posted on November 8, 2005 04:33:24 PM new
SAN DIEGO -- Some consumers are discovering that when they bid on eBay, they're opening a portal to problems.
Tina Schimke and her husband, Dwayne, began having trouble with eBay when they placed a bid on a bike from what looked to be a legitimate seller, San Diego television station KGTV reported.
"He had quite an ad on the site -- it had lots of bikes. I admit, I didn't completely read the ad," Tina Schimke said.
When the Schimkes e-mailed back with a question about the shipping cost, the seller allegedly blasted them with a nasty e-mail.
"As soon as he got my e-mail, he was pounding the keyboard and venting," Tina Schimke said.
The anger didn't stop there, she said.
The seller allegedly left her a message that said, "Hey there, schmuck boy -- not answering the phone now?"
The alleged eBay bully was on a roll.
"I know exactly where you f---ing live. E-mail me again and see what happens to your little b---- a--," the accused bully said in the message.
"I was afraid this person was a maniac and was going to show up on our front door," Tina Schimke told the station.
The Schimkes aren't alone. This eBay bully had struck before, the station said.
He allegedly called the Burleson household 37 times.
Cindy Burleson and her daughter, both from Dallas, were also hammered over their questions about comic books the man was selling.
Cindy Burleson said the accused bully threatened her life.
"(He said,) 'I'm going to kill you. Scumbags like you shouldn't be allowed to live.' (He said) stuff like that," Burleson said.
These women and the Schimkes filed police reports but got no results.
So, the station went looking for the accused eBay bully and tracked him to a home in Cleburne, Texas, near Fort Worth, Texas. It's not only where he lives, but also where he does business.
Frank Esquitin, the name of the alleged eBay bully, also goes by the following eBay aliases: Old School Riderz, Cool Cat Cycles and Cool Cat Biker, the station reported.
He's been arrested on charges related to drugs, weapons violations and harassment, police records show.
A Dallas TV station tried to get a response from Esquitin, but no one answered his door.
Esquitin later told KGTV by phone that his accusers are deadbeats and sociopaths. He said that if he threatened them, they must have threatened him first.
Despite complaints, Esquitin is still on eBay.
The company said it assumes no responsibility for any encounters outside its Web site.
"I think I'll use eBay again, but I'll hesitate," Tina Schimke said.
Burleson and her daughter said they will tread more carefully after their experience with the alleged eBay bully.
"We were terrorized. He terrorized us. If he wanted to terrorize us, it worked," Burleson said.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
posted on November 8, 2005 11:10:33 PM new
Okay, sparkz, I won't tell you that.
Our interaction, starting last week:
Him: One sarcastic email
Me: One calm reply
Him: Several angry emails claiming I never responded
Me: Forwarding my previous response again
Him: Mailbombing me from each of my current eBay auctions (the "Email the seller" link)
Me: One calm response reiterating information already given twice.
Him: Two angry voicemails.
Me: <shrug> It's a weekend. I put him on my BBL.
Him: Reports me to eBay for invalid contact info.
Me: Having fun verifying my eBay phone number.
Him: Leaves negative feedback calling me an eh-hole and ticked off because he's blocked.
Me: Checks open auction list. Notices that a bidder with a very similar ID and very similar email is bidding up a storm. Notices that he's already ended all my fixed price listings.
Me: Blocks new ID, cancels pending bids, sends Unwelcome Bidder email to Trust and Safety.
Him: Starts phoning my house and hanging up.
Won't tomorrow be fun? Did I mention this charmer has a .ca address?
posted on November 9, 2005 04:02:01 AM new
Wow - I thought I was having a bad week because I have 4 NPB, 2 winners want to return their items for a refund and I'm 4 days behind on my listings & shipping!!!!
posted on November 9, 2005 04:03:51 AM new
so what started all this? Was he unhappy with something he bought,or he couldn't contact you to begin with?
Because if he was unhappy with something he bought,why would he want to bid on your other auctions.If he had trouble contacting you,why not go elsewhere-too many sellers on ebay,why aggravate yourself.
posted on November 9, 2005 06:35:16 AM new
classic: He hasn't gotten his purchases yet. They'll probably be delivered today.
The problem is that he sent a money order but not promptly. Yet he expects instant turnaround (where have we heard this before?) There's some process that goes on in an impatient person's brain where they can't comprehend the double transit time for mailed-in payments.
I would stop taking checks and money orders altogether except that some of my regular customers prefer it.
He wants to bid on my other auctions so he can trash them. The joke here is that if you read the negs he already left for me, it's pretty obvious that's what he intends to do. This guy is such a moron he should have his own cable channel.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Nov 9, 2005 06:37 AM ]
posted on November 9, 2005 04:33:14 PM new
Goodness, Fluffy - I thought I was having a bad week! I have approximately $300 being held hostage by Paypal - 1 for non-receipt int'l purchase, the other is an item not as stated - one is valid, one is not - this stinks!
Way behind on shipping, ready to scream and wonder why the heck I am doing this!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caroline
posted on November 9, 2005 06:43:29 PM new
I got a fun one also. Of course a Newbie with 11. This buyer bought something from my store on Monday and I get a neutral today saying that they haven't received the item yet. Well Duh!!!
I left neutral for them stating that they just ordered this 2 days ago and they need to be patient. It looks as though they did this to a couple of other sellers.
Caroline