Idiots on *bay

jk-27 · #1 04-16-2008, 10:25 AM

Man I'm so mad right now. I was just trying to sell a guitar on *bay, and I got an email from a guy in Portugal who wanted to buy it. He offered more than the asking price and asked me to pull the listing but I said just bid on it, and you could actually end up saving yourself money.

He registered himself on the bay that very same day and bid (this was last Wednesday). I normally have no problems accepting bids from new users, because you have to start somewhere, right? Between then and the auction ending on Sunday, he was begging me to close the auction because he didn't want to not win the guitar, but I said I actually hadn't had much interest from anyone else so he probably would win. Lo and behold he won, and at less a price then he offered me to begin with, so he actually saved himself money. He then emails me that night to say how pleased he is he's won, wanted to pay via bank transfer and needed info. Passed it on to him, and he emails back to say he'd do it first thing Monday morning and let me know.

I email today to see if he'd had a chance to wire the money and he emails back to say he doesn't want the guitar. WTF! Why would someone go through all of that if they have no intention of buying a guitar? What's the point?

DaniJem · #2 04-16-2008, 10:40 AM

sorry hear that... I hate these **** people!

a similar thing happened to me time ago.

Wild_Child · #3 04-16-2008, 10:59 AM

Maybe it was your bank details he was after...

Ibateur · #4 04-16-2008, 11:12 AM

Did you give the "buyer" your name?

Take precautions on that account.

Hope he's just a shmuck.

jk-27 · #5 04-16-2008, 11:19 AM

Well he has my name from my email yeah, and he has my bank info that was needed for an exchange. At one point he said he was going to fly over and collect so wanted my home address, but I pointed out it would be cheaper for me to ship it so didn't give him that. The account seems OK so far.

Bank transfers happen every day right, so I don't think/hope that having someones account number without any of the pass codes means nothing can happen?

Ant1981 · #6 04-16-2008, 11:32 AM

Something certainly sounds very dodgy from this.

Ibateur · #7 04-16-2008, 11:46 AM

There was a link I can't remember that explained how the scams on accounts worked. Scammers, with your identity details can at the very very least, try to impersonate you to withdraw funds. Given that they're probably seasoned veterans, they may be able to convince a telephone operator at the bank that they are you, and just really forgot the passcode(s). What would a bank operator typically ask for when "resetting a passcode"? Name, address, etc. You might be on some internet database with your date of birth, etc etc.

This might be overthinking it. I'm just saying...

540s · #8 04-16-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jk-27

Man I'm so mad right now. I was just trying to sell a guitar on *bay, and I got an email from a guy in Portugal who wanted to buy it. He offered more than the asking price and asked me to pull the listing but I said just bid on it, and you could actually end up saving yourself money.

He registered himself on the bay that very same day and bid (this was last Wednesday). I normally have no problems accepting bids from new users, because you have to start somewhere, right? Between then and the auction ending on Sunday, he was begging me to close the auction because he didn't want to not win the guitar, but I said I actually hadn't had much interest from anyone else so he probably would win. Lo and behold he won, and at less a price then he offered me to begin with, so he actually saved himself money. He then emails me that night to say how pleased he is he's won, wanted to pay via bank transfer and needed info. Passed it on to him, and he emails back to say he'd do it first thing Monday morning and let me know.

I email today to see if he'd had a chance to wire the money and he emails back to say he doesn't want the guitar. WTF! Why would someone go through all of that if they have no intention of buying a guitar? What's the point?

That sucks for sure... If he won't pay you can file for a credit for your fee's at least to take some of the sting out of it. You'll need to file a non paying bidder warning & complaint within about 10 days or so though to get your money back.

Another thing to keep in mind is if you accept the bank transfer your bank may hit you with a charge. I learned this the hard way after agreeing to accept a $40 payment for a part & then after the fact discovered my bank charges $35 to accept & process a transfer like that. Needless to say I wasnt too pleased

As for the scam... You probably did not give him any info that is not on every check you mail out... hopefully

Out Of This Swirled · #9 04-16-2008, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild_Child

Maybe it was your bank details he was after...

oh yeah +100.

selling anything over a pound check there feedback, once bitten. evilbay is full of twats and if you neg them they just neg you back and no one can see from the limited writing who was right and wrong.

Q. Can i neg someone in 90 days from end and they then cant if they miss this deadline? or do they get a further 90 days to reply to my comments?

I recently had a total moron buy something from me.

Brosa · #10 04-16-2008, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jk-27

Well he has my name from my email yeah, and he has my bank info that was needed for an exchange. At one point he said he was going to fly over and collect so wanted my home address, but I pointed out it would be cheaper for me to ship it so didn't give him that. The account seems OK so far.

Bank transfers happen every day right, so I don't think/hope that having someones account number without any of the pass codes means nothing can happen?

No worries mate. He can't do anything with just your name and accountnumber..

Freedom777 · #11 04-16-2008, 04:59 PM

I'd contact _ay'Bay as you normally would once your payment deadline was passed...also note that once __'moBay contacts him (if all is legit) he'll likely slam you for numerous ficticious reasons (misrepresented product, refused to sell, etc.) just to get __itBay off of their back...then after all that you'll still need to file the complaint for relisting the thing....hopefully no more than that....that's a good reason why people give fair warning to not even ask....you piss someone off by not giving in then they stick it to you out of spite. What do they care it's only their first rating...

jk-27 · #12 04-16-2008, 05:52 PM

Well the guy's already made clear he's not completing the deal. I'd like to let *Bay know now, but I have to wait 7 days to even file a complaint so they can contact him and remind him to pay, let alone get the credit back. *Bay are just so focused on getting buyers protected (see the separate thread on *Bay Australia now only allowing PayPal payment on all auctions to protect buyers), that I'm stuck.

Imagine if this guy is committing a fraud, I can't let them know a God damn thing for 7 days! Plenty of time for him to do what he wants. I've been checking my bank account regularly, everything is OK so far. In my mind I'm done with *Bay now, it's just a joke.

Freedom777 · #13 04-16-2008, 06:55 PM

I can agree it certainly isn't what it used to be...I joined about a year after **** started and it's just not worth it anymore...I do like the PayPal thing but that's it. They're only worth checking out when something scarce is needed. And even then, depends who's selling it....good luck bro !

TAorama · #14 04-16-2008, 09:36 PM

I'd bet $5 he was just after your bank account info. Make SURE you alert your bank to watch for fraudulent activity or requests for money transfers on that account. That whole transaction sounds like a Nigerian-style scam. Watch your butt.

6stringer · #15 04-17-2008, 01:22 AM

My wife had someone from a store swipe a check she used to get a gift for someone. Then the thief got ahold of some of these beauties that print from Quicken (or probably any decent word processor)...

and tried to buy a bunch of stuff. Fortunately, the first store the thief went to knew my wife and played it casual until the cops arrived (they had a security code on the register that told the manager to alert the police re:fraud). Close call.

Also had a guy take the shipping slip from a place where I mailed a guitar to someone and try to buy $2000 worth of shoes online. Fortunately they called to verify before they shipped.

Wouldn't hurt to notify the bank- they can stop suspicious transactions before they hit your account. Better safe than sorry, imho...