and switch and send 15 year old, dusty, rusty, missing pieces item and claims they did no wrong and I'm just "PICKY". Still working on recovering SOMETHING from him/PayPal. [I paid $48, as "new" value is ~$90. The value of what I got typically sells for ~$20-$25 if described accurately] I got taken on TWO of the same item.
As a seller (out of 1600+ transactions over 4 years)
Defauded: 3 Times. 2 bounced checks/no repay of fees, one check promised to be a money order from europe, cost $30 to cash [found out 3 weeks later after deposit] (wiped out enitre SALE VALUE (not just profit)) no repay of fees.
Disappointed: Many times: Tons of deadbeats, a negative from a snot-nosed 12 year old (on a $10 item besides, he said "dad" bought me same, don't want your item), tons of lies from (eventually mostly non-paying) bidders.
[ edited by mrlatenite on Jun 22, 2001 11:58 AM ]
posted on June 22, 2001 12:16:48 PM
I guess I am "lucky" too. While I have had a couple purchases go South, both ended up OK. One only because I was wise enough to use a credit card, the second was due to another seller being honest and refunding a returned item.
posted on June 22, 2001 01:22:59 PM
As a seller: In over 20,000 auctions over the last 3 years, I have only had 1 bad check (total under$20.00 with fees) and never a chargeback. The only times I have felt defrauded were a guy who kept stealing my pics (kept warning him, finally had to VERO him) and now the RECO problem which (YEA Bob!) looks like it will be fixed.
As a buyer (mostly stamps and beanie babies and vintage magazines): Never a problem, but I NEVER "panic" buy at the last minute, ask questions when necessary, and always check my sellers feedback.
posted on June 22, 2001 02:08:19 PM
nope, never defrauded.
1 purchase was a disappointment, item not as described. the seller grumbled and was graceless about it, but did eventually refund me. i'm sure she feared a neg from me; i never left one - didn't leave anything, because i thought it was an honest mistake, even if she didn't want to admit it. she should have, would have made me a repeat customer.
posted on June 22, 2001 02:25:52 PM
I have been treated extremely well as a buyer BUT my one neg was from buying software from a lady who could not tell me when SHE would get it from her supplier a month after the auction. She neged me for having the "nerve" to ask for a refund if she could not ship it!
I got stiffed $189 from a company in Oregon. They disappeared - number disconnected etc. and left me stuck because
my mother in law who has Alzhiemer's messed with the answering machine and erased their credit card info. I have MADD collection working on that one.
As either buyer or seller in over 3 years. Got 1 bad check that was made right with fees in less than a week.
I ship immediately even with personal checks but I deal in things that usually have a market with honest people. No get rich quick schemes, cheap jewelry, or latest fads. I do mark most of my items invisibly to avoid schemes where the buyer wants to ship back a defective item that isn't mine.
I am careful that I buy from sellers with good feedback and I ask questions before bidding. I buy high end items like computers and cameras locally so I don't have much exposure either.
posted on June 22, 2001 03:32:42 PM
I was the victim of a eBay Paypal fraud for $2,243.50 Briefly I have a friend who has a son working in LA. She asked me to buy him a video camera for a birthday present on eBay using my Paypal account. The auction was a scam and was reported to www.ifccfbi.gov To be fair to Paypal I got my money back after two months, but still lost around $70 because of exchange rate fluctuations. I cannot hold Paypal responsible for movements in the UK£-US$ exchange rates!
posted on June 22, 2001 06:29:14 PM
1000+ transactions. 2 frauds as a buyer (received nothing), none as a seller. Lots of disappointments as a buyer but also some really fantastic sellers and buyers who have overall made it a pleasure!
posted on June 22, 2001 07:44:59 PM
5 years (?) on ebay.
1 item I purchased was misrepresented.
It was clothing, sold as NEW and it was not.
I complained. Seller cursed me out. I washed it and wore it anyway.
1 item broken TWICE. Awful packing. Gave up felt guilty asking for a third replacment because the guy was really nice...just a terrible packer. (I left him a positive for niceness.)
All other purchases have been great.
As a seller, one bad check in 4 years of selling. Many many many non-paying bidders.
Quite a few difficult buyers. When I say difficult, I mean buyers who clearly (it said size 2 and they thought it was a 22) did not read the description, buyers who threaten me for not having received the item and it arrives the next day, left a neg over shipping damage but would not file a damage claim (very common, refusing to file a claim but want a refund..why?), etc. One went on the WAR PATH for quoting him shipping without his address only to find we underquoted the shippig charge by $1. He never paid. Left a neg saying we were dishonest with shipping.
There are also many many very very nice buyers whom I greatly appreciate!
posted on June 22, 2001 11:18:15 PM
I don't really understand why some people get defrauded (ripped off) numerous times but in over 4000 transactions (buyer and seller) we have never been defrauded.
One person attempted to get us to send an item she never paid for but didn't succeed. She's now NARU...
Are some people here just unlucky or is it something else?
posted on June 23, 2001 05:09:29 AM
As a seller: a couple of bad checks (one made good, other disappeared). Some non-paying bidders. Not a whole bunch, but every one hurts.
As a buyer: my second buying transaction almost turned into a nightmare. Guy was listing all kinds of software and computer parts, collecting the money and never shipping. I hunted him down with a vengence (I always secretly wanted to be a PI), found him despite the fact that his Ebay contact information was false and his AOL email had been cancelled. I really can't believe how much you can find out about someone on the Internet just by typing their name into a search engine! I found chat boards he was posting on, bad seller lists he was on, even where he was going to college!! I was able to track him down and get the item that I had paid for! Believe me it was hard work and took about a month and a half to do it, but I didn't give up. Now I'm very careful who I buy from. If I have a question I use the ask seller a question and if they don't respond I don't bid.
posted on June 23, 2001 06:03:15 AM
In more than 2,000 transactions in the last couple years......
No bounced checks
No cancelled payments
No PayPal problems
(lucky so far)
We have had our fair share on non-payers as all have, but no more than I figure is normal.
Fraud wise, we have bought a few things that were kinda questionable, but not really out & out fraud worthy.
(a 'print' that was just a page ripped out of a book comes to mind)
I think that it depends on what you are buying (or selling) that raises the chances that you may be riped off in one way, shape or form.
Anything that would interest a kid comes to mind.......Beanies, video games, Pokemon, stuff like that.
posted on June 23, 2001 06:45:53 AM
paintpower - I was able to track a guy without even his name. He used a e-mail address spoof to send out spam using my account, but harvested the suckers with an 800 #. I put some of the silly hot phrases he repeated in his ad into search engines and found 12 different companies he was using to scam people from credit repair and phone cards to fake viagra. I ended up with his name his home and business adresses his company info his service record and by ftp search I found an old file on a server in England where HE had applied to a multilevel marketing scam someone else was running (just learning I guess) and it had his SS#.
