A while back I got ripped off by a guy on ebay (‘Jamie Power’ from Wales who uses the handle Redpower30, powercom1@msn.com/powercom1@ntlworld.com … you’ve now been warned, watch out for this scammer). We agreed a price for a particular item but I made the incredibly stupid and naive mistake of completing the purchase outside of ebay. The cunt sold the item to someone else and sent me an empty package.
Prior to that I bought a 3D modelling DVD course which was advertised as new from the UK … turned out to be a copy from Pakistan!
Lesson 1: Don’t trust people, people are cunts. Except you, I like you.
It’s then that I discovered just how utterly fucking useless Paypal are; you have ZERO buyer protection in reality because once the seller has a shipping number then Paypal will side with the seller; irrespective of whether they sent you your item or not.
Thank god for Credit Card purchase protection though!
Lesson 2: I wouldn’t rely on Paypal as any kind of insurance if you get ripped off. Plus their customer service in the US are very impatient grouchy folk, you won’t get much understanding from them.
Last night I went shopping for a new USB key; the one I bought upmteen years ago in currys has served me well but at only 128mb I barely have enough space for my animal porn. So last night I bought a 2Gb key which should keep me going.
I was advised by a friend to buy a key from Hong Kong; but if it’s anything like China, thought I, you just can’t trust the hoors! They take a 256Mb/516Mb/1Gb key then reprogram and repackage it as a 4Gb or 8Gb key so when you put it in your computer it looks like a 4/8Gb key but of course you won’t fit anywhere near that amount of data on it.
And sure enough when I went looking for keys I can across this page warning about this very issue.
It got me thinking, why don’t Ebay do more to prevent fraudsters and scammers on their site??? Perhaps they are just scared of losing money but a quick browse of the forums will tell you that there are many members continually getting ripped off through ebay and it seems both ebay and partner paypal are completely useless when it comes to offering their customers (buyers) any decent level of protection.
I really don’t understand why sellers & buyers are allowed to use fake names/addresses and multiple handles; why isn’t some from of identity proof such as a credit card required of each buyer & seller?
When I purchased an item of Pixmania I had to forward a scan/copy of a picture ID PLUS then confirm what I sent over the phone to their customer service before I could complete the purchase. An article recently questioned why Ebay’s business was stagnating, perhaps it’s because the site is riddled with cunts selling fake products or ripping people off.
Surely it would be in Ebay’s best interests long term to insist on some proper proof of identification for all members. Wouldn’t a buyer/seller be less likely to rip someone off if they had to provide a validated name & address/photo ID such as a passport/a bank account number or credit card details? I think so.
Lesson 3: Don’t trust anyone on Ebay! Be aware that you’re taking a risk every time you use the site and don’t rely on Ebay to protect you.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some very decent honest sellers on Ebay, but get ripped off once and it can put you off online shopping for a long time.
Sorry to hear about your problems, a Mhaca!
I’ve done many hundreds of transactions on eBay, most as a buyer. I’ve been burnt twice, both times through my own stupidity. By doing one’s homework on the product, asking questions if necessary, and minding the seller’s feedback ratings, eBay can be a great place to acquire hard-to-find items or find discounts on things which are more dear elsewhere.
(Ok, eBay, let’s have that endorsement cheque now . . .)
In all seriousness, I find the feedback ratings are a good gauge of the seller’s reliability. When I’ve taken the time/bother of checking that, I haven’t gone wrong. I also make sure I know EXACTLY what I’m after and what a good deal is on that item, factoring in the p&p (and whether the p&p is too inflated for that item).
The feedback ratings on both sellers were really high so I’m not sure how much you can really trust them.
Having said that I found Ebay great for some of those small things like phone chargers or monitor cable converters etc etc stuff which can be hard enough to find in shops.
PayPal is an awful awful goober of a service, for the buyer anyway. I recommend to future buyers not to create an account with them, rather instead just once their once off payment system otherwise you might end up like me and get fraudulent activities in your account. The worrying thing is, the security leaks are on their side of things.
Pesky chinese usb rippoff artists, at least you got some memory, spare a thought for this guy:
http://flagrantharbour.com/wp-content/usb_dongle.jpg
I may just have to delete my account so; I didn’t realise it was as bad as that.
Re usb dongle: Ah jaysus, poor bastard!
Feedback! Ha! If you give a buyer bad feedback and they’re one of these C’s thatRaiméis was referring, they’ll just mess up your feedback so the good buyer’s won’t sell to you!
I stopped doing Ebay for big purchases some years ago, these days I’ll only use for stuff that’s so cheap I won’t be too upset that it doesn’t meet the description, like that feckin’ Palm Pilot I bought years ago with a faulty power button, grrrrrr
With all of ye having had such problems, I’m now wondering what sort of twilight zone I’m in with but two mishaps in nearly 800 transactions. What could I be doing that’s so radically different from those of ye who’re getting scammed left & right? My experiences have been almost entirely positive . . .
The thing about the feedback system do ppl give feedback after a period of testing the item? I generally give feedback as soon as I receive the item but usually think to myself that I should wait a while and test it thoroughly first.
2 from 800 ain’t bad at all. I suppose if you’re any way cautious in your dealings you should be able to manage without getting scammed.
But there are still plenty of people out there with bad experiences and i don’t think ebay/paypal is doing near enough to protect the honest buyers/sellers from the dishonest ones.
I have read the whole post and all the comments.
Sorry for your troubles with the on-line transactions, maca…
Well, I purchase on the internet since the far 1999, it’s almost 9 years ago, and so far I never had any problem. Yes, something I ordered didn’t arrived here, but either I was promptly refunded or the item was replaced for free.
What surprises me is reading that English sellers can be dishonest. I always reserved this judgement to Italian sellers. I know how we are, unfortunately, and I try to steer clear of them. I’m not saying that all Italians are scumbags, but since I live here I know our attitude to rip off naive customers. One of the last time I bought something on e-bay the item was in Sicily… this was a reason of concern to me, but the price was low and I accepted the risk. Well, I had to change my opinion because the item was on my table, safe and working, after only two days!
Anyway you gave us some great infos about Paypal ond so on, and the link to that warning page is great!
There’s dishonest people in every country, certainly not just Italy. You can be lucky and unlucky, I guess I have been a bit unlucky but that’s life; no point getting too worked up about these things.