What is Digg?Sponsored by Best Buy
Sony(R) Reader view!
bestbuygiftadvice.com - Best Buy(R) Twelpforce(TM) Carolers sing about the Sony(R) Reader as the perfect gift for just about anyone.
252 Comments
- soapboy, on 10/12/2007, -22/+139I can't believe no one has yet stated the obvious:
"In Soviet Russia, Paypal screws YOU!" - dzarkw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+73I had a similar problem with a transaction on eBay. Bought a PowerBook through eBay, payed over $1400 through PayPal, and the computer was never sent nor did I ever hear from the seller again after the payment was sent. I managed to get $175 back from eBay and $200 back from PayPal, but obviously that didn't cover the damage. I'm still trying to contact people at PayPal to deal with this (happened in March). I will NEVER buy or sell anything over $100 through PayPal again. Worst company I have dealt with in a long time. They are extremely unprofessional.
- armbar, on 10/12/2007, -27/+88Apparently nobody's seen http://p-p-p-powerbook.com/? Come on now.
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+59There have been hundreds of reports of this exact type of fraud over the last decade.
DO NOT BUY OR SELL THINGS OVERSEAS via sites like ebay and craigslist. The international fraud rate is much, much higher than the domestic fraud rate.
At the top of EVERY craigslist ad is the following text:
"non-local deals involving shipping, wire transfer, cashier checks, escrow, or 3rd party payments are usually fraudulent"
If you fall for this kind of crap these days, you're just naive. - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+62"Russian eBayer steals MacBook, paypal refuses to help"
In other news: water is wet, sky blue. - bitt3n, on 10/12/2007, -12/+63apparently I live in Soviet Russia.
- armbar, on 10/12/2007, -25/+73At least you didn't get a P-P-P-Powerbook.
- PaulRClark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+45"It'll definitely make me think twice about selling things on eBay."
...or using Pay Pal - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+49"In Soviet Russia, Paypal screws YOU!"
Replace "In Soviet Russia" with "On Earth" and you're onto something. - panique, on 10/12/2007, -5/+44It's not a Soviet Russia joke, because nobody gets to screw PayPal anywhere.
- coldcoffee, on 10/12/2007, -7/+44@dmitrek - I fail to see how your gender automatically makes you a good 'ebayer'. :o)
- twid, on 10/12/2007, -5/+41why would you ever send something expensive to russia?
- tomoniki, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31Ouch, you try and be a good person and send things right away to please people and look what happens. I now see why some people wait a week before sending out the object. Best of luck
- B3ryllium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+30Heh, yes, that too. :) But since eBay owns PayPal, I think that was kind of inferred ... :)
- i440, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29I don't believe this.
I, for one, am surprised that PayPal failed to deliver the quality service we've come to expect of them! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+32I never send abroad on eBay. Why would you? It's just a whole bunch of hassle and is just asking for trouble. This guy is just STUPID.
- mozzep, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22in related news, russian exchange student's battery fails and he can't find a replacement.
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16"No, because PayPal can sue you for the money."
Better to face them in court than be stuck dealing with their 'policies' and 'customer service'. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+25He also lied about the worth of the contents of the box. Karma.
- Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23He tried to break the law, didn't make a single check (no paypal in russia, no ***** sherlock) and people sympathise? He fell on his own sword.
Next week he'll post about how he invested $1000 in a nigerian business and hasn't heard a thing back since. - sakuraz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16...but I've been using eBay for 4 years and never been ripped off...
The seller shouldn't have sent the item prior to confirming funds transfer...
it's called common sense - politech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I'll digg just for armbar'a P-P-P-Powerbook memories! I loved those pics with the keys glued to the three ring binder. Fun stuff!
- iterrell, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16For the youngins not getting the joke:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Smirnoff - dpcamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14ohhh man that sucks..
on that note I love my new macbook off ebay.
VIVA LA RUSSIA!!! - FearNLoathing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13PayPal's CS department is 2nd only to TigerDirect in it's awfulness. I bought some turntables for $600 off of eBay. I sent the money to the seller via PayPal and received the items damaged. I opened a dispute with PayPal. The seller said that they were fine when he sent them and blamed UPS. PayPal advised me to contact UPS. I did and UPS came and picked them up. Per UPS policy, they inspected them and found that they were not damaged in transit, based on how they were packed. The turntables were returned to the seller, which is UPS's policy. I sent all of the information to PayPal and they ruled that it was the seller's problem, since he had the turntables. Since the seller had already withdrawn my money from his PayPal account, PayPal couldn't recover the money. They only refunded me their $175 insurance. They said that they would make a "best effort" to recover the remaining money.
It is now 1 year later and I have received nothing from PayPal, not even a phone call. I know for a fact that PayPal uses a collection agency when your account balance is negative. So, there's a 99% chance that PayPal has already sold this debt to a collection agency for a partial return, and yet, they have not given me any additional money.
Every time I contact PayPal, they say that because of confidentiality, they cannot discuss the status of the case, but to be assured they are making their best effort. Obviously, it's a complete lie.
Moral of the story: never use PayPal unless you're putting money in with your credit card (so you have the option of having your CC company reverse the charge). - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Maybe his parents bought it for him for college and he needed the money to buy drugs.
- radu79, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15No, because PayPal can sue you for the money.
- KingWrecked, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I bought DVD's on E-Bay only to receive a mail from their copyright department informing me that they weren't kosher and E-Bay had pulled the auction. I'd already paid and Pay-Pal claim to offer protection against such things so I claimed. Their response was (effectively) sod off.
A few months later the CEO of the UK branch of E-Bay was defending them and Pay-Pal on a consumer rights program called Watchdog and he stated that Pay-Pal would return money if an E-Bayer got stung.
Seems they don't stick to their word and I don't feel guilty about telling people to avoid E-Bay and definitely Pay_Pal. - kaje, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11A week isn't even enough. I believe a person has months to be able to dispute a transaction. So while the money from Paypal would have been deposited into your bank account, they'll negate your account and force you to pay the amount you withdrew or it's off to the collection agencies.
The problem with Paypal is they will only "SOMETIMES" cover the disputes of items that are shipped only to confirmed addresses. The problem is, Paypal has hardly NO confirmed international addresses. Meaning, you take the risk of doing business with people overseas because Paypal is biased against international addresses (too much scamming).
Tip of the day: If you sell on eBay, disable the option for international people to bid on your item. - szelij, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I'm sure there are nice people in russia but on the Internet, when i trade, i never ship to Russia or Africa.
- Rice, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Oh god... That site... Good times.
- mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Ebay is too busy counting money and drinking russian vodka at the moment...
- Quix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"Worst company I have dealt with in a long time. They are extremely unprofessional."
Amen, brother. I had to dispute a purchase with them as well. The process was completely convoluted (and navigating the website was horrible), it was an ordeal to try to get any interaction with a real human from the company (and when I did they weren't helpful anyway), and after all the time I spent I ended up stuck with the item (which wasn't as described).
A $400 waste added to my "lessons learned" file. A horrible experience. - elmimmo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7After several years buying there and >20 positive votes (and zero negative or neutral ones) I am done with them after the last experience. The funny thing is that neither me nor the seller did anything wrong. It was all eBay. Here's the story:
I usually always asked shipping costs before bidding, but in this case the description at ebay.es (I live in Spain), clearly said, in crystal clear Spanish, "Shipping costs: To Spain USD10,95" (I have an screenshot of that). So I bid and I won. And the next thing I know is that the seller is asking for USD60 for shipping costs.
I obviously contact him, politely, and ask him how come the shipping costs, since the description says "To Spain USD10,95". He says that nowhere in his description it says that. That it says "To US and Canada USD10,95". So I try to access the same item description from ebay.ca, since the seller sold the item through eBay Canada, instead of ebay.es, and, just as the seller says, shipping costs specifically to Spain are nowhere to be found.
eBay's automatic translation screwed it and totally made up the shipping costs!!
Politely, again, I contact eBay and tell them about the problem, and how it seemingly is not my fault or the seller, so if they somehow accept responsibility for the misunderstanding.
The next thing I hear from them is that my account is suspended since my personal information has been found to be fake or incomplete (which a dirty lie), and that I should be faxing my ID card to them in order for my account to be reactivated. After several years and >20 transactions being voted positively, my personal info did not seem to any problem up until I rise a complaint about eBay. Of course, no answer at all to my question.
I answer that of course I have no problem sending eBay my ID card, as long as I am first answered what is it wrong/fake/incomplete in my original personal data, and I am answered on to what extent eBay accepts responsibility of the misunderstanding their system caused in my last transaction (I only expected them to pay the difference in shipping costs). And then again I received the same automated answer: my account is suspended and I will not be able to have any further action/communication at eBay until I send them my ID card.
So of course I did not and never ever will again, if that is the kind of treatment as soon as I have my first issue after years of using their system. eBay's mouth is full of fraud protection for their users, but they cannot even accept paying back 45USD when you proved them that neither the seller nor the buyer did anything wrong, and it is they that caused the confusion.
Of course, I am recommending all my friends and acquaintances NOT to buy through eBay ever explaining to them how they have no protection at all if anything goes wrong.
Way to go eBay. - djfelix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Let's all keep score here ... What did this guy do wrong?
1. Shipped to a non-PayPal Verified address. This is a huge nono. If the address isn't verified, you get 0 protection. If you are even a mildly observant seller on eBay, this is beaten in to your head. It's the first thing to look for.
2. Illegal customs form. Declaring the value at $150 when it is more like $2000 is not only a bad idea, it's against the law. The customs department actually does pay attention to small boxes on their way to Russia that have a declared value of $2000. So not only have you broken the law, but you've skewed the data so far even the automated Risk Management rules won't catch it.
3. Using USPS. USPS is known for being unreliable, untrackable, and for lack of a better term, a black hole. Any time you ship a high-dollar item, use a service that requires ID for pickup, and spring for the extra insurance, even if the buyer doesn't.
4. Sending a laptop to Russia. Do I need to explain this one?
When in doubt people ... ask. eBay has seller forums, and so does Paypal. Ask around a bit to get other people's opinions ... look for buyer/seller alerts ... If you can't easily lose $2000, do a little bit of leg work first ...
Sorry bro, but I have very little sympathy for ya ... if you'd followed the rules that are put there to protect you, you'd be OK, and PayPal would have backed you up.
I've run into problems as a seller, and as a buyer, and PayPal/eBay has backed me up each and every time. Why? I followed the rules, and did what I had to do to protect myself, and they backed me up. It's really that simple. - afrofur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7And why would I be crazy enough to give away money without any guarantee the item I purchased will arrive. Paypal may be a problem, but using a postal order or cashiers cheque simply puts the buyer, rather than the seller, at risk.
- AeroSquid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8this story illustrates why you don't send expensive stuff overseas to shady countries.
- lalindsey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Dude did you read the article? The account was a stolen account with more than 140+ positive feedbacks.
- Pile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7If your account gets hacked, it's either your fault or paypal's. The seller should be the last person to have liability in this case.
- micklerlop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6***** paypal ***** ebay they are pisses of rat *****.
- sinfree, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7For those unsure, he is referring to how the guy only posted the value at $150 so the buyer could avoid custom's fees.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Never break the law on behalf of a complete stranger...sucker.
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8And who would be selling a legitimately-purchased MacBook Pro now? I could see maybe next month when and if they bump them up to the Merom chip...selling it now seems a little suspicious to me. Also notice the guy claims he was selling a 2.2Ghz (which they don't even make), and then displays a photo of the box that clearly says 2.0Ghz. I'm chalking this one up to karma.
- Microdot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9no offense to the guy... but HE was the idiot that broke multiple rules... rules that are laid out in clear, plain english on paypal, and shipped it to him anyway.
- paypal wont be responsible if you ship to an unconfirmed address. he decided to accept it anyway, DESPITE MULTIPLE WARNINGS EVEN AS HE ACCEPTED THE PAYMENT.
- lied to customs for the guy. idiot move.
but.... where in this article does it state jack diddly about paypal not helping? sounds like the idiot that put this story up originally decided to ad-lib a little. way to go *****. - jblade, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is why ebay is so scared of google checkout. Google cares about the customer, ebay cares about the profits. If google checkout is a success, whats stoping from a google bidding system from popping up. That would be free, and based off of adds.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6wouldnt a smart person that received payment wait until it has been withdrew and deposited in his/her bank account (about 3 business days for paypal) i know i do
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5And if you ever returned home from that trip, it would be in a body bag.
- tysonwilliams, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5eBay / PayPal sucks - I lost over $1,000.00 when I never got a Sony laptop from a seller. Apparently the guy ripped off a few others as well for over $60,000.00
- st0ney, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10@coldcoffee hahaha that was just stock full of wit.
I make it policy to never ship international on ebay. Sorry for those good ebayers out there who are excluded there are too many bad apples out there to take the risk. Plus if you use buy it now you need to click immediate payment required. That alone will eliminate about 80% of the scams out there. - ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5That really sucks.
I ordered a PDA off amazon marketplace once, paid with paypay linked to my credit card.
The seller never sent me anything and ignored my emails. Paypal would do nothing. Eventually CapitalOne (my credit card) reimbursed me and pursued the case themselves. -
Show 51 - 100 of 256 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is