I think i've been oficially ripped off!! (E200 off ebay)

[Guest urdone311]

About 2 months ago I posted that I ordered an unlocked SPV E200 from some guy in the U.K. , very excited about it.

Well I wired him the money ($311.00 USD) as soon as I could, and i've been getting the runaround since then. He says he shipped it through Royal Mail, and finally gave me the tracking number a month after he supposedly sent it...

I tried to track it through the Royal website and it says they have no records of that tracking number. He claims that Royal Mail must have lost it or something, and that he has called them and they have no idea where the phone is.

So then he tells me that Royal is going to reimburse him the money, and he is going to send me another phone.

Well, its been 3 weeks since he said that and is not responding to me emails once again.

I've been very sincere and calm about the whole transaction, but now I'm just going to assume I'm being ripped off.

The problem is that I live in California and I have no idea how I would go about getting my money back.

I have all the emails printed out and proof of my wired bank transaction. The auction was on Ebay, but I never WON the auction. I emailed him and asked if he would close the auction early, and do the transaction that way. So I have no hopes for Ebay's help- im assuming.

I have been an SPV user for a year now, and my original SPV is almost gonna die on me and need a new phone!! If ANYONE has any suggestions for me it would be GREATLY appreciated

Thanks!

Joe

p.s., all i have is his full name, ebay name, email, and bank information.

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Unfortunately...I've recently come to find that you can't do much.

I recently bought a 17" HP Laptop on ebay for $1400 on ebay from someone in SanFrancisco. The seller, who had a 34 positive rating, had no bids on their auction. I thought it was because they had a mispelling in the title. Thinking I was being shrewd, I thought if I asked them to repost on ebay, I would be protected, as opposed to conducting the transaction "offline".

They re-posted the auction and I bought the item using my Visa thru Paypal. The seller said they would ship in 5 days.

The very next day, ebay emailed me saying the seller's account had been "Hijacked" and not to submit payment for any of their auctions. I informed them that I already did. So I contacted Visa, who cancelled my card and replaced it with a new one.

I contacted Paypal, who screamed at me for not coming to them first.

Then, the seller contacts me to say the item has shipped and provided a tracking number. So at this point I was totally confused. So I waited for the package to arrive.

The package arrived ontime...in it were three VW Hubcaps, a broken printer from 1902 and some dirty old dufflebags that smelled as if they were sitting in a puddle in their basement for the past 3 years. I WAS LIVID!

I called the police who came and files a report.

I contacted Paypal with the additional info.

I called Visa with the additional info, who almost got mad at me saying I already filed a report. (I said..."DONt YOU WANT TO CATCH THE F***ER?!"

I contacted ebay as well.

1) Ebay does next to nothing other than send you a list of practices for safe ebaying. They suck. There is no number to call. Their online chat is worthless.

2) Paypal has sent me an email saying the matter is closed since the seller provided a tracking number. They are not responsible for what is in the package. WHAT A CROCK OF SH*T!

3) Visa has covered my loss with fraud protection and is investigating the claim. But I dont know how far they go to do so. They will probably go after Paypal and Paypal will have to re-open their investigation.

4) The police cant do much either.

I took pictures of the contents of the box that was shipped from a mailing house. Probably paid with cash so there is no record of the sender.

I peeled back the label to reveal another label with the seller's name and an address which the police recorded. I also have a picture. I offered all of this information to paypal and visa...but they almost seem uninterested.

I was going to call the SanFrancisco police, and still may, but this is all discouraging.

How can Paypal close the investigation with the seller just providing a tracking number. I was wondering why they would ship anything at all...but I have come to find that if they match the weight...it's my word against theirs that the proper item was shipped.

PayPal and Ebay both suck and I will NEVER use them again unless I am selling something. I'm hoping an alternate method for selling comes along.

So...in the end...don't expect much. Tell the seller the deal is off and to just send you the money back. If they are legit, they will. If they are not, they'll try to give you the run around which it seems that they are doing.

Good Luck.

[Guest Coucou]

urdone, as you bought from someone in the uk you are probably covered by uk law. I'm not exactly sure what you can do, but the person's name and bank account should be real. Contact the consumer association (I'm not sure of the web address but search for "Consumer Association" and "Which? Magazine" you should find it easily enough) to get real advice, I won't pretend to know the law well enough to know what you can do, they're the people to go to. The government agency over here you could also try is called Trading Standards. And, like encece did, contact the credit card or bank the money came from and ask them if you can reclaim the money under fraud protection.

Posted from my SmartPhone!

[Guest ChrisJM]

thats bad man! You need to do something about it, but i dont know what! :D sory

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Since they're UK based, I would advise asking for a refund or the phone within a one week deadline, or you'll refer the matter to the police.

He can be traced from his bank details...

P

Posted from my SmartPhone!

[Guest MPXtricky]

PayPal/eBay are more or less one and the same company. They offer advice on how to trade safely, but will not get involved in any dispute.

Effectively, they profit *big time* from other peoples misery. Sound familiar? Check the sellers satisfaction ratings and make an informed judgement before doing any eBay deals.

[Guest nickcornaglia]

In my case, I hold ebay personally responsible for allowing another user to "hijack" another account. I also think it's neglegent of them not to get involved any further beyond informing me that I have been ripped off.

Paypal sure was adament that I file a complaint with them rather than with my credit card company. Since they are satisifed with a tracking number, if I had followed their advice, I'd be sitting there with my **** in my hands. Now VISA should go after paypal with all that they have. VISA is responsible to try to get the money from Paypal. Paypal needs to go after the seller. Maybe VISA will put a fire under their ass. Paypal is just being lazy and hopes I dont persue any further or that I agree to eat the money myself. If the scumbag isn't already on a plane to Russia, I'll try my best to make sure they get caught.

[Guest MPXtricky]

I hope you have good luck

[Guest casper508]

I got ripped off in a similar way 2 years ago when i paid OFFLINE for a P800 (US$400). Since the deal was OUT SIDE of ebay domain, I never got any support from them nor did i get my money back. But it sure taught me a lesson: If anyone asks for a wire transfer, forget them, look at the next auction! Im only paying thru Paypal of VISA.

Last month I saw a transaction on my bank statement which seemed dodgy. Further investigations lead to the fact that some idiot used my VISA (donno how) to buy stuff off the net. But this time around, since it was VISA involved, i got my money back within a week.

Not much help here i'm afraid but I hope you get your money back.

Cas

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

I'm being REALLY careful who I buy from now, and generally sticking to UK sellers.

My ability to track down people trying to rip me off is legendary... :D

P

[Guest Maverick]

When I bid for a couple of XDA2 on ebay, I got atleast 10 mails from different people who claimed they had an XDA2 and said they were willing to sell it outside ebay... Told all of them to get lost.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

One reason why I'll never buy a phone off ebay too many

theives on there.

It's best to contact the Police local to where the seller lives.

[Guest squall]

I bought a dummy e200 case, promptly sent off the money, but haven't heard anything...

Will give them a few more days, but cant be good if they dont even email - so my new policy is to wait for email before paying - even if one doesn't come.

Also paying with credit cards is a must for purchase protection

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Wouldn't it be great to go into business tracking down the fraudsters?

There's probably no money from it - although maybe you could get some money from the card companies - but it'd be great to sort these people out.

I suspect with the right tools and contacts you could track down most of the UK fraudsters at least!

The key to an auction for me is whether the seller will let me pay by walking into a bank and saying directly into their account.

If they agree, I ask for their address to verify that i'm paying into the right account - I get the cashier to confirm it - and if it matches I pay in the money and feel comfortable that I can trace them.

Paranoid perhaps, but I buy a lot of stuff on eBay, and by following these steps i've never been ripped off!

P

Posted from my SmartPhone!

[Guest Coucou]

Tabling down there fraudsters? :D

The joys of T9 Text :lol:

Seriously, I've heard that credit card companies aren't that bothered if the fraud is for less than £10,000. They'll just pay up otherwise. Unless you pester them to get a result ;)