05-04-2022 10:22 AM - edited 05-04-2022 10:25 AM
I just discovered this scam when I ordered a PS 5 from ***** (ebay wont allow "name shaming" since they are currently protecting scammers, that's the ONLY reason they wont allow name posting btw). The user canceled the PS5 WITHOUT warning, stating "invalid shipping address", which was an obvious complete lie since both billing and shipping addresses were IDENTICAL. They are only doing this on items that have the Squaretrade warranty in the order carts. Ebay, Squaretrade, and ***** along with most other PS5 scalping power users are getting kickbacks from this scam. Scalpers are the ONLY way to get a PS5 for the last 18 months and will continue to be the case for the next 2 years.
If you buy ANY item on ebay, NEVER add a warranty to it! Ever! This isnt amazon. This is ebay, where ebay ENCOURAGES scamming.
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05-05-2022 07:57 AM - edited 05-05-2022 08:02 AM
Welp, that doesnt change the fact that it was a bad experience all around. These problems dont exist on Amazon. Period (and yes they also have 3rd party warranty partners, but if an item is canceled, so is the warranty.... DUUUUUUH). I hadnt used ebay for about 10+ yrs because it was garbage back then. I gave it a try with MAJOR hesitations (simply because it happened to be the only one I could find the item in stock currently, I have however found it locally instead as one popped up just last night), had a bad experience and sealed the deal, it's still a garbage service. Back to Amazon it is. Amazon isnt the monster it is compared to ebay for no reason. Ebay existed as a sales platform WELL before Amazon, they pulled off a pretty difficult feat which is to lose first mover advantage in the same way Myspace did to FB. Ebay lost to Amazon and I'm proof of that.
05-04-2022 10:33 AM
Can you explain how anyone could get kickbacks with this scenario?
05-04-2022 10:37 AM - edited 05-04-2022 10:42 AM
Simple. It's called affiliates. Look it up sometime. You could also look at the squaretrade user's negative comments. 17,000 in just the last 6 months. ALL of them related to "canceled" items. This isnt a coincidence. It's a coordinated scam between all 3 parties. You dont get 17000 negatives and still have the luxury of being called "one of ebay's top sellers" without ebay having received some sort of monetary kickback. They ONLY way a scam like this would work is with the cooperation of Ebay. And since Ebay has a REALLY BAD track record of actually protecting scammers, this isnt an accusation out of the realm of possibility. You can also get a lot of info about the squaretrade scam by googling it. However, I wasnt aware of it until it was to late. It had been YEARS since I bought anything on Ebay, I stayed away from it for over a decade because of their bad practices back then and only used Amazon. Then my 1st purchase here results in a fking scam. Back to Amazon it is for me. I hope ebay continues it's downward death spiral and having to deal in scams in order to stay afloat.
05-04-2022 10:44 AM - edited 05-04-2022 10:46 AM
BTW, I also discovered Ebay has already been slapped with a RICO lawsuit about this very issue. However it was thrown out of court on technicalities because the plaintiff didnt follow the court's rules. They tried to sue without a lawyer and end up not filing the right documents. However the claim itself had merit and it dealt specifically with the squaretrade scam of not refunding squaretrade "warranties" on items that were canceled and never even shipped.
05-04-2022 11:04 AM
@rcou6590 wrote:BTW, I also discovered Ebay has already been slapped with a RICO lawsuit about this very issue. However it was thrown out of court on technicalities because the plaintiff didnt follow the court's rules. They tried to sue without a lawyer and end up not filing the right documents. However the claim itself had merit and it dealt specifically with the squaretrade scam of not refunding squaretrade "warranties" on items that were canceled and never even shipped.
All you have to do is contact them and cancel the warranty.
SquareTrade doesn't know the order was canceled.
05-04-2022 11:06 AM
@rcou6590 wrote:Simple. It's called affiliates. Look it up sometime. You could also look at the squaretrade user's negative comments. 17,000 in just the last 6 months. ALL of them related to "canceled" items. This isnt a coincidence. It's a coordinated scam between all 3 parties. You dont get 17000 negatives and still have the luxury of being called "one of ebay's top sellers" without ebay having received some sort of monetary kickback. They ONLY way a scam like this would work is with the cooperation of Ebay. And since Ebay has a REALLY BAD track record of actually protecting scammers, this isnt an accusation out of the realm of possibility. You can also get a lot of info about the squaretrade scam by googling it. However, I wasnt aware of it until it was to late. It had been YEARS since I bought anything on Ebay, I stayed away from it for over a decade because of their bad practices back then and only used Amazon. Then my 1st purchase here results in a fking scam. Back to Amazon it is for me. I hope ebay continues it's downward death spiral and having to deal in scams in order to stay afloat.
Ebay might get a little kickback, but there is nothing in it for the seller.
05-04-2022 12:15 PM
You dont get 17000 negatives and still have the luxury of being called "one of ebay's top sellers"
Yes, on eBay, you do. They quit using feedback as a seller's metric.
05-04-2022 12:20 PM - edited 05-04-2022 12:21 PM
And why do you suppose that is. Is it stated plainly anywhere, or is it more likely BURIED deep in some 50000 word "terms" document somewhere that isnt easily navigable from the order screen (it's not, I've already looked). This is the very definition of a scam IMO and it's also the basis for a Rico Lawsuit that's currently underway (again). It's child's play to add a feature that would AUTOMAGICALLY cancel any "warranty" type items for items that were never shipped to begin with. That's just common sense and a reason Ebay will be successfully sued over in due time.
This is an ebay only problem. Other retailers such as Amazon dont have these type of scam problems.
05-04-2022 12:26 PM
Um, set up alerts for when major retail stores get in PS5s. I've been able to buy them for the last year +.
We were able to get them for christmas 2020 and 2021 utilizing this method.
Get an alert whenever they're in stock. Buy it online with instore pickup, or race to the store and pick up. No reason at all to pay scalpers.
Oh and contact squaretrade and cancel the warranty, squaretrade has no idea the order was cancelled. Easy process.
05-04-2022 12:39 PM
@rcou6590 wrote:And why do you suppose that is. Is it stated plainly anywhere, or is it more likely BURIED deep in some 50000 word "terms" document somewhere that isnt easily navigable from the order screen (it's not, I've already looked). This is the very definition of a scam IMO and it's also the basis for a Rico Lawsuit that's currently underway (again). It's child's play to add a feature that would AUTOMAGICALLY cancel any "warranty" type items for items that were never shipped to begin with. That's just common sense and a reason Ebay will be successfully sued over in due time.
This is an ebay only problem. Other retailers such as Amazon dont have these type of scam problems.
Like I said, SquareTrade doesn't know if the item shipped or not, unless you contact them.
I've heard it's pretty easy to cancel the warranty and get a refund.
People have tried suing, but don't think they get very far.
I've had my share of problems on Amazon also, so it's not just Ebay.
05-04-2022 12:43 PM - edited 05-04-2022 12:46 PM
@kensgiftshop wrote:I've heard it's pretty easy
This is where you're supposed to stop and think "Ok, maybe I dont know everything". Whenever you find yourself saying "I've heard...". Thats when you can rest assured that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. If it were easy, ebay wouldnt be getting sued over it and the squaretrade account wouldnt have 17000 negative feedbacks over the last 6 months about this very problem.
As soon as I find a way to contact squaretrade (the ebay "Contact seller" option sure as **bleep** doesnt work as advertised), I will indeed cancel. Thats another problem with their account, it has 14000 negatives just about the contact seller button going unreplied to. Clearly they dont monitor it yet ebay still presents it as a way to contact the seller even though they know it does nothing. This is another Rico complaint that they could be sued over under the guise of Ebay being corrupt, knowing that their service doesnt do what it's supposed to do.
05-04-2022 01:07 PM
@rcou6590 wrote:
@kensgiftshop wrote:I've heard it's pretty easy
This is where you're supposed to stop and think "Ok, maybe I dont know everything". Whenever you find yourself saying "I've heard...". Thats when you can rest assured that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. If it were easy, ebay wouldnt be getting sued over it and the squaretrade account wouldnt have 17000 negative feedbacks over the last 6 months about this very problem.
As soon as I find a way to contact squaretrade (the ebay "Contact seller" option sure as **bleep** doesnt work as advertised), I will indeed cancel. Thats another problem with their account, it has 14000 negatives just about the contact seller button going unreplied to. Clearly they dont monitor it yet ebay still presents it as a way to contact the seller even though they know it does nothing. This is another Rico complaint that they could be sued over under the guise of Ebay being corrupt, knowing that their service doesnt do what it's supposed to do.
So you do not desire to get your money back by following simple suggestions.
Good luck to you....
05-04-2022 01:31 PM
@rcou6590 wrote:
@kensgiftshop wrote:I've heard it's pretty easy
This is where you're supposed to stop and think "Ok, maybe I dont know everything". Whenever you find yourself saying "I've heard...". Thats when you can rest assured that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. If it were easy, ebay wouldnt be getting sued over it and the squaretrade account wouldnt have 17000 negative feedbacks over the last 6 months about this very problem.
As soon as I find a way to contact squaretrade (the ebay "Contact seller" option sure as **bleep** doesnt work as advertised), I will indeed cancel. Thats another problem with their account, it has 14000 negatives just about the contact seller button going unreplied to. Clearly they dont monitor it yet ebay still presents it as a way to contact the seller even though they know it does nothing. This is another Rico complaint that they could be sued over under the guise of Ebay being corrupt, knowing that their service doesnt do what it's supposed to do.
You can contact them using the phone number they left in your feedback, visit their web site or use the Contact Member link on their feedback page.
If you use the Contact Member link, it might take a few days to hear back from them.
05-04-2022 02:36 PM
It is easy to cancel the square trade warranty, I have done it a few times..... J/S
05-04-2022 03:18 PM
You replied to an earlier response:
"It's child's play to add a feature that would AUTOMAGICALLY cancel any "warranty" type items for items that were never shipped to begin with. That's just common sense and a reason Ebay will be successfully sued over in due time".
You are taking it for granted the Square trade and ebay are partners who are in constant communication with one another, when nothing could be further from the truth. Square trade is only a recommended aftermarket warranty service. Yes ebay has links allowing you to purchase the service, from the site, but that is far as it goes between them. To contact Square Trade use the number on the feedback you received and have the policy information you should have received by email available.
There are other after market warranty providers you can use when you buy items online as well, but you have to contact them separately. One of the big things people do not take into account when buying items on ebay is, there is no Manufacturer's warranty protection, unless you buy from an authorized dealer of an item. That's why @justafemster 's suggestion to get alerts when stores will be receiving products is such a good one.
As for the RICO lawsuit, I seriously doubt it will be won by the plaintiffs, only the lawyers will come out ahead in that one.