bitsandbobs
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posted on August 14, 2001 05:44:12 PM new
I'll keep this brief.
Purchased an expensive item from a small town Mid West seller on 7/7.(I am in AUSTRALIA).
Used BIN, paid immediately with PayPal.
Never received goods, seller won't reply to emails. Seems this is happening to a lot of their customers.
Seller NARU'ed this week.
Can't claim eBay insurance.(Both buyer and seller have to be in good standing), even if I could the amount ebay would pay is well below what I spent.
Can't charge back through PayPal.(No buyer protection to International users).
The soloution?
A phone call this morning to the local police chief in the sellers town with the relevant details. Fortunately I had pulled the sellers info before they were NARU.
Result?
Five hours later the seller had refunded the money back into my PayPal account!
Now that is what I call service from your police.
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sadie999
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posted on August 14, 2001 05:47:23 PM new
A "high5" to you for an intelligent way to approach this!
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fetishtemple
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posted on August 14, 2001 05:51:05 PM new
Excellent! Glad to hear that you were able to get some satisfaction. It is rewarding to hear a short and sweet story like this.
My general opinion is that you got lucky with this person's local police department though.
Doesn't matter. Congratulations!
Dee
FetishTemple.com
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skeetypete
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posted on August 14, 2001 06:40:52 PM new
it doesn't work that way if you live here...
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Triggerfish
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posted on August 14, 2001 06:57:10 PM new
Wow, Bob, ya gotta love justice, eh? Good for you!
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kkbclear
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posted on August 15, 2001 12:46:33 AM new
Nice to hear a GOOD story about the police for a change!
As the mom of 3 cops, I know they work hard, take their jobs and responsibities seriously, but unfortunately, the only stories we usually hear about them are the BAD ones.
Thanks for making this mom's day!
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spyked
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posted on August 15, 2001 01:22:20 AM new
I'm just wondering what the police said, since what the seller did was considered "postal fraud" and the feds usually take care of that problem. But it must have been something to scare the crap out of him enough to pay up!
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nettak
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posted on August 15, 2001 02:34:59 AM new
Way to go Bob, I am so glad you had a happy outcome to this problem.
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loosecannon
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posted on August 15, 2001 04:45:21 AM new
I too think you got lucky with this one, but that's great. Often you'll get the old "that's not our depatment" kind of thing. This police chief is commendable. If it was a small town he might have even known the "seller".
Good for you.
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 17, 2001 07:05 AM ]
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skeetypete
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posted on August 15, 2001 05:45:20 AM new
you got very lucky, must have been a very small town . on the other hand i hear police in nebraska do this all the time.
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vogeldanl
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posted on August 15, 2001 05:57:03 AM new
Had similar experience after contacting police department where seller lived. One phone call from them and money was returned in a few days.
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hwahwahwahwa
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posted on August 15, 2001 07:05:43 AM new
how much does that overseas phone call to midwest small town police cost??
when you file a report with usps,a copy will be sent to local police and local chamber of commerce.
local police will send out a letter requesting attention to the seller with a copy of the usps letter.
this is a cheaper alternative ,dont know how it works if you are in australia and if you file with australian post office .
but this is how it works in usa.
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kept2much-07
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posted on August 15, 2001 08:33:25 AM new
Did you buy something from Lexington, Nebraska? A bunch of kids got caught ripping off the local Walmart. Here's the link to the search for the local newspaper. Just type in Wal-Mart thefts into the search box and two stories should come up about it.
http://www.lexch.com/interconindex/search.htm
edited because the first link didn't work
[ edited by kept2much on Aug 15, 2001 08:41 AM ]
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kept2much-07
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posted on August 15, 2001 12:06:34 PM new
Thought I'd better add that the kids were selling the goods on ebay!
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zilvy
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posted on August 15, 2001 12:16:33 PM new
Bitsandbobs Hip Hip Hooray, leave it to you to have an upbeat, happy ending...good thinking & a lot of good luck in getting hold of a Police Dept to help you.
[ edited by zilvy on Aug 15, 2001 12:17 PM ]
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katiyana
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posted on August 15, 2001 01:27:23 PM new
Love those Nebraska Police Officers.. 8) An Amazing story - thanks for sharing!
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bitsandbobs
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posted on August 15, 2001 03:04:06 PM new
Thanks everyone. Here's an update.
I had been in touch with some other buyers who were in the same position with this particular seller.
All of them received refunds yesterday after fruitless weeks of frustration.
So maybe we got lucky, but I reckon you make your own luck.
As to the cost? A couple of international phone calls for a few bucks is dirt cheap compared to what was at stake. Really had nothing to lose by trying.
Bob, Downunder but never down.
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