E-bay Fraud.

[David Brent]

Be careful....be very careful.
I recently purchased a DVD recorder from an Australian seller on E-Bay.
The seller had auctioned a number of Panasonic recorders over a two week period, so it wasn't a one off.At the time of purchase the seller had a 100% postive feedback reading.
I made my payment by direct deposit.
Two days later I received an email from E-Bay saying that the seller I had dealt with had now been suspended from trading.E-Bay refused to go into details due to their privacy policy.
Too late! I'd paid up already...and yes you've guessed it, to cut a long story short I did not receive my recorder.I have been unable to recontact the seller and I am largely out of pocket.
Apparantly there were a number of other buyer's stung in the same way.
Eventually I will be able to claim a small amount from E-Bay (costs $25 investigation fee) but I'm the big loser.
I had previously bought numerous DVD's, books ect... on E-Bay without any problems.I thought fairly safe with my transactions.I always thought that fraud on E-Bay wouldn't happen to me.I was wrong and I've learnt a lesson.
I've also learn't that fraud on E-Bay is more common than they will admit and in many ways when it comes to catching fraudsters E-Bay may promise swift action but in reality operates like a toothless tiger.

Dave.

[samkydd]

(David Brent @ Oct 27 2005, 09:38 AM) Be careful....be very careful. I recently purchased a DVD recorder from an Australian seller on E-Bay. The seller had auctioned a number of Panasonic recorders over a two week period, so it wasn't a one off.At the time of purchase the seller had a 100% postive feedback reading. I made my payment by direct deposit. Two days later I received an email from E-Bay saying that the seller I had dealt with had now been suspended from trading.E-Bay refused to go into details due to their privacy policy. Too late! I'd paid up already...and yes you've guessed it, to cut a long story short I did not receive my recorder.I have been unable to recontact the seller and I am largely out of pocket. Apparantly there were a number of other buyer's stung in the same way. Eventually I will be able to claim a small amount from E-Bay (costs $25 investigation fee) but I'm the big loser. I had previously bought numerous DVD's, books ect... on E-Bay without any problems.I thought fairly safe with my transactions.I always thought that fraud on E-Bay wouldn't happen to me.I was wrong and I've learnt a lesson. I've also learn't that fraud on E-Bay is more common than they will admit and in many ways when it comes to catching fraudsters E-Bay may promise swift action but in reality operates like a toothless tiger. Dave.

The secret is not to buy a high value item unless you have been to see it, and if its a Buy It Now price you can hand over the cash and take it home with you there and then. I have been okay so far, apart from the odd DVD copy that was bootlegged and not the original as shown in the picture, but usually it's been fine. I don't bother buying anything electrical, and now not even DVDs, CDs etc.

The largest item I've bought was a nearly new car for my wife, but we made the trip to see it and test drive it and check the documentation and HPI etc first before bidding. Luckily it was only 60 miles away, but had it been up t'North in somewhere dodgy like Manchester or Doncaster I wouldn't have bothered.

Most purchases I've made have been books, and I've been very pleased with the people I've traded with.

[DB7]

Sorry to hear that DB.

If you paid via Paypal you should be able to make a claim and recoup the full amount. Ebay's great but so much relies on trust between seller and buyer.

[Fellwanderer]

(samkydd @ Oct 27 2005, 09:03 AM) The secret is not to buy a high value item unless you have been to see it, and if its a Buy It Now price you can hand over the cash and take it home with you there and then. I have been okay so far, apart from the odd DVD copy that was bootlegged and not the original as shown in the picture, but usually it's been fine. I don't bother buying anything electrical, and now not even DVDs, CDs etc. The largest item I've bought was a nearly new car for my wife, but we made the trip to see it and test drive it and check the documentation and HPI etc first before bidding. Luckily it was only 60 miles away, but had it been up t'North in somewhere dodgy like Manchester or Doncaster I wouldn't have bothered.

Oi - we're not all scallywags oop North

FELL

[David Brent]

(DB7 @ Oct 27 2005, 09:55 AM) Sorry to hear that DB. If you paid via Paypal you should be able to make a claim and recoup the full amount. Ebay's great but so much relies on trust between seller and buyer.

Cheers mate and everyone else for their feedback.

No such luck! My payment was made through a direct bank deposit to the seller's account.
I contacted the bank in question but they refused to give personal details on the account holder due to privacy laws.
I have passed on all relative info to E-Bay and hopefully they may, in time, catch the b*******.
The compensation E-Bay are offering will not cover even half of what I shelled out.
I used to love E-Bay too but unfortunately this experience has made me think twice.It will be a long time before I'll make another purchase on their website - if ever!

Dave.

[samkydd]

(Fellwanderer @ Oct 27 2005, 08:46 PM) Oi - we're not all scallywags oop North FELL

I'm not saying you are, but I wouldn't travel all that way to look at something (I don't need anything that badly). The dodgy areas could be extended to just about everywhere in the UK these days, where people would sell their grandad's medals to buy a new pair of tracksuit bottoms and an ipod!

I usually go by grammar and spelling, not my strongest points, and if an E-bay ad is written like a child of four has put it together, or it's in block capitals and it reads like a Sunday market butcher trying to offload last week's meat, or the address is Manchester or Doncaster then I steer clear.

[Fellwanderer]

(samkydd @ Oct 28 2005, 07:12 AM) I'm not saying you are,

That's alright - I knew you weren't serious which is why I added the smiley.

I usually go by grammar and spelling, not my strongest points, and if an E-bay ad is written like a child of four has put it together, or it's in block capitals and it reads like a Sunday market butcher trying to offload last week's meat, or the address is Manchester or Doncaster then I steer clear.

So I can'T INTEREST u in a pear of goldplated errings for the missus, then? I cud always meat u on the M62 between Donnie & Manc

FELLBOY

[sanndevil]

I've fallen out of love with Ebay too, despite being an avid fan over the years. Yes, there are too many rotters on the system who will rip you off, but I quit for other reasons. I have sold many hundreds of items, and whilst 85% of the sales went smoothly, there was always that 15% of transactions which just became a complete and utter pain in the a*** and consumed hours and hours of my time to track and resolve. I always felt that the purchasers had me over a barrel because being a trader I feared negative feedback. Despite this, people would win items then tell me I would have to wait until pay day! Or just disappear, or stall or quibble over postage.

Having said all that, I have used Ebay for buying too, and my largest purchase was a classic motorbike - a 1978 Kawasaki 750 two stroke triple - which was in New York! Obviously bought totally unseen, and required a significant amount of effort to get it crated and shipped to the UK. It went surprisingly easily so there are success stories!

[samkydd]

(sanndevil @ Oct 28 2005, 10:15 AM) Having said all that, I have used Ebay for buying too, and my largest purchase was a classic motorbike - a 1978 Kawasaki 750 two stroke triple - which was in New York! Obviously bought totally unseen, and required a significant amount of effort to get it crated and shipped to the UK. It went surprisingly easily so there are success stories!

My dream bike when I had a well used Kwaka 250 triple back in 1978!

[Aenima]

I must be one of the few people that has never used ebay. I had so many problems trying to register that I just gave up. I get the feeling that ebay fraud is probably more common than we realise. Hard luck D.B. Hope you at least get some money back.

[sanndevil]

(samkydd @ Oct 28 2005, 12:10 PM) My dream bike when I had a well used Kwaka 250 triple back in 1978!

You had a KH250? That was my dream machine, but my mother wouldn't let me have one! So, when I turned 40 I bought the KH750 (a.k.a. The Widowmaker) (a) to get back at my mother ( b ) to try and recapture some youth!! It needs a bit of restoration work, so it remains unstarted from its transatlantic journey. But one day, it'll be on the road again!

[samkydd]

(sanndevil @ Oct 28 2005, 01:41 PM) You had a KH250? That was my dream machine, but my mother wouldn't let me have one! So, when I turned 40 I bought the KH750 (a.k.a. The Widowmaker) (a) to get back at my mother ( b ) to try and recapture some youth!! It needs a bit of restoration work, so it remains unstarted from its transatlantic journey. But one day, it'll be on the road again!

Mine was metallic blue but I had this overwhelming desire to paint it white, but thankfully I didn't. Some of my mates had 250s as well; Suzuki GT250 Ram air, and an RD250 Yamaha! I think the Yamaha was the fastest of the bunch and officially went up to 97 mph, and the Kwaka was about 94 I think.

I had bikes up until 2 years ago and my last was a Kawasaki KLE500 trailee which was a 4 stroke twin used for commuting and New Forest green laning. I used to go out with my mate's sister who'd just passed her bike test, for rides up the coast on Sundays, but my wife hated riding pillion on a trailee and she wasn't too happy about me going on jaunts by myself with this other woman! Shame.

I haven't had time or money to get anything else but when I do it will probably be a BMW R1150GS, which I test rode a few weeks back (like the one Ewan McGregor went round the world on)! Its the sort of monster you'd nip over to Portugal and back just for a cruise round! The other "fun" bike I test rode was the BMW R1200C (the James Bond one from Golden Eye) and I was surprised at how quick and nimble it was. I was able to throw it around like a much smaller bike, and it was also very comfortable, but then I didn't have some Chinese lady handcuffed to my wrist like Bond!

So all power to your renovation work and you'll enjoy that fantastic 2 stroke maniacal scream as you accelerate down the country lanes, the glorious smell of burning oil and petrol in your nostrils! But don't forget to put decent tyres on (Avon Roadrunners were the best I think for this bike)!

[red squirrel]

DB

In case you haven't seen this news story:

BBC NEWS | UK | eBay fraudsters sentenced to jail

I'm sure everyone else in this thread has.

[samkydd]

(red squirrel @ Oct 29 2005, 07:39 PM) DB In case you haven't seen this news story: BBC NEWS | UK | eBay fraudsters sentenced to jail I'm sure everyone else in this thread has.

So if you see an ad like it's been written by a four year old it's probably some Eastern European fraudster! And to think we tried to help those ungrateful b*stards when they were under communist rule!

[Fellwanderer]

(samkydd @ Oct 29 2005, 09:35 PM) So if you see an ad like it's been written by a four year old it's probably some Eastern European fraudster! And to think we tried to help those ungrateful b*stards when they were under communist rule!

Rampant free market capitalism - I'm sure The Black Witch, aka That B****y Woman, would be delighted.
FELL