posted on June 19, 2000 05:19:08 PM new
First the story: I need some ram for 3 seperate machines and decided to try auctions. I bought some of it on ebay then saw these no reserve auctions on yahoo. I placed several bids, then all this neg. feedback started to show up on the seller. Catch: people were leaving neg. feedback on auctions that had ended just hours before. Then wow, I won two of this guys auctions, and paid him via paypal $490.00. Then more negs so I emailed him with my concerns. The reply was not totally satisfactory but seemed reasonable so I bid again this time winning big: 256 meg ram $81.00. Yahoo sent me notice of winning bid but I did not here from seller. The time has passed for the first ram (paid for) to arrive, they will not return email, they have a web site with a customer service number that answers only with a machine, they have never returned the calls, Yahoo is no help, paypal is no help.
one other note the name paypal confirmed to was not the same as they signed off on email with. I'm ready to call this a scam and file on these people. Next catch I can't even file a complaint with Yahoo because he cancled the auctions! Yes after they had closed and he had been paid!
Any suggestions?
Dwwilli2
posted on June 19, 2000 07:34:59 PM new
Forget Yahoo, they are NO help at all, even if you file a complaint they would simply email you that they will never get involved in a dispute between a buyer & seller. They would tell you if he is using a business name you can file a complaint with the FTC.
Paypal has huge drawbacks, 1. they say you can't do chargebacks 2. since you didn't mail the seller a payment you lose your right to file a USPS fraud claim.
You can report the account name to Paypal for suspected fraud, they usually freeze the account & won't let any $ be withdrawn until they investigate. He probably immediately withdrew it but hopefully will have more in the account they can freeze.
What do the negs against the seller say? How many positives does he have? List the sellers city & state here & I can give more advice.
posted on June 19, 2000 08:06:51 PM new
Hi thanks for the response I have notified paypal, I'm just not sure it will help. This seller has 8 postive feedback, 9 neg. BUT, several of the neg are saying things like thief within 12hrs of the auction and have no feed back themselves. No way a buyer could know this seller was a problem from the auction the neg was left on. The contact info I was givien by the seller was from Garfield NJ.
posted on June 19, 2000 08:11:16 PM new
One other question, Why would Yahoo allow a seller to cancel an auction after it was closed and paid for? Looks to me that is a probleem in it's self.
posted on June 19, 2000 10:03:06 PM new
I don't know what you mean by "canceling an auction after it's closed". Once an auction ends it can only be viewed by the buyer and seller, the ad would move to your WON page and his CLOSED page and no one else would have access to it (unless they have the exact auct ID number).
I've never actually read Paypal's terms about chargebacks, I only use Paypal as a seller. I would think it's Federal law that anyone can dispute a credit card charge regardless of what Paypal's site may say. I'd certainly check into it if I were you.
Here are some helpful organizations who investigate/prosecute claims of seller fraud. I would start by advising him you will pursue all of these options if you don't receive a refund or your items within 7 days. Hopefully, it will scare him to action.
You can file complaints with:
Office of the Attorney General
Hughes Justice Complex
25 Market Street - PO Box 080
Trenton, NJ 08625-0080
Telephone (609) 292-8740
Fax (609) 292-3508
Yahoo has no way of knowing whether you PAID the seller for the auction or not. The seller can CANCEL A BIDDER at any time (usually because he failed to pay for the auction), but there is still a record of the auction having taken place and of your having bid.
Why on earth did you send him $490.00 through PayPal....ESPECIALLY since he was getting negative feedbacks???!!!
With all the crooks and scammers out there now, you should NEVER send that amount of money to a seller unless you: 1) have dealt with him before and trust him completely, OR 2) you have already received and approved the merchandise (as in COD or an ESCROW account). Since ram has to be tested to see if it's OK, I wouldn't even trust paying COD in this case. I-Escrow would give you a day or two after receiving the goods to approve them, and THEN the seller would be paid. Any HONEST seller will work through an escrow account if the buyer pays the fees.
posted on June 20, 2000 02:58:15 PM new
Kasmoon & granee
Thanks for the advice. I'm following through on several leads to end this. My guess is I will recover all but about $90. that was a positive balance when I paid them. One thing I don't think you ever really caught, my bid was not canceled, THE WHOLE AUCTION WAS. I'm going to post both the winning bidder email and the notice of canceling. Once the auction was canceled I could not access any information nor even leave a neg feedback. I think this wrong and should be addressed but how is beyond me.
Thanks
dwwilli2
posted on June 20, 2000 02:59:23 PM new
ubj: Auction Closed:256MB NEC BRAND PC100 168pin 3.3volts 8ns Brand New
Date: 6/2/00 12:48:24 AM Central Daylight Time
From: [email protected]
Reply-to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Dear dwwilli2,
Congratulations! You have WON auction 256MB NEC BRAND PC100 168pin 3.3volts 8ns Brand New
You may wish to PRINT or SAVE this for future reference.
1. AUCTION INFORMATION
Auction Title: 256MB NEC BRAND PC100 168pin 3.3volts 8ns Brand New
Auction ID: 27689987
Quantity: 4
Starting Price: $1.00
Date Opened: May 31 03:48 PDT
Date Closed: Jun 01 22:48 PDT
You can view the closed auction here:
http://page.auctions.yahoo.com/auction/27689987
xxxxxxx( [email protected] ), the seller of this auction, has also been notified and will be
in contact with you to arrange for payment and to receive shipping
information.
2. YOUR BID SUMMARY
Quantity requested: 2
Quantity Winning: 2
Price per Item: $145.00
3. AUCTION ALERTS
Interested in other items offered by this seller? Set an alert:
posted on June 20, 2000 03:05:22 PM new
Subj: Auction Cancelled:256MB NEC BRAND PC100 168pin 3.3volts 8ns Brand New
Date: 6/7/00 10:04:24 PM Central Daylight Time
From: [email protected]
Reply-to: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Dear dwwilli2,
1. AUCTION INFORMATION
This auction (27689987) that you bid on was cancelled.
Visit this auction at:
http://page.auctions.yahoo.com/auction/27689987
2. NEED ADDITIONAL HELP?
Visit the Bidders Guide:
http://help.yahoo.com/bin/help/redirect.cgi?to_url=http://help.yahoo.com/help/auctions/abid/
Or contact customer care: http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/auct/cgi_feedback?auction_id=27689987
Thank you for using Yahoo! Auctions
http://auctions.yahoo.com
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