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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Bad Ebay deal.......
Gary Solomons, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | USA | Posted: 12:19 PM on 01.24.03 |
| ->> Had a bad Ebay experiance I thought I would pass on. Some food food for thought. I "won" an auction for a used 256 Lexar card. The card arrived and did not work. I noticed the grooves on the side were messed up like someone had pried open the card. I figured I have nothing to loose so I pop the case open and lo and behold there is a Trashed old Sandisk card inside this nice looking Lexar case. Anyone else have any negative ebay stories? |
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Michael J. Treola, Photographer
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Neptune | NJ | USA | Posted: 12:52 PM on 01.24.03 |
->> I'm just curous...how much did you pay for the card?. Its seams to me there are very few real deals there on used anything. And most of the good deals are all fakes. I'm wondering how much is to be saved buying used when 256 cards are less then 100 and 512 chips are around 175. Not nearly as expensive as they used to be and new us always better.
I recently was looking to buy another Apple Airport Base station. So I first turned to ebay to check out used prices. What kills me is that people were stupidly bidding over 200 dollars for a USED unit with absolutely no warrently other then " it's worked when I had it" according to the buyer
Flash forward a few minutes later I could order a brand new unit, full warrenty, all the cords, cables, software etc for $189 from my mac supplier. This is clearly the better deal. |
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Tommy Metthe, Photographer
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Abilene | TX | | Posted: 12:57 PM on 01.24.03 |
| ->> Hey Gary I think Ebay has fraud protection insurance if you get screwed on a deal, have you looked into it? I think if you paid less than $200 you get most or all of your money back. I noticed it a while back but have never had to use it, so I'm not quite sure of all the details, but I know it is somewhere on their site. |
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David A. Cantor, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Toledo | OH | USA | Posted: 1:28 PM on 01.24.03 |
| ->> Why would anyone buy anything used, except books from reputable dealers, online? Personally I like to kick the tires |
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Geoff Miller, Photographer
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Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 1:35 PM on 01.24.03 |
->> I've had nothing but good experiences. But I'm picky about what I bid on and only buy from people with well established good feedback.
What did the seller say when you told them about the card??? |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Tucson | AZ | USA | Posted: 1:56 PM on 01.24.03 |
->> Gary ...
I've had good experiences buying off ebay. I typically email the seller before I bid and ask questions. Most reply quickly and are eager to provide information.
CF cards are like computer memory these days - cheap! Buy new. And contact ebay concerning their fraud protection. |
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PJ Heller, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 2:47 PM on 01.24.03 |
| ->> Did you check the feedback of the seller before you purchased the card? If the seller is going to stick you with the card, you might want to be sure to leave negative feedback so that others don't get stung. |
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Gary Solomons, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | USA | Posted: 3:53 PM on 01.24.03 |
| ->> I did check his feedback. When I placed the bid he had great feedback and by the time my item arrived he had 7 or 8 negatives. I only lost $50.00 so it is not about the money.........well yea, actually it is about the money. I have purchased other cards on ebay and I normaly get them at about half of retail and so far this has been my only bad experiance. |
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Gary Dineen, Photographer
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Cedarburg | WI | USA | Posted: 1:26 PM on 01.26.03 |
->> Unless I missed it somewhere, Gary - you still haven't said what the seller's response was to your complaint.
With over 450 ebay transactions to date, I'd consider myself an ebay junkie, if not a pro. I've experienced steals, deals, disappointments and even out and out fraud (in very rare instances). But the benefits (and enjoyment) for me, clearly outweigh the risks - and as others have said - there are some safeguards in place to help prevent fraud or misrepresentation of items.
In most cases involving a dispute over an item's quality or condition - the seller will be open to a refund or adjustment (especially if they already have a decent feedback rating). A friendly but firm email, detailing the problem or discrepency - and offering whatever options you can think of for resolution will usually get positive results.
Contact the seller ASAP. Be diplomatic when you begin and give the seller the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they simply "overlooked" something. Detail how the item actually differs from the description (and how it affects the value for you) and whether you want a full refund or want them to consider an adjustment. And in ending, also ask them to offer any other solutions that they might think of for resolving the issue. Take the lead in the process - but make it a collaboration. Demands and threats do not get very good results. If you're going to call the seller an ass or liar and piss them off - it's best to do that later - only after you've exhausted your attempts to negotiate.
If you suggest an adjustment (wanting to keep the item but get a partial refund) - it's best to give them a dollar amount. And don't just pull that amount out of a hat - have it based on some justifiable criteria. Always remind the seller that an adjustment will avoid further shipping costs/refunds, will avoid negative feedback, and save them the trouble of having to relist or resell the item. - GD |
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Gary Solomons, Photographer
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Pittsburgh | PA | USA | Posted: 5:48 PM on 01.26.03 |
| ->> well to date he has not replied to any of my emails nor has he responded to Ebays Square deal or Paypals protection emails. Ebay has suspended his account so I cant even leave a negative comment. I did get his phone number from Ebay and his number has been disconected. Gary....If you have anyother tips......Please.....I am all ears |
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Jason Burfield, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 5:55 PM on 01.26.03 |
->> Gary...
You may find this interesting. I'm not sure if it will help you, but it may make you feel better that SOMEONE managed to track down a scam artist.
http://www.remodern.com/caught.html
-- Jason |
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Jeffrey Haderthauer, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Kevin M. Cox, Photographer
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San Marcos | TX | US | Posted: 8:33 PM on 01.26.03 |
| ->> I love that story!! |
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Gary Dineen, Photographer
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Cedarburg | WI | USA | Posted: 9:03 PM on 01.26.03 |
->> Well, once they disappear like that - there isn't much hope.
You can contact other bidders, as well as previous winners of his auctions - letting them know what happened. It might turn out that one of them will have some personal information, which he normally didn't give out - or which he gave out before his auctions became scams (if, in case, he ever had any legitimate auctions to begin with).
You said he had great feedback - but sometimes feedback can be faked. In the future, if you have any doubts - it helps to look at the actual item listings where the feedback came from - as well as looking for repeat buyers. Sometimes aliases or friends are used to "pad" the feedback rating. Be especially wary of bidders leaving feedback - with very low (or no) feedback themselves. Also beware of auctions where there are several bidders or many bids by people with zero feedback. These often reflect accounts that are created solely for faking positive feedback and/or inflating the bidding.
There have also been times when I simply contacted previous winners, merely to assess their actual experiences with the seller and the item they received (rather than counting on their feedback). Much feedback these days is automatically produced by buyers' software - and doesn't always reflect the specifics of a transaction. Sometimes, too, positive feedback is negotiated - or given up under threats.
If you come up empty on this one, through contacting other bidders or previous winners - just for kicks - keep a bookmark for an ebay search of the same item you bought (using several key words from his initial listing). Check it every so often to see if any listings sound too familiar. And if he's that stupid - employ your shadiest detective skills and maybe you can track him down. - GD |
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Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 11:26 PM on 03.17.03 |
| ->> I got a 1 GB lexar card for $250..at a time when they were still selling for about $600. Not a problem |
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Scott Bush, Photographer
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Clifton | NJ | USA | Posted: 4:09 PM on 03.18.03 |
->> I bought my Fuji S1 a year ago from ebay. $2000 used for 6 months, box, warrenty, 1 gig microdrive, cables etc. New S1 was 3k. It was a camera store from midwest. Wrote seller and he sent pictures. One small dink and that was it. I've never had a problem so far.
I've bought camping gear and never had a problem.
Sorry, but he seems like the sellers gone and it will be hard to get money back. Go for the safe bet next time with a reputable dealer (B&H, Roberts, etc.) and pay a little more. Check with your credit card company against theft and product protection. |
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Ed Wolfstein, Photographer
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Burlington | VT | USA | Posted: 1:13 PM on 03.19.03 |
->> If you bought it through PayPal, and a credit card, then you can get a refund from the credit card company. They won't even charge you their "deductable" that may have been mentioned in the fine print of their cardholder agreement.
Why are they so eager to refund? They don't want e-commerce to get a bad name and loose potential sales from any one customer down the road, or if it spirals, all customers using e-commerce. It's a very important market to them, and bad press can result in millions of dollars in lost revenues.
I had a refund for a photo purchase totally refunded by VISA. You have to go through the whole deal of writing up the report, along with documenting all your attempts to contact this person, but with e-mail, it's pretty easy to do. Let the credit card company do all the tacking down, if they care to. Pay the bill, and you'll eventually get the money back (with interest, I might add) from the card company, when they've concluded their investigation.
As far as eBay goes, always check out references - even e-mailing past customers for a chat - and never buy anything from someone who doesn't have an excellent record in the eBay community. |
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