ebay is a scammer paradise. I just lost $2000 because of them

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

But, but Occifer Stadanko Sir, all the other cars on the road were driving faster then me when you stopped me.

 

[pututu]

Unless someone report this to Intel: https://community.intel.com/t5/Proc...f-an-Intel-engineering-sample-CPU/td-p/312517.

At least according to this Intel forum, this matter had been referred to Intel corporate security/legal team. Outcome is unknown. BTW this was a long time ago and after 10+ years, Ebay platform is still flourished with Intel engineering samples. Doesn't seem to me that Intel is taking a hard look at Ebay for selling Intel properties.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I guess it's too late now, but would be fun to pull something like this off to the scammer:

P-P-P-Powerbook! | Know Your Meme

P-P-P-Powerbook refers to a replica of an Apple Powerbook laptop handcrafted by Something Awful member Jeff Harris to prank an eBay buyer who tried to scam

knowyourmeme.com

That story jarrs me out every time I read it.

My favorite story like this was the scammer in Nigeria who was trying to get a bunch of Asus laptops from a shop with a bad check so the owner told the scammer he was sending out the Anus laptops but the scammer would be responsible for paying for the shipping fee upon delivery. So he sent him a few hundred pounds of broken laptops with ANUS scratched into the screen plus a bunch of dead power supplies and other assorted heavy trash. Said the scammer spent like $2000 to pick up the delivery. Was hilarious seeing the scammers emails back with what he got in the delivery and how the scammer knew the governor of the area the shop was in and that the owner would be in jail soon if he didn't send the real Anus laptops. So he sent another load of garbage.

EDIT: Had to edit in a photo

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I buy from eBay a few times a year. A lot of legit merchants sell on eBay, so that's fairly reliable. I bought a Quest 2 from Meta a year ago and IIRC eBay threw in a 2 year service plan.

Horror stories aside, eBay works because the vast majority of people (buyers or sellers) are not crooks. They clear about $80B of merchandise per year.

-100%. The buyer protections are absolutely why I will almost exclusively shop from ebay for my used stuff. Pretty expansive marketplace, overwhelmingly positive experiences, the one time I got a broken part the return went smoothly, the other time I got flat out scammed while buying I got all my money back.

I've bought literally dozens of items from ebay over just the last few years and outside of the two transactions mentioned above they were all above board.

That said, I tend to buy things no more expensive than $300. Would definitely get a bit more paranoid buying something much more expensive sight unseen through a random broker.

 

[dullard]

I bought the CPU from ebay years ago. I have bought like 10 ES CPU's (Intel and AMD) from ebay. No matter what that document says, if you look at the quantity of ES chips that are advertised and sold by ebay, there is no way its an offense that will be prosecuted, and possibly not illegal. (not a lawyer)

If its that illegal, how could thousands of chips be sold for MANY years (like over 15 at least) by ebay ?

Edit: NOTE: If you search for ES CPU on ebay right now, its says this about the results

1,000+ results for ES CPU​

And if you scroll down, they are computer CPUs, mostly Intel

Just because it might not be strongly enforced, does not make it legal to buy and sell other people's property.

 

[MrSquished]

if you just put ES in the name of the product and didn't specify it was an engineering sample, that's a dick move. I'd ask for a return as well. Of course I'd actually return it if it was prepaid shipping.

but he should have returned it, but why does it seem you delayed giving him the return lable if you missed a deadline? how long did you actually get to send him the return process?

how pissed off were you when you were complaining about this guy to ebay I'm just curious?

 

[brianmanahan]

been spending most our lives,
livin in a scammer's paradise
stole servers once or twice
livin in a scammer's paradise

 

[Torn Mind]

I bought the CPU from ebay years ago. I have bought like 10 ES CPU's (Intel and AMD) from ebay. No matter what that document says, if you look at the quantity of ES chips that are advertised and sold by ebay, there is no way its an offense that will be prosecuted, and possibly not illegal. (not a lawyer)

If its that illegal, how could thousands of chips be sold for MANY years (like over 15 at least) by ebay ?

Edit: NOTE: If you search for ES CPU on ebay right now, its says this about the results

1,000+ results for ES CPU​

And if you scroll down, they are computer CPUs, mostly Intel

Technically, they are illegal. You violate what is set on paper, it's illegal. That's all.

But laws being enforced is a matter of discretion.

Companies are not going to sue you for conversion nor breach of contract nor replevin/detinue for old chips due to the costs and lack of return enforcing such rules.

If you wanted to get technical, there are so-called affirmative defenses like waiver/abandonment/etc. If a company did sue you, you would still have to duke it out in court whether they abandoned the items.

For a small claims or replevin/detinue judge though, there is a good chance it being ES will be ignored since the matter is about damages or possession of the property.

Probably the key fact is whether you just used the abbreviation ES or engineering sample was written out on the chip or in the text to notify the reader adequately. (or something similar like confidential).

Sometimes listers get careless and list something the device doesn't have like POE(power over ethernet).

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I don't care one way or another about it being an engineering sample. It's ridiculous the asshole didn't return your stuff. The lateness of the label should be irrelevant.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Yeah wow this topic took a left turn.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

The lateness of the label should be irrelevant.

That's probably the key reason for the outcome. Rules have meanings. They set those time deadlines and they take them seriously.

 

[Markfw]

That's probably the key reason for the outcome. Rules have meanings. They set those time deadlines and they take them seriously.

Once I had contested the return, creating a return label was impossible the normal way. I asked for help, but it took me a while to find his address, and I had to do it backdoor. Hence the 2 days late. Yes, if I got the hardware back, I would be pissed, but not like this. I was totalled screwed.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Anyway, it's the scumbag's loss, not gain. No unjust deed goes unpunished. He will face the music sooner or later and then cry out, "What did I do to deserve this???".

 

[pcslookout]

I been saying this but no one ever cared or believed me. Oh well.

 

[BudAshes]

I been saying this but no one ever cared or believed me. Oh well.

I think most of us agree, I haven't used it since the golden days of the internet.

 

[Zeze]

I guess it's too late now, but would be fun to pull something like this off to the scammer:

P-P-P-Powerbook! | Know Your Meme

P-P-P-Powerbook refers to a replica of an Apple Powerbook laptop handcrafted by Something Awful member Jeff Harris to prank an eBay buyer who tried to scam

knowyourmeme.com

That story jarrs me out every time I read it.

This is now officially a boomer meme.

OP, don't go down without a fight. Shit happens a lot in life. Fight 'em.

1. Start generating NOISE. Noise and attention got me into a special 'case manager' when I filed a complaint with BBB with a huge regional HVAC chain company.
2. Yes, BBB has no teeth. But because of their legacy status, some private businesses take it seriously.
3. Go all out post it on youtube, reddit (ebay subreddit), with details.
4. Also write a letter to Attorney General of your state and tell Ebay you are taking action with AG and BBB. This should get you some elevated help, above the small fry service idiots.
5. Take it to small claims court, let the buyer know and provide proof. All he needs to do is get scared and ship it. But don't count on that. Sue him for SCAMMING you.

Don't go down without a fight.

I got into a car accident long time ago. I was completely fine, but ambulance came and did a quick Q&A. I declined their services. Well they hit me with a $500 BS charge. I fought that with a simple letter describing what happened. I kept writing back to them with the email trail. Guess what happened? They took my charge to their internal legal department and had a lawyer draft some 'explanation of charges'. It was completely toothless. I wrote back again.

What do you know, I never heard from them again and I watched my credit. Nothing happened to it. They just closed it lmao.

 

[Zeze]

Anyway, it's the scumbag's loss, not gain. No unjust deed goes unpunished. He will face the music sooner or later and then cry out, "What did I do to deserve this???".

Unfortunately this karma system doesn't exist.

Hundreds of kids died today while doing nothing wrong.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Unfortunately this karma system doesn't exist.

Hundreds of kids died today while doing nothing wrong.

- Its a misappropriation of the concept of Karma, which literally only works in a "death/rebirth" philosophy, since it can paper over the whole "good things keep happening to evil people" conundrum by saying "no the bad stuff will be tallied and deducted from their account balance when its time to be reborn into this world, best they'll be able to afford is a newt".

Of course now people use Karma in a western context to mean "don't worry, if someone is a jerk then later on within this same lifetime something bad will happen to them to balance the scales" which we can all observe with our own eyes often isn't the case.

 

[Torn Mind]

The buyer should be sent a demand letter.

Dear X,

You are in possession of my server chip(description). You have obtained a payment refund but I want the item back. Failure to do so may result in legal action taken against you to reobtain possession of my chip.

Thank you

 

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't do anything about it unless I was close enough to drive to their house and handle it in person. All fucking with it would serve to do is piss me off every time I had to give it thought. $2k isn't nothing, but it isn't enough to get me to be pissed off over and over again. Call it a life lesson, and get on with life. Selling electronics online is a losing proposition unless you "know" the people you're dealing with. I'd throw the stuff out before I gambled on strangers not being assholes.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

You'd think there would be a proper used sales brokerage service that would basically escrow all the things to keep all parties honest: Payment and goods are sent to escrow service, receipt of all is verified, any final comments or concerns hammered out, then payment is sent to vendor and goods sent to customer for completion of sale.

If anyone has a problem with either the payment or the goods, they take it up with the escrow service, not the buyer or seller.

OFC some additional protections should be in place (since the escrow service can't be expected to "know" about the goods they're handling other than they're not obviously illegal) and this would have to operate with increased fees and so only really be applicable to higher cost items, but no reason eBay couldn't offer a service like this for items $1000 and up for example.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Unfortunately this karma system doesn't exist.

Hundreds of kids died today while doing nothing wrong.

It's not instant. If it were, all humans would be angels for fear of Karma. If nothing else, the inbreeding of the oppressors will be their downfall from an evolutionary standpoint.

 

[igor_kavinski]

If anyone has a problem with either the payment or the goods, they take it up with the escrow service, not the buyer or seller.

Only snag being, customers shipping defective items to the escrow service and then claiming that "it was working fine!" before they shipped it. I suppose that's a headache most services want to avoid. If people were reasonable, life would be so much easier. In the OP's case, only a scumbag would claim someone else's stuff through some loophole. Anyone with a conscience would never do that.

 

[manly]

You'd think there would be a proper used sales brokerage service that would basically escrow all the things to keep all parties honest: Payment and goods are sent to escrow service, receipt of all is verified, any final comments or concerns hammered out, then payment is sent to vendor and goods sent to customer for completion of sale.

If anyone has a problem with either the payment or the goods, they take it up with the escrow service, not the buyer or seller.

OFC some additional protections should be in place (since the escrow service can't be expected to "know" about the goods they're handling other than they're not obviously illegal) and this would have to operate with increased fees and so only really be applicable to higher cost items, but no reason eBay couldn't offer a service like this for items $1000 and up for example.

That's been done for luxury consignment but it wouldn't really scale (it would cost way more for eBay than their current see-no-evil policies):

The RealReal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Only snag being, customers shipping defective items to the escrow service and then claiming that "it was working fine!" before they shipped it. I suppose that's a headache most services want to avoid. If people were reasonable, life would be so much easier. In the OP's case, only a scumbag would claim someone else's stuff through some loophole. Anyone with a conscience would never do that.

There are a lot of "scumbags" in the U.S. alone. See: 2016 U.S. Presidential election, for example.

 

[Pohemi]

You'd think there would be a proper used sales brokerage service that would basically escrow all the things to keep all parties honest: Payment and goods are sent to escrow service, receipt of all is verified, any final comments or concerns hammered out, then payment is sent to vendor and goods sent to customer for completion of sale.

Some places do use an escrow system, but of course it only applies to the payment funds, not the items themselves (one example would be private trader .onion sites).

If nothing else, the inbreeding of the oppressors will be their downfall from an evolutionary standpoint.

That will take a bit of time for evolution to weed them out. Nothing says they wouldn't take everyone down with them. Ever see Idiocracy?