EBAY misrepresentation

Does anyone have any tips on dealing with a seller who has

misrepresented an item for sale.

The seller is now refusing to accept emails about the matter.

Ebay do not seem to have a very organised help system, and my cousin

,who has the problem, is confused by the maze that seems to be set up

ebay.

 

Does ebay have an address in the UK, or phone number.

 

The seller comes from Jacksonville Florida.

 

Many thanks

there isn't really any good way, it is a system built on trust and the risk of getting "burned" is definitely there. The only way to threaten with extremely bad feedback, and the give it.

 

Perhaps it doesn't matter, but how much $$$ are we talking about? Also, I don't bind on substantial stuff w/o first negotiating a inspection period.

Tell him/her you have no option but to leave negative feedback and if there's still no response, claim from eBay if possible (there is an excess and a maximum amount you can claim back). If you paid by credit card, you *may* be able to get a refund through the card company, but I'm not sure how this works if PayPal are in the chain. If you have to give negative feedback, keep it clear and objective so people donlt think you're a whinger, and expect to get negative feedback in return. That's one of the problems with eBay, unfortunately, and is why a lot of shysters get consistently good feedback - people are scared of retaliation.

i have bought huge numbers of used items over the course of many years, from stores and, more recently, on ebay. my success ratio is significantly higher with ebay than with shops. no system is perfect, however.

 

use paypal if you can, and pay extra for the buyer protection option.

Generally you're stuck with feedback mechanisms on eBay which don't do much but protect future buyers from this particular seller (of course, you WILL get negative feedback in return, which kind of voids the protection feedback is supposed to offer....)

 

Paypal apparently has some "protection" you can purchase when you pay for an eBay item with Paypal, but I believe that's limited to US "verified" accounts so you're out of luck as well.

 

I happen to live in Jacksonville (and am selling some Leica stuff on eBay this week as well) though; you're welcome to e-mail me and there may be a way I can help locally...

The simple answer here is to ALWAYS use a credit card when possible - even if through Paypal & maintain as much documentation of the transaction as possible. In their account agreements, Paypal maintains the right to charge the seller back (in a credit transaction) if the credit card issuer forces Paypal into a chargeback situation (i.e. the buyer returns defective merchandise). That's one of the reasons Paypal charges a significantly higher fee for those credit card transactions - to cover these costs. If the individual you mention did use a credit card, the best course of action is to seek restitution w/ the card issuer - not Ebay, Paypal or the seller. Credit Card issuers yield significant leverage in these types of disputes. If a credit card was not used, unfortunately not much except complaining can be done - which will most likely get you nowhere.

While apparantly many are happy with ebay, I have never bid much for anything and didn't get much because I noted the difficulty resolving problems. AS usual, you get what you pay for. It does no good to use previously reliable sellers as they are frequnetly hijacked by the bad guys. Most of ebay's money is not made acting as intermediaries for part time sellers. Its primary source of income is job lots sold by many quite legitimate wholesalers and relailers who are selling inventory that way but these sellers are primarily not selling over ebay but use it for small lots. Sorry, Ebay is mostly no longer a site getting individual sellers together. So small sellers are not their main interest. This change was written up in the media many months ago.

All you can really do is only bid on items where the seller has loads of positive feedback. The more money, the more feedback you want. At least 50 with no negs or neutrals is a good cutoff. Thats really the best protection you can get on the larger sales. I think Ebay offers $200 protection which you can look into on future sales.

Most individuals will agree to escrow if you pay, on the larger items. This is almost a must where someone with little or no feedback wants to sell an expensive item.

Bruno

 

So you were high bidder on a R system brochure! So what is the problem other than the fact you overpaid for it? About 4 times what it is worth.

 

Is it worth the hassle? What was the misrepresentation?

 

Jerry

 

Jerry

i think bruno mentioned that he was not the buyer. his cousin was the buyer.

I'd actually suggest you watch out for sellers with loads of good feedback. What happens on eBay is that there are high-volume sellers out there that deal in *everything*. The problem is that they are often unqualified to evaluate specialty items. So that cd you bought from them might work fine, but the shutter speeds on that Rollei might not be accurate etc. Avoid any ad that says, "Item sold as is". Make sure they offer a refund and check the photos carefully. I was burned a bit a couple of times and have learned my lessons. There is really no recourse other than leaving bad feedback.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

It goes without saying that my cousin, and I, will not be using Ebay anymore,which is a shame because I am sure most sellers are honest. The amount of money involved is not great,but its a shame the seller doesn't live in the UK so we could deal with him through the courts.

 

Regards

 

Bruno

I've sold a lot of items on eBay and so far have 100% positive feedback. This is probably because I've only sold my own personal stuff or something for a friend, which I had the chance to check out personally, and also I've never sold anything I was not well-versed in. And I'm the first to admit I'm totally anal about what I buy and how I take care of it, and as everyone knows from this forum, I take umbrage at even the smallest defect. But not everyone is like that and what might seem like a major flaw to me, someone else wouldn't bat an eyelash over. And some people sell things they're not up on, so they don't recognize a defect when it's staring them in the face, it's not that they're purposely trying to be cagey. Then there's those who are just plain shady, but frankly I think they're in a tiny minority even on eBay.

 

I haven't bought a whole lot on eBay, but what I have bought was at or above my expectations. I pretty much count on having to put repairs or service into anything mechanical I buy, whether it's a camera or a watch or whatever, and bid accordingly. I also haven't bought anything so far over $900, and I always use a credit-card. I refuse to bid on anything where they don't accept either PayPal or direct credit cards. According to my card provider, PayPal purchases from eBay are covered by my right to dispute, so I don't bother paying the PayPal guarantee fee. Only one item so far I received which was, to me, inexcusable misrepresented (a camera with a broken advance lever and hand-engraving on the top plate that wasn't listed and did not show in the photos). I e-mailed the seller with photos of the camera and a polite, non-accusatory note asking for a refund. Fortunately the seller, who also had 100% positive feedback, had left positive feedback for me right after I paid, so I had leverage in the situation, nonetheless he was very accomodating, offered to refund half what I paid and let me keep it or return it for a full refund. I chose the latter, he credited my paypal account even before I'd mailed the camera back.

Oh, and I did then leave positive feedback for that seller. I said something to the effect of "understanding and cooperative customer service", which in fact was true. I did not feel any need to besmirch his feedback record, he made things right by me.

I have encountered one seller who quite openly informed me in his 'standard' email that he would not provide feedback until after I had given him feedback, despite the fact that I had paid up and thus completed my end of the deal.

 

I have had one instance of a camera not quite matching its description. The seller immediately agreed when I sent him detailed photos and was willing to take it back. However, his girlfriend talked him out of it (that was his story, anyway) and we ended up agreeing a financial adjustment that was satisfactory.

 

I think there is a facility to answer poor feedback, so you get the last word if he blasts you. I would advise you to keep the feedback to facts rather than comment - it makes it more convincing.

I've had mostly good experience with ebay. In only one case - purchase of a rolleiflex

last year - was I disappointed. In that case, the seller promptly refunded my money.

Contrary to what another poster stated - most of my transactions have been with

private parties and they have been friendly and cooperative.

 

Regards - Seth

Bruno

 

Again I ask; "What was the misrepresentation?" Did he not send you

the brochure?

 

Jerry

eBay is concerned with one thing and only one thing: making money. And they are running quite a lucrative business I might add. I won't even go into my own experience with them. Oh yeah, and then you have the sellers. I will say this, it's not what it used to be.

Dispute with your credit card and give him a negative feedback.

Then call eBAy and warn them: hopefully they will block any

negative feedback from him IF you explain it first!

DON'T BUY ON EBAY ANYMORE is my advice! It has become very dangerous, There are

lots of scams going on, and it's all eBay's fault for never offering actual help and protection to the

buyers (of course the buyers run the real risks because they send the money first.)

 

This huge profitable business does not seem to care about people being ripped off, given

bad retaliatory feedback or being left hanging with no one to talk to. Also, they never go after the

crooks, so the tiny minority ruins the whole business for everybody.

 

I have bought on eBay. Most of the times there was no trouble, but those times I needed

eBay to help me out with a problem, nobody answered. I even once made a mistake and paid

eBay directly an amount I should have paid to the seller, and I sent them an e-mail asking them

to credit back my credit card. They never replied.

 

eBay has become a Web jungle.

... and those who tell you you are limited with the negative feedback option are NOT correct.

<p>

First, for purchases below $200 (last time I checked), a swindled buyer can file a complaint; make sure to copy the exact advert for the item before it disappeared, and document misrepresentation. I do not know how good ebay is when it comes to parting with its, ebay's money (my presumption would be it's bad), but they claim to pay back up to $200, as I already said.<br>

This remedy is limited to 60 days after the transaction completes (again, true the last time I checked).<p>

If you purchase is for a larger amount, there is another third-party "escrow" service. If both buyer and seller agree to use it, the seller sends the item to the escrow, the buyer sends payment to the escrow. Having deposited the payment to its own account, the escrow then releases the item to the buyer. After some agreed period (3 days, a week) of inspection, the buyer OKs the item, and the escrow pays the money to the seller.

<br>Naturally, there is a fee for that (quite reasonable). All transactions of several hundred and above can and in my view should be escrowed.<p>

Learned it the hard way, when a president of a company that sells food to the american military and third-world countried swindled me by sending a semi-functional, damaged by dampness camera - and made sure haggling went for more than 2 months, so that I could not dispute it any more. A professional seller, I did not stand a chance<br>

However, such sellers are not a majority. The majority will be nice (if the item is good), but will cheat in a small way, if the item happens to be not quite OK. Because most things are in Ok condition, most sellers can boast rather good reputations.<p>

Upon the realization of this, my practical conclusion was to view negative feedback VERY carefully.

and I would second the opinion of those who recommend using forms of payment (such as credit cards) that are disputable outside ebay procedures.

Like any other business transaction - a little caution & common sense go a long way. I find Ebay no more hazardous (actually less so) than any other business setting. Out of some 40+ transactions I've only run into one moron - a much smaller percentage than I would simply walking down the street. In that particular case it was actually my own fault - the individual had no feedback & was looking to pick an argument. The Ebay phenomenon has actually proved quite postive in most regards - it has really served to make the second hand market very efficient.

I had a problem with a seller misrepresenting his item. He advertised that he was

selling a stereo amp. A couple of hours before the end of the auction I found out that

it was actually a mono amp. I emailed him and told him that I was retracting my bid.

Well, he claims that he didn't get the email until after the auction and that he

expected me to follow through on the deal. After looking around, I came to the

conclusion that I had no recourse as a buyer unless I actually received the item and it

was not as described. If you do not pay for something, the seller can issue a non

payment warning and as far as I can tell, the buyer can't refute it. This is what I did; I

told him that I would pay him, and then file a fraud complaint, or we could just forget

the whole thing...

It turns out that he had no idea of what stereo actually is (I hooked two speakers

up to it, it must be stereo!), and though he'll never admit it, I was right. I have never

heard from him again...

Jerry

 

I'll email you with the details, thanks for your interest.

 

 

Regards

 

Bruno