posted on November 28, 2001 06:21:30 AM new
Hello, I placed a bid on a rather high priced item from a well-known Company that sells on ebay (EVERYONE knows this company!).The item did not meet the reserve and I placed no further bids.
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I received a call from their representative 4 days before the listing ended asking me for my credit card information, my address, and an alternate phone number. I refused to give this information since the item had not ended AND my bid did not meet the reserve.
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I was then told that I would be responsible for the bid even though I was not the high bidder should the listing end without any further bids. I was asked to retract the bid.
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I told the representative of this company (a very well-known FAMILY oriented company, that mostly produces FAMILY entertainment products) that I would not give them my credit card info, my address or ANYOTHER information since my bid was not meeting the reserve and the auction was far from over. He asked me to retract my bid and I told HIM to cancel my bid and hung up.
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This company sells SO MUCH dollar-wise on EBAY that I became fearful of them. I decided I better retract the bid and I wrote that my reason was that the seller was harrassing me by phone long before the auction ended. I also reported the entire incident to safeharbour.
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Anyone have any thoughts on this? Did I do any thing wrong? (I be surprised!)<br />
[ edited by yeahwell on Nov 30, 2001 12:01 PM ]
posted on November 28, 2001 06:46:36 AM new
You did right not to give them your info over an unsolicated contact. But, how do you know that they were indeed the sellers? When you cancelled your bid, you stated harrasment from the seller. You might have been mistaken in doing that. I would have let the bid stand and waited for an official end of auction notice from eBay.
posted on November 28, 2001 06:52:31 AM new
does this family oriented company has to do with mickey ??
you said,I was then told that I would be responsible for the bid even though I was not the high bidder should the listing end without any further bids. I was asked to retract the bid.
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Are you sure it is their rep who called you before auction end??sounds odd to waste time to call bidder before auction??
i dont like the part of asking for your cc info,you should take down as much info and report him to ebay and the seller?
there are all kind of weird stuff going on,someone called seller after auction end,sent money and instruct where to ship,it turns out he is not the high bidder.
some one emailed high bidder and instructed him to send money to a certain paypal account,it turns out that seller sets up bogus account and claimed her account has been hacked and she never receive payment etc etc.
i would not give my cc info to any one on the phone for an item you have not won??????
posted on November 28, 2001 07:37:16 AM new
Sounds like someone doing bid siphoning or outright scamming to me. They could pull your contact info to get your phone number. Did you get any emails saying that your contact info had been pulled? If so, see who it was and forward that to Safeharbor too. I bet that it wasn't the seller. If it wasn't the seller they will be naru'ed pretty quick.
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They are probally counting on a few things here to make the scam work, if it is one. That this company is so big and scary, trying to imtimidate you with the "being responsible for the bid" statement, etc. By the rules on reserve auctions, if the reserve isn't met the bidder has no responsibility, so no worries there. If it was the legitimate seller and the reserve hasn't been met, and there is still 4 days to go, why would they want you to retract your bid? It doesn't make sense. If I was the seller, I would want your bid to stand to keep the price threshold higher, so that it might make the reserve that much easier to achieve. It's also against ebay rules to contact a buyer they way they did before the auction ends. Another red flag.
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Kudos to you not to buckle under to the pressure they were putting on you, whoever it was.
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Sword013(Joe)<br />
[ edited by sword013 on Nov 28, 2001 07:39 AM ]
posted on November 28, 2001 05:19:27 PM new
I have had 3 customers call me and they must have gotten my phone number from my ebay contact, but I never received a notice from Ebay on any of them that anyone had requested my contact info. So there isn't always a notice sent out, if at all and that is scary that anyone can access your info and you have no way of knowing.
posted on November 30, 2001 06:20:35 AM new
an update: I've still not heard back from SAFE HARBOUR; it has been more than two days.
To answer some questions: I am sure that it was the SELLER's representative calling me. This was a very high ticket item, and the seller apparently has someone calling to confirm bids on high ticket items. While I have experienced this type of thing in the past, I have only had to verify that I actually placed the bid. I was never asked for an alternate phone number, or an address, or for credit card information. And, certainly, I was never told that I would be responsible for the bid even though the reserve had not been met (BTW, when I profoundly disputed this statement, the representative put me on hold and came back stating that I was correct but still insisted that I give him valid credit card information).
However, I still feel that this SELLER has way off-base here. Seems to me that they are in direct violation of EBAYs rules and regulations. I think if any of us had done the same thing we would be suspended from EBAY. But, I'm curious to see if this multi-billion dollar company suffers any consequences or if I even get a response from safe harbour.
posted on November 30, 2001 09:42:11 AM new
I think you're doing exactly the right thing. Stick to your guns. Don't give them anything that they might use to collect payment. "Reserve Not Yet" means "No Binding Sale" no matter who the seller is.
Don't hold your breath about seeing any sort of repercussions. Ebay may say something to them, but you know they won't do anything to them.
I wonder what they do when their high bidder turns out to be a Non-Paying Bidder. Do they force it on the second-highest bidder?
posted on December 3, 2001 07:17:28 AM new
Thought you'd all like to see the response I got from SAFE HARBOUR; typical, uncaring response:
"Once a reserve price auction ends, if the reserve price has not been
met, the high bidder is not obligated to complete the transaction. If a
transaction were to occur on an auction where the reserve price was not
met, it would not be covered by any eBay service, such as feedback or
insurance.
I am very sorry that the seller has been calling you, requesting payment
for this item. Unfortunately, personal phone conversations are beyond
eBay's jurisdiction. We allow users of our global community to request
some of your contact information so they can ask questions and contact
you to facilitate a transaction through our site. This is one of the
cornerstone principles of eBay, open and honest communication.
Unfortunately sometimes this is abused, and for this we are deeply
sorry. You may want to contact the your local telephone company and
make them aware of the phone calls that you have been receiving.
Although we can not handle these types of complaints, your local
telephone company may have suggestions that will help you resolve this
unfortunate situation. "
