I've Been Ripped Off!!!

Richard J. Johnson

Richard J. Johnson

Joystick Member
I have been buying and selling on Ebay for 10 years without having a SINGLE issue. But now I have a major one.

So I won the auction for a used 15" PowerbookG4 (only for P2 offloading-PCMCIA slot worked). The auction stated the computer worked fine just some normal signs of wear and tear over the years. The pictures looked good and the display was on.

So it gets delivered and I open the box to find one corner is crushed obviously it had been dropped. The LCD screen is completely black and will not come on. None of this was mentioned in the listing. It was packaged VERY VERY well and the outside box was fine so I know it did not happen in shipping. It was sent that way. This seller was totally dishonest. I took it to the mac store and I need a new LCD and the cheapest I could find one installed is $299.00 from missionrepair.com. I bought it for $285.00 and I have to wait 10 days to file a complaint with ebay.

Am I S.O.L or can Ebay or Paypal force this guy to refund my money? I have never had a bad experience on Ebay or have I caused anyone else to have one. I don't know what options I have. I could just plug a normal monitor into the laptop and use it. But then it would'nt be a laptop. (I did so to test the G4 and it works fine) The guy scammed me, plain and simple. If he lived closer I would pay his Ass a visit.

Anyone had something like this happen before? His feedback was 100% positive and I checked him out before I bid. Sorry for the Rant.:(
 
If his feedback was 100% (and this was based on more than just a few transactions), he might still be a reputable dealer - and be concerned enough not to want negative feedback (assuming that this was a horrible mistake). If it was an intended rip-off, Ebay and PayPal won't help as they are pretty clear that they aren't involved in the transaction, their service is only to hook interested people up. They'll tell you to consider an escrow service next time. Good luck. Hearing this makes me very angry. Do you have his address from the packaging?
 
If you paid with Paypal you have NOTHING to worry about... ZERO. They will refund your money and take it back from the other guy. Unfortunately this will take 10 days to 2 weeks... but don't worry about it. You'll get a couple emails from Paypal asking you to explain the situation and the seller will get a chance to respond, but most likely you'll have a refund shortly... and you can do whatever you want with the powerbook. Don't do this YET... but AFTER you get your refund you can replace the screen or pitch it or whatever... but do NOT do anything yet. If the seller chooses to accept a return in exchange for a FULL refund to you... you need to be prepared to do that.

Paypal favors BUYERS way more then sellers. If you paid Paypal then you have the power here.

My brother got ripped off a couple years ago from a seller that had some insanely high feedback rating... and ebay shut them down... they finally begged my brother to send an email to a link they provided... so that they could be reinstated and begin selling again... in the end he got the original item, plus a full refund.

If you paid by Paypal I wouldn't sweat it.
 
MattinSTL said:
If you paid with Paypal you have NOTHING to worry about... ZERO. They will refund your money and take it back from the other guy. Unfortunately this will take 10 days to 2 weeks... but don't worry about it. You'll get a couple emails from Paypal asking you to explain the situation and the seller will get a chance to respond, but most likely you'll have a refund shortly... and you can do whatever you want with the powerbook. Don't do this YET... but AFTER you get your refund you can replace the screen or pitch it or whatever... but do NOT do anything yet. If the seller chooses to accept a return in exchange for a FULL refund to you... you need to be prepared to do that.

Paypal favors BUYERS way more then sellers. If you paid Paypal then you have the power here.

My brother got ripped off a couple years ago from a seller that had some insanely high feedback rating... and ebay shut them down... they finally begged my brother to send an email to a link they provided... so that they could be reinstated and begin selling again... in the end he got the original item, plus a full refund.

If you paid by Paypal I wouldn't sweat it.
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I paid by paypal. thanks for the info. I will just wait it out.
 
Paypal should take care of you, but i hope you dont need that 300 bucks to survive or get something else in the meantime while waiting for the refund. I had a 900 dollar transaction go sour for me before, it took a month or so but i got it all back from paypal.
 
Mike Harvey said:
Have you checked with the seller to see if he'll offer a refund?
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Of course he's saying that UPS did it. And I am trying to get over on him. What in the hell would I have to gain by lying about a computer that I wanted and Paid for. I filed a claim with paypal today and he is disputing it. but It's all good. I can't get mad over something I can not control. I need every penny I have but $300.00 is very far from breaking the bank it is just the idea that someone would flat out try to run a scam. Just in case he was telling the truth I checked the packaging again and there was not so much as a dent on the box. He had the thing double wrapped and the box was filled with those white packing "S" shaped thingies. There is no way UPS did that much damage. anyway thanks for the advice. I just have to wait it out. I even offered him a deal to pay me back $200.00 so I could by a new screen. No haps.
 
^ Lame on the seller's part. Just lame.

Been on your end of it a few times. That's why I either guarantee everything I sell on Ebay, or make it painfully clear that it is "as is" and no refunds. And I'll only ship via USPS, because they actually will insure the package... Fedex and UPS are a little sketchy in that department. I'll only deal through Paypal just in case.

Just lame.
 
yeah that's why i only use eBay for random things, not anything of real value. craigslist is good for electronics, b/c you can test to see if it works in person.
just got a refurbished macbook pro from Apple's site yesterday. was 1000 dollars off the original price! too hard to pass up. hope this baby last me.................
 
singleframe said:
yeah that's why i only use eBay for random things, not anything of real value. craigslist is good for electronics, b/c you can test to see if it works in person.
just got a refurbished macbook pro from Apple's site yesterday. was 1000 dollars off the original price! too hard to pass up. hope this baby last me.................
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Me too. My limit is $300.00 on ebay. But he agreed to give me a full refund as long as I sent it back to him. The fedex invoice has been created and that paperweight will be going back to him today. A 17" G4 just popped on craigslist for $400.00. It is local and I can inspect it before I buy. Why can't people just be honest about things. It would make life so much easier. :zombie_smiley:
 
Just so you know too, Ebay has a fraud protection fund. I got money back through that once I got hosed. There's a limit but I think it's a couple of hundred bucks.
 
Having worked for a company that ships thousands of items daily, I have heard of boxes being damaged by a shipping company (I've come across this with more than one shipping company), and they re-box it in a new box without catching/correcting damage to the box's contents. So it is a possibility that the seller is telling you the truth. Either way, I'm sure it's very frustrating, and I'm sorry to hear it happened. I hope you get positive resolve.
 
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