I may have been scammed on Ebay - Advice?

scott8 · #1 04-12-2005, 01:41 PM

So last week I bought a Treo650 for 500$ on Ebay.
I then got an email from another Ebay member who saw that I purchased the phone who said they also purchased a phone from the same guy and had not received it and thought they were being scammed.
I then emailed the guy about the phone.
He said that he was having a problem with his "supplier" and would have the phone out shortly.
Ebay doesn't let you file a dispute with them until it has been something like 15 days after you purchased.
Finally, I researched more about the guy on the site and he does have something up about "Thank you Ebay for giving me a second chance".
I'm not feeling real good about any of this right now.
Anything I can or should be doing while I wait for days to pass to qualify for the dispute filing on Ebay?
-SC

Arnfinn Madsen · #2 04-12-2005, 01:44 PM

Hi,
Find his home address and send a harsh letter there. It often works with those kind of people.

fluxrad · #3 04-12-2005, 01:45 PM

Wait 15 days like it says. But yea, you got scammed.

This is why I only buy from those that have some serious positive feedback on eBay.

InchoateHand · #4 04-12-2005, 01:47 PM

Pimp him out. Put it in his pooper. Call his parents.

MaxPower · #5 04-12-2005, 02:01 PM

How did you pay for it?

If you used paypal report it to them. They will investigate and refund your money a lot faster than Ebay. Same for a credit card company.

scott8 · #6 04-12-2005, 02:06 PM

I used Paypal.
I'll look into it.

Dangergirl · #7 04-12-2005, 02:22 PM

Dispute this through paypal. If he can't show proof of delivery to your confirmed paypal address...you will get your money back.

Cry Me A River · #8 04-12-2005, 04:28 PM

Nevermind complaining to eBay, they're useless. Immediately file a complaint with Paypal for non-delivery. You only have 30 days from the date of the transaction to do this so do not delay! If he can't come up with a tracking number showing proof of delivery, you get the money back.

stanky · #9 04-12-2005, 04:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Finally, I researched more about the guy on the site and he does have something up about "Thank you Ebay for giving me a second chance".
-SC

[/ QUOTE ]

Next time research before you buy.

-Pete

wonderwes · #10 04-12-2005, 05:04 PM

There are too many theives on ebay now. A friend of mine was looking at dell laptops one time, a guy emailed him about his auction, which required an immediate payment on ebay. Well turns out the checkout site the guy directed him to I believe got his paypal id/password when the check out took him to a shipping page (some ebay buyers are power sellers and run their own website to track their own company orders, not uncommon). Well we find out the next day his paypal tried to have 2 $1200 transfers go to it. This was full robbery. He contacted Bank of America and paypal. Since he saw it the very next day, BOA saw it was illegal and contacted Paypal. So after the mess, he was refunded his money, mainly because BOA is a great bank.

My advice on ebay purchases, always be careful. Doesn't matter if the item is $20 or $200. A dated digital photo of the item is always good to ask for. Always check that feedback, because usually someone with 95% or better is a real legit seller. I dont care how cheap it is, if the guy has little to no feedback, then I usually will not buy from him.

Good luck.