eBay scammers (buyers!) .. How to deal with them??

[Geiri]

This isn't really much a fact but a really strong feeling.

You know how it's really easy on eBay to claim that you didn't receive an item, open a case and ask for a full refund? I'm pretty sure that I've been caught in that easy loophole twice now.

More than a year ago a guy won a pedal I made on eBay for £60+ and then claimed he never got it, opened a case and I was forced to refund him. This was when I was fairly new at pedal building and was trying to gather up some funds to buy more components. I was also studying so I was broke as hell..

Anyways, despite my package having a return address, I contacted the post office and there wasn't anything they could do. I had to pay the guy back his money and I never saw the pedal again. It had a return address. I'm sure he got it and just wanted his money back anyways.

This is happening again now (I think!) but luckily, the guy won it for less and I actually have money now so it's not a huge deal.

Has this happened to any of you guys?

[alex.s]

Very annoying indeed Geiri, happened to my girlfriend once too, but luckily it was only a £15 jumper in her case...

We had a look into it and came to the conclusion that the only 100% safe way is to track the item, which is ok when posting nation wide, but can become an annoying extra expense when posting internationally.

[JaviCAP]

BUfff, this is the reason why many sellers abroad refuse to  send anything if not registered.

When US First Class mail was really cheap to get products under 2kg ( Jan 1st 2013 rates were raised dramatically) and the best way to avoid local customs, very few sellers accepted this way of sending.

Sadly you can't trust everyone when talking about  100 euro effects, so I just send my pedals if I don't know the buyer with registered insured mail. So you are able to track it and know if the buyer really received the parcel or not, and if not, you get your money back from the mail / courier company.

Don't forget that as seller, you're responsible to make sure that the parcel gets to the buyer's hands, and registered mail / courier is the only way to get it for sure or at least, not lose money.

BR

[IvIark]

Unless it was someone I knew, I wouldn't ship anything unless it was recorded.  Just add on a few quid to your auctions postage and let them pay for it.

[otalgiafx]

Also had this happen a quite a few times when selling my unwanted components on ebay. Sadly this means that I no longer sell overseas and only ship to the UK. Recorded delivery in the UK is great to prove that an item is delivered but Special Delivery is a must if you want adequate insurance for more costly items.

I would leave feedback on the buyers transaction stating that you had to return funds due to claim of non-delivery, it may help future sellers.

[Madferret]

You have their address and you're an electronics expert, hmmm...    Just think "what would Jack Bauer do".

[Vince]

Geiri, you should post their eBay I.D here to alert others. Could set up our own blacklisted users

[Geiri]

Vince wrote

Geiri, you should post their eBay I.D here to alert others. Could set up our own blacklisted users

Vince, that's a great idea!

Just a word of caution, I don't know for certain that this is true but I'm suspicious. The guy is messaging me on eBay and being sarcastic and slightly hostile. His eBay username is staple48. He has 100% positive feedback but only 57 since 2003.

Now he's asking either for a new pedal or refund. I'm gonna refund him and not bother doing business with him ever again.

[Vince]

It's really frustrating. Obviously you can never be sure and they know that. You have to do as they say as you're held to ransom by bad feedback etc. I sold a pedal ages ago and I KNOW for certain it was perfectly working. The guy said the toggle switch 'fell apart'???.. There was nothing I could do but believe him so I said to return it and I'll refund him. I made the mistake of being too trusting and refunded him straight away, then got a message from him asking me to give him postage money or he won't return it?!?!... out of stubborness I told him to stick it up his arse! lol.. he then threatened to phone the tax people on me?!... So I said I'd come and speak to him personally about it and while I'm there, I'll pick the pedal up LOL... He didn't reply.

His ID is  captainkt88

[Stinger25]

wow, lot of dickheads out there...
i think the safest path is to send the item with tracking, then the buyer can't deny that the item was received.

[dexxyy]

Yes there are scammers out there, a few years ago I sold a Gibson lp studio on eBay, auction reached £590, sent the guitar off by courier so obviously it was recorded, got a message the same day it was delivered saying it was damaged, asked the buyer to return it and I would refund him, buyer returns some aria piece of shit, PayPal refund him cos he has proof of postage to my address and proof I signed for it, now that's a fucking scam, still raging about it now.....BUT, I've also had a few instances were I haven't received items and had to claim, I'd hate to think that somebody thinks that I'm a scammer or that I'm on some blacklist somewhere just cos the fucking post office can't do there jobs, I've had 3 recorded delivery packages go missing over the years, there must be thousands of item lost every year, I always send recorded, it doesn't mean it always gets there but at least I can blame the right person when it doesn't. Unless I had absolute proof it was a scam or the buyer had some sort of previous then I'd blame royal mail, they've got plenty previous.

[IvIark]

Geiri wrote

Just a word of caution, I don't know for certain that this is true but I'm suspicious. The guy is messaging me on eBay and being sarcastic and slightly hostile. His eBay username is staple48. He has 100% positive feedback but only 57 since 2003.

Now he's asking either for a new pedal or refund. I'm gonna refund him and not bother doing business with him ever again.

Tell him you're going to refund him, and also post his eBay ID on the most popular effect DIY forums so other builders know to either avoid him, or charge him extra for recorded delivery.  And tell him it's because he's a cock.

Where abouts is he?

[Milkit]

It's bullshit how ebay can just fuck sellers over this way, makes my piss boil.  Without one you can't have the other.  So with that, whenever I can, I like to do them (ebay) in the arse dry style by asking buyers that collect my shit & pay cash, to agree to have their bid cancelled, so I can avoid final sellers fees!!  Yeah up yours ebay.   I realise this doesn't help you out very much Geiri, sorry. ;0(

One scam I very nearly fell for recently was a Gumtree scam.  Someone from Chester (not too far from me at all) was selling a Fender 65' reverb re-issue for £260, effin bargain thought I.  I enquired, it was still available, so I told the seller I would have it!  They sent me an email saying they were going away for a few days on business, so they would arrange to have the amp couriered to me, free of charge.! I received an email the next day asking me to go to a pay point, pay the £260 & then email them the code & they would then release the item for delivery, yeah right!  I replied to the email & told them F.OFF. Still waiting for their reply!

People like this are slags of the highest order, crabs on the nutsack of humanity!

[Geiri]

Staple48:
Sean Harvey
136 Valley Road
Rickmansworth Hertfordshire WD3 4BP
United Kingdom

After I told him I'd refund I got this reply: "Thanks for your cooperation, trust and understanding"

Me: "Believe me, this has nothing to do with trust but all to do with the fact that I'm forced to refund with no evidence because of eBays terms and conditions that I have agreed to. There's people who take advantage of this and no way for me to prove if you did or not. I've had this happen before and I'm not the only one."

[Geiri]

Yes it is complete bullshit! I love eBay but at the same time I hate it a little bit because of something like this.

I'm glad you figured out that scam and told them to fuck off hah! There are so many people who think they're geniuses with their scams but as soon as there's something involved with you paying in advance, emailing a code so they would release the item, it's obvious.

[Heath]

IvIark wrote

tell him it's because he's a cock.

I just sprayed this flat screen monitor with soda, via my nose.  Awesome.

[Heath]

Milkit wrote

crabs on the nutsack of humanity!

Seriously, guys, soda through the nose hurt.  You're killing me.

[Vince]

A mate had a horrible experience a while ago with a guitar, a Gibson. It arrived (i was with him) opened the case, picked it up, back of a tuner fell off, the fretboard looked like it had been soaked in water for months but worse of all, a whacking great split through the bottom of the body!.. messaged the guy straight away and the guy said he must of dropped it?!.. Oh here we go... My mate told the guy he's a  carpenter (he actually is) so he can tell by the colour of the wood and lacquer that the split had been there for a while. Had to fight through eBay/Paypal. Paypal said to post is back (proof of) and they'll issue a refund when he accepts it.... he wasn't accepting it! he was leaving it at parcel force until the paypal deadline ran out. So I went all private investigator on his ass and found him on Facebook which led to finding his place of employment.. turns out he OWNED the place of employment. Tight bastard!... I rang him at his work and said I'd be sending the police to his work.... he picked the guitar up that very same day!.... but what a f**king w**nker!... I'll never understand these people!

[Milkit]

Fuckin' A dude!  Nice work.  

[Geiri]

Not 100% on topic but I though I should share this here instead of making a new thread. So this guy was on my facebook page and shared a eBay seller that he thinks should be avoided so I'll show you guys what he wrote.

"Beware of this seller. So called 'designer' ripping people off with sales pitches. his parts are cheap yet sells them as 'premium'

Ask to see gutshots and keep deceivers like this from conning people out of their money

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/j-skratch?_trksid=p2047675.l2559"

His reasons:

"Knob screw fell out, toggle switch was intermittent. Components were definitely not 'high spec' as in standard carbon film etc. Nothing wrong with carbon but false advertising in my opinion. Returned it for refund."

"Messy wiring as well. It was not 'premium' as described."