My fiascoe with an eBay purchase

[elcompa]

This is the story of my fiascoe with an eBay purchase. Very embarrassing, but I'll bare my soul. I was once taken advantage of on eBay. Well, nearly... Perhaps someone can learn something from my ridiculous escapade. Anyway, it is said that the best learning comes after great pain.... And yes, I should have known better.

I was after a Rolex watch on eBay about 6 months ago. The price was good, but not ridiculously so. I looked very closely at the posted pix. Even had a friend "in the know" look at them. the pix were real and all was original. The seller had 2 yrs of good feedback, a 99% or something recommendation (whatever they call it). I called him, emailed him, chatted via ebay, all seemed well. I (luckily) sent the money via PayPal and he sent the postal info. All on track, right? I looked carefully at the tracking info that came by email and it actually said pick up number. I clicked on the link. It sent me to the US federal postal service, USPS mail site. Even the links on his email worked. I called him to ask pls send me the proper tracking info and explained that something must be wrong with the site. He sent me another number. He played me along for a few days via emails and calls. Finally I contacted the postal service by phone to see what was wrong. They said they could not recognize the number. The phone calls and emails ceased abruptly...this is when I got scared. Didn't know what to do. Felt real stupid in front of my wife. Lost a lot of money on a scam. What an idiot I was!!!

I called PayPal, filed a complaint. I then began to dig even more. PayPal sent me info on him. His contact and banking info were in South Africa and his phone number was a VOIP in Korea. I went back to ebay to see what else I could find on the guy and all of his account info was gone. Deleted. Missing. all of it...even all his positive feedback.

As PayPal had him listed at a foreign address, but he claimed to me in an email that I thankfully kept, that he was in Florida, PayPal locked him out, but they still had his banking info that he had registered with. They changed the status of "complaint" to "investigation". They notified him and he replied via email. Stringing them along too, he did not comply with their requests for info. A week or two later PayPal asked if they could have another week to ensure that he would not reply, thus giving him every possible chance to correct the problem. They contacted him again and sent me an email copy. To this, he did not reply. Disappeared like a ghost leaving only a trail of lies, bad emails, bad addresses and voip numbers.

Long and short of it: After about a month and various attempts, considering my email evidence, PayPal reimbursed me in full. Every penny. I lost nothing. One of the tricks is timing. Had I waited over three weeks to report it, it might not have gone so smoothly...over their legal limits. Since I jumped on it and reported it, and followed up several times with calls and emails, they did what they promised. PayPay took a while doing so, but they did support their buyer protection plan as promised.

Yes, this was quite embarrassing to write out, so please learn something from this and pass it on to anyone who may need this kind of support.

On the bright side, I was recommended to do business on TRF and two purchases later all has gone well. It was painful finding TRF, but Im glad to be here.

[TAKUYA]

Never Bought or Sold the watches on ebay. Thanks for sharing your experiences and Good Things to learn, my friend!

And Glad you didn't loose anything

And Very Glad you found TRF and …………

[cop414]

Wow, good cautionary tale, thank you for sharing.

[dysondiver]

a lucky escape , i know many who trade on e bay , some on this forum do too ,,,
but when a horror story does show up , its grim.

[anilzat]

That as##ole theif, someone needs to hang him by his nuts.

[Frosty]

What a gut wrenching experience! I am glad it turned out O. K. Trusted Sellers on TRF are the only way to go!

[Hairdude1]

Originally Posted by Frosty

What a gut wrenching experience! I am glad it turned out O. K. Trusted Sellers on TRF are the only way to go!

So true

[jjnd08]

I have been lucky thus far. I have bought two Rolexes on ebay, and sold one.

I wonder how the seller was able to have fake feedback over 2 years. Any one have any ideas?

[anilzat]

Originally Posted by jjnd08

I have been lucky thus far. I have bought two Rolexes on ebay, and sold one.

I wonder how the seller was able to have fake feedback over 2 years. Any one have any ideas?

Maybe his account was hacked into? Only a wild guess.

[jjnd08]

Originally Posted by anilzat

Maybe his account was hacked into? Only a wild guess.

That was my original thought, but if I were the true account owner, I would not be happy about losing all of my feedback.

[Presa canary]

That really sucks that this happened to you. But it just goes to show how great of a system eBay and paypal have going. You did everything right. And somehow a scammer still slid through the cracks on his greasy belly.... But pay pal was there, 100% guaranteed. You have better chances of not being robbed here, but you hear every month about a scammer doing something here. This place is just a lot smaller and more tight knit obviously.

[Lgear080]

Did he have other previous Rolex sales? Can you post some
Of his emails? I think you missed some red flags. I only deal
Locally once I close an eBay auction.

[vacheroyale]

what a tutorial experience . definitely on ebay all that glitters is not gold !!!!

[seand442]

Glad it worked out for you. Another reason I would be hesitant to buy anything of great value on ebay.

[boogiebot]

Wow crazy. Glad you came out flush. It sucks that people resort to doing business like this.

[elcompa]

Guys,
Thanks for your supportive and gentlemanly comments. I'm also glad everyone resisted having a chuckle at my expense. Well, it's actually OK if you did privately. I posted it so others might see/read it as cautionary. So please take it to heart, at least with high dollar items. The temptation is simply too great for those less fortunate or the criminally intended. It is sometimes easy to forget that not everyone has 8 or 10 grand for a nice time piece. We are indeed a fortunate bunch.

In the end, PayPal, whom I did not have much respect for prior, came through like a champ. I really didn't expect that. Thought I was going through the motions...kind of like filling out a police report and expecting no recovery. You can imagine my shock after all that money (in full) was put back into my account about a month after initiating the process. I gave myself a high-five, drank a beer and went shopping here on TRF with a trusted seller. Worked out so well, I bought another for my wife a month later. So relieved I found this place.

[TAKUYA]

Originally Posted by elcompa

drank a beer and went shopping here on TRF with a trusted seller.

i knew that my friend!

[elcompa]

Originally Posted by takuya

i knew that my friend!

Glad I found you, bro. We will most certainly be doing business again!

[TAKUYA]

Originally Posted by elcompa

Glad I found you, bro. We will most certainly be doing business again!

if you buy me a beer, then yes . otherwise No

P.s Thanks for sharing your story and your experience again. Glad you did not loose anything.

[SUBversive]

Terrible story. But you should tell us the amount ...... Really curious and since it turned out okay, why not share that.

[elcompa]

Originally Posted by SUBversive

Terrible story. But you should tell us the amount ...... Really curious and since it turned out okay, why not share that.

It was in the neighborhood of 8k

[Lion]

I'm glad your negative experience worked out in your favor...since you did nothing wrong to begin with and followed the rules. It just goes to show all of us that the scammers are out their and if they can find a crack in the armor they will go for it. And that you must document all your actions so if it comes down to your word...you can back it up with Truth and Honesty.....

Take care and Happy Hunting.....Leo

[elcompa]

Originally Posted by Lion

I'm glad your negative experience worked out in your favor...since you did nothing wrong to begin with and followed the rules. It just goes to show all of us that the scammers are out their and if they can find a crack in the armor they will go for it. And that you must document all your actions so if it comes down to your word...you can back it up with Truth and Honesty.....

Take care and Happy Hunting.....Leo

Thanks Leo! You are right, saving all my emails and call records was a key point in receiving my reimbursement. Especially the email he sent me with the link that actually took me to the US Postal Service web site. That was the kicker for PayPal...an investigator actually called me and had a laugh about this....what a crafty dude this jerk was. That plus the fact that he billed himself as operating out of Florida, but his IP address, phone number and bank account all went to different countries. I'm so glad they really looked into it and didn't just pay me lip service. BTW, the address in Florida checked out to be an arcade in a suburb. Funny now, but not so much the day I learned of it. Boy, did I spend several nights sleepless wondering how I was going to tell my wife...and how stupid she would think I was. More like how stupid I felt.

[Rock]

It's the luck of the draw.
I bought my Cellini on Ebay. I couldn't find what I wanted anywhere else and so I just held off until the right one came along. I checked out the seller as thoroughly as I could. Independently verified that they were a 'bricks & mortar' outfit in the nominated city. Seemed OK and so I decided it was worth the risk.
Ended up with a beautiful watch that was better than described - absolutely mint - and at a better price than the rubbish I had seen in Australia. The transaction was smooth and trouble free.
Having said that, I would now only deal with trusted sellers on TRF. Why take unnecessary risks.

[warren G.]

Thankfully you didn't wire him the money. Also, thank you for posting your experience and lesson. I'm glad everything worked out in the end.

[bayerische]

eBay isn't all bad. I've bought a lot off stuff on there that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else.

Would I buy a 10.000 euro watch on eBay? Heck no!

A 200 euro lighter? Sure.

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by bayerische

eBay isn't all bad. I've bought a lot off stuff on there that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else.

Would I buy a 10.000 euro watch on eBay? Heck no!

A 200 euro lighter? Sure.

Yeah I have bought some stuff on Ebay as well and had great experiences but it was all low dollar purchases. I have heard way about way too many scams on high ticket items to ever feel comfortable purchasing something with that much at stake.

[69mach351]

Nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has their own comfort level, and with quite a bit of positive feedback, a good history, and pay pal protection, I would be willing to take a risk. As a seller, I hate all of the fees, but as a buyer, they have protected me as well. Like you said, be thorough and hang on to everything. There is no reason you shouldn't get your money back.

[Cesium133]

Originally Posted by 69mach351

Nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has their own comfort level, and with quite a bit of positive feedback, a good history, and pay pal protection, I would be willing to take a risk. As a seller, I hate all of the fees, but as a buyer, they have protected me as well. Like you said, be thorough and hang on to everything. There is no reason you shouldn't get your money back.

I agree with the above. OP, you were an educated buyer: did research, had a friend vet the watch, used PayPal, followed up with seller, ect. You shouldn't feel bad. You were taken advantage of by a Professional Scammer. Glad you got your money back.

[subtona]

glad it worked out!

i have dealt with ebay only perhaps a dozen times tops, two of those times, although the items were authentic they were misrepresented/defective and had to be sent back….. it really is a pain in the butt and you have to be diligent in your pursuit of correcting it as you clearly were