Seriously eBay, you should of banned that username. Ownage, literally; considering the scammer now owns those things.
read more digg story
Showing posts with label eBay Thieves wellcome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBay Thieves wellcome. Show all posts
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
How to deal with buyer fraud on eBay
We got burned big time selling on eBay. We learned a lot of what not to do from this and stories from other people. I have put our story in so you know that these things really happen and are not urban myths. I have also taken the information I received from 100’s of people burned on eBay, both sellers and buyers, and used it to give you an idea of what happens and how to keep it from happening to you. If you are going to sell on eBay you need to know how to deal with buyer fraud on eBay. The best thing to do is to prevent it because it is very difficult to fix once it happens.
We put my Grandmothers ring on just before Mothers day. We got an email asking if we would be willing to ship that day as the person wanted it for Mothers day. The person had been on eBay for years and had a 100% rating. They were using Paypal to pay so we felt it would be secure. We said yes. They paid the $1116.00 right away. Once the payment was processed we took the ring to Fedex. By by ring. The next day about 24 hrs after the transaction Paypal notifies us that the transaction was fraudulent. We were one of about 10 people hit all on the same day all for rings worth about $1000.00 to $2000.00, ours was apprised over $1800.00.
Some one had gotten into another persons eBay and Paypal account and then used them to buy items. So we contacted Fedex to put a return to sender on it. It had already made it to customs and we would not be able to get it back until it cleared customs at the other end. At this point in time we were out the $116.00 it cost us to ship it.
Then we get a call from Fedex. The stop shipment order never made it to the ring. The person it was delivered to refuse to pay the Indonesian custom charges. Indonesian customs would not release the ring unless some one paid the $381.00 custom charges. Fedex explained to them that there was a stop shipment on the item and it should never have made it to customs. Indonesian customs response, not their problem, the custom charges had to be paid or they confiscate the ring to pay the charges.
We spent a week talking with Fedex trying to sort this out. We were told to pay the custom fees or we would never see the ring again. We agreed to pay. To help us, Fedex agreed to pay for the custom fees and then bill us so we could make monthly payments. Ring was to show up on a Tuesday. That day, no ring. We decide to wait until Wednesday afternoon before calling Fedex. Wednesday morning we get a call from Fedex. The Indonesian customs now wants over $900 for us to get the ring back, they had added about $600.00 in storage and handling fees for the week we were talking to Fedex.
Fedex stepped in at this point and said “no way”. They started negotiations and after about a month they were able to get the Indonesian Government to step in. We still had to pay the initial custom charges of $381.00 though. So by selling my Grandmothers ring on eBay we were out $497.00. The other sellers lost the rings. The person who bought them asked that they put a low value on the ring so they would not be charged the custom fees, so the rings were delivered right to them. Others lost them to the Indonesian customs because the customs fee was so high. We were the only ones to get the ring back. This person did get away with it, and nothing will be done to them.
Did we contact eBay and Paypal over this? Yes! We had to use emails though as there seems to be no way to contact them any other way. The end result was they refunded us our insertion fee and final auction fee. That is all they do for sellers. There is no protection for sellers, just buyers. That was it. EBay did nothing for us, even though some one had used a legitimate eBay account. Paypal at lest looked into it. About a month after they had contacted us about the possible fraudulent transaction they let us know that it was a fraudulent transaction. That was it. No explanation for how this happened, and no help with the debt we now have because of the sale.
We learned from this experience. If some thing seems to good to be true, it is. Hold all Paypal transactions for at least 3 days to make sure it is a legitimate purchase, then ship item. Do not list large ticket items or items you are not willing to loose. We do not sell on eBay anymore.
We shared out story with quite a few people and were told quite a few other eBay horror stories. Most are from sellers. Why, because eBay does nothing to protect sellers, just buyers and then only for 30 days. Common buyer stories, items were purchased, product was never shipped, and not the item bid on, did not work or was damaged. As long as it was with in 30 days eBay would negotiate for a new product to be shipped or money refunded. Paypal is best to use when buying because if you don’t receive the product ordered you can cancel the transaction with in 30 days and get your money back.
None of this does the buyer any good it the seller was using some one else’s account, fraudulently posting items for sale and then never shipping. You never know who actually put the item out for sale. The person whose account was used usually has no idea who or even how some one posted listings on their account. Another one is to open an eBay account list lots of products, get the payments and shut down the account.
This has been happening a lot. They have you send the money through Western Union and you never see the product or your money back. As a buyer you need to make sure you read the whole ad. If it says “as is” then what you get is it, and chances are it does not work or is damaged. If there is no shipping and handling fee listed, do not bid until you know what the cost is. I had one person charge me $10.00 shipping and handling for a $1.00 item that only cost $2.00 to ship. Check every thing out, and if you have any questions get them answered using the eBay emails so there is a record of the emails right on eBay.
Sellers get hit harder and more often then buyers. People will send bad cheques, which is why you never ship until the cheque clears. The most common scam is people get the product and then say they never received it and expect you to send more products or refund the money. You pay extra to have items insured and signature required when product is delivered. It may cost you more but it stops people from being able to say they never received it. And if they actually did not well then the insurance you paid for should cover that, it was a delivery service problem.
People will claim the product was damaged when received. Always take a picture of product before you send it, and again insure it so that if the shipping company damages it it is their problem. You have to get a picture of the product showing the damage when the person receives item. The problem sellers have is that they damage the item on purpose, or have a similar item damaged and claim it is the same one. This was a problem an eBay seller selling laptops was having. He recorded and photographed all numbers on the laptop and was able to prove several times that the item people claimed to be the one he shipped to them was not the same one.
Another scam he came across was people would receive his product, scratch it up, take a picture of it and claim it was received “damaged” or not as advertised in the eBay ad. It was always cosmetic damage. They would then email him and say refund me half the money because the product was damaged or I will give you a bad review for sending damaged goods. This one there is no real way to protect yourself from. You don’t give them the money they try to trash your reputation. Your only recourse is to refute the damage claim through eBay feedback.
We put my Grandmothers ring on just before Mothers day. We got an email asking if we would be willing to ship that day as the person wanted it for Mothers day. The person had been on eBay for years and had a 100% rating. They were using Paypal to pay so we felt it would be secure. We said yes. They paid the $1116.00 right away. Once the payment was processed we took the ring to Fedex. By by ring. The next day about 24 hrs after the transaction Paypal notifies us that the transaction was fraudulent. We were one of about 10 people hit all on the same day all for rings worth about $1000.00 to $2000.00, ours was apprised over $1800.00.
Some one had gotten into another persons eBay and Paypal account and then used them to buy items. So we contacted Fedex to put a return to sender on it. It had already made it to customs and we would not be able to get it back until it cleared customs at the other end. At this point in time we were out the $116.00 it cost us to ship it.
Then we get a call from Fedex. The stop shipment order never made it to the ring. The person it was delivered to refuse to pay the Indonesian custom charges. Indonesian customs would not release the ring unless some one paid the $381.00 custom charges. Fedex explained to them that there was a stop shipment on the item and it should never have made it to customs. Indonesian customs response, not their problem, the custom charges had to be paid or they confiscate the ring to pay the charges.
We spent a week talking with Fedex trying to sort this out. We were told to pay the custom fees or we would never see the ring again. We agreed to pay. To help us, Fedex agreed to pay for the custom fees and then bill us so we could make monthly payments. Ring was to show up on a Tuesday. That day, no ring. We decide to wait until Wednesday afternoon before calling Fedex. Wednesday morning we get a call from Fedex. The Indonesian customs now wants over $900 for us to get the ring back, they had added about $600.00 in storage and handling fees for the week we were talking to Fedex.
Fedex stepped in at this point and said “no way”. They started negotiations and after about a month they were able to get the Indonesian Government to step in. We still had to pay the initial custom charges of $381.00 though. So by selling my Grandmothers ring on eBay we were out $497.00. The other sellers lost the rings. The person who bought them asked that they put a low value on the ring so they would not be charged the custom fees, so the rings were delivered right to them. Others lost them to the Indonesian customs because the customs fee was so high. We were the only ones to get the ring back. This person did get away with it, and nothing will be done to them.
Did we contact eBay and Paypal over this? Yes! We had to use emails though as there seems to be no way to contact them any other way. The end result was they refunded us our insertion fee and final auction fee. That is all they do for sellers. There is no protection for sellers, just buyers. That was it. EBay did nothing for us, even though some one had used a legitimate eBay account. Paypal at lest looked into it. About a month after they had contacted us about the possible fraudulent transaction they let us know that it was a fraudulent transaction. That was it. No explanation for how this happened, and no help with the debt we now have because of the sale.
We learned from this experience. If some thing seems to good to be true, it is. Hold all Paypal transactions for at least 3 days to make sure it is a legitimate purchase, then ship item. Do not list large ticket items or items you are not willing to loose. We do not sell on eBay anymore.
We shared out story with quite a few people and were told quite a few other eBay horror stories. Most are from sellers. Why, because eBay does nothing to protect sellers, just buyers and then only for 30 days. Common buyer stories, items were purchased, product was never shipped, and not the item bid on, did not work or was damaged. As long as it was with in 30 days eBay would negotiate for a new product to be shipped or money refunded. Paypal is best to use when buying because if you don’t receive the product ordered you can cancel the transaction with in 30 days and get your money back.
None of this does the buyer any good it the seller was using some one else’s account, fraudulently posting items for sale and then never shipping. You never know who actually put the item out for sale. The person whose account was used usually has no idea who or even how some one posted listings on their account. Another one is to open an eBay account list lots of products, get the payments and shut down the account.
This has been happening a lot. They have you send the money through Western Union and you never see the product or your money back. As a buyer you need to make sure you read the whole ad. If it says “as is” then what you get is it, and chances are it does not work or is damaged. If there is no shipping and handling fee listed, do not bid until you know what the cost is. I had one person charge me $10.00 shipping and handling for a $1.00 item that only cost $2.00 to ship. Check every thing out, and if you have any questions get them answered using the eBay emails so there is a record of the emails right on eBay.
Sellers get hit harder and more often then buyers. People will send bad cheques, which is why you never ship until the cheque clears. The most common scam is people get the product and then say they never received it and expect you to send more products or refund the money. You pay extra to have items insured and signature required when product is delivered. It may cost you more but it stops people from being able to say they never received it. And if they actually did not well then the insurance you paid for should cover that, it was a delivery service problem.
People will claim the product was damaged when received. Always take a picture of product before you send it, and again insure it so that if the shipping company damages it it is their problem. You have to get a picture of the product showing the damage when the person receives item. The problem sellers have is that they damage the item on purpose, or have a similar item damaged and claim it is the same one. This was a problem an eBay seller selling laptops was having. He recorded and photographed all numbers on the laptop and was able to prove several times that the item people claimed to be the one he shipped to them was not the same one.
Another scam he came across was people would receive his product, scratch it up, take a picture of it and claim it was received “damaged” or not as advertised in the eBay ad. It was always cosmetic damage. They would then email him and say refund me half the money because the product was damaged or I will give you a bad review for sending damaged goods. This one there is no real way to protect yourself from. You don’t give them the money they try to trash your reputation. Your only recourse is to refute the damage claim through eBay feedback.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Ebay sucks! Boycott ebay!
This is a consumer report on people who have had problems on eBay. There are a lot of people being taken by thieves on eBay.
read more digg story
read more digg story
Yet Another Reason Why eBay Is A Total Joke
I can’t believe eBay is still in business considering the huge number of scams that seem to pervade the site like flies on you-know-what. Just this past week I attempted to use eBay to auction off two notebook computers and quickly discovered that this was an impossible task thanks to all the scammers who now appear to have almost complete control of the site. Yes, you heard that right. Complete control. The way these scammers work is they send you an email asking to purchase your item outside of eBay, then when you won’t bite they hose your auction using a hacked account effectively preventing you from making a legitimate sale and at the same time sticking you with huge sellers fees from eBay. Don’t believe me? Here is the proof.
read more digg story
read more digg story
Monday, November 26, 2007
A seller's experience - eBay story
Hi,
I used to be a prolific seller on Ebay. My specialty was kids' used clothing, but I also sold the occasional collectible or miscellaneous junk I picked up at yard sales. I still love to *buy* on Ebay, but I have given up selling. I was screwed more as a seller than I ever was or have been as a buyer. My horror story is below, after a few "bitching points."
First, I had problems with people who failed to read auctions. There is no fail-safe way to keep someone from leaving an unfair negative or neutral because they were stupid and didn't read the auction description or terms of the auction. There's nothing worse than explicitly listing something in an auction, only to see it as the main reason for a negative or neutral feedback. There's no way to reverse it, no way for you to be able to click the "bad feedback because this person didn't read the auction" button.
Second, there are shipping problems. There are people who will bitch and gripe if you did not charge them the precise dollar amount listed on the label when you ship something. You'll never hear anything if you *undercharge* them.
Third, shipper/carrier issues. I got to the point I flat refused to ship anything via UPS. Overall, they do a great job, but locally, every single item I either received or shipped with them was ruined. Slow transit times, increases in costs to ship, and problems with verification methods were a few issues I encountered.
Now, to my horror story. This is about eBay's VERO program that is supposed to prevent copyright infringement: I bought some purses wholesale (as a trial to see how they would do) and had them listed on eBay. I didn't have them listed as a brand, but instead as a generic title like "bathing beauties summer purse." I received an auction cancellation notice. Why? Because some purse manufacturer claimed that my purses violated their copyright and were infringing on their business. I protested and fought, but there wasn't much I could do. There was no protestation clause, no arbitration that I could go through, not even a dispute resolution process (like they have with Paypal). They just took down my auction, and that's that. I was warned to not put it up again... not even with a more generic title.
Did I violate the copyright? NO!! The purses I had featured tropical print with ladies wearing 1950's type bathing suits. The person who filed the VERO complaint also sold purses with women in bathing suits, superimposed on a tropical background. That's where the similarity stopped. My background print was a different color, different flowers, different design... different everything. Their item had a very specific background print, specific colors, and the bathing beauties were from a totally different era (1980s women in string bikinis with very modern hairstyles, etc.). The only resemblance was women in bathing suits with a tropical motif made into a purse.
There were literally THOUSANDS of other items on eBay that had very similar prints, and a few had the exact same print as *my* purses, but they were still up. as auctions. Why was mine chosen? Because the other items were shirts, totes, etc., but mine was a purse.
My feeling, at the time, was that the entity that filed the VERO complaint did it as a bullying tactic. They used it as a method to "knock out the competition." At the time my situation happened, there was no governing body to even check and make sure that the complaint was legitimate. All it took was for someone to file a complaint against you, and your auction was taken down, and you had a strike against you for "copyright infringement," even though the items being sold could have absolutely nothing in common.
Something similar happened to a cousin of mine who makes purses. She took a T-shirt that had our local college's team logo on it and turned it into a satchel purse.... a craft item. Her auction was ended on a VERO complaint. She, too, protested it (to the person who filed the complaint; eBay was unavailable for comment). After all, the shirt was for sale, she paid for it, and made it into a purse. What was the problem? The school claimed that was not the intended use for the shirt, and her auction was pulled. No place to argue. The school didn't make purses and didn't sell totes, so there was no competition. The local Wal-Mart had fabric featuring the school's logo, which could be turned into a tote with no problem, but no.... the item made with the T-shirt had to come down.
I believe eBay has since changed their method of determining a VERO violation and requires that a link be provided to the auction, along with a specific reason why the complaint is being filed. However, some of the complaints were so ludicrous that it actually took some people out of business. They were being constantly bombarded for VERO complaints that were untrue.
The VERO issue was just one of many selling experiences that caused me to have a bad taste in my mouth, and I finally gave it up. I will occasionally sell things I have around the house (and I need to do that soon); however, eBay's fee structure is such that the local resale shop is starting to sound like a better deal.
You have a nice blog, and have done a good job. Sorry if I was too wordy, but I have so much excess baggage I'm carrying around about my selling experience that I would love to tell eBay's powers that be what I think about their policies. Insurance is definitely needed for sellers, too!
A seller's experience
I used to be a prolific seller on Ebay. My specialty was kids' used clothing, but I also sold the occasional collectible or miscellaneous junk I picked up at yard sales. I still love to *buy* on Ebay, but I have given up selling. I was screwed more as a seller than I ever was or have been as a buyer. My horror story is below, after a few "bitching points."
First, I had problems with people who failed to read auctions. There is no fail-safe way to keep someone from leaving an unfair negative or neutral because they were stupid and didn't read the auction description or terms of the auction. There's nothing worse than explicitly listing something in an auction, only to see it as the main reason for a negative or neutral feedback. There's no way to reverse it, no way for you to be able to click the "bad feedback because this person didn't read the auction" button.
Second, there are shipping problems. There are people who will bitch and gripe if you did not charge them the precise dollar amount listed on the label when you ship something. You'll never hear anything if you *undercharge* them.
Third, shipper/carrier issues. I got to the point I flat refused to ship anything via UPS. Overall, they do a great job, but locally, every single item I either received or shipped with them was ruined. Slow transit times, increases in costs to ship, and problems with verification methods were a few issues I encountered.
Now, to my horror story. This is about eBay's VERO program that is supposed to prevent copyright infringement: I bought some purses wholesale (as a trial to see how they would do) and had them listed on eBay. I didn't have them listed as a brand, but instead as a generic title like "bathing beauties summer purse." I received an auction cancellation notice. Why? Because some purse manufacturer claimed that my purses violated their copyright and were infringing on their business. I protested and fought, but there wasn't much I could do. There was no protestation clause, no arbitration that I could go through, not even a dispute resolution process (like they have with Paypal). They just took down my auction, and that's that. I was warned to not put it up again... not even with a more generic title.
Did I violate the copyright? NO!! The purses I had featured tropical print with ladies wearing 1950's type bathing suits. The person who filed the VERO complaint also sold purses with women in bathing suits, superimposed on a tropical background. That's where the similarity stopped. My background print was a different color, different flowers, different design... different everything. Their item had a very specific background print, specific colors, and the bathing beauties were from a totally different era (1980s women in string bikinis with very modern hairstyles, etc.). The only resemblance was women in bathing suits with a tropical motif made into a purse.
There were literally THOUSANDS of other items on eBay that had very similar prints, and a few had the exact same print as *my* purses, but they were still up. as auctions. Why was mine chosen? Because the other items were shirts, totes, etc., but mine was a purse.
My feeling, at the time, was that the entity that filed the VERO complaint did it as a bullying tactic. They used it as a method to "knock out the competition." At the time my situation happened, there was no governing body to even check and make sure that the complaint was legitimate. All it took was for someone to file a complaint against you, and your auction was taken down, and you had a strike against you for "copyright infringement," even though the items being sold could have absolutely nothing in common.
Something similar happened to a cousin of mine who makes purses. She took a T-shirt that had our local college's team logo on it and turned it into a satchel purse.... a craft item. Her auction was ended on a VERO complaint. She, too, protested it (to the person who filed the complaint; eBay was unavailable for comment). After all, the shirt was for sale, she paid for it, and made it into a purse. What was the problem? The school claimed that was not the intended use for the shirt, and her auction was pulled. No place to argue. The school didn't make purses and didn't sell totes, so there was no competition. The local Wal-Mart had fabric featuring the school's logo, which could be turned into a tote with no problem, but no.... the item made with the T-shirt had to come down.
I believe eBay has since changed their method of determining a VERO violation and requires that a link be provided to the auction, along with a specific reason why the complaint is being filed. However, some of the complaints were so ludicrous that it actually took some people out of business. They were being constantly bombarded for VERO complaints that were untrue.
The VERO issue was just one of many selling experiences that caused me to have a bad taste in my mouth, and I finally gave it up. I will occasionally sell things I have around the house (and I need to do that soon); however, eBay's fee structure is such that the local resale shop is starting to sound like a better deal.
You have a nice blog, and have done a good job. Sorry if I was too wordy, but I have so much excess baggage I'm carrying around about my selling experience that I would love to tell eBay's powers that be what I think about their policies. Insurance is definitely needed for sellers, too!
A seller's experience
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tried eBay again
So I decided to try eBay again. Not to sell, never that again, but to buy. I have so far have been ok buying things. I think it has to do with the fact that there is more protection for the buyers then the sellers. So what happens, I buy from two people. I asked for a quote before bidding as they only gave shipping for in the US. Both gave me an ok shipping quote. So I bid and win. The first person, hawkl921 gave me the shipping quote based on the weight and the US postal web site. They told me they would take the item to the post office to make sure the quote was accurate before invoicing me. They came back and let me know that the US post office was going to charge $10.00 more then what the web site had said. They then let me decide if I wanted to pay the extra or not. If not then hawkl921 would not hold me to the bid. I was not able to pay for the extra shipping cost, as it would bring the shipping cost to 3 times more then the item. I found that hawkl921 dealt with the whole situation in a professional manner and I would do business with them again.
Now the second person was a completely different story. They had given me a shipping quote and their ad said that if you bought more then 1 item you only had to pay half the shipping cost for the second item. So that is what I did, I figured out what the shipping cost should be and paid for it. We got an email saying we had short paid, and had to pay another $10.00 (that $10.00 again lol). We looked at the payment and realized I had paid $14.00, not the $18.00 I should have so we owed them $4.00 not another $10.00. We let them know, so they emailed us telling us that we had lied to them about our address and had shown them a US address first when they made the quote. Um, no I showed my address in Canada. What would be to point to get a quote for a different address, one that was not even in my country? Nice try, I kept all the emails and was able to show them that. Then they said that their add only said ½ price shipping on the second item if in the US and they expected us to pay full shipping for both items. Um, no went back and looked, it did not say US only. So we said we would be happy to pay the $4.00 I had accidentally shorted them. Then they came back and said that the original quote was for a different item, that it did not have glass in it and that the ones with glass weigh more so it cost more to ship. Um, no I still had the email threw eBay with the link to the product I was getting the quote on. The difference was the colour of the insert, that was it. At this point we decided we did not wish to do business with these people. We had all the proof we needed to know that yes I had short paid by $4.00 but that was it, and if they would not honour their ad then and quote then they were not professional. I would never do business with them. They are a large seller of jewellery displays, but I cannot see how they expect to stay in business if treat their customers this way.
Now the second person was a completely different story. They had given me a shipping quote and their ad said that if you bought more then 1 item you only had to pay half the shipping cost for the second item. So that is what I did, I figured out what the shipping cost should be and paid for it. We got an email saying we had short paid, and had to pay another $10.00 (that $10.00 again lol). We looked at the payment and realized I had paid $14.00, not the $18.00 I should have so we owed them $4.00 not another $10.00. We let them know, so they emailed us telling us that we had lied to them about our address and had shown them a US address first when they made the quote. Um, no I showed my address in Canada. What would be to point to get a quote for a different address, one that was not even in my country? Nice try, I kept all the emails and was able to show them that. Then they said that their add only said ½ price shipping on the second item if in the US and they expected us to pay full shipping for both items. Um, no went back and looked, it did not say US only. So we said we would be happy to pay the $4.00 I had accidentally shorted them. Then they came back and said that the original quote was for a different item, that it did not have glass in it and that the ones with glass weigh more so it cost more to ship. Um, no I still had the email threw eBay with the link to the product I was getting the quote on. The difference was the colour of the insert, that was it. At this point we decided we did not wish to do business with these people. We had all the proof we needed to know that yes I had short paid by $4.00 but that was it, and if they would not honour their ad then and quote then they were not professional. I would never do business with them. They are a large seller of jewellery displays, but I cannot see how they expect to stay in business if treat their customers this way.
Monday, July 30, 2007
eBay used to steal again, $500 reward, lets help
Some one used eBay to steal a rare 1949 Chevy truck. Lets help the owner get his story out. As we all know I don’t like the way people use eBay to steal. I am hoping that if we can get this story out to enough people we can help him the way I was helped. He is asking that people get the information out so that other people are not taken the same way he was and hopefully he might get his truck back or at least get the people responsible in jail. He has also offered a $500.00 reward to get the truck back or the people in jail.
Here is the link to his story http://benadams.blogspot.com/2007/07/ebay-car-thieves.html
Here is the link to his story http://benadams.blogspot.com/2007/07/ebay-car-thieves.html
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
How is this for an interesting twist
Some thing very interesting happened today. Rose from FedEx called. The Indonesian Government has decided to wave the “storage” fees for my Grandmothers ring. Please note, that it was not the Indonesian Customs who decided to wave the fees. It turns out that some of the information Stormy on mySpace gave me helped us big time. Storm gave me a link, that took me to more links, and some how I ended up with the person in charge of Indonesian foreign trade’s email address. I am not sure how I got there, but I used it. Lets just say I used all the email address’s I found. On top of that there was a very nice newspaper story done about my Grandmothers ring, and that has been sent by email all over the place. That helped out a lot. It seems the more people heard our story, they passed it on and more people heard it and so on and so on. So we are not sure how but the story reached the right peoples ears, our blog was mentioned to FedEx as they informed FedEx they would wave the so called “storage” fees. Wow, the power of the Internet and people who will not shut up and just let people, business’s or Governments get away with things.
Now mind you, they did say they would be willing to let us fight over the $330.00 they still want for the original customs fees. However, if we chose to go that route it would take about two years before we would see the ring, and they would charge us storage fees. So we are paying the $330.00 to get the ring back. This time though they said it would take about two weeks before we saw the ring. I will believe it when I have it in my hand. Then I will be happy about it.
Now mind you, they did say they would be willing to let us fight over the $330.00 they still want for the original customs fees. However, if we chose to go that route it would take about two years before we would see the ring, and they would charge us storage fees. So we are paying the $330.00 to get the ring back. This time though they said it would take about two weeks before we saw the ring. I will believe it when I have it in my hand. Then I will be happy about it.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Mark Cripps wrote the story, its in the news now
Mark Cripps wrote the story about what happened with our ring and eBay and Indonesian customs. To see this story please go here http://www.stoneycreeknews.com/scn/viewpoint/viewpoint_802106.html.
I hope it helps some one else from getting burned.
Please pass this story on so others can hear about it.
I have copied the article here as well.
Please let Mark Cripps know what you think about his story.
Grandmother's ring held ransom
Mark Cripps, Stoney Creek
(Jun 1, 2007)
At least twice a week, I receive an email made to look as if it is coming from eBay suggesting my account is in jeopardy if I don't update my information and report back as soon as possible.
I continue to forward these to the RCMP email fraud centre (info@phonebusters.com), despite the fact it seems almost impossible to control the fraudulent use of eBay and PayPal and other companies involved in the sale and trade of goods over the internet.
Recently, I received an email from a reader scammed a few weeks back by an eBay fraud artist who bilked this woman of a treasured family heirloom.
Needing some extra cash for her family, Lori-Lee Craig decided to sell her grandmother's ring, valued at more than $1,200. On social assistance, Ms. Craig hoped to garner some extra cash to pay off some bills, buy her four-year-old son a nice birthday present and use some of the money for a move to a larger residence.
She received a bid from a buyer who has a 100 per cent rating on eBay (ratings are used on eBay so sellers and buyers can determine who they are dealing with) asking whether the ring can be shipped immediately. The buyer says he wants to give it to his mother for Mother's Day.
After payment from PayPal was confirmed, Ms. Craig shipped the item via FedEx. The buyer was in Indonesia. She borrowed the money for the shipment costs, as the purchaser said he needed the ring immediately.
The next day, she received an email from PayPal saying the funds were being held for investigation into a possible fraud.
Ms. Craig called FedEx and asked them to stop delivery. She was told her shipping fee was not refundable ($116 down the drain) but that a stop shipment order had been processed.
Unfortunately, the item had already cleared customs and was sealed in a container. There was no way to get the item back until it was actually shipped to Indonesia.
Ms. Craig said it was a heartbreaking decision to sell her grandmother's ring, but she was trying to do something for her family, who lives on Ontario Works.
PayPal determined the account of a legitimate individual had been fraudulently accessed. They refunded the money to the owner of the stolen credit card used by the thief in Indonesia.
Expecting the money, Ms. Craig had planned a birthday party for her son and promised him a toy he had his heart set on.
"He does not understand we are $116 short of our monthly budget and now it is just not possible. No party, no money."
They continue to check with FedEx, hoping at the very least they will get the ring back. They find out from FedEx an individual attempted to pick up the ring but did not have the $360 wanted by Indonesian customs officials. He walked away. Indonesian customs now wants Ms. Craig to pay $360 to release the ring. She agreed. As soon as FedEx responded Ms. Craig was willing to pay the $360 to have the ring returned, they decided they wanted $900.
"We were prepared to spend our month's budget for food just to get the ring back," said Ms. Craig.
Through this entire ordeal, neither eBay or PayPal offered any assistance for what was basically a fraud orchestrated through their online services. eBay said it would refund the $1 posting fee they charge to put an item up for auction. How sweet they are.
"eBay and PayPal might as well put up a sign - Thieves Welcome," said a frustrated Ms. Craig.
Knowing she will likely never see her grandmother's ring again, Ms. Craig said she just wants to let others know eBay is becoming a target for scam artists all over the world. She started a blog and has received numerous responses from others who have been scammed.
She said she's learned eBay is being abused by fraud artists in numerous ways:
1. people are cracking the system and eBay is not addressing security concerns.
2. fake eBay emails - don't ever respond!
3. scammers who phone people and say they are calling on behalf of eBay and ask for personal info. Once they get this info, they go into people's personal accounts and change passwords, post fake items and always use Western Union for purchases.
4. letters arriving via pre-paid envelope. Look like they are from eBay or PayPal, ask for updated info.
I contacted eBay's PR firm Environics based in Toronto and they did not provide any comment on this specific case, offering up only basic rules for keeping eBay accounts safe.
"PayPal and eBay have flaws in their security and nothing to protect sellers," said Ms. Craig.
Personally, incidents like this reinforce for me why I will never purchase anything on eBay.
It's swimming with scammers and as long as eBay and PayPal continue to ignore problems, it's only going to get worse.
For those who use eBay, review the following Web site - http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/mrkt_safety.html.
I hope it helps some one else from getting burned.
Please pass this story on so others can hear about it.
I have copied the article here as well.
Please let Mark Cripps know what you think about his story.
Grandmother's ring held ransom
Mark Cripps, Stoney Creek
(Jun 1, 2007)
At least twice a week, I receive an email made to look as if it is coming from eBay suggesting my account is in jeopardy if I don't update my information and report back as soon as possible.
I continue to forward these to the RCMP email fraud centre (info@phonebusters.com), despite the fact it seems almost impossible to control the fraudulent use of eBay and PayPal and other companies involved in the sale and trade of goods over the internet.
Recently, I received an email from a reader scammed a few weeks back by an eBay fraud artist who bilked this woman of a treasured family heirloom.
Needing some extra cash for her family, Lori-Lee Craig decided to sell her grandmother's ring, valued at more than $1,200. On social assistance, Ms. Craig hoped to garner some extra cash to pay off some bills, buy her four-year-old son a nice birthday present and use some of the money for a move to a larger residence.
She received a bid from a buyer who has a 100 per cent rating on eBay (ratings are used on eBay so sellers and buyers can determine who they are dealing with) asking whether the ring can be shipped immediately. The buyer says he wants to give it to his mother for Mother's Day.
After payment from PayPal was confirmed, Ms. Craig shipped the item via FedEx. The buyer was in Indonesia. She borrowed the money for the shipment costs, as the purchaser said he needed the ring immediately.
The next day, she received an email from PayPal saying the funds were being held for investigation into a possible fraud.
Ms. Craig called FedEx and asked them to stop delivery. She was told her shipping fee was not refundable ($116 down the drain) but that a stop shipment order had been processed.
Unfortunately, the item had already cleared customs and was sealed in a container. There was no way to get the item back until it was actually shipped to Indonesia.
Ms. Craig said it was a heartbreaking decision to sell her grandmother's ring, but she was trying to do something for her family, who lives on Ontario Works.
PayPal determined the account of a legitimate individual had been fraudulently accessed. They refunded the money to the owner of the stolen credit card used by the thief in Indonesia.
Expecting the money, Ms. Craig had planned a birthday party for her son and promised him a toy he had his heart set on.
"He does not understand we are $116 short of our monthly budget and now it is just not possible. No party, no money."
They continue to check with FedEx, hoping at the very least they will get the ring back. They find out from FedEx an individual attempted to pick up the ring but did not have the $360 wanted by Indonesian customs officials. He walked away. Indonesian customs now wants Ms. Craig to pay $360 to release the ring. She agreed. As soon as FedEx responded Ms. Craig was willing to pay the $360 to have the ring returned, they decided they wanted $900.
"We were prepared to spend our month's budget for food just to get the ring back," said Ms. Craig.
Through this entire ordeal, neither eBay or PayPal offered any assistance for what was basically a fraud orchestrated through their online services. eBay said it would refund the $1 posting fee they charge to put an item up for auction. How sweet they are.
"eBay and PayPal might as well put up a sign - Thieves Welcome," said a frustrated Ms. Craig.
Knowing she will likely never see her grandmother's ring again, Ms. Craig said she just wants to let others know eBay is becoming a target for scam artists all over the world. She started a blog and has received numerous responses from others who have been scammed.
She said she's learned eBay is being abused by fraud artists in numerous ways:
1. people are cracking the system and eBay is not addressing security concerns.
2. fake eBay emails - don't ever respond!
3. scammers who phone people and say they are calling on behalf of eBay and ask for personal info. Once they get this info, they go into people's personal accounts and change passwords, post fake items and always use Western Union for purchases.
4. letters arriving via pre-paid envelope. Look like they are from eBay or PayPal, ask for updated info.
I contacted eBay's PR firm Environics based in Toronto and they did not provide any comment on this specific case, offering up only basic rules for keeping eBay accounts safe.
"PayPal and eBay have flaws in their security and nothing to protect sellers," said Ms. Craig.
Personally, incidents like this reinforce for me why I will never purchase anything on eBay.
It's swimming with scammers and as long as eBay and PayPal continue to ignore problems, it's only going to get worse.
For those who use eBay, review the following Web site - http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/mrkt_safety.html.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
News reporter may be doing a story on our ring/eBay nightmare
Good news. One news reporter, Mark Cripps, Managing Editor, HAMILTON COMMUNITY NEWS is looking into doing a story on what happened to us with my Grandmothers ring. This is great because it might help some one else from getting taken on eBay like we were. It will also tell people not to send things to Indonesia unless they know the person they are shipping to. I will let every one know when he has printed his story. If I can I will put a copy of the story on my blog. I must say that I am very great full that he was willing to hear our story, and even more willing to share it.
One thing that has come out of this is the number of people who have been burned on eBay, both as sellers and buys. If you have been burned on eBay and would like some one to hear your story, please email me your story. I am going to start adding them to my blog. We all know it is happening, but no one seems to be doing any thing about it. Maybe if we share our stories people will hear us. If we can save one person from being taken on eBay by these thieves it is worth the time to write out our stories. Please share my blog with others so we can tell people what is going on, and what our stories are, and how we can try to protect ourselves. My email is info@medievalmagic.ca
One thing that has come out of this is the number of people who have been burned on eBay, both as sellers and buys. If you have been burned on eBay and would like some one to hear your story, please email me your story. I am going to start adding them to my blog. We all know it is happening, but no one seems to be doing any thing about it. Maybe if we share our stories people will hear us. If we can save one person from being taken on eBay by these thieves it is worth the time to write out our stories. Please share my blog with others so we can tell people what is going on, and what our stories are, and how we can try to protect ourselves. My email is info@medievalmagic.ca
Indonesian Customs in now holding my Grandmothers ring hostage for $900.00+
Indonesian customs wanted $330.00 as customs fees before they would return our stolen ring. We made arrangements with FedEx to pay the $330.00 they went. Ring was to arrive back here today instead FedEx gets an invoice for over $900.00 “custom fee’s” for the same ring, and it is still being held at Indonesian customs.
We made the mistake of putting my Grandmothers ring on eBay for $1000.00. Like so many 1000’s of others we were scammed. Some one used another person’s eBay account and Paypal account to buy the ring. Please note that there is no protection for sellers on eBay. At first we thought that we were going to be out just the $116.00 shipping cost as we had contacted FedEx and did a stop shipment. Well things did not work out, and the ring made it to Indonesian customs. The only reason the person did not have my Grandmothers ring is because they would not pay the customs of $330.00, oh and by the way the Indonesian customs will not release the ring until some one pays the $330.00. Indonesian customs does not care that it was not suppose to even make it to them, or that this is a case of theft. Not their problem.
FedEx tells us to pay the $330.00 as Indonesian customs is known to take up to 6 months to resolve a dispute, and they charge you a storage fee. The storage fee is usually more then the customs fee and the chance of them saying, “oh, so sorry to hear about this person stealing from you, we wont charge you the customs fee” is 0. So we would have ended up paying both storage fee and customs fee. So we make arrangements with FedEx to pay the $330.00 and have the ring shipped back. So it was to arrive here yesterday or today. Guess what? No ring! We call FedEx to find out that Indonesian customs has now issued an invoice to FedEx for over $900.00 “custom fee’s” and will not release the ring until we pay it. Indonesian customs has now decided that $330.00 is not enough; they want us to pay over $900.00. They are holding our ring hostage.
All I could think of was “This is not happening”, but it is. They want us to pay $900.00 to get my own ring back. So if I want my ring back I have to pay almost the value of the ring. What is going on here? FedEx has no idea what Indonesian customs is doing or why they are charging so much. They are going to try and fight it, but as I indicated earlier, they will take up to 6 months to resolve the issue and are going to charge a storage fee, and the chance of them letting us win is 0. Their country, they make the rules, why would they let us win?
Please share my story with as many people as you can. I know it is too late for me, or my Grandmothers ring but please let people know about this. Maybe we can stop it from happening to some one else. I did contact the news shows and reporters in my area, but it is happening so often too people that there just is no story in some one being robbed on eBay or by Indonesian customs. So what happens, every one knows its happening but know one reports on it, so it keeps happening. The only way people are going to know about this is if I stand up on a box and yell as lowed and as long as I can. I am doing that but I need your help to let others know. If no one else is willing to tell this story then it is up to me to try and let people know.
Thank You,
James Porth
Lori-Lee Craig
Medieval Magic
info@medievalmagic.ca
www.medievalmagic.ca
We made the mistake of putting my Grandmothers ring on eBay for $1000.00. Like so many 1000’s of others we were scammed. Some one used another person’s eBay account and Paypal account to buy the ring. Please note that there is no protection for sellers on eBay. At first we thought that we were going to be out just the $116.00 shipping cost as we had contacted FedEx and did a stop shipment. Well things did not work out, and the ring made it to Indonesian customs. The only reason the person did not have my Grandmothers ring is because they would not pay the customs of $330.00, oh and by the way the Indonesian customs will not release the ring until some one pays the $330.00. Indonesian customs does not care that it was not suppose to even make it to them, or that this is a case of theft. Not their problem.
FedEx tells us to pay the $330.00 as Indonesian customs is known to take up to 6 months to resolve a dispute, and they charge you a storage fee. The storage fee is usually more then the customs fee and the chance of them saying, “oh, so sorry to hear about this person stealing from you, we wont charge you the customs fee” is 0. So we would have ended up paying both storage fee and customs fee. So we make arrangements with FedEx to pay the $330.00 and have the ring shipped back. So it was to arrive here yesterday or today. Guess what? No ring! We call FedEx to find out that Indonesian customs has now issued an invoice to FedEx for over $900.00 “custom fee’s” and will not release the ring until we pay it. Indonesian customs has now decided that $330.00 is not enough; they want us to pay over $900.00. They are holding our ring hostage.
All I could think of was “This is not happening”, but it is. They want us to pay $900.00 to get my own ring back. So if I want my ring back I have to pay almost the value of the ring. What is going on here? FedEx has no idea what Indonesian customs is doing or why they are charging so much. They are going to try and fight it, but as I indicated earlier, they will take up to 6 months to resolve the issue and are going to charge a storage fee, and the chance of them letting us win is 0. Their country, they make the rules, why would they let us win?
Please share my story with as many people as you can. I know it is too late for me, or my Grandmothers ring but please let people know about this. Maybe we can stop it from happening to some one else. I did contact the news shows and reporters in my area, but it is happening so often too people that there just is no story in some one being robbed on eBay or by Indonesian customs. So what happens, every one knows its happening but know one reports on it, so it keeps happening. The only way people are going to know about this is if I stand up on a box and yell as lowed and as long as I can. I am doing that but I need your help to let others know. If no one else is willing to tell this story then it is up to me to try and let people know.
Thank You,
James Porth
Lori-Lee Craig
Medieval Magic
info@medievalmagic.ca
www.medievalmagic.ca
$456.00 lost but getting my Grandmothers ring back.
Just an update, the ring is on its way back to us, should be here some time this week. FedEx told us to pay the customs because Indonesian customs is known to take 6 months with any disputes, and they charge you a very large storage fee, so even if you win, you end up paying as much if not more then the original fee. Also, they tend not to let any one win a customs fee dispute, so we would have ended up owing the customs for both the customs fee and storage fee. I am past the crying and anger stages and have reached the acceptance stage. The good thing is that FedEx is going to charge our account for the Indonesian customs fee and then bill us at the end of the month. This will let us budget and figure out a way to pay it off.
I just want others to hear my story so they are more careful then we were and don't ship any thing right away and get burned the same way we did. The sad part is I have been getting email after email from both sellers and buyers, who have been taken for on eBay. We are not going to be selling any thing on eBay again. I could write a “How to use eBay to steal 101” book with all the information I have found out. I may do a blog, not to help thieves but to help people from being taken in by the con-artists. What got me the most is not the number of people who have been taken, but by the fact that there is nothing we can do once it happens. The police cannot help, eBay and Paypal will not help because they can not afford to become responsible for this. There must be some way to protect people, but I don’t know what it is yet. If you have some idea of how to make it harder on thieves please let me know.
I just want others to hear my story so they are more careful then we were and don't ship any thing right away and get burned the same way we did. The sad part is I have been getting email after email from both sellers and buyers, who have been taken for on eBay. We are not going to be selling any thing on eBay again. I could write a “How to use eBay to steal 101” book with all the information I have found out. I may do a blog, not to help thieves but to help people from being taken in by the con-artists. What got me the most is not the number of people who have been taken, but by the fact that there is nothing we can do once it happens. The police cannot help, eBay and Paypal will not help because they can not afford to become responsible for this. There must be some way to protect people, but I don’t know what it is yet. If you have some idea of how to make it harder on thieves please let me know.
You might as well hang up a sign on eBay, thieves welcome
First I had to go through the hard question, do I sell my Grandmothers ring. I don’t have a lot of hers and I miss her very much. We need the money though, so I think she would understand. It was a hard thing to do but on eBay it goes. Then comes the inquiry could we ship it out right away, rush shipment, some one wants to buy it as a gift. So we go out of our way to make sure we ship the ring as soon as the payment hits Paypal. How far out of our way, we barrow the $116.00 so we can ship it. That is just over ¼ of my budget for the month seeing as I am on Ontario works (welfare) right now.
I have a very hard time sleeping that night. I sold my Grandmothers ring so I am feeling sad, but at the same time I am happy that we will have some money to pay off a few bills. But I cannot sleep, there is just some thing eating away at me. The next day we get an email from Paypal, the transaction was fraudulent – some one just stole my Grandmothers ring. We were out $116.00 for food that month, but at least we were able to contact FedEx and get them to put a stop shipment. Things are going to be hard but at least we are getting the ring back.
Mothers Day, just don’t feel like doing any thing, to upset and I am worried about the ring and how we are going to pay back the $116.00. On top of that the 16th is my sons 4th birthday and I have to explain to him that we cannot get him the gift Mommy and Daddy said he would have for his birthday. He does not understand we are $116.00 short of our budget and now it just is not possible. No party – no money. It is a good thing we had picked up a few small things for him. But it was very hard to have to tell him that he was not bad and that was not why he was not getting his big gift, just some bad things happened. What price do you put on a parents tears when they have to tell this to a child.
We keep checking with FedEx, yes there is a stop shipment order. So why does it show that it is still going? Monday the 14th we find out that FedEx did not stop the shipment. The only reason the person did not have my Grandmothers ring is because they would not pay the customs of $360.00, oh and by the way the Indonesian customs will not release the ring until some one pays the $360.00. So we get robbed twice.
So now the ring is sitting at Indonesian customs and we have to spend our months budget for food just to get it back, or we can just let Indonesian customs confiscate it. So now what. What are we suppose to do, other then cry that is. At this point I start finding out what can be done. Nothing. FedEx does not care that we had a stop shipment on the ring, eBay said we can file a dispute on the dispute console but all that will do is get them to give us back the $1.00 listing fee. It does not matter that some one used some one else’s eBay account to buy the ring, not their problem. Seller protection – none. Every thing is for the buyer. Paypal, well they let us know that there was a problem, and they took all the money back and that way the person who’s account was broken into did not loose any thing, oh the seller, to bad, not our problem.
We thought we were dealing with some one we could trust. The eBay buyer had a good record and looked like they could be trusted. The fact that some one else was using the guy’s account does not matter to eBay. There was no way for us to know this was not a real sale. A week after the sale we got 6 emails from eBay to let us know that the email communications from the eBay buyer could be fraudulent. Thanks, a little to late though, um, we told you. Is eBay going to do any thing for us, no. Same with Paypal. Not their problem. So even though it was the security of eBay and Paypal that was breached we are paying the price. I am not very happy with eBay or Paypal right now. Then FedEx let us down as well. We put a stop shipment return to sender when the ring was in Alaska, why did it get all the way to Indonesia after we were repeatedly reassured over the phone there was a stop shipment and it would not get that far. What do you mean the only reason the thief does not have my ring is because they would not pay the customs, and now I have to pay for it. Oh, and its not your problem. Yah, I am never using FedEx again.
So this one person has devastated my family. First by stealing from us, and having us pay extra to ship it to them. Taking ¼ of my family’s money for the month. Then Paypal and eBay will take no responsibility for the unusual circumstances to help us. Now FedEx lets us down and we have pay another $360.00 or say good by to my Grandmothers ring. So I get to chouse between feeding my family and saving my grandmothers ring. It was hard enough to part with it knowing that the money from it was going to help my family, but to lose it this way is unbelievable. That does not even touch on the emotional hell I have gone threw this last two weeks. Or what it made me feel like to tell my son he could not have some thing I promised him. So much for us moving from a two bed room apartment to a three bed room town house. We were expecting to be able to move in a month or two, have to give that up to after working for a year to get there.
This was not some joke or harmless crime; this has hurt my family in ways this thief does not care about. The icing on the cake is that this thief will never pay any price or consequence for their actions. No one is going to even try to find them, let alone charge them. They just get away with it, and do it again. There is nothing to stop them. Any one can be next. As for eBay and Paypal, not their problem. So what if they lose me as a customer, what do they care? They have millions of people willing to use them. There is no incentive for them to stop this, or help the people this happens to. There is insurance for the buyer but nothing for the seller.
You might as well hang up a sign on eBay, thieves welcome. Come in, use some ones account, and steal from as many as you can, then move on to another account. Get caught, no, you may not get every thing you try to take, but you just move on to the next account. No one is going to try and find you, or make you pay for any thing. No consequences, steal until there is nothing left to take.
I have a very hard time sleeping that night. I sold my Grandmothers ring so I am feeling sad, but at the same time I am happy that we will have some money to pay off a few bills. But I cannot sleep, there is just some thing eating away at me. The next day we get an email from Paypal, the transaction was fraudulent – some one just stole my Grandmothers ring. We were out $116.00 for food that month, but at least we were able to contact FedEx and get them to put a stop shipment. Things are going to be hard but at least we are getting the ring back.
Mothers Day, just don’t feel like doing any thing, to upset and I am worried about the ring and how we are going to pay back the $116.00. On top of that the 16th is my sons 4th birthday and I have to explain to him that we cannot get him the gift Mommy and Daddy said he would have for his birthday. He does not understand we are $116.00 short of our budget and now it just is not possible. No party – no money. It is a good thing we had picked up a few small things for him. But it was very hard to have to tell him that he was not bad and that was not why he was not getting his big gift, just some bad things happened. What price do you put on a parents tears when they have to tell this to a child.
We keep checking with FedEx, yes there is a stop shipment order. So why does it show that it is still going? Monday the 14th we find out that FedEx did not stop the shipment. The only reason the person did not have my Grandmothers ring is because they would not pay the customs of $360.00, oh and by the way the Indonesian customs will not release the ring until some one pays the $360.00. So we get robbed twice.
So now the ring is sitting at Indonesian customs and we have to spend our months budget for food just to get it back, or we can just let Indonesian customs confiscate it. So now what. What are we suppose to do, other then cry that is. At this point I start finding out what can be done. Nothing. FedEx does not care that we had a stop shipment on the ring, eBay said we can file a dispute on the dispute console but all that will do is get them to give us back the $1.00 listing fee. It does not matter that some one used some one else’s eBay account to buy the ring, not their problem. Seller protection – none. Every thing is for the buyer. Paypal, well they let us know that there was a problem, and they took all the money back and that way the person who’s account was broken into did not loose any thing, oh the seller, to bad, not our problem.
We thought we were dealing with some one we could trust. The eBay buyer had a good record and looked like they could be trusted. The fact that some one else was using the guy’s account does not matter to eBay. There was no way for us to know this was not a real sale. A week after the sale we got 6 emails from eBay to let us know that the email communications from the eBay buyer could be fraudulent. Thanks, a little to late though, um, we told you. Is eBay going to do any thing for us, no. Same with Paypal. Not their problem. So even though it was the security of eBay and Paypal that was breached we are paying the price. I am not very happy with eBay or Paypal right now. Then FedEx let us down as well. We put a stop shipment return to sender when the ring was in Alaska, why did it get all the way to Indonesia after we were repeatedly reassured over the phone there was a stop shipment and it would not get that far. What do you mean the only reason the thief does not have my ring is because they would not pay the customs, and now I have to pay for it. Oh, and its not your problem. Yah, I am never using FedEx again.
So this one person has devastated my family. First by stealing from us, and having us pay extra to ship it to them. Taking ¼ of my family’s money for the month. Then Paypal and eBay will take no responsibility for the unusual circumstances to help us. Now FedEx lets us down and we have pay another $360.00 or say good by to my Grandmothers ring. So I get to chouse between feeding my family and saving my grandmothers ring. It was hard enough to part with it knowing that the money from it was going to help my family, but to lose it this way is unbelievable. That does not even touch on the emotional hell I have gone threw this last two weeks. Or what it made me feel like to tell my son he could not have some thing I promised him. So much for us moving from a two bed room apartment to a three bed room town house. We were expecting to be able to move in a month or two, have to give that up to after working for a year to get there.
This was not some joke or harmless crime; this has hurt my family in ways this thief does not care about. The icing on the cake is that this thief will never pay any price or consequence for their actions. No one is going to even try to find them, let alone charge them. They just get away with it, and do it again. There is nothing to stop them. Any one can be next. As for eBay and Paypal, not their problem. So what if they lose me as a customer, what do they care? They have millions of people willing to use them. There is no incentive for them to stop this, or help the people this happens to. There is insurance for the buyer but nothing for the seller.
You might as well hang up a sign on eBay, thieves welcome. Come in, use some ones account, and steal from as many as you can, then move on to another account. Get caught, no, you may not get every thing you try to take, but you just move on to the next account. No one is going to try and find you, or make you pay for any thing. No consequences, steal until there is nothing left to take.
eBay & Paypal fraud Sellers beware!
Think before selling on eBay. Take a look at eBay policies. There is a lot of protection for the buyers, what protection is there for the sellers, not much. If there is insurance for buyers, why not insurance for sellers?
As people may have noticed there has been quite a few problems for E-Bay sellers with fraud. Be it fake bids such as the Playstation 3 game system just before Christmas and the General Lee car in the last few weeks or just out and out theft. A person buys an item, then pays and gets you to ship the item, then cancels payment. Or you get what just happened to us.
I put my Grandmothers ring out eBay as an auction and a buy it now. We were contacted by a buyer who wanted the ring as a gift and wanted to know if we could ship it right away, they would pay extra for two or three day shipping. We said sure, we will ship as soon as the money went through Paypal. The person had been on eBay for years and had 100% rating, some one you can trust. It is Mothers day weekend, nothing odd about some one buying a last minute gift and asking for us to ship it directly to the person. Money shows up in Paypal, item is shipped that day.
We rush the Ring to FedEx and send it out right away. I just made it to the office for the last pick up of the day. Next morning we received an e-mail from PayPal saying the funds have been held and an investigation has been started as the funds may have been stolen. I called FedEx and had them stop the delivery and send it back to me after explaining what had happened. At this time I am told that the shipping is not refundable so I am out $116.51 now. I then receive another e-mail from another eBay seller, mrs2620, who was also taken by the same person. They too were scammed and are trying to get their item sent back before delivery.
So here we have two small business owners trying to make some extra money selling good quality items on eBay being taken for a ride by crooks. Some people say that is the cost of doing business. However, I would like to point out that the ring we were selling was not part of Medieval Magic stock, but was my Grandmothers ring valued at about $1,200.00 ten years ago, more now. So this is not a case of a business sale, covered under insurance, this is me loosing my Grandmothers ring. This is personal.
Even though we are getting our ring back, this is not a harmless victimless crime or a joke, we are out $116.00, some thing we cannot afford. We are selling the ring because we need the money, we have some bills coming up and with two little kids things are a little tight. I was not expecting to sell the ring, but it would have been nice. Now things are even harder on us, we are out $116.00 about ¼ of our budget for food and diapers for the month. On top of that we used part of the money in Paypal to buy some thing. So now we are about $130.00 in debt to Paypal. We have to come up with the money to pay for the item that has already been shipped. So that is about ¼ of our food and diaper budget that means 50% of our budget is now gone. Thank you very much.
It is my sons fourth birthday this month, so if you think this crime has no effect on any one, just a business, you are wrong. So now I have a budget of about $200.00, about $100.00 of that has to go to diapers, wipes, and $100.00 for food for two weeks for a family of four. So much for my sons birthday, some one want to come and explain to my four year old why he is not having a birthday party, and why he is not getting that gift Mommy told him he was getting.
So this crime or joke has a very strong impact on my family. I am not telling people this so they feel sorry for me, but because I want people to understand what this person has done to my family. What the impact of this one act has had on us. Crime costs people like us every day. We are not some big corporation that can absorb a loss like this, we are hard working people trying to do our best and one person just kicked us in the teeth, took food out of my kids’ mouths. You don’t want to know what I want to do to this person if I could find them. Making them pay the $116.00 is not enough for the worry and anger I have right now.
It is time that we the consumers and sellers start to put our foot down and stop this. New rules and procedures must be put into place on all the auction sites and payment sites to protect us all. We have to ask for them. People have to look at what the effect will be on eBay and other auction sites if thing like this continue. Who wants to sell items on eBay if there is no protection for them? Look at John Schneider, he has decided to go with a bricks-and-mortar auction firm that strictly screens buyers to sell the General Lee. This would have been a great achievement for eBay. If this keeps up there will be no place for every day people to sell and buy as it will destroy peoples trust in being able to sell on eBay. At this point in time we have changed our shipping policies to protect ourselves from this happening again. But I have to admit I am rethinking about selling on eBay as I have an online store Medieval Magic I am already selling on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)