My close ebay call

[medical1]

Genesis once bubbled...
PayPal's terms of service state that if you dispute a charge with your card company they can consider that a breach of your agreement with them - which can get ugly, as one of their proposed "remedies" is to reach into your bank account (that you had to give them access to in order to get "verified") and grab the money!

They've done it to people too....

I have not had trouble with PayPal, but there are a lot of people who have.... beware....

I agree that it is not the first action to take only that it gives you more protection. In my situation the seller provided paypal with a USPS confirmation that they had received an electronic pending shippment. This went on for over a month without any package shipping. I told paypal that I would no longer wait & was putting the matter in dispute. I had already paid my credit card for the charge & was getting nowhere. From that point on Paypal would only tell me that they were working with my credit card company & could not supply me with any more information. The following week my credit card was refunded the charge.

IF you can prove it was a fraudilent charge Paypal can't do much. Paying for an item & being able to prove it never shipped is considered fraud/theft on the part of the seller.

I wouldn't go to that much trouble for a $5 item but when were talking over a $200 item that is different. Why should I pay a $25 deductable using buyer protection to get most of my money minus the $25 deductable for the honor of not getting ripped off?

Credit cards protect you by giving you the RIGHT to dispute a fraudilent charge plain & simple.

 

[Griswoldstahl]

my first post, but have to relay another concern about Ebay.

More and more scams similar to this thread are happening by scam artists hyjacking "GOOD" seller's accounts. This almost happened to me last week, on a Zenith plasma TV. Seller's are having their accounts impersonated by scam artists. Make sure you use "protection".

BTW, I'm in Tampa ready to go on a 7 day cruise to Grand Cayman, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya. Bought a used MX-10, fiber optic cable and a close up lense. Hope to gets some pix, as I was tired of the buy and throw away pix from those disposables. Thanks for such a great FORUM

 

[Bob3]

Ebay accounts get hijacked 2 main ways; one is a "spoof" email that spammers send out, looks all official & everything, they direct the rube to a bogus site where the person enters all their vital information. Thank you very much. Never divulge info as the result of an email request.
The second way is through a worm that logs keystrokes, it steals passwords etc & emails them back to the bad guys.
Keep yer anti-virus programs up to date, and if at all possible ditch Micro$haft Outlook products, as they are so full of holes it makes a screen door look like a brick wall. You get worms just by trying to READ an infected email, you no longer have to open any attachments.
When bidding on something, look at what else the person is selling. Half a dozen high ticket items should send up a red flag.

As I was typing this 5 emails landed in one of my inboxes advising me of "upgrades". Here's one:
(actual URLs have been stripped)

MS Client

this is the latest version of security update, the
"December 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which resolves
all known security vulnerabilities affecting
MS Internet Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express
as well as three newly discovered vulnerabilities.
Install now to help protect your computer
from these vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could
allow an attacker to run code on your computer.
This update includes the functionality =
of all previously released patches.

System requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/NT/XP
This update applies to:
- MS Internet Explorer, version 4.01 and later
- MS Outlook, version 8.00 and later
- MS Outlook Express, version 4.01 and later

Recommendation: Customers should install the patch =
at the earliest opportunity.
How to install: Run attached file. Choose Yes on displayed dialog box.
How to use: You don't need to do anything after installing this item.


Microsoft Product Support Services and Knowledge Base articles =
can be found on the Microsoft Technical Support web site.
http://support.microsoft.com/

For security-related information about Microsoft products, please =
visit the Microsoft Security Advisor web site
http://www.microsoft.com/security/

Thank you for using Microsoft products.

Please do not reply to this message.
It was sent from an unmonitored e-mail address and we are unable =
to respond to any replies.

heh heh heh ....


****************** McAfee VirusScan ************************
******* Alert generated at: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 15:14:50 -0800 *********
*********************************************************************

McAfee VirusScan has detected a potential threat in this e-mail=20
sent by Microsoft Inet Email Delivery System" <emailbot@rocketmail.com>.
The following actions were attempted on each suspicious part.=20
We strongly recommend that you report this virus-related activity=20
to Microsoft Inet Email Delivery System" <emailbot@rocketmail.com>.


The attachment "Unnamed attachment" contains the Potentially Unwanted Pr=
ogram(s):Exploit-MIME.gen.c.=20
This attachment has been quarantined.
The attachment "Unnamed attachment" is infected with the W32/Swen@MM Vir=
us(es).=20
This attachment has been cleaned.

 

[FAW]

I have cancelled my EBay account and will not return. Unhappy with their customer service response. Also, I changed email addresses and they demanded a credit card for identification. I've been to a seminar on identity theft that stated emphatically, "do not use credit cards for identification".

I realize one can find good deals on EBay and I sold a number of items to pleased customers. But the original nature of EBay has changed and I don't trust them or the system anymore. I'd rather deal directly with a shop or someone locally or a known person on a message board like this one. Similarly, although I have to try and get the best price I can, it's worth a little more to know what I'm getting for sure.

rw

 

[chrisc]

I've had to deal with several "Bad Sellers" on ebay. I always used PayPal on the deal. All I did was call my bank and expalin what happened and the bank reversed the charges and credited my account (they said they get this all the time). PayPal did put a hold on my account until I faxed a copy of my bank statement (with everything blacked out except account # and Name & Address) and a copy of the letter that they have on their site and they will reopen you account. This has happened to me 5 times... I've been with ebay since 1996....

 

[Genesis]

I have yet to have a problem with a "bad seller" on eBAY - if I don't believe the product is real, I offer to show up and pick it up with cash in hand! The scam artists RUN AWAY from this one, and if they try to reach into eBAY's "protection" system (e.g. file a NPB on me) I forward the email from them telling me to get stuffed or demanding a WU transfer and eBAY has, so far, told THEM to get stuffed and cancelled the auction.

However, I HAVE run into bad "buyers", who bid and then simply disappear. I have had ONE of them cough it up once I filed a NPB alert on them - but still no reply to the email! The biatch is that while eBAY will refund the final value fee on those auctions after a couple of weeks, you're still out the listing fees and the "second chance" offer is small compensation, since the interest two weeks later has cooled.

eBAY could do a lot to stop this crap if they allowed you to file the NPB after a much shorter period - say five days without payment in hand - and at that point you got the final value fee back and were free to sell to an underbidder. However, that could be abused by unscrupulous sellers..... right now, however, it is a non-paying-bidder's paradise out there if they want to rip you off.

 

[FAW]

EBay is like a cell phone. (unless your work demands-or it's for emergencies only) you don't really need one and got along fine for years without one. Soon after you get it, you can't imagine giving it up. When I considered leaving EBay, I got separation anxiety. "Oh my goodness, how will I sell anything again or what about those good deals I found?"

EBay is changing into something I'd expect in the Matrix. It was very, very hard to get a-hold of customer service and when I did they were cordial but adamant. I am a number, one customer in a million who, by the way, they say can't be trusted. Neither did they offer or respond to my request to contact Juno.com to see if I was a paying customer. How hard would that have been? Not as hard as contacting EBay, I can tell you.

So, if I'm in a pinch and have a specific item that I need for lots of people to see, e.g., a drysuit, then I'll try selling it via a friend on EBay. Otherwise, I'm going to deal with my LDS, the general internet (found a GREAT digital camera deal using the plain old internet), or the usual newspapers, etc.

One thing to watch out for is EBay starting to dominate the regular internet--they are already trying to do this, e.g. I found a number of stores who only sell on EBay. Did they start that way, I don't know, but watch out. It may end up like AOL buying out small ISPs until all you have is them. AOL is just too big, again ala Matrix.

My LDS gives me deals that come very close to EBay once you add shipping.
It didn't start that way, but after I bought a few things that he couldn't discount a lot, e.g. a scuba pro BCD, then he began to hone down his prices to very close to low end sellers like Leisure Pro. Why not, he still makes money and he keeps a customer. And for me, I know the guy and he stands behind what he sells- plus he is very knowledgable about the products and diving and a most of all, a friend.

So, bottom line--screw EBay. If they want to be butt-holes about their policy, then I say good riddance.

rw

 

[Genesis]

Actually eBAY is kinda like smoking crack - the first few hits feel OH SO GOOD.... its not until you come down off the high that you realize how BAD it really is