New eBay Scam Artist

[kprst6]

I recently got scammed on eBay for a game used Pittsburgh Penguins jersey.

The buyer literally said, and I am quoting this directly from the email I received, that they "received either a tan Hilfiger or fish shirt and a book on a black guy". I mailed them a white 09/10 Chris Kunitz Pittsburgh Penguins Set 2 jersey, but now eBay is holding me liable and they are sending me back a ""received either a tan Hilfiger or fish shirt and a book on a black guy"

What worse is I required a USPS signature and it was signed by a completely different person (not even the same last name) at the post office. Beware of any buyers in Nanuet NY that live in a trailer park (I looked up their "house" on Google Maps).

The second the eBay dispute was closed in their favor, they and their 12 positive feedback account was closed as they are "No Longer a Registered eBay user".

After providing eBay proof that the invoiced buyer didn't even sign for the package at the post office, proving they couldn't even describe the items they allegedly received, and showing they closed their account not even 1 hour after the dispute was closed in their favor, eBay closed the disputed and favored the buyer after 29 days. My eBay account has had a 100% positive feedback since 1998 and they have been a member less than 6 months. Now I'm out $400.00 + the jersey .

[kprst6]

Here is the actual email I received from them. ENJOY!!!

"Gosh, this is getting so complicated. I just got home and really dont have time to measure it and go thru all this stuff right now but i will email you the stuff the best i can tomorrow. It was a tan I think Hilfiger shirt or fish shirt and a book on a black guy. I would say the shirt was used but its not dirty or anything and doesnt smell dirty. The book is in great shape thow it looks like pages are ripped. I am not sure about that comment on allegedly but i take offense to that as i am trying to work with you on the problem. If you dont want to work with me then say so and i will deal with ebay directly and see if i can call and figure something out tomorrow. The box was a little beat up and taped. I dont know what else you want from me."


I would like to know how they couldn't tell me the number of pages there were in the book if they opened it and saw the pages were ripped? How would they have time to write such a long response, but not have 5 seconds to walk "upstairs" (and remember, they live in a 1 story trailer) to at least get a description of the Size of the shirt, forward me a picture of the items, etc. I mean asking for a description of what they allegedly received isn't that difficult to respond to if you have nothing to hide!

[NEFAN]

Ebay has become such a Buyers only tool I almost never sell on there anymore. You can get screwed by a buyer and can't even leave a negative feedback.

[gnishiyama]

Wow..sorry to hear this happen.
So how is a seller suppose to protect oneself from
this occurring? Videotape yourself packing the item in
front of an eyewitness and having him sign off on an affadavit?

I saw this "seller-beware" trend on Ebay starting a long time ago
and its exactly the reason why I have only sold 2 items on there
in the last couple years. Its too risky and you cannot protect yourself
enough.

Now I sell exclusively to Japan via Yahoo Japan.

Goh Nishiyama

[jared85308]

Sad. Had a recent bad experience myself. Sorry to hear

[ballhawknet]

[quote=gnishiyama;250091]Wow..sorry to hear this happen.
So how is a seller suppose to protect oneself from
this occurring? Videotape yourself packing the item in
front of an eyewitness and having him sign off on an affadavit?




ABSOLUTELY !!!

I video tape almost every item I ship out . From wrapping it , putting in the box , putting extra tape around the box , showing the detailed shipping info on the box , to handing it to the counter person and walking out. One continuous shot so there is no disputing what I put in the box and handed off to be shipped .

A pain in the ass ? yes

btw , I also let the buyer know I am doing this as well for both of our protection .

[kprst6]

[quote=ballhawknet;250111]

Wow..sorry to hear this happen.
So how is a seller suppose to protect oneself from
this occurring? Videotape yourself packing the item in
front of an eyewitness and having him sign off on an affadavit?




ABSOLUTELY !!!

I video tape almost every item I ship out . From wrapping it , putting in the box , putting extra tape around the box , showing the detailed shipping info on the box , to handing it to the counter person and walking out. One continuous shot so there is no disputing what I put in the box and handed off to be shipped .

A pain in the ass ? yes

btw , I also let the buyer know I am doing this as well for both of our protection .

If you do this, make sure there is a 100% photo-matchable mark on the box. Draw random squiggly lines that can't be reproduced even if you try. You can at least verify the packages are the same. If you don't do this, I am sure there is some loophole a buyer can say the package was different or that you made a video of a package you never sent. Also, if you mark the package as being "fragile", the package the item was sent in will get to the buyer in a lot better condition so they can't say it was tampered with.

I have contacted ic3.gov, postalinspectors.uspis.gov/, my local police department (that said they won't file a report), their police department (that just said how can you prove you are who you say you are? ), eBay customer support (The worst in the business), and USPS fraud services.

By reporting the individual(s), at least a trail of fraud is being documented. If they continue to commit mail and people continue to report them for fraud and get caught, at least one day they'll get what's coming to them. I also figured that if X number of people report them to show a pattern of fraudulent behavior, maybe one day I'll be able to get my item or money back.

[eagraham35]

It cuts both ways...I won a pair of Dan Marino gamers and asked question after question BEFORE bidding. The seller said all the right things so I pulled the trigger and bid and won the shoes. When they arrived, the display case was trashed and the shoes inside were not as promised, not even close. So, I contacted them and they said NO RETURNS...paypal said there is not such thing as a 'no return policy' so I was refunded fully my money as long as I provided proof of delivery.

So I sent it all back insured and required a signature. When the shoes arrived back to them, paypal refunded my money. These clowns I got the shoes from then filed a false police report saying I sent back something other than what I was supposed to, so paypal then tried to take my refund back. I explained what I had done and I deserved a chance to be heard. Paypal said since a police report was filed, the case was closed and I lose.

The kicker is, the d-bags are now relisting the shoes they were supposed to have sent me in the first place AND I supposedly had NOT sent back to them. I called paypal and they basically said "oh well". The crooks got away with some of paypals money. I refused to give the refund back. Of course paypal froze my acct and paid the sellers back themselves. As far as I am concernend. paypal can stick it too. But the sellers of those shoes should be locked up. Here is their auction link for one of the shoes I supposedly stole and did not return...they are trying to sell it again.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DAN-MARIONO-GAME...46039450808333

[gnishiyama]

It cuts both ways...I won a pair of Dan Marino gamers and asked question after question BEFORE bidding. The seller said all the right things so I pulled the trigger and bid and won the shoes. When they arrived, the display case was trashed and the shoes inside were not as promised, not even close. So, I contacted them and they said NO RETURNS...paypal said there is not such thing as a 'no return policy' so I was refunded fully my money as long as I provided proof of delivery.

So I sent it all back insured and required a signature. When the shoes arrived back to them, paypal refunded my money. These clowns I got the shoes from then filed a false police report saying I sent back something other than what I was supposed to, so paypal then tried to take my refund back. I explained what I had done and I deserved a chance to be heard. Paypal said since a police report was filed, the case was closed and I lose.

The kicker is, the d-bags are now relisting the shoes they were supposed to have sent me in the first place AND I supposedly had NOT sent back to them. I called paypal and they basically said "oh well". The crooks got away with some of paypals money. I refused to give the refund back. Of course paypal froze my acct and paid the sellers back themselves. As far as I am concernend. paypal can stick it too. But the sellers of those shoes should be locked up. Here is their auction link for one of the shoes I supposedly stole and did not return...they are trying to sell it again.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DAN-MARIONO-GAME...46039450808333

That is terrible.

At the end of the day, Ebay transactions are loosely based on an honor
system. If you want to scam someone there are a million ways to do so and
its hard to just blame Ebay and Paypal for not coming up with a perfect
system to protect both parties.

I've had Paypal protect me from a fraudulent seller and also another
time when I received an empty bat tube. In the latter case, I was lucky
to be home to accept and immediately notice the empty tube and
have a mailman sign off on an affidavit I put together on the spot.
Otherwise since the item would of showed as delivered I don't know
how else I would have been able to protect myself. The affidavit
and a police report that was required by Paypal ended after over
a month with me receiving a full refund. However I did feel bad for the seller
since the package looked tampered and the original receipt showed
a heavier package so I assume there was a bat in there at one point.
However the seller didn't use insurance and only used a single piece
of tape on both ends so he took a huge hit. (it was once of those
cardboard tubes with plastic caps on both ends)

When I sold on Ebay, I always used full insurance and signature
confirmation. I always charged a flat rate, since I didn't want the actual
fees to become a deal breaker, where I always took a small hit but it was a
small price to pay for a peace of mind.

Bottom line is for any business there are always people trying to
scam you or get over you. Even in college I remember girls buying
high end clothing only to wear it out and return it later. The store
might not take the hit but the manufacturers do.

Its just a combination of luck and protecting yourself and then
just hoping for the best.

Goh Nishiyama

[kudu]

Sorry that this happened to you. Your best bet is to file a mail fraud report with your post office. Bring all the info from the Ebay auction and the buyers info to the PO, and file a report. Another way to distinguish fraud is the weight of the package sent versus the weight of the package that was sent back. Did you receive the "shirt" and "book" from the buyer yet? If not, when you get it, do not open it and take it to the post office, explain the situation, and open it in front of the postmaster at your post office. Usually when you ship something USPS, the weight of the package is on your receipt. So when you go to file the report, take your receipt with you, so that they can weigh the package you received and compare those numbers with the weight that is on the receipt when you sent the jersey. Hopefully you nail this person and you get your money back.