Lost $3300 from a guy on Ebay. Working on a few things right now to put the guys ass in jail.

 

I've been an avid ebayer for over 3 years now with over 500 transactions. No problems here because if I use a credit card and don't receive the merchandise after 30 days, the credit card company goes after that person. Don't trust ebay or paypal to take care of your complaints, they are simply to big to care...I know from experience.

 

It sounds like I've had very good luck on eBay: I've bought about 130 things including a Tag SE/L watch, lenses and flashes for my Nikons, Tiffany earrings for my wife, a Persian rug, and computer processors, memory, and a motherboard. I only feel I was taken on two transactions. Curiously, both were camera filters and came from different sellers. I have bought maybe a dozen filters on eBay and 9 were perfect. Two are a complete mess of scratches and unusable, but were sold cheap and are not worth getting upset over. The third was not what was advertised because the seller did not really know what he had. I got my money and shipping refunded. Still, I'm well ahead vs. buying Nikkor and B&W filters from camera dealers.)

One of the things that I do if an item is over $50 and is not coming from a buyer I know well, one with large numbers of positive feedback listings, or a store may be helpful. I ask the seller if he/she minds if I use an escrow service if I pay the fee. (They hold your money until you get the goods and agree they are O.K.)

Note that I have never actually used the escrow service (they usually charge 3% or so). I just walk away from transactions where the seller says they won't work with an escrow service.

 

I got swindled on an S2000 OEM Lip off ebay..
oH well

 

If I were to pay via paypal using a credit card, and the merchandise was never sent, can I dispute the charge on the credit card? Isn't the transaction technically with paypal and therefore, the "service" rendered and non-disputable?

I don't need to do this, yet, just curious.

 

Compuserve itself overcharged me $300 one summer. I had been a customer of theirs for seven years. Their customer service people kept telling me they'd fix it and they never did. I challenged it with AT&T Universal card but I still lost the money. I even wrote to the Compuserve CEO and got nowhere. The whole thing happened after Compuserve was bought by AOL and AOL offered a cheap dual account but their computer goofed and overcharged a bunch of Compuserve customers.

That was two years ago. They've lost well over $300 of my business since then. I'll never pay a penny to Compuserve or AOL as long as I live. Their bad not to refund my $300 dollars. I tell everyone I can and I spend all my internet money elsewhere.

I got scammed on ebay once. I bought a Sony ICF-2010 radio for $180 but it was dead on arrival. The Pakistani seller claimed it was fine when he shipped it and kept saying he'd send me the insurance claim info. (The sender, not the buyer, has to initiate the claim.) He never did. Then he left the country. Luckily for me, I was able to repair it myself at no expense.

Good ebay ratings are no guarantee. Someone can build up good ratings then scam a bunch of people at once and disappear.

I hope AOL/Compuserve disappears into bankrupcy. Serves the b- - - - - - s right!

 

I've been lucky and did what everyone else is talking about as far as looking at feedback. I haven't been burned yet.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01
[B]I hope AOL/Compuserve disappears into bankrupcy.

 

I sell alot on ebay and have all positive feedback (tandasales.inc and sold over 1000 items to date ) so far I have purchased 2 items that was FAKE from ebay and was able to get my cash back after contacting the customer and paypal! Beware when buying always check feedback and be sure the person didn;t just go buy 20 little $1.00 things to get feedback up! Also you can check feedback on the paypal too as I have notced some have less than 20 items I do not purchase from them.

Always do the homework before bidding but there are the select few that have little feedback and just getting started (I was once there myself) Now I sell everything from car parts, electronics, games and computers!)

 

I buy and sell on Ebay all the time. My Ebay name is HEALTHTEACHER. I have had many great experiences!!!! I have had many more problems with buyers, than I have with sellers. Many buyers do not know how to use Ebay, and cause problems because of that.

As for feedback, well you have knuckleheads that leave negative/neutral without following the proper procedures. I have a GREAT feedback rating, but I am very honest about all of my transactions!!!