posted on August 31, 2001 12:10:22 PM
For the last week or so i have had a deadbeat emailing bidders on my auctions spewing false allegations etc, generally just being a pr*ck. 2 of these bidders sent me copies of the email which i turned over th safeharbor. 2 others retracted bids stating my feedback as a reason, 1987 rating, 8 negs, all retalitory from deadbeats. both retraction were within 8 minutes of the bid, i suspect a plant via the deadbeat since the times are similar and the comments identical. anyway ebay confirmed they did do sometning to him but would not reveal it other than to say it was either, a warning, 30 day suspension and total suspension...well we know it wee just a warning because he is not naru'd......
he has also sent me emails gloating about the interference and how he and his friends will jack with my bidders, also sent this to ebay........
sooo the only solution i can come up with is 2 fold 1. put a statement in my description some fool may email them and tell stories, etc AND/OR make all my auctions private and state why in my description.
question 1- how do you think all private auctions will affect bids? i rund about 40 items per week
question 2- is there an option in the aw manager to specify private auctions, can't recall seeing one
i do not want to hide feedback or anything like that just bidders from this piece o crap
Tell him to keep up the good work as you will be contacting your attorney and soon enough he will be paying your bills for years to come.
This is a clear cut wonderful case of fraud, harassment, libel, malicious slander, and probably a few interstate commerce violations. Tell him you'll have his house in punitive damages alone.
posted on August 31, 2001 12:48:07 PM
Yes, I vote for the "retaliatory threat" as well. Tell him you have assembled a history of emails, bids, etc., all with email addresses, IP addresses, etc., and your lawyer is having them traced as we speak, and that you will shortly be contacting his local police force (most effective if he is in a small town). All of these people assume they are invincible due to being anonymous or something, so the thought that an actual policeman could show up on his physical doorstep might be a scary idea.
Then just ignore him, as he will eventually get tired of the game and go away, assuming he isn't scared away first.
posted on August 31, 2001 02:17:08 PM
buggery, several months ago when someone started playing games with my auctions, I experimented with the private auction format to see if it would affect my sales.
It had no effect whatsoever. As I recall, I listed everything that way for several weeks, long enough for the lowlife to get bored and move on.
I included a blurb in my template that said I was employing the private auction format to prevent my bidders from being harrassed by persons unknown. I don't even think anyone emailed to inquire about it.
If your feedback bears out that you're an honest seller, I don't think you'll turn off any potential bidders with it. Give it a try and see.
posted on August 31, 2001 02:25:46 PM
fountainhouse
thats exactly what i was thinking of doing..........thanks for the input
as for making some threats i really am not interested in that. mainly becasue i have no intention of geting the legal folks involved so i would be shooting him a line of BS by saying so. personally i would laugh if someone told me they were going the legal avenue. there are, sooo many ways to conceal who you are from sending all email from kinkos or the library etc...
posted on August 31, 2001 04:33:45 PM
well, sure there are some ways to try and conceal your identity..but you refer to this person as a deadbeat..so presumably he has bid and not paid you, and ebay knows where they are located? I doubt it would take more than 15 minutes to find this person and his friends if anyone really tried to...its one thing to set out in advance to be invisible, but unless that was your initial objective you've left plenty of traceable info.
So, yes, he might laugh at it...initially..but I doubt he'd laugh at a call from a lawyer or police officer. But, if you've already determined not to do that, fine. Time to just ignore him then.
posted on August 31, 2001 04:38:02 PM
I would freak him out a little and pull his contact info- If that alone is incorrect that would be enough to suspend him.
Jen
posted on August 31, 2001 04:45:55 PMbuggery: although I'm sure you bend over for your customers (hee!hee!), this is a good example of, as the Don would say:
"It was business, not personal!"
IOW: why bother with the deadbeat negs? All it can ever do is bounce back and bite your butt (hee!hee! again!).
Do the FVF bit & then move on! Deadbeats ain't worth the heartache they cause, especially since the FB system is TOTALLY 100% SKEWED in their favor and thus TOTALLY 100% BOGUS!!
posted on August 31, 2001 05:16:38 PM
i pulled the contact info over a month ago. there is no way to track the bogus friends. i know of people who have more than 20 ID's, using atleast 6 different ISP's and all with bid histories.........
tomwiii...you are becoming a pain in my a**...nice to see someone has a sick sense of humor too!
