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Beware of Ebay - Don't get ripped off like I did.
October 02, 2005
By: A.Retlick

Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for any negative feelings derived from reading this document. The contents herein may not be used in any form without written permission from the author.

You never think it’s going to happen to you. It’s always somebody else who gets taken by a scam artist. I thought I was safe and secure when I first started using eBay back in 2000. At the time, I had no idea that it was a breeding ground for scam artists. It all started when I started shopping for a digital movie camera. The model I was interested in cost more that I wanted to pay, so I started looking at eBay. I found several cameras up for bid and got sucked in by the thought of being able to get the camera I wanted for a reasonable price. Why should I have any concerns about being ripped off? This was eBay the online auction giant that was being praised by so many devoted followers. And besides, they had a money back guarantee, right?

So, I decided to go for it. I created a user account on the eBay web site. This is required before you can bid. The process was fairly simple and before long, I found a camera and waited until close to the end of the auction to place my bid. The next day I was thrilled when I received the following email:

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 00:11:09 -0400
Subject: ebay auction #412243913
Sender: secomay@mindspring.com

Congratulations! You were the high bidder on Sony TVR520 Digital Handycam Camera Ebay Item # 412243913. Send money order for $695.00 to the following address:

Christopher Scott
204 Larcher Blvd Unit 494
Biloxi, MS 39534

Payment must be received within ten days. Please respond with your mailing address so that I can have package ready. Thanks.

Item Description:

THIS CAMERA IS BRAND NEW IN FACTORY SEALED BOX, NEVER OPENED NEVER USED. NO RESERVE! DCR-TRV520 msrp $1099.00 I accept money orders only. Must receive payment within ten days from end of auction. Not responsible for items lost in mail. Free Shipping. Bid confidently. Good Luck to all.

The retail price of the camera was over one thousand dollars. What a great deal, I couldn’t believe my luck. Then I saw the “Payment must be received within ten days.” I had to get to my bank and get a money order out to Biloxi fast! The next day I went down to the post office and got a money order for the required amount, sent it off, and waited. After six days, I figured that the payment should have arrived, so I sent an email and asked the seller if they received my payment yet. Here is the reply:

From: secomay@mindspring.com
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 05:27:46 -0400
Subject: Re: Re: ebay auction #412243913

Not yet, I am on an Air Force Base and mail is usually delivered one to two days later than usual. I'm not sure why, but I'll probably get it around the Monday or Tuesday depending on when it was sent. Thanks.

Okay, that was a good explanation. But I started to get worried when I saw that he was on an Air Force Base. He was probably buying stuff from the PX and selling it on eBay. I’m sure that is against the rules. I waited another week and send another email to see if the payment had arrived. Here is the reply:

From: secomay@mindspring.com
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000 16:09:41 -0400
Subject: Re: Re: ebay auction #412243913

Just got the money order today and will ship out package tomorrow morning. Thanks.

Now I was getting somewhere. The money had been received and the package had been sent. I waited another week, figuring that was plenty of time for a package to arrive. Each day I waited hoping that the package would show up and that I could begin using my new camera. At the end of the week I sent another email and this was the reply:

From: secomay@mindspring.com
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2000 13:08:34 -0400
Subject: Re: Re: ebay auction #412243913

I am apologizing first thing in this email. When I told you I was sending your package off on Saturday I had totally forgot that the post office was closed until today. I apologize and your package was mailed out today. I am sorry for the late delivery. Thanks.

At least Christopher sounded sincere. But I didn’t buy the explanation about the post office being closed. This was a United States Air Force base surely they had a post office that was open more than two days a week. I didn’t have much choice, so I waited for the package to arrive. After more than three weeks had passed, I sent another email threatening to report him to eBay and to put a negative response on his eBay profile. This was the reply:

From: secomay@mindspring.com
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 08:46:57 -0400
Subject: Re: Re: ebay auction #412243913

Hello, I sent the package a while back and used confirmation delivery and with my confirmation number it says that the package was forwarded to a different address, but was delivered. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm about to check on it. I will be field training for the next few days, but I'll get in touch with you after I return to let you know what's going on. Thanks.

Forwarded to a different address? My head was starting to spin. Maybe my next-door neighbor was in possession of my long lost camera! At least there was a confirmation number, if he could only find out where it was delivered I could go pick up the camera. Two weeks later I received another email from Christopher.

From: secomay@mindspring.com
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 13:21:25 -0400
Subject: Re: Re: ebay auction #412243913

The USPS could not tell me where the package was sent to they just have the city and zip code for it, so I'll be sending you a refund. If you don't mind I would appreciate it if you re-emailed me your address just to make sure I've got the correct address. Sorry about all the problems. Thanks.

On Sunday Oct 8th, 2000, I reported the incident to eBay and opened an insurance claim. The way it works is they give the seller 30 days to respond to a complaint. I had to gather proof of payment and other documents related to the transaction, in order to get a refund from eBay. That was the last email I received from him. The refund promised by Christopher never arrived. Everything had to be done before a certain deadline or my chance to get any money back would be gone. I followed the process carefully, with hope that I would be able to get $200 dollars back from eBay. But, before they could send me a check, we had to wait another 15 days to allow the seller to respond. I was tired of waiting, but I didn’t have much of a choice. Finally, three months after I won my first bid on eBay, I received this email:

Subject: EBay auction 412243913 (Claim Number eb20544)
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 05:31:00 -0600

Thank you for your patience. Settlement will be made on your claim this week. A claim check will be issued through cynoSure Financial, Inc. If you do not receive a claim check in the next thirty days please notify us via email.

The check will be for $175.00

Thank you,
C Gates
Lloyd's Claims Administration

eBay’s insurance had a $25 deductible on all claims. Why didn’t they just come out and say that you will only get $175 instead of saying you are covered for $200? That was one more thing to turn me off of eBay for good. A check for $175 did eventually arrive. I was out a total of $520, plus the three months I could have been using the camera.

A year later I purchased the same camera at a local electronics store. I vowed to never use eBay again and to warn others about the risk. Ebay claims to have addressed many of the problems that cause fraud on their system. But there is still a huge market for stolen property on their website. The seller in my case had a clean record. But I checked his record later on and he had received several negative comments along with mine. It is so tempting to try to get a bargain, but be warned, only deal with people that have excellent comments, and don’t bid any more than you can afford to loose. Unfortunately, I won’t be going anywhere near eBay, unless that lost camera magically appears on my doorstep someday.

-AR-