grumpyebayer
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posted on April 6, 2002 09:15:46 PM new
My girlfriend buys lots of apparel on ebay. Most of it is vintage or designer.
She is very dilligent and always asks pertinent questions. She knows a great deal about designer apparel and knows what to ask to help her spot misrepresented items.
A few months ago she purchased a dress from a power seller. The item was supposed to be a vintage dress by a very popular designer during the 70's. The dress was listed in the collectable clothing section. My girlfriend asked the seller several questions about the tags and some other things. The seller answered her questions and she decided it was authentic.
When she got the item it was apparent the seller had lied. The questions that my girlfriend had asked were not answered truthfully. The item was not only not vintage, it was a fake also. It also had some undisclosed flaws.
My girlfriend wrote the seller, explained that the item was not vintage or authentic and it had some damage. She asked for a refund. The seller wrote back:
"MY AUCTIONS SAY NO REFUNDS!"
My girlfriend wrote again and said that the item was not as represented and that she felt she should get a refund.
Sellers response:
"I DON'T GIVE REFUNDS. IF YOU WANT YOUR MONEY BACK LIST IT ON EBAY OR FILE AN INSURANCE CLAIM."
My girlfriend responded by saying what the seller had done was fraud and that she would file a complaint with ebay. She also said that the dress was not damaged in transit, so she had no claim with the USPS.
The next day the seller leaves negative feedback that says: "DEADBEAT BIDDER! INSURANCE SCAMMER! FALSE INFO!  "
In the meantime my girlfriend tried to bid on several items and was blocked by the sellers of the items. She wrote to ask the sellers why. One responded back and said that she was told by another seller that my girlfriend was a "scammer" and had tried to "switch merchandise for a refund". The person that said this was the seller that she had problems with.
A few days later my girlfriend filed a complaint with ebay. A few days after that she sent the seller via email and certified mail a letter notifying the seller of her intention to sue her for $5000. She gave the seller 30 days to contact her and work out a solution or the suit would be filed. The seller lives a few hours from us so it would be no problem.
The seller responded with: "MY BROTHER AND MY FATHER ARE LAWYERS. YOU DON'T SCARE ME! IF YOU TRY TO SUE ME I WILL COUNTER SUE YOU FOR LYING ABOUT ME TO MY BUYERS!!!!!!!"
1) My girlfriend never said anything about this woman to anyone but me and ebay.
2) At this point my girlfriend had not even left feedback about the seller.
About 2 weeks after the sellers last email my girlfriend gets an email from someone claiming to be the seller's attorney. He made a reference to her "not understanding the law". He ended with: Defamation is a serious matter. You have harmed my client's professional reputation. We plan to pursue this matter to the fullest extent of the law. My client does not want to settle this matter.. Two days after the email she got a similar letter via certified mail. Only this letter asked her to give the seller $7000 for "defamation", "emotional distress" and "loss of business".
I told my girlfriend to just drop it and see if she couldn't get some money back through ebay's insurance. She said no. She emailed the attorney a copy of all of the seller's emails, the auction description, the feedback, and the letter from the seller that had blocked her. She also included a letter from the designer saying the dress was a fake.
A few days later my girlfriend got an email from the seller offering to refund the price of the dress, plus shipping both ways, if my girlfriend would return the dress. This would have been about $450. My girlfriend wrote back and said that she wanted $1500 and the dress. A few more emails went pack and forth. The seller agreed to send a cashiers check for $900 to settle the matter and my girlfriend got to keep the dress.
I was very surprised by the outcome. I spoke to an old friend who is an attorney and said that my girlfriend did three things that were very good.
1) She did not leave negative feedback or "defame" the seller to anyone.
2) She got a letter from the designer about the authenticity of the item.
3) She did not wait to let the seller know there was a problem.
The letter from the designer contained the following: "Please notify us of where and when you purchased this dress. We pursue all trademark infringements."
I think that is what really lit a fire under the seller and her attorney.
The best part is my girlfriend filed a mail fraud complaint and informed the designer of exactly who and where she got the dress from. The seller had about 75 auctions for this designer ended by ebay in one day. She is still selling, but she doesn't sell that designer anymore. The seller made most of her money selling items by that designer. Also the designer gave my girlfriend a very beautiful dress in exchange for the one from the seller. They wanted it for "evidence".
I hope they come down on that seller hard!
I know that things rarely go well when buyers are ripped off on ebay, so I wanted to share this. I even put a card on file so that I could post.
edited 'cause I cant spell or type.
[ edited by grumpyebayer on Apr 6, 2002 10:07 PM ]
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twinsoft
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posted on April 6, 2002 10:03:20 PM new
Thanks for sharing that. The seller got what she deserved, or nearly so.
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stopwhining
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posted on April 7, 2002 06:53:36 AM new
now who is this designer and how does the seller find the 70's dresses of this designer??
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REAMOND
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posted on April 7, 2002 08:08:26 AM new
What are you going to do about being blocked by the other sellers ? I would ask the other seller that blocked you for copies of any correspondence including email headers form the seller that said you were an insurance scammer.
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grumpyebayer
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posted on April 7, 2002 05:56:42 PM new
now who is this designer and how does the seller find the 70's dresses of this designer??
I will assume that the seller finds them the same way many others on this board say they find vintage items...Estate sales, auctions, looting the belongings of recently deceased relatives. I am surprised that you could not answer that yourself as much as you are on these boards. Maybe you should stop whining and pay more attention.
What are you going to do about being blocked by the other sellers ? I would ask the other seller that blocked you for copies of any correspondence including email headers form the seller that said you were an insurance scammer
I don't know what she plans to do about being blocked. She wrote to the ones that she knew about and only one responded. She did get the emails from that seller. That seller also unblocked her.
I do think that seller's should exchange information on problem bidders. I also think they should look at the feedback before adding someone to a blocked list based on one person's accusations. My girlfriend has over 600 positives 1 negative (from the bad seller) and 3 neutrals (they were positives that changed to neutrals when the sellers unregistered). I would not put someone with that kind of feedback on a blocked list. All of her transactions are from buying.
The seller that had her blacklisted has over a 1000 positive feedbacks. 35 negs and 40 neutrals. Most of the neutrals and negs have been added in the past 2 months or so. It looks like she started off really well and has started to go down hill.
How is she still a powereseller? Wouldn't that many negs disqualify her?
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bidsbids
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posted on April 7, 2002 07:43:27 PM new
Most buyers that buy expensive items use a credit card so they can file for a charge back if they get stiffed.
Many sellers have more than one sellers account and do not shill bid with the accounts in case one accounts gets suspended. The seller may still be on eBay.
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classics
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posted on April 7, 2002 07:50:40 PM new
> My girlfriend wrote back and said that she wanted $1500 and the dress.
Why would anyone think your a scammer?
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on April 7, 2002 10:01:07 PM new
"I was very surprised by the outcome."
Oh, me too. Imagine being so unhappy about a dress that GETTING TO KEEP IT is part of a settlement agreement.
Gosh, I just don't know if I believe more than every fifth word of this story.
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shop4shoes
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posted on April 7, 2002 10:05:56 PM new
classics: Why would anyone think the buyer is a scammer? If what grumpyebayer posted is true his girlfriend could have been entitled to much more than the the agreed settlement. Many states in the instance of some types of fraud allow for treble damages. The seller sold a fake designer item as real. Then refused to take it back when it was proved to be fake. That reeks of fraud. If this seller meant well she would have refunded the money and expressed shock that the dress was not authentic. In the replies that grumpyebayer posted she never addresses the the problem of the dress being fake. Instead the seller leaves negative feedback and has the buyer blacklisted. The seller posted feedback that said the buyer was a "deadbeat bidder" and "insurance scammer". Those comments alone are grounds for a defamation suit if they are false. She settled to avoid being reamed in court. More buyers should stick up for their rights.
Selling counterfeit items is a very serious offense. $900 is a drop in the bucket compared to what the designer can get if they sue the seller.
Grumpyebayer: Does this seller have three id's? One for selling shoes, one for selling apparel and one for selling accessories?
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shop4shoes
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posted on April 7, 2002 10:16:31 PM new
fluffythewondercat: I got the impression that she wanted the dress to turn over to the designer. She did not keep it. Many folks are happy with fake designer goods if they know they are fake. Those same folks would be unhappy if they paid $1000 dollars for a fake Versace dress thinking it was the real deal.
If a purchased a fake and it looked good and it cost me 50 bucks I would jump for joy. If I purchased a fake for 500 bucks and it looked like crap I would be very very very angry. I would try to nail the seller to the wall.
added: Seller was stupid for letting her keep the dress. The seller is her own worst enemy.
[ edited by shop4shoes on Apr 7, 2002 10:19 PM ]
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LAIOCHKA
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posted on April 7, 2002 10:47:18 PM new
was it a PUCCI dress?
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outoftheblue
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posted on April 7, 2002 11:20:14 PM new
grumpyebayer
Please tell us who the designer was. Not too many 70s dresses sell for over $400.
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outoftheblue
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posted on April 7, 2002 11:31:01 PM new
fluffythewondercat
If you have the upper hand in a situation. Stick em for every cent you can get out of em. It's the American way. Some sarcasm intended..
Of course you would want to keep that fake dress. It's an insurance policy so you can get at least double what you paid for it. Heck now we all know that we can get money for unwaranted negatives....
[ edited by outoftheblue on Apr 7, 2002 11:42 PM ]
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twinsoft
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posted on April 7, 2002 11:54:20 PM new
What about all the hassle the seller caused? What about fraud, defamation of character and blacklisting the buyer? A full refund including shipping both ways is hardly fair compensation. The seller should be in jail.
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shop4shoes
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posted on April 8, 2002 10:12:19 AM new
LAIOCHKA: I was thinking Pucci myself. In December and January one seller had listed so much "vintage" Pucci, I thought that she was either a Pucci family member or had robbed someones collection. That is why I asked about multiple accounts. She had more than one.
Do you collect Pucci?
If we are correct in our guess we can celebrate with a giant bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos. 
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lindajean
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posted on April 8, 2002 10:36:24 AM new
I bought something a month or so ago from a "power seller" who stated no refunds.
Long time ago I remember reading the requirements of being a power seller and I thought offering a satisfaction guarantee was part of the program. Has that changed? Anone know?
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dlaskey
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posted on April 8, 2002 10:52:00 AM new
My guess was it was Chanel. Chanel really does an excellent job of siphoning through all the crap on eBay and the web and going after counterfeits. if you watch Chanel auctions, you see that about half never make it to the end and are 'Invalid Item'.
Of course eBay could really care less. As long as they get their listing fee they are happy as a Pig in crap.... I can give some other horror stories, but you really have to be careful. I have about 700+ feedbacks and i think 8 negative... all of which came from either retaliation feedback or from scammers.
The last one was from a person who backed out of a Buy It Now Auction and resold it to someone who made an offline offer after the auction had closed. I knew I would get slammed, but sometimes you have to take the hits to try and help others. eBay feedback is crap.
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