Do I have a target on my head?
I have been waiting to post about this until I found out the determination and well, that came yesterday. I couldn’t of been more disappointed. And Mr. Cleaner, if you are reading this, you can wipe that sneaky smirk off your face, because you will get yours. I fully believe that.
A few months back, I decided to list our old camera on ebay to sell. We had gotten a new one and there was no reason to let it sit around. It was working perfectly fine and was a nice camera. I still used the old one a lot because it was comfortable and I knew how it worked, unlike the new cannon that I can barely tell how to get the lens cap off.
At the close of the auction someone bid last minute. He sent me an email and was quite the chatty cathy. I thought that was strange from the start, but what can I do? He needed to wait until Friday to pay for it, so I willingly waited even though it was over the 48 hours pay period.
He paid, I mailed. He sent me an email thanking me for the wonderful camera and said it works great. He also left me a glowing feedback response. Thanksgiving passes and he starts emailing me that the camera is not working correctly and explains a problem that I am familiar with caused by having the memory input switched.
Through his emails it becomes obvious to me that he doesn’t understand how to correctly work the camera. I try to explain it to him, but he just gets huffy and annoyed that I would doubt his almighty ability to work this camera. How dare me think he doesn’t know how to operate it!
I track down an owners & instruction manual and mail it to him free of charge.
A month passes and I hear from him time to time saying he wants a discount, all his money back and so forth. I get worried because the guy sound like a complete wacko. I contact ebay about the situation and they reassure me I have nothing to worry about- he can’t make me give him money back weeks after the transaction.
I then get a notice from paypal stating the guy was filing a dispute. I still refuse to give him money back and I escalate the case to a claim. I am told they will get a investigator on it and will ask me for evidence.
A month later I get a notice stating the wacko can submit evidence, but not me. They close the case telling me I have to refund the scam artist a full refund and he has to send me the camera back.
I learn that paypal really only looks out for themselves. They don’t want to make the credit card companies upset and/or deal with chargebacks, so basically whatever is best for paypal is what happens.
Even though I followed paypal’s sellers protection and blah, blah, blah I am completely screwed. I called paypal yesterday wondering what recourse I have if I get the camera back and its not in the condition I sent it in, and they basically told me too bad. I can file a claim if I receive the camera within 10 days and file in that time, otherwise, too bad.
This is not a $50 camera. I could, in the condition I sold it, get $400-500. I have yet to receive the camera back again, but I can almost guarantee it will not be in the great condition that I sold it in. This means I am going to be out this money.
Not only that, but I also found out the fee I had to pay ebay for this transaction is gone. I can not get that back either. This was not a $1.00 fee, but just under $50! So not only am I out the money for the camera and the shipping and handling, but the ebay fee, too. I am paying money to have this idiot completely scam me over!
I am pretty upset by this, as you can probably imagine. I am not telling you all about this to whine, but to warn you. Be careful of ebay and paypal. Read the fine print. Don’t get comfortable because it could be months down the road after you sell something before the buyer decides they want their money back.
Apparently there is no time frame. After researching, I found out this was actually very common. People sometimes wait up to 4 months before they decide, regardless of your policy or whatever protection you think you may have, that they want to return those pair of jeans. They may have worn them and got a hole in them, but 4 months later you are issuing them a full refund and taking back a pair of worn out, holey jeans. Scary, huh?
This all got to me, until I cleared out my head. Yes, I think this is so unfair and really ridiculous. I am upset that this scammer is getting away with this. But then I have to evaluate it in the big picture. It is money. Money comes and goes and I learned a hard lesson. I still have my family, their health, and a working new camera. I have real wealth. Life will continue…
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16 Responses to “Do I have a target on my head?”
January 14th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
How awful! That is just wrong, wrong, wrong.
chichimama’s last blog post..Failed
January 14th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
What the hell do people think?? Seriously…any jackass willing to do this is a POS in my book. I have purchased two things on ebay many years ago and it has always scared me. When you buy something used, isn’t there always a chance that one. there is something potentially wrong, two. it’s not brand new so the same thing could have went wrong with you, three. nothing in life comes with a warranty! I don’t know, we had a very unethical scandalous thing happen at work the other day so to hear that this guy is being a jackass is stupid. You don’t have to send him the money back until you receive the camera right?
January 15th, 2008 at 5:59 am
What on earth is the matter with people? That’s the most absurd thing ever. I’m so sorry you’re getting screwed over–you didn’t deserve that at all! I really and truly hope that you can sell the camera again.
Unless you are a business, I don’t see how anyone can accept a credit card (but not Paypal) as payment for an eBay item.
Your story is making me reconsider selling some odds and ends on eBay. Maybe it would be better to find an eBay reseller, or just donate the stuff. Oy.
Kacie’s last blog post..A house is where you live?not an investment
January 15th, 2008 at 6:57 am
How ridiculous! I wonder how ebay can thrive with policies like this? Does this happen even if you write “product is sold as is” and “seller makes no guarantee” etc. in your listing? That just isn’t right! But still, getting frustrated isn’t the answer, enjoy your family, and at least write a few letters to the powers that be to see if you can make a difference.
Neena (NeenMachine)’s last blog post..Friday Giveaway Roundup
January 15th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Wow, that’s crazy! I’m sorry that happend to you. I didn’t realize that could happen on feebay. I’ll think twice before I clean out the closets and list it on feebay again. Karma will get him in the end!
Andrea’s last blog post..We Made It!
January 15th, 2008 at 11:32 am
That is no kinda good. Sorry you had to go thru that. Some people are just wrong.
frugalmom’s last blog post..House Update
January 15th, 2008 at 11:58 am
This is one of the reasons I hate selling stuff on ebay. I’ve done it, but I’m not comfortable with it. People are picky and I don’t have the patience to deal with that.
Sorry this had to happen to you! It really sux to be out all that fee money!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I’ve always been scared of e-bay. This solidify’s my fear! It’s just not right that people are allowed to do this sort of scam, and there are not measures in place to prevent it. Very sorry for your trouble.
Adele’s last blog post..Daddy’s
January 15th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
People ARE NUTS! UGH! so sorry you had to deal with that.
candace’s last blog post..this article
January 15th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
oh no! That is just terrible, I cannot believe that they can do that to people. Seriously, there has to be a time limit for a purchase/sale to be considered final. The camera was sold, he left feedback and was happy with it; you shouldn’t have to refund him now! Who knows what he has done with it? I’m so sorry. That totally stinks.
Erin’s last blog post..What Do You Use Your Food Processor For?
January 16th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I have had decent luck selling things on Ebay, but I’ve always sold “new” things (like something we got a duplicate of or something) or used kids clothes. But I’m not even remotely surprised with the monstrosity of Ebay and Paypal that you got the shaft. They’re set up to not deal with actual people unless it becomes completely necessary and then, clearly, you got it stuck to you.
I have nothing to say except, this totally sucks. Ebay should have a moron clause for guys like that.
Sonia’s last blog post..Do You Know Why I Stopped You Today, Ma’am?
January 26th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
[…] week also brought the return of my camera, which seems to work fine, albeit filthy and smelling disgusting. I am taking it into the shop to […]
January 30th, 2008 at 8:00 am
[…] you sell anything on eBay, please read this horror story from Boogiemum. Of course, her story is a one-time event, but it’s worth considering, just in case it […]
January 30th, 2008 at 10:45 am
This is similar to what happened to us with a computer tower my husband sold. The problem definitely seems to lie with paypal. For that reason I know several people who sell on ebay, but will not take paypal payments. Ebay offers a bit more protection, but they can’t control what actions paypal takes. I had no idea paypal would just take the money from your account or demand you repay it until our incident and then I researched it and found this happens A LOT! (Read paypalsucks.com) - you’ll read all kinds of stories with similar situations. Several state attorney generals are starting to look into their practices.
Sorry you had to go through this - I know how frustrating and infuriating the situation is.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
[…] point. Paypal. Paypal is the exact reason why I signed up with RME. Many of you may remember the problems I had with Paypal. Since the entire situation started, I have refused to use Paypal, which has not always been easy. […]
July 7th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
It seems to be a characteristic of life to get screwed from time to time and ocassionally it is a major screwing. These are hard lessons and always come with a price. Our reaction to them seems to be the point and the sooner we get that the better off we are. Glad you are getting over it. We are rich in many many ways and this poor fellow… well he is poor.