22 replies to this topic

[kensplace2]

Got a bunch of refill keys as part of job lot recently, been selling them
on ebay to get a few extra quid, I made a point in my auction of letting people know the keys are mainly of benefit for OWNERS of machines, and
they dont do much if you are not the owner/keyholder.

Still I get lots of people asking how to make loads of money using the magic key........ Wish people would read auctions!

Worst thing is, one buyer who lives locally, asked to pick the key up in person, I agreed, he turned up when I was busy, and had just finnished helping to put a fence up, so was distracted a bit.

He asked if he could just send the money via paypal, I was dubious, but thought what the heck, its only 3.50, and he lives local, no one would be stupid enough to not pay 3.50, get a neg, and get caught red-handed as a thief.

Well, looks like I was the fool - he has not paid, and has ignored all emails.

Just wondering what to do next, I can give the b****rd a neg,
I could go round and collect in person, or send the police, or what.....

If the guy has the balls to rip of a local for 3.50, I bet he has ripped of loads of people in his time. My stupid fault for not slamming the door in his face and saying, no money, no goods.

[Bencrest]

I wouldn't let an eBayer around unless they had 100% positive feedback over 25 transactions, left me full contact details [which I was able to contact them on beforehand], that kind of thing.

eBay is rife with scammers, and TBH I guess the best thing is that you only lost £3.50 [although in reality I guess the value of the key to you is about a quid].

If you need help obtaining eBay contact details, let me know, should be easy to get name and address, and probably a phone number

[kensplace2]

yeah, its not exactly a great loss, as I got 10 keys for a quid and a mpu service manual, and some other bits all together good value that one was

Already got some contact details (the guy must not be very bright, unless he has given false details) so can give him a ring later on, or pop round.

He had 100 percent feedback, but only 7 in total, from now on, its as you say 25 or more before they come round.

Really tempted to file a online report with the police, just so they have the
t*at on record. Easy to do, did it when our dog went missing, and they rang the next day to say they had found it!
I know they have better things to do with their time,
but all info is stored, and he deserves to be on record, if he can rip of small amounts, he can rip of much larger amounts with just the same clear conscience....
Its more the principal of the thing, rather than the amount.

[martinmacca]

Just give him a neg & report him to Ebay so his account gets disabled- lucky you havnt really lost anything. Its easy to do, i sold 7 items in one week & posted out a £30 processor without payment by mistake

[Bencrest]

If you can get his contact details though eBay, you can also report him to Paypal. There is a chance of getting the Paypal payment once you've reported him

[algypan]

You can get his address and telephone number from any ebay transaction if you are the buyer or seller.

However, i have had false bids and when i tried reporting them to ebay it turned out all the details were false So they just disabled the persons account. The worst one was for 3 grand!

So be glad it was a small amount, i agree the police should be told but TBH i have sold over 100 items and only 3 have been unpaid/dodgy. When i consider i have made over 4 grand on ebay i kinda put it into perspective.

[Bencrest]

It is always possible to trace the person, but I agree that with £3.50 you should try the basics and if that doesn't work just put it down to experience.

When I say 'it is always possible', I mean through IP addresses, so you could thearetically trace it to once individual computer - but it depends on how arsed the police can be.

Anyone else see the person recently that made something like £70000 on eBay selling items that didn't exist? TVs, VCRs e.t.c.... and I bet the buyers didn't complain FULLY.

If you get ripped off on eBay, you could always send them a letter Recorded Delivery and keep a copy for yourself and a certificate of posting. Hopefully they will answer emails but TBH they have gotten far too big for humans to control [without employing 1000 people on fraud patrol on the UK site alone!]

[kensplace2]

Fraud is rife on ebay, my girlfriend even had her account hijacked recently,
and it went from the normall doll related auctions to selling bulk loads of state of the art mobiles, dvd's, plasma tv's etc.
Ebay cancelled the lot within an hour or two of me reporting it...

This guy may actually have given his real address, it matches with his paypal address (i checked with someone else who he had paid...) so he probably just thinks no one will be bothered to complain or do anything for 3.50

If he had said, look mate, im a bit skint can I pay you later, it would bhave been fine, but turning up on my doorstep, promising to pay, and then trying to pull a fast one is bare faced cheek.

Its probably going to be a very expensive 3.50 for this guy, what with a neg on ( http://feedback.ebay...&userid=des2512 ) and a minor crime notification to follow.

[lincs1]

hiya ken,

if u like i can send u a refill key at no cost whatsoever, i have 100's.

i have had dealing's with u on ebay, and i must say, ken is a top class bloke to deal with, its a shame u get 1 idiot on ebay to scam u.

THE BEST WAY IN THE FUTURE IS NEVER SELL ANYTHING TILL U GET THE READY'S UPFRONT.

markus

[kensplace2]

hi again markus,

Thanks for the offer, but I already have some keys,
its not the key, or the money that got me, it was just
the bare faced cheek of the guy!

Left him a nice neg, and the police were round earlier to take details,
and will be paying him a visit (if his address is real......)

Same friendly cop that caught the people that burgled our house (during the day, while we were in!). Got me my bike back in less than a hour - now thats what I call good police work

Now, Im off to go and get well and truly drunk, as I surf, as its my birthday

[Bencrest]

Well, I've got 100% positive feedback, over about 130 transactions - thats say 100 buying and 30 selling.

The only negative things I've personally had happen are :

1) Someone winning my item, me checking their history and seeing they won a similar one for £4 less, and then not bothering to pay me.

2) Some RAM that turned out to be EEC [therefore worthless], but TBH it wasn't marked EEC and was a bargain, so I let them off

Worst scammer on eBay? Make that eBay itself. I listed 6 Xbox games, and 1 sold. I relisted the 5 that didn't sell, 1/2 price, and they still didn't sell.

I then get an email from eBay saying I owe them £6 for the 5 auctions.

Thats £1.20 per auction and they didn't even sell. I mean FFS it is bad enough with their ridiculous final value fees and Paypal fees [for those not in the know, eBay bought Paypal], so you get charged twice by the same company.

Having said that, you will, in the case of computer games especially, normally get a higher price than you would from a pawn shop so I guess I'll stick at it

[kensplace2]

Dont worry too much about fraud, it can happen, and does happen, but it is in the minority of transactions. I have over 1500 positives, about 1307 unique, and only a handful of negs, all of which are from idiots who revenge neg.

Just be careful (wish I always followed my own advice here) and look out for anything dodgy. Dont reply to emails from ebay asking you to click a link to login, or paypal, as they will be fraudulent. Dont do what I did and trust anyone, unless you have good reason to. Even then be careful.

Most ebay transactions run smoothly, but be prepared for a bumpy ride when they dont.....

I look at it this way, the money I save from all the succesful transactions far outwieghs the odd lose here and there.

Things on ebay are usually cheaper than they are in the shops, or via distributers, there can be many reasons for this, it could be a fake, it more likely could be excess stock, bankrupt stock, or stolen, or just a retailer selling for less due to less overheads, or it could be a private seller who does not want the item as it was a gift, or whatever.

I also agree with ben about the fees, they are over the top, me and my g/f pay ebay loads per month, enough to pay for a dedicated server, yet the level of service from ebay sucks....

[kensplace2]

knew it would happen - the tosser just revenge negged me

So, there is theft, and now libel he is guilty off......

Some people have got a right nerve!

[kensplace2]

got a reply, apparently its a mixup, a "family member" bid, and told the account owner he had paid. The "family" member had also been deleting emails from me by the looks of it, as the account owner had no idea what was going on. Not sure if I fully believe this, but if I get paid, and he pays
for the neg to be removed then it ended ok.

Fella coming round tommorow to drop off a postal order, lets see if it arrives..

[Toddyuk]

Ive never had any bother with ebay , The only thing thats happened to me is where i bought this dvd off this guy three weeks later it still had not turned up so i contacted paypal and asked for a refund, 28 days later he hadnot responded to paypals emails so they refunded me and guess what the next day the dvd arrived
so i got my money back and still got the dvd lol .. I havent heard nothing since so iam not going to say owt lol

[nails]

you think YOU`ve been ripped off....

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...item=6176922823


i found out that basically the buyer was sent a cut down version of the so called `vic reeve fruit machine code` that said in not so many words that you force barcrest machines and just before a jackpot shows itself and start taking all the small wins.

total fraud m8.

[Bencrest]

Vic Green, but may as well be Vic Reeves lol

I almost bought the paper version from Viz, but couldn't be arsed when the 'free sample' was the Spellbound 'cheat' for Camelot

[kensplace2]

lol, I remember that auction, well another copy of it, at a different date, someone asked a classic question for seller. It went Something like this

Q."How about I buy this system and if it doesnt work, me and my mates come round and break your legs"
A."How about you dont bid on it....."

[djgaryc]

Don't even get me started... Right short version...

bought three different Faller fair models like this one>>> http://cgi.ebay.co.u...ssPageName=WDVW

from Germany to mine back in October '04. Basically got lost only got a refund in May '05

Took the P*ss.