posted on November 15, 2004 10:54:02 AM new
I bought a printer for $610 from a seller back on October 26. I paid using Paypal on Nov 2. Since then I've been chasing the vendor for a tracking number. Multiple phone calls at first yielded "it's in final test". Last Friday, I'm told the printer is broken and they need to figure out what part it needs so they can fix it. I tell them to send my money back and they tell me company policy is no refunds!!!!!! I filed w/ paypal but they will only pay up to $500 and take out a $25 deductible. How do I report this fraudulent seller to Ebay and hopefully get them locked up enough that they paypal the money back? Their feedback isn't that bad, 2235 w/ 96% positive.
posted on November 15, 2004 10:59:30 AM new
is this new Paypal policy??500 max with 25 deductible??
How did you file your complaint??
If you said you never receive the item and the seller cannot produce online trackable dc with signature receipt,the entire amount including shipping should be returned to you.
Also did you use your credit card ??
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on November 15, 2004 11:16:36 AM new
I don't know where you got yourpurps, but what yer describing donna sound like it jives with the BUYER PROTECTION POLICY -- did you file a BPP complaint within the 30 day period??
If "YES," then maybe PP is telling ya that the seller has cleaned out his account??
IF you DID file under the BPP, & PP gives ya the run-around: DO NOT ACCEPT THE $500!
Are you positive yer NOT confusing FEE-BAY's FRAUD PROTECTION POLICY with PAYPAL's BUYER PROTECTION POLICY??
File a credit card charge-back...
FDR gave America THE NEW DEAL...
JFK gave America THE NEW FRONTIER...
DUBYAgives America...THE FINGER!
posted on November 15, 2004 11:19:32 AM new
i just read the Paypal buyer protection-the max is 500 dollars but no mention of 25 deductible.
It could go higher than 500 if Paypal buyer credit is involved,but in your case,it does not apply.
If you pay with credit card,you can dispute the item when you receive your credit card statement.
But these days,some cc issuer may say since you paid thru a third party,you need to take it up with that party,they are not involved.
Call your cc issuer now and find out what is their policy.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on November 15, 2004 12:50:49 PM new
Yup, whatya figure? I've been around since Dec 1998, have 511 feedbacks all positives, not so much as a neutral. Now this pinhead of a computer dealer gives me my first negative. First thing they've done fast! And you know what? I'm going to sleep just fine tonight. Can't get upset about the negative and I WILL get my money back from the jerk! Some used computer dealers give car salesmen a bad reputation! :>
posted on November 15, 2004 01:06:47 PM new
may be they have finally shipped the item.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on November 15, 2004 05:07:44 PM new
Gee, the 'IBM 4232-302 HIGH SPEED LINE PRINTER 600 CPS' looks like a fine printer, but you should have looked at the seller's feedback more closely. The first warning sign is the fact that they are at 96%. That's twice as bad as a border-line powerseller. And then comments like 'Bad experience. But at least I got a refund after calling them 10,000 times' and 'BE AWARE HE DON'T SEND WATH HE SOLD TU YOU LOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!' are warning signs, also. Finally there are 11 mutually withdrawn feedbacks, a real eyebrow raiser. Include those 11 as negatives and this seller is at 95.2% feedback rating.
Wear your one and only neg as a badge of honor, please. To mutually withdraw it would be inappropriate, IMO.
posted on November 16, 2004 05:05:11 AM new
I am not too sure if this applies to you, but what I did was buy something with my paypal funds, the company never shipped it out to me it was 3 weeks and no merchandise.
I contacted the company and they never responded, I filed a claim with paypal, I sent the claim form in that I took off of the paypal web site. But before I did that I called paypal and let them know that I never received my merchandise.
Paypal contacted me a few weeks later saying my purchase price was credited back to my account.
Also with another claim i had with paypal that was misrepresented this was what they told me:Policy only applies to the shipment of goods, not to disputes about the attributes or quality of goods received. Therefore, we cannot reverse the transaction or issue a refund.
But they said they would mark his account with what information I filed with them.
I don't know if this would be good for you but have you tried filing with paypal?
posted on November 16, 2004 05:19:33 AM new
Maybe I'm not the smartest one in the bunch because I wouldn't buy a $600 anything on eBay especially a piece of electronic equipment or computer component. Call me leery, but if something goes wrong with my high dollar item, I'd rather have an actual store to march my self into. For example: I bought a Gateway computer and it was fine until it started acting up. I had to deal with tech support on the phone while I took the computer apart myself. I then had to figure out how to install my own motherboard after waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I would have much preferred walking into Best Buy and having them do it. However, that would have voided my warranty. Never again.
Cheryl
Girls say "Yes" to boys who say "No". Say "No" to war. - from a 1960's antiwar poster
posted on November 16, 2004 05:40:09 AM new
Stopwhining: Maybe they did ship it...but then again maybe monkeys will fly out my butt.. :> Nope, they have no intention of shipping it as this point. They can't get it working, which I guess in retrospect is better then them shipping it and me fighting over a warranty claim.
Parklane64: actually you are right. When I looked at the feedback, the Nov 14 "10,000 times to call.." was not there. But the number gave me pause. The problem was that at the time there were no other 4232-302's available at the price range (which is about where they should be, actually a little high) and I needed to ship one. On top of that I was leaving on vacation literally within an hour (which is why it took 6 days for me to pay, usually I pay very quick). I needed one for my account so I pulled the trigger. Never thought they wouldn't ship, figured if anything it would be poor refurb job at worst (my customer only needs for parts anyways). But they seem to have it down to a science about this feedback removal. They've already asked me about mutually agreeing to it. Which upon my receipt of full funds I would consider only if they would perform an act that is anatomically impossible ....
Tonimar1: Thanks. That's what I expect will eventually happen. Just will take a little while.
Cheryl: It's actually not that unusual for me. But then again it's what I know. I've bought and sold computers and related equipment for over 20 years. Similarly I would never buy any expensive jewelry or collectibles off of e-bay simply because I have no basis for cost comparision, quality or authenticity. No clue whatsoever so I'd be ripe for the pickings. There's some great computer vendors out there that I've dealt with over the years, spending 10's of thousands on e-bay but almost without fail with people I've talked to, people that have a track history of success. Would I buy a used home system? probably not, not when I could buy from Dell Factory Outlet (even though Dell, being a competitor is evil). But if you buy from Best Buy or CompUSA in all likelihood, should it fail, they are sending it out to the manufacturer for repair. I would never want my system opened up by the guy at Best Buy who was working in TV's last month. Best Buy et al is great for selling, but leave the repairs to the OEM's and "real" computer stores. Finally, never buy a store warranty upgrade. Always buy the OEM upgrade even if you buy it from the store. It's cheaper, and the repair will be done quicker and better IMO
posted on November 16, 2004 06:05:13 AM new
Well,i have a situation years ago with my Compaq Presario whichi bot from COMP USA.
I paid almost 400 dollars extra for tech support and extended warranty (stupid me,i never need it).
Then the monitor conked out and i took it to Comp USA.
They said they will fix it,but then i found out the OEM will either replace or fix which COMP USA is thinking of doing anywaY.
Anyway Comp usa wants me to pay the shipping to California where the OEM is based until i raised hell and remind them i have been such a loyal customer.
something to think about if you buy something from Comp usa or Bestbuy,who is going to pay shipping to the OEM,it would have cost me 50 dollars UPS ground.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on November 16, 2004 06:44:59 AM new
Stopwhinning, just from my experience
Years ago we also bought as our second computer a compaq Presario, it turned out to be a lemon, but thank goodness for the service, They came to out house 4 times within a month, they finally changed almost all the guts inside this computer, no charge to us because of the 30day service that comes with Compaq.
Finally after still a year of problems we had to buy another computer but this time it was a HP, Great computer so we made our second computer a HP too, But with an Electrical Storm the computer burned up so I had to send it in for repairs HP takes care of any problems, they pay shipping back to them, and back to you, service was great, The FedEx guy comes with the box ready to put your computer in and take it away.
It doesn't matter if you buy your computer on line or at a walk in Store service is great. At least I found it to be great
posted on November 16, 2004 04:31:30 PM newBut they seem to have it down to a science about this feedback removal. They've already asked me about mutually agreeing to it. Which upon my receipt of full funds I would consider only if they would perform an act that is anatomically impossible
I would tell them that they have 24 hours to return the money and you would agree to the removal in hopes you get your money back.
If they comply, then absolutely do NOT remove the neg, block their e-mail address from yours and leave a follow up feedback that they are as crooked as a snake in the grass.
And if they don't give you your money back in 24 hours, file with your credit card company ASAP and with PayPal. And leave a follow up feedback that they are as crooked as a snake in the grass.
Their feedback isn't that bad, 2235 w/ 96% positive
That's horrible on it's own numbers let alone what the actual feedbacks are stating. I hope you have learned something from this. Check out feedback and actually read the feedbacks.
posted on November 16, 2004 05:11:35 PM new
actually I have learned quite a bit from this. The biggest lesson is no matter how hurried I am, look twice (at least) and buy once!
At this point, paypal has got the money removed from their account. By 11-22, when they have not provided proof of receipt, which they don't have, then paypal is supposed to release the money back to my account. If they don't, then I will dispute with credit card company.
Just got this from them:
Hello
I have called and asked Paypal if I can do anything with the frozen funds,
and I found out that I can release them. However, I would need to have this
negative removed first. As soon as the negative is removed, I will go to
paypal and release the funds.
I told them to release the funds, then I'll consider their request (for about a millisecond). Doesn't e-bay have something about feedback blackmail etc.?
I look at it as it's a cost of doing business, the annoyance of it all. If this were a personal purchase, I'd take it personally. The overall profit and the overall valuable contacts I've made selling and buying on e-bay outweigh the very infrequent jerk I have to put up with.
posted on November 16, 2004 05:35:31 PM new
I dont know why you even bother to tell us about this incident,you buy and you sell on ebay for a profit,so you have a bad experience.
It cant be your first and it will not be your last.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on November 16, 2004 06:21:56 PM new
stopwhining: I guess it's for a few reasons. I was unsure how the paypal chargeback worked particularly from a buyers viewpoint since I've never had to do it before. I also was unsure if I could also do credit card chargeback, which several people were kind enough to advise me regarding. Finally, it was an eye opening experience to me that the recent e-bay policy change allowing people to have negatives removed can now be unfairly exploited by less than honest sellers to their advantage. If it helped others to open their eyes to this, I'm glad.
Why would it matter if I buy and sell on e-bay for a profit? does that make me evil? I'm sure the vast majority of Vendio users do the same.
posted on November 17, 2004 10:50:56 AM new
ok, today's update. The seller has filed with Squaretrade. Does anyone have any experience with them? It doesn't appear that I lose anything by responding to their inquiries as a buyer but I want to make sure.
Stopwhining: a prostitute gets screwed and tells themself that's business. A mercenary gets screwed and goes out and hunts down the enemy and kills it.
posted on November 22, 2004 03:22:10 AM new
Final resolution: After a number of e-mails from the SquareTrade mediator, all of which said the seller wanted to return my money but would only do so if I agreed in advance to mutual feedback removal, I gave them Ralphie's advice to go bay at the moon. :>. Two hours later Paypal returned all the money to me in full in my account solely based on Seller's lack of proof of delivery.
These scam artists have it down to a science to hold people's money hostage while they blackmail the buyers into "mutual feedback removal". Like I told the mediator this is my first negative in over 500 transactions and even if the negative were to be removed, the words would still be there.
Now to just call this seller back today and tell them what act they can perform on me so that I'll remove their feedback. Don't think they'll go for that offer!
Sometimes Paypal is exploited by unscrupulous buyers but in this case, it did what it was supposed to. It protected me against a seller who had no intention of shipping the product.
posted on November 22, 2004 04:32:53 AM new
mypurps -- I wonder if the ST mediator did anything regarding the feedback extortion. I would definitely file a complaint with ebay. Even though you have your funds, I still would file the complaint. Did you save all of your e-mails regarding the FB extortion? I would mention that the seller was trying to extort FB removal during the negotiations with ST. I wouldn't let this seller get away with what he is doing. He does not belong on ebay.
posted on November 24, 2004 04:51:56 PM new
Here is a suggestion to communicate through the mediator, especially now that you received your money back.
Email the mediator and tell them that you will agree to a mutual feedback withdrawal if the seller agrees to send you a $100 check for the time, hassle, and interest due on their attempts to screw you over because they wouldn't refund payment for something that they claimed was broken and wouldn't ship to you.
If they want to extort your refund over feedback, then you should be able to dangle their feedback removal in front of their fraudulent little teeth and see how they like it.
posted on November 24, 2004 07:48:24 PM new
Got my money back from Paypal and the Seller still had Squaretrade contact me saying they would not return the money until I agreed to remove the negative feedback. Honestly, I told Squaretrade thanks for all your help (it cost me nothing and I probably got my money's worth). I told them to tell the seller I would absolutely agree to remove the feedback --- they would just need to bl*w me first. Later I got the message from Squaretrade saying that the mediation was completed. And the seller posted "BUYER EVEN REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN SQUARE TRADE...." as a follow-up feedback. So I'm thinking that Mariam is not mulling it over at Global....
The lesson I've learned (thankfully without cost) is that smart, unscrupulous sellers have figured out how to manipulate the feedback system by leaving misleading feedback and by blackmailing frustrated buyers into having negative feedbacks removed. So read the comments carefully! And for that matter, I'm sure unscrupulous buyers are doing the exact same thing. It keeps getting tougher out there to make a buck.
posted on November 25, 2004 04:46:44 AM new
" I told them to tell the seller I would absolutely agree to remove the feedback --- they would just need to bl*w me first."
