Question about an ebayer I'm having trouble with

Ok, I wasn't really sure if I should post this, but I'm just not sure what to do.

I bought something on ebay, from a person who has l00% possitive 124 feedback. The item with shipping was l0.99 not a big loss.

I bought a money order directly after the ebay auction was over, emailed her for an address, and over a week later she sends me an invoice, and mentions she only accepts postal money orders, well, this was on the auction too, I neglected to read, so Off I go to buy another money order from the p.o. where I promptly threw away the receipt or the attached part of it, BUT, that doesn't guarantee that I mailed the money order. I know this. Which is why I haven't done much about this auction.

I contact her a few weeks later asking if she had shipped out, no reply, I get a little nasty, Yes it happens. ask again, threaten to report her, and she emails me back and says, Item was shipped, I never received a money order but I shipped the item anyways, nothing I can do. Who in their right mind would ship the item if the money order /payment hadn't been received? Ha/? anybody know. Does she think I"m ignorant or something. She more or less is done with me, I haven't to this day received my item. I did file a claim with ebay, but haven't taken it any further yet because I don't have the receipt to the money order, I can't really prove I sent it out to her. You know what I mean. I'm at a loss, I just don't know if I should just call it quits on this. I'm even bothered about leaving negative feedback because I know she'll come back and say I didn't pay. I can't prove to her I did, I did pay and I know the lady at the p.o. personally, and she could probably vouch that I bought themoney order. But I haven't talked to her yet.

It's not alot of money, but it's plain to see this woman isn't going to send me my item. I was nasty with her yes I was, maybe she's retaliating, not sure. But you know, when I don't get payment when I ask for it, I contact my ebayers, I don't ship their stuff without payment, and let it go for over a month and not do anything about it. I try to find out.

I've gotten her contact info and it was the wrong phone number, but later on in an email she did send me her phone number, but I no longer have it. I'm not sure what I'd say to her if I did call her.

I just want you all to know, I wasn't buying a plant LOL I was buying my daughter a pair of jeans. I"ve never had a sale gone bad from a plant auction, knock on wood, I have had a few other auctions go bad from folks not sending or sending broken , etc...

any advice would be appreciated.

kathy_ann

I'm just tempted to just let this one go........ And I think she expects me to since she knows I can't do much with proving my payment went out.

What a drag! I'm a huge ebay user and find that it's not in the spirit of the feedback forum for vendors to withhold feedback until the end of the sale and the buyer has left feedback. It's like ransom. That's why she has 100% feedback - no one who has problems dares leave negative.

I wonder if contacting buyers of other items from the vendor have had similar experiences. Is most of her feedback from sellers or buyers? You can see what she has sold and who bought what - if most don't leave feedbacks, you'll get a clue there's something going on.

Can the uspo give you a new receipt?

I only use paypal now, or send money via the bank's billpay. Most vendors will go for it, since it's direct from the bank.

You may have to let this one go, but it's good you let ebay know, so if it happens again with this vendor and another customer, they'll have some kind of record. Which vendor? I want to avoid her!

Who do you buy plants from on ebay? Have you any experience with plantranch?

Good luck and sympathies for the frustration!
Laura

I've never bought from plantranchbefore, sorry. I just bought from hirtsgreen recently and robynsgardens. birds,butterflies & something else. can't remember the whole name.

I guess I 'll have to ask the lady at the p.o. about a new receipt. and I never though t to check her past auctions, she has feedback from buyers and sellers, or rather from her as a buyer and seller.

kathy

Kathy, I would persue it. You know when she gets away with it once she will do it over and over. Did you buy insurance or delivery confirmation?

I would talk to the lady at the post office. They can send a tracer on it even if it is did not have delivery confirmation.

You could try telling her you did not mean to get nasty that you bought them for your daughter and you got upset when they did not get their.

Maybe you could catch this fly with a little sugar. Doesn't hurt to try. Then I would leave feedback as if we don't speak up that is what they are banking on.

Blessings,
Sandy ^8^

Kathy_Ann

As a seller I can say that yes I have sent low price items before they were paid for (not these days but a while ago I did). Can she prove she sent the jeans and is there anyway you can prove the payment got to her?

If neither of you can prove you kept up your end of the bargain then it might be that you both have to chalk it up to experience. A month is a long time for no contact, I usually give people 7-14 days before asking.

Is it important enough for you to leave negative feedback and report only to risk a retaliation feedback and NPB?

4Paws

There are as many buyers who don't keep with the spirit of the feedback system as there are sellers. I got very tired of being pestered and threatened by a small perentage of buyers who saw the act of leaving positive feedback before they did as a great opportunity to press much more from me or else they'd report me, leave bad feedback or even come to my address. Feedback has always gone both ways and I now tend to withold feedback until it is left for me or unless the buyer has bought from me before. Ebayers can see the feedback left for others which I find is a great help when choosing a seller.

The trouble with ebay now is that it's so big and so many media stories about being ripped off on the internet, ebay, etc., that both sellers and buyers expect to be taken for a ride and to be honest it's become a lot less of a pleasant experience to trade on ebay because of that. Most ebayers are honest people going about their legitimate business. It's unfortunate that there are these instances and if the ebayer isn't a business there is very little customer protection other than the threat of negative feedback.

This message was edited Mar 18, 2006 7:04 PM

Thanks you all for all the information, I will have to check with the p.o. first before doing anything, I have filed a complaint with ebay, a seller not sending item report. cant think of the proper name for it, can't do anything else for l0 days, she has contacted me since I filed that report, that's when she told me she didn't get the money order and sent the item anyways, and that there was nothing she could do about it. I just find it hard to believe she never mentioned the no payment before. or even asked me or anything until I filed a complaint against her.

I can't prove I sent that money order, I have not had many problems with ebayers and didn't feel the need this time to hold onto the receipt.

kathy ann, we had a major problem with a seller who had lots of good feedback some years ago. Ours was not for 10.99, but for the tune of several thousands of dollars. We eventually got our merchandise, it took 5 mths! We wrote to ebay, who did absolutely nothing, didn't even answer me back and I wrote many, many times.

I sent registered, certified letters to his place of employment, his business, and his home. He refused everyone of them.

It was only after I left negative feedback for him that he finally got up and shipped the goods. Of course, he retaliated with a bunch of lies on feedback for me........but what the heck, I got what we paid for.

Oh, and once I posted my negative feedback, I had no less than 5 other people email me with problems they had had with the same person and similar to ours.

POST FEEDBACK!!!

And one more thing, we purchased an irrigation system from someone in another state on Ebay. We were given his address, phone number, etc. We paid $500 for that item. We never got the item and when we tried to contact him, letters were sent back no such person....and the phone number was not a working one.

So, I am real leary of Ebay anymore.

My gosh, you've been taken to the mill through ebay. I'd die if any of that ever happened to me.

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate your input

kathy

KathyAnn, ALWAYS keep copies of all your emails and all your receipts. Your receipt is the only proof you have that you sent the money order. Also, mail the money order from the P.O. so that the zipcode shows up on your receipt when you purchase the stamp, if the clerk keys it in. Then you have receipt for the MO and receipt that the something was sent to the zip code the seller provided. Once you get your merchandise, then you can toss the receipts.

The post office probably cannot give you another receipt, as they gave you the only one they had. When I do money orders, I attach the receipt to the copies of any correspondence with the seller. So if a problem such as yours arises, I can file mail fraud charges. Without proof, you have no case.

Considering the seller has 124 positive feedback (100% rating), she's probably not a scammer. Honestly, 124 people wouldn't leave her great feedback if she had scammed 'em all. The post office is unreliable and it's highly likely your money order got lost in the mail. My brother sent in a mortgage payment 6 months ago that still hasn't cleared the bank! Who knows where it is.

The woman didn't receive your payment and you have no proof you sent one. So I think you just have to write this off. If one of your customers swore they sent you a money order, and you never got it, would you mail the merchandise? Would you think the buyer is scamming you? Your buyer would probably think you're scamming him. But you have excellent feedback. Would you want him leaving you negative feedback for a postal error?

I have to say don't ruin her rating. She's probably reputable and probably never got your MO. I prefer paying by paypal because there is a record of it that is easy to access. I skip most sellers who don't accept paypal.

But didn't the seller say that they had sent the merchandise to her? Postal errors on both ends? I would suspect that they said they sent it, but didn't....because they never received her payment.

But in my case, the man had much positive feedback...some of the people that wrote to me said they posted positive feedback that wasnt' true. They just didn't want to rock the boat and they wanted the seller to post positive feedback for them. The only thing that worked for me was posting the feedback.

And I would agree to save everything. If I doodled on another piece of paper, I would save it now....after what we've been through.......but we do avoid any big ticket items on Ebay anymore.

And to be fair to Ebay, I went through a period of time where I was purchasing often from Ebay. I had many good transactions....just be alert and aware.

This thread touches a chord with me.

I have had hundreds of very positive experiences with eBay. I would attribute this to my personal system of checks and balances. I have been very fortunate to have had all my ducks in a line for the two times I had issues and to be quite blunt, I slammed both sellers to the extent that they didn't know what hit them and eBay had no choice but to side with me because of the paper trail I had.

Here are my tips that have worked well for me.

I bid only on items where a US postal money order or PayPal are accepted, no exceptions.

I bid only on items that are legally able to be shipped to me. No exceptions.

I bid only on items that are from the US, the UK, Canada, or Australia.

I use a Chase Visa for payment and although PayPal has my banking information, I never allow electronic debit from my checking account. My Visa is much safer as if I have an issue, I can contest the charge. You can not do that if you allow them to draft out of your checking account because banking laws are not conducive to same. Just another level of protection afforded by my credit card provider that's there if I need it.

If I am sending a US Postal Money Order, I slip it in the envelope I am mailing it out in when I am standing in front of the clerk. It's a small office and I want her to see the Money Order going in the envelope every time and it is a very good habit to get in to. I let the clerk see me place a little tiny circle on the money order with a C in it for her name which is Cathy and I told her point blank the reason why I do that is in the event anyone says I shipped an empty mailing envelope. I then slip the entire envelope in a priority mailer and pay the additional fee for delivery confirmation. I long ago learned that sellers sit on checks and money orders and cash them at their convenience and I did have one person attempt to ever so sweetly claim that she had never received the money order from me and that I was to please send another immediately so as to avoid negative feedback. Needless to say I would have been in a position to file a report with the US Postal Authority for mail fraud on that one and ever so sweetly told her so. Amazingly, I received my purchase via Priority Mail just 3 days later. She did not leave feedback for me and I did not leave feedback for her. She had a 100% positive feedback and so do I. I do not put any stock in eBay's feedback system, it is skewered beyond our wildest imaginations.

Once I have established that I can remit my payment by a means that better insulates me, I ask the seller a question or two depending on what the item is before I bid to see if they will respond. The question may be as simple as, "Is the item I am bidding on the exact one in the photo" or "Is the plant free of bugs and fungus and/or bacteria". Most respond. If a seller does not respond, I don't bid on their item. If they do not list their total charges for shipping and handling, I provide them with my zip code and respectfully request that they let me know what the charges will be if I am the high bidder. I learned my lesson the hard way on that one when I bid on an item and ended up getting a bill for shipping of $10.50 plus handling of $10 on a $10 item. I was not happy but there are times when one is a hammer and times when one is a nail. I remitted payment in full and included the full amount he tacked on for shipping and handling. Never made the mistake of not asking up front what the sum total of shipping and handling would be. Oh, he left me positive feedback but I did not leave feedback for him because I felt exploited. I additionally ask them if they would have any issues mailing my package priority with delivery confirmation providing I compensate them for same. Most don't have a problem with that providing I cover their costs. Obviously, I don't want a seller to be in a position to claim they sent it but have no idea what happened to it. The last question I post to all of them is if there will be any issues getting my purchase out within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed 5 business days upon receipt of my payment. Yes, there's a reason for that. I want the transaction completed within a specific window of time to better ensure I am able to take appropriate action if things go south. I provide them with my personal e-mail address and let them know that if I am the high bidder, that I expect them to forward to me the USPS tracking number via e-mail. They either say yes they will or no they won't. Simple as that.

Now I bid. I save the entire listing to a folder on my hard drive somewhere. I also have copies of all eBay mails delivered to my personal e-mail so that I can save those too.

If I am the high bidder when the auction closes, I send the seller notification that I am the high bidder within hours of the auction closing. If I can pay via PayPal, I tender payment immediately and as I already know the shipping and handling costs, I know exactly how much to send. If the auction is to be paid by US Postal Money Order, my notification to them will have requested that they forward to me via e-mail their name and mailing address. When I write out the money order, I make it payable to their eBay user name or the name they provided me and I include the auction number in the lower left hand corner some where. In other words, either can endorse the money order and cash it or deposit it but I want my copy of the money order to show up the seller's eBay user name as well as the name they wanted the money order payable to just to further clarify who I am compensating. By writing the word OR between the two names, either can sign. If you make the mistake of writing the word AND, the recipient of the money order will have to sign both names. Not a big deal.

Very important to get that seller paid immediately. If the Post Office isn't open when the auction closes, I've learned to get my fanny in there the very next day the PO is open after they send me their name and contact information. Some of these people depend on eBay for their livelihood and no sense making them wait for payment. I then e-mail them the tracking number to their payment.

I have had a few transactions that could have gone south. Having their e-mail address is a big help as I can silently track the e-mail I send them with PGP Keys. This way I know when they received my e-mail, how long they had it open, if they forwarded it to anyone, and if they saved it to their hard drive. If a seller does not respond to me within a few days of requesting their name and contact information so I can send out payment and if I can see they opened my e-mail, I send another e-mail then wait one day for a response and go back to the mail system at eBay and let them know that I have sent them e-mails requesting this information and that I need it in order to remit payment. Generally they respond real quick once I share with them a copy of the certification from PGP that I am aware they have received my requests for information to be able to pay them.

I had one situation on eBay get real ugly but all the aces were in my hand because I had a paper trail of a PayPal remittance that the seller had received and accepted within hours of the auction closing, e-mails, eBay mails, as well as a certified correspondence CC'd to common carrier that the seller had refused to sign for but then that didn't matter thanks to CC. I also had certified transcripts of all the PGP delivery confirmations evidencing that the seller was in fact receiving my e-mails and was in fact opening them but conscientiously choosing to not respond. I then contested the charge with my credit card company after advising the seller that I would be left with no recourse should they fail to respond to me. End result, I left negative feedback after 45 days of no response from the seller and no receipt of the item I was the high bidder on. The seller retaliated with negative feedback claiming I was a liar. Can we say libel? I entered into that contract with good faith. eBay finally took action and ultimately removed the retaliatory feedback that had been left for me because of all the documentation I had. What a mess.

I love eBay and I love PayPal but they are businesses and they have a history of protecting sellers at the expense of the buyer. The benefit of doubt always appears to go to the seller unless... the buyer has adequate documentation that the seller is in breach. I will continue to bid for items at eBay but I will never let my guard down. It only takes a few minutes to whip off a few eBay mails or e-mails. It only takes a few minutes to fill out delivery confirmation slips. The few minutes of extra time taking precautions are well spent.

Ebay should really address their feedback system. I believe they should show the total number of transactions every user has. They should disallow the buyer from leaving feedback until at such time as the seller has done so. After all, once the buyer tenders payment in the time frame stipulated by the seller... they have fulfilled their end of the contractual agreement.

I don't know if this info will help anyone but my personal friends and relatives who use eBay are now following suit and they find they are having far fewer tense moments and considerably less aggravation. The vast majority of sellers on eBay are good people just out there trying to earn an honest dollar. It is a shame that one has to proactively ensure that their best interests will be protected for a few bad eggs out there by creating paper trails.

Being a seller myself, I always check feedback before forming an opinion of an ebayer. I tend to believe feedback because if you aren't honest with your feedback, then the feedback system is of no use. If I have a problem with someone but they have great feedback, I give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm not sure what to think about the seller saying she sent the jeans. Obviously she lied about it.

I do keep all MO receipts. With the receipt, the p.o. can trace it and see if it was cashed. I keep records of everything to minimize problems.

And, KathyAnn, many of the receipts can be written off your business taxes.

Hey Baa, I used to sell on ebay as well (need to get back to it, since I'm buried under "cool" stuff that I couldn't resist at thrift stores and garage sales). I mostly had great experiences and met some interesting people that remained in contact for a while. But the trend of withholding feedback...it's a game I don't want to get with, but I can see why sellers might. Perhaps if I started selling in earnest again, I would do the same. Ebay is still the first place I look for many things, but I'm slowing down in my use.

Forgot to mention that if you don't have e-mail certification applications of your own, you can certify delivery online for a small fee here-
http://www.readnotify.com/readnotify/about.asp

The tracking of e-mails expanded out of the networks system a while ago. A truly wonderful tool.

"After all, once the buyer tenders payment in the time frame stipulated by the seller... they have fulfilled their end of the contractual agreement. "

Until everyone plays by the rules I really don't think anything can be demanded of either party. I've no problem with leaving feedback first if I know the buyer isn't going to demand more of a seller than was offered such as next day delivery at the sellers expense ($5-6 extra) after feedback has been left by the seller.

There were calls here to make Ebay more accountable but it's not a great deal different to a normal auction.

Well, that's pretty scummy. I think if I were a seller that I'd offer buyers the option of paying an additional flat fee of $8.50 for next day delivery right in the listing and toss the ball back into their court. Rather assuming of a buyer to attempt to make a seller absorb that type of an expense without compensating them particularly with the price of gas as high as it is. The PO I have to go to is about 10 miles away and a trip there and back costs me about $2.50.

As an ebay seller myself. I can certainly relate to Butterflychaser's comments. I understand, and it makes sense to me.

I did mention that the seller has said to me that she shipped the pants without my payment, I'm very much aware, that she may not have ever received the payment, it could be lost in the mail. I do know I sent it. I also know I have no receipts, the lady at the p.o. can't help me, my loss I know, I will know better from now on, This particular p.o. I bought the money order at, doesn't give receipts from a machine, like some of the others do, from now on I will bu y my postal money orders at one of the larger p.o.'s and have a receipt like Butterfly chaser mentioned.

I haven't left her negative feedback because , She just might be telling the truth about the money order, it does seem kind of odd, that she said she shipped 3 weeks ago, and I haven't received the pants yet. So, Like Misty says , TWO ERRORS? seems kind of odd.

I have decided since I don't want my reputation tarnished by her leaving me negative feedback I will more than likely not leave her any.

Although, I am inclined to think she's lying, since she mentioned she sent the pants, and there's no way a p.o. can screw up the same people's orders twice. that just doens't happen.

I am however, going to call her bluff. and send her another email once more. and then call it quits with her.

she does have fantastic feedback. She could think just as bad of me as I do her.

IF IF IF I wish I knew, but I think this one will have to just be put to rest.

And something else, She could file paper work on me, you know, that would be horrid. I'm not about to take that chance over l0.99

Thanks all for the wonderful advice, your stories, and support. I do appreciate it.

Seems I've bought several times in the past several months and have had bad things come of the auctions, another one being in the works right now, but it's an insurance thing, and the other one, I had to settle for what the seller was willing to pay me back which was half what I paid, the item was not as she discribed, and was not usable at all. But she didn't know because it was completely boxed and sealed. She still wouldn't give me a full refund. I hope I never as a seller do to folks what I've recently had to go through with a few other sellers.

I'll always try to do unto others as I'd want them to do to me. Good motto to live by. LOL

thanks again

kathy

Equilibrium, they do have a choice of delivery that's why it's so annoying when it happens although I feel I must say it's only occasional. Not paying in specified currency is another which grates and it happens to everyone who trades overseas. I had one overseas buyer wanting to pay in his own currency and via a cheque even though I specified sterling and Paypal only for overseas buyers (low value item, conversion costs on paypal too high to bear), after several days of wheedling, cajoling and insisting that 'come on you must take a cheque' I ended up getting the tariff for currency conversions for cheques to back up my invoice. I billed him for a further $25 which was what it was going to cost me to cash that cheque at a bank, pure bank charges no extra for my time or trouble, the conversion rates for cheques is cripplingly high here. Needless to say he stopped with the emails but I still lost all my auction fees. I declined at that point to leave feedback, he was very new (less than 20) it seemed churlish to give him a negative when it was just inexperience.


Kathy, I'm glad you've come to a decision that feels right for you. I hope the others work out well!

This message was edited Mar 20, 2006 11:11 PM

I wanted to give an update on my ebayer.


I decided to call her bluff, and send her an email.


I mentioned to her that I can only imagine that she feels the same way towards me as I do towards her if she hadn't received my money order yet and had shipped out my box like she said, I told her I would contact the P>O> and ask them to run a trace on the money order , I mentioned that it wouldn't tell anything but if the check had been cashed. And at least we would know if it was cashed or not. I heard back from her.

Imagine that. I can't decide if I want to believe her, but given her l00% feedback, I tend to believe her. but you just never know.

She mentioned being in the hospital and that her brother had sent me those emails and that she had indeed received the money order and had shipped out the box some time back. And that If I hadn't received it she would give me a full refund. How about that. I wrote her back and told her I hadnt received anything, and that I was sorry for her troubles she was having. I did ask for my money back.

That was several days ago. I decided to go further with the dispute, and that's when Ebay told me that they wouldn't do anything about it because it wasn't over $25.00 . So, if she decides to pay me back, then I'll not be out the money, if not, there's nothing more I can do about it.

BUT, I have decided to leave her negative feedback.


I hate to tarnish her good feedback and realize I might get it in return. So be it. I haven't done anything wrong.

Sounds hokey if you ask me. I would never expect my brother to say something had been sent or that the money order hadn't been received or deal with my business. My brother would politely tell you that I was in the hospital and I would deal with this as soon as I was able.

Don't do anything until you get your money would be my advice.

:) Kathy

I haven't left negative feedback yet, I guess your right, I won't do that and see if she'll refund, I kind of thought that too, why didnt he tell me she was in the hospital LOL, And why does she have such good feedback


Her ebay name is mylittleprincess2001

Goes to show ya, you can't always depend on l00% possitive feedback.

I don't understand the feedback that has the same person giving positive feedback ten or more times in a row minutes apart. It looks to me that you can't trust the Ebay seller who has this type of feedback record. Can anyone send feedback whether they actually dealt with the seller? Looks highly suspicious and I would never buy from a person who had feedback with that sort of rating.
Looks like the seller just has friends leave fake feedback. This should be reported.
I guess you meet all kinds of people at Ebay who are dishonest in one way or the other.

That happens when a buyer buys l0 or more of that seller's auctions, he /she gets the chance to leave feedback for every auction she/he wins, thus having l0 feedbacks from the same person within minutes apart.

Happens all the time. Has nothing to do with whether a person is trustworthy or not.

HOpe that helps some

kathy

Can anyone leave feedback or do they actually have to be a buyer from that seller?

You can only leave feedback on Ebay if you've had a transaction with the person. And you have 90 days to leave feedback. After that, you can't.

For every auction you win, you can leave feedback. If you win 3 auctions that a person has going, you get three opportunities to leave feedback, rating each transaction.

HOWEVER, only the FIRST feedback you leave for one person actually counts towards the person's rating. The others are just there as further proof that the person fullfilled their end of the bargain.

So take a look at someone on ebay. Look at their profile/feedback and you'll see that they may have a score of 384, which means they have 384 original positive feedbacks from 384 different ebayers. (You actually decrease a point if you get a negative feedback.) But the profile may also tell you that 694 feedbacks were left. The other 310 were repeat customers.

When looking at feedback, I look to see if the person has any negatives in the last year. If not, I figure they're pretty safe. And most are. But a few years ago I bought $40 worth of stuff from a guy with 2000+ positive feedbacks. I never got my stuff,never got my money back, never heard a word back from him. Then I noticed lots of negative feedback suddenly. I think the guy must have died and his family, if he had any, didn't know how to handle his business. C'est la vie.

You would think there would have to be some sort of ensurance that an account would be overseen by more than one person just in case someone did indeed die, wouldn't you? What a scenerio.
On another note, I recently bought something from an Ebayer. Today I get this bogus email asking me to send my credit card info to a link on a really bad attempt at being an official Ebay mail. I sent the info and forwarded the message to Ebay Spoof. Now, I don't buy from there often, so I am wondering if this isn't someone who can monitor activity. How else would someone know that I recently accessed the Ebay website and bought something.
It is pretty sad to think that someone would be watching the site so closely. I don't believe in coincidence in this case. It is too glaring.

Another thing to watch for is how the person responds to negative feedback. I always look to see if they posted a rebuttal, and if so, what is said. If someone responds in a hostile tone over and over, I don't really want to do business with the person.

Windy, I don't think anyone was monitoring your activity. I get those fake e-Bay and PayPal e-mails also, and I've never been to either of those sites. I also get fake e-mails telling me there's something wrong with my account in various banks, and it's never my own bank.

i get those phishing emails too. i send to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com depending on who they are trying to impersonate. never, ever respond to any email from either one. the real ebay and paypal never send anything out like that. always go directly to your site and log in if you need to find anything out. debi

Well considering all the identity theft that is around I was disappointed with the response I got from Ebay. First they say to send them any suspicious emails as if they are going to do something about it. then they say they will respond and let you know the outcome. After that they send you a form letter that goes out to everyone telling them to ignore those emails.
Well, I think I could figure that much out on my own. LOL

I get those messages all the time, I have for a long time, and I and always ignored them.

Going back a couple years, apparently one really WAS from ebay. Although my information was up to date (I thought), they insisted it wasn't, and I was locked out of my account. When I finally figured everything out, I asked where I could update it on ebay's site, but they insisted I send it by replying through the e-mail messages. So much for their claims that they never ask for private information through e-mail.

Then to redeem myself they sent a form to me to fill out swearing under oath my true identity and return with a copy of my drivers license.

Ridiculous. After all this why would I give them a copy of my drivers license? It convinces me that their procedures like this are encouraging or enabling the identify thieves and scammers.

I think most sellers are small business owners or hobbyists. Lots of ebayers are just individuals, like you and I, who hope to sell off some junk in their house and make a couple dollars. And the individual is probably the only person with any control over the account. They may be the only computer literate people in their households. If they die, there probably isn't anyone who knows their business and could take over. I know it's that way with my business. No one would have a clue what to do if I died or became ill. No one would even bother. For this reason, I send out orders immediately.

And isn't it the same way with trading? Would any of your friends or family fullfill your end of the trades if you were sick or died? Would they know how to get into your email accounts? Would they know your trading system? Would they know which plant is which, how to pack, etc?

Ebay is like any other marketplace. It has risks just like any other. I've been buying there for several years and I've only had the one purchase go unfullfilled. Others have been just what I ordered or more.

LOL I just got a spoof email from a fake ebayer just now. I got the same one the other day. from the same so called seller,


it's a pain, but you can always go to your messages on MY EBAy and if those spoof emails aren't on your list of messages, then you know their SPOOF


kathy

LOL I just heard from my ebayer, and it looks like she' s not going to refund after saying she would. So i'm just you know what out of luck. She said she had the receipt that she sent the item. And thinks i'm lying about not receiving and mentioned that she would leave negative feedback for me as well if I left her negative feedback. SOOOO< I think we're just back to square one here.

I'm not going to be leaving her feedback at all. Because I don't need negative feedback regardless of what it's over. It damages my reputation even if it's not my fault.

So I guess. I'm done here, disappointed, but done LOL

kathy

Kathy, did she send the item with delivery confirmation? If so, maybe she can give you the confirmation number. I always mail my stuff with DC, as you know. Then you can check and see where it was delivered. But some don't use it. I use it for my own protection, so there is a "legal" record. I can't imagine any seller NOT using it.

But since you have an email from her stating that she mailed it, you could threaten Mail Fraud charges since you didnt' receive the item. You don't even need a receipt that you paid. All you need is her email stating she mailed the item. By her word, she supposedly sent you the package, but you didn't receive it.

Threaten her and see if she coughs up the refund. Remind her that mail fraud is a FELONY and she could be fined or serve time for the fraud. You don't actually have to follow thru if you don't want to, but it might scare her into refunding.

Thanks Nancy,

I'm so burnt out with this lady. I don't know if I should just give it up or not. there wasn't delivery confirmation, she sent it parcel post. I guess. not even priority mail.

I have been buying on ebay quite a bit lately, and have a suggestion. I am reluctant to use my credit or debit cards for this, even though paypal says we're secure. But I have started buying VISA gift cards at Safeway. They come in $25, $50 and $100 increments, and cost $5.95 to buy. I use these for any online purchase. There is a record, you can go to the website: www.allaccessgift.com and it shows you have paid for something immediately. I load these into my paypal account and it works quite well for tracking payments, and no one can access my personal information.

The only drawback, is I now have 3 sitting around with small amounts left over on them, but next time I go grocery shopping, I just take them and use them first, before paying the balance of my bill.

You can go to the website and enter your zip code to see where you can find these cards.

It's good yes, but some folks require payment by money order only, which is what this lady required.

She has said she'd refund the money, we'll see.

kathy

Good idea about the pre-paid VISA cards. Isn't there a way to consolidate the amounts onto one card at their website or to add funds to one?

We don't have credit cards now, but do use a VISA online -- it's a debit card. We keep a separate checking account which we just use for Internet purchases. It has a debit card attached to it alone. When we want to make a purchase, we transfer money from our main checking into the Internet account. Otherwise, we keep that account's balance very low, like $10 or so; that way, if someone gets ahold of our debit card number, there's nothing for them to steal and we won't have checks bouncing from our main account.

We know the risks of having to fight to get our money back rather than just dispute charges, but we don't do credit cards anymore. Fortunately, our local bank does cover us 100% in case of fraudulent purchases/identity theft. Sometimes for major purchases like appliances, we have my MIL make the purchase on her credit card and pay that charge ourselves.