No more Ebay for me :(

[spunkmyer]

I got scammed once a few years back and swore I would not use Ebay but I did use it again last year all was ok but I stopped now for good.

As I had set up a new ebay account every payment I received was held by paypal for 21 days but as I posted my stuff asap I got feedback and paypal after a few days released the funds.

Crap way of working gives the buyer control of the sale and even with a tracking number you can still get ripped off.

Never again for me

[trillian]

[quote=spunkmyer;497045]

Crap way of working gives the buyer control of the sale and even with a tracking number you can still get ripped off.

Never again for me[/quote]

Well, just to show how insane it can get (I'll try to make this brief). A couple years ago I was buying a hard drive, it was an auction format and the seller was a power seller with a real shop offline as well.

They charged £9.99 for postage because they use Citylink (probably costs them about a fiver flat rate for any destination).

Anyway I paid imediately via paypal. 1st delivery attempt came unexpectedly and I was out and got a card. Thye said they'd deliver next day, I waited in all day and nothing came, next day same thing.

Then the seller says they have tried 3 times and now will not try to deliver again. (just to add here - UK selling regs don't give a damn about 'attempts', it is the seller's obligation to deliver the goods full stop).

So now the seller says he wants another 6 quid to deliver it. I say no, then decide to offer to meet him halfway and offer to pay 3 quid (I know I shouldn't but... in the interest of harmony)

First he agrees then changes his mind and has the drive sent back to him.

I file a dispute with paypal. The seller sends payal the wrong tracking number, 'doesn't even belong to any Citylink parcel. Unbelievably paypal just accepts it as delivered and refuses my claim (obviously they never even looked at the tracking info).

-So after wasting untold time and being absolutely fuming, I finally get someone at paypal to review it (had to do this twice as first time nothing happened and weeks went by).

No here's the kicker, paypal says yes my dispute should not have been refused, so I win my appeal, however they still don't give me my money back and honor their 'buyer protection', why? because I 'lost' my dispute !!!!! so now all they will do is politely ask the seller to refund me ! He's not going to refund me, he's a bastard and that's why we're in a dispute!!!

It boggles the mind.

So finally I call paypal again and they agree to refund my money....but this is just a courtesy, they remind me they don't have to but are just doing it as a goodwill gesture. And the second kicker is that this refund does NOT come out of the sellers account, Paypal are insured for this kind of thing. So the seller has my money and the item and never even had to prove it even existed let alone was delivered!

-So the moral of the story is Paypal are complete idiots and operate outside the law. If I had not been refunded I would have filed a small claims action against the seller and won. But the lesson here is, if the seller has a shop and offers payment directly via credit card that is THE way to go. This would never have happened if I would have paid using my mastercard because I'd just get them to charge it back if the seller didn't deliver the item, full stop.

[sacko]

Currently in dispute over a 7100 rx offered to me on the BMFA, couple of emails and a phone call to check everything he was legit. As soon as I sent the money I had no contact from him.

Filed a dispute and no contact, so escalated the claim and had to wait a couple of weeks. Outcome should be on the 3rd.

Waste of space.

[trillian]

[quote=sacko;497092]Currently in dispute over a 7100 rx offered to me on the BMFA, couple of emails and a phone call to check everything he was legit. As soon as I sent the money I had no contact from him.

Filed a dispute and no contact, so escalated the claim and had to wait a couple of weeks. Outcome should be on the 3rd.

Waste of space.[/quote]


That's a drag. But just to balance things a bit; I got two of my favourite helis on Ebay, a Robbe Futura SE and Hirobo evo 50 and both at silly mad low prices and in like new condition. (both collected in person and paid cash)

I got two helis that were stinkers on Ebay and two very nice helis from the BMFA ads as well as lots of spares. So on balance I have done quite well on Ebay and the BMFA.

[Mutley]

I lost out on ebay a couple of years ago. Paypals system offers no protection for the seller at all. In my books it should be paypal that takes responsibility as the go between for the seller and the buyer.

In the event of a fraudulant payment or stolen card etc, paypal issue a chargeback against you to recover the funds. So you lose the goods and the funds and probably charges on your account.

Its a shames paypal is an ebay company as there are free versions of paypal around that are not only just as secure but are cheaper.

Have a look at :

[COLOR=#0e774a]www.[B]paypalsucks[/B].com[/COLOR]

[sacko]

Yup, there had a couple of good buys off the bay, including the N9.

Just a shame there is always one person (at least!) out to steal from you to ruin it.

[trillian]

[quote=sacko;497124]Yup, there had a couple of good buys off the bay, including the N9.

Just a shame there is always one person (at least!) out to steal from you to ruin it.[/quote]


Yeah, it can be a gamble and my attitude now is I will only buy small stuff and if the price or convenience is there (or in some cases availability of something that UK shops don't have in stock etc.). I consider myself lucky overall and have quit while I'm ahead.