Scamed by Ebay. What to do?

[wolfeye_26]

I purchased an item last month and after not receiving it for a week, I noticed two negative reviews popping up saying they were scammed. I then contacted the seller about the item I never received and he said he would send it when he could. I reported the item to ebay and they gave the seller 21 days to resolve the issue. Now today, I get an email saying the case is closed and there is nothing else I can do. I never received a refund and there is no option for me to re-open another case. It's as if I AM the one who missed the deadline. More concerningly this sellers account is still active. There is a serious case of ethics here and given ebay has certainly been noticed more than twice about items not received, they continue to leave this sellers account active so he can do this again. 

I've been using ebay since day in the mid-nineties so I know not to trust sellers with no reviews, but it was late and after an hour or so of shopping around I just made the purchase not realizing until a week later there were no reviews. Also, the item I purchased generally is sold amongst an honest solid community of pilots so there was less concern. 

So I understand my loss is my mistake but thinking deeper about this, should trusting ebay be a mistake? Ebay is letting scammers exist and not putting any effort in to stopping scams from happening. If two items are reported in a month period of not delivered on an account with no recent positive reviews, the seller account should be frozen immediately while it gets looked into. 

Ultimately, outside of my mistake, I feel scammed by ebay.  At MINIMUM ebay should have a pop up that says buying from new sellers is a risk because even veteran ebayers overlook this at times. Especially when making a lot of ebay purchases. 

Sellers handle: rinxey1

[wolfeye_26]

All I can at this point is initiate a return. ...this will just time out and nothing will get done.

How can ebay not have an option to report fraud?! Even craigslist has this option. From my point of view, ebay is a part of the fraud by not allowing it to be reported. They can clearly see the scammers based on item not recieved cases yet they do nothing. Its like a police department watching stores get robbed while they sit back watch and eat sandwiches while not allowing any police reports to be filed. Where is the class action suit?

[house*of*paws]

Hi @wolfeye_26 

eBay's Money Back Guarantee is shown in every listing ... and describes exactly what a buyer needs to do if they don't receive their item.  

IF you filed an 'item not received' case ... you need to ask eBay to 'step in' after 3 business days AND BEFORE 21 days.  Cases 'time out' if eBay isn't brought into a case before 21 days.

I'm not sure what happened with the case you filed ... but you can apply to either PayPal OR your credit card company for a refund.  DO NOT file with both at the same time.  You shouldn't have any problem getting refunded.  

[wolfeye_26]

Ebay would not step in because the SELLER was responding. There was never an option to bring ebay into the case at least not while I logged in. Also, a strict time out 'your loss' an a blantantly obvious scam  is not ethical. I do not care what rules ebay put in place. Ethics is a thing in our country. 

Also, again my mistake and I should know better for not keeping up to date on things. I've been using ebay since the mid-nineties and this is the first time I was scammed by a seller that ebay did not do anything about. The last time was around 2006. My question still remains, how can there be no system in place to have this person's account deactivated. I only lost $120, but the two other buyers lost about $2000. The scam seller is still able to sell. **bleep**?

[wolfeye_26]

I would like to know how you feel about rinxey1 still being an active seller. This is what I am mostly livid about, other than the '3 - 21 day statute of limitations' ebay created for fraud. 

[house*of*paws]

@wolfeye_26 

eBay's refund processes are automated.  Bots do not have ethics ... and cannot make judgments based on sellers' feedback.  

You should have seen a link to ask eBay to step in 3 business days after filing a case.  It shouldn't have mattered whether the seller was 'communicating'. 

Get your refund from your credit card company ... and you will stick the seller with an extra $20 fee (in addition to your money back).  It's easy to get too caught up with trying to get a seller removed and miss the big picture ... getting your money back.

I'm a fellow member ... a buyer only.  I don't have a clue why eBay does what it does ... and I long ago stopped wondering.  I'm here to make sure other members know how to navigate eBay's system ... not understand it.  I don't understand very much of it.  😕

[wolfeye_26]

So I am unable to open a dispute "for this type of transaction" with Paypal and my bank is not giving me the option to dispute it for anything other than this month. From experience if you can't dispute these things online the only other option is many phone calls and ladder climbs to get anything done which I do not have the time for. 

The frustrating thing is I knew soon I was being scammed and their was nothing I could do about it as long as the seller kept communicating. There is a hole in the system that allows this sort of scam to happen. There is no incentive for ebay or paypal to close it.  

[gosimus]

@wolfeye_26 

< All I can at this point is initiate a return >    

Is that what you did the first time?  Initiate a return before you have an object to return?  Maybe you'd have better results if you open an Item Not Received. 

Go to  https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-refunds/get-help-item-hasnt-arrived?id=4042  to get started.  There are pictures to help guide you.  

I see that, at the time you purchased, the seller already had two negative feedbacks for the same thing you're complaining about; i.e., non-delivery.  The least expensive yoke system I can find on the internet costs $149, others are much higher than that.  The one you bought cost $100.  Was  low price the bait that caused you to take a flyer? 

edited to add ~  Your negative feedback says left within the Past month.  The previous two negs say left within the Past six months.  It could be possible that those two hadn't been posted as of the time you made the purchase. 

[gosimus]

@wolfeye_26 

< I would like to know how you feel about [name deleted] still being an active seller >    

That seller whose name you called out – in violation of board rules – has three negative feedbacks and one positive.  Nobody will be buying from him.  Almost nobody.   😉

[wolfeye_26]

I do not need your remarks about my mistake. I already admitted I made a careless purchase. So keep your snide remarks to yourself.

You are saying ebay has no responsibility to protect its buyers from scammers. Again, why does this account still exist. 

Are you from Russia? You sound like someone on a Russian social network defending putin. 

[wolfeye_26]

Seller now responded to me after I did some investigating into his real address and now he is saying ebay will not allow him to give a refund. I actually believe him this time since ebay has blocked everything since 21 days has passed. I reopened the case for a return but it does not seem to matter. 

[gosimus]

@wolfeye_26 

< keep your snide remarks to yourself >    

I have as much right to post on this board as you do.  I regret that in your frustration you interpret my remarks as snide.  My intent was to clarify the facts.  Other members besides you and me read these threads.  Laying out the details could help someone else to avoid making the same mistakes you made.  I do wish you good luck in pursuing your refund. 

[wolfeye_26]

"clarify the facts" - they have already been clarified in the previous post. 

Again, for about the forth time, this is about ebay taking no action and allowing scammers to exist on the site. I already cut my losses. In the past, as some may remember, ebay use to take this sort of thing seriously but it no longer needs to uphold its reputation. Ebay needs a competitor. Period. 

Lessons learned:

1.) Ebay does not protect you against known scammers,  so you need to protect yourself.

2.) Ebay seems to encourage scammers, so if you get scammed and you are lucky enough to realize it within 21 days of the purchase, try Ebay's dispute system. Though the dispute system did not work for me since the seller knew how to get around it.

3.) Ebay has no system in place to report scammers so many scammers exist on ebay and make a good living off scamming ebay buyers.

4.) Paypal, of course, as usual, will not help you. You will get "you cannot dispute this type of transaction" if you even try. 

5.) If you're careless, from a few drinks or whatever, and get scammed, forum users(paid by ebay?) will snidely point out on repeat  how stupid you were not to read the buyer small print on "every page" and how you should have known the 3-21 ebay created statute of limitations on fraud. Blame the victim will be in full force. It's as if there is a brainwashed community of ebayers who feel ebay can do know wrong. As a result ebay does not take responsibility for its own careless actions. 

[house*of*paws]

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@wolfeye_26 wrote:

Seller now responded to me after I did some investigating into his real address and now he is saying ebay will not allow him to give a refund. I actually believe him this time since ebay has blocked everything since 21 days has passed. I reopened the case for a return but it does not seem to matter. 

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@wolfeye_26 

There was no point in opening a 'return case', since you will have nothing to return when asked to do so.  [The more pointless things you do ... the more likely that you will start to look suspect.  Please stop.  It won't help you.]

I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to get a chargeback from your credit card company.  You should have at least 6 months from date of purchase to do that.  Have you tried?

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[tenbigdogs]

Hi @wolfeye_26   What you describe is not a scam or fraud.  It's just a bad seller. 

Any buyer who has a problem is absolutely covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee.  It's hard for a buyer to lose their money on eBay. 

If you paid through PayPal, you have six months to file a dispute with them. If your payment was backed by a credit card, you have 60-90 days typically to try for a chargeback with the credit card company.  Good luck!

eBay Money Back Guarantee - https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...