Scammed on Ebay
Caution when trading on Ebay
Scammers are out there aplenty. Craigslist is well known for such including dangerous criminal activity emanating from meetings set up through the site. Ebay has been a safe haven for me in this regard,but I got a rude awakening from a "young" eBayer whose name I shall hold back-for now.
The price of trust
Having listed my strobelight which I listed as being in working condition, which it was, I dutifully sent it off to the buyer after they had paid me through Paypal. After receiving the strobe light, the buyer claimed that it was not working. We exchanged trouble shooting emails and phonecalls, I decided to give the buyer a refund-my big mistake was... I refunded them before they sent back the strobe light. One might think that I am such a loser but, what happened to faith and trust? In any case, I do not condone this, get your item before you issue a refund. She did not send back the strobe light giving such excuses as "I was sick today", "the post office was closed today" and so on.
Ebay to the rescue- I wish!
So the next point was to get eBay involved and solve this dispute, through their dispute resolution I came across a great stumbling block, I could not cancel the transaction to get my money back-it was 45 days after the transaction had taken place. So eBay could not help me but give me a final value refund which was the listing fee on Ebay, a miserly £1 or less. So where did I go wrong?
Dispute Resolution encouraged amongst Ebayers
Ebay encourages eBayers to solve problems between amongst themselves before they actually contact eBay for intervention. The fact they overlook is that this takes time. With the loophole that they can only deal with issues 45days old or less, it becomes a catch 22 situation where sometimes one is in limbo, awaiting the next person to respond. I was thoroughly disappointed by Ebay on this matter.
Be warned when trading online
I therefore would like to warn anyone doing online trading to be aware of such criminal activity by some internet users. Follow the terms and conditions of the programme you are dealing in/with. Forget being empathetic because some people out there are simple not worth the time and effort.
To the girl who scammed me, all i have to say is, what goes around goes around, I am very disappointed in you and your mother whom I talked to on the phone-shame on both of you!
Strobe-light "stolen" from me on eBay
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Unfortunately, there are many people out there that just don't get it! One of my all time favorite quotes by Mark Twain. Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
- AUTHOR
Thanks myi4u. Yes the lesson was learned well.Thanks for passing by
Sad to hear your case. However, you are a seller and you shouldn't have refunded the money before getting your goods back. It's kind of like your privilege. Same like the way you receive money first before sending the goods. You wouldn't be sending the goods before receiving the money, would you?
Well, it's a lesson for you and you have taken it well.
I, myself, am very wary when doing transactions over ebay. I would normally look for trusted buyers with protection. Otherwise, I wouldn't take the risk. I would like to have dealt with cash for expensive items whenever possible.
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