I was partially scammed by someone-what are my options?

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T

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
First a little background:

I bought an Alienware computer off a gentleman at the Notebookreview forums. He advertised it as an Alienware m9750 with the 1920x1200 screen, Vista Ultimate, 2.0ghz C2D, dual 7950gtx cards in sli, 160gb hd, dvd burner with lightscribe, all manuals & install disks plus original box & a belkin 300w ac/dc adapter. We bargained over a price($2240 shipped via Paypal)he would include MS Office 2007 Enterprise Edition as well. I received the laptop & all I got was the laptop itself & the power cord. The laptop didnt have the 1920x1200 screen, it had the 1440x900 version, & it didnt come with vista ultimate-it came with Vista home premium. It also didnt have a lightscribe burner & didnt include any of the install disks, manuals or original box.

I sent him an angry email & opened a complaint with paypal. He immediately got back to me & said he was busy but he would send the manuals, cds, packaging, Vista Ultimate software, MS Office 2007 software, & some money to make up for the reduced specs on the laptop.

I recieved his second "package" & all it included were 2 illegally burned dvds: one of Vista & one of MS Office 2007(with no serials btw). No money, no manuals or no original packaging.

It was clear this guy was not going to send me what I wanted so I escalated my Paypal complaint to a claim. They immediately denied it due to the fact that they arent responsible for quality of goods delivered.

What are my options? I realize I most likely wont get a partial refund(what I wanted), or the original items promised but I want to make sure this kid pays the piper. I also have a feeling, considering I only got the laptop & power cord, that the laptop is stolen. Should I contact Alienware? Microsoft for the illegal software?, FBI or Postal service?

I should mention that he is scamming people on PBNation as well. His username is Protoballer420
 
O

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Well you have his address?

Go beat the shit out of him, take back money and keep the laptop.
 
Slew Foot

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
Paid by credit card? Youre set, just dispute there and chargeback the charge. And dont do business with anyone that has a handle with 420 in it, youre guaranteed a douchebag.

 
T

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Paid by credit card? Youre set, just dispute there and chargeback the charge. And dont do business with anyone that has a handle with 420 in it, youre guaranteed a douchebag.
Click to expand...

Wont Paypal come after me if I dispute it with my CC company?
 
T

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
Originally posted by: OdiN
Well you have his address?

Go beat the shit out of him, take back money and keep the laptop.
Click to expand...

Id love to but he lives in Miami & Im up in Wisconsin
 
T

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
BTW, if you check out some of his other posts on PBNation youll see one were he is trying to sell any software you want for 8 bucks a cd
 
KK

KK

Lifer
Jan 2, 2001
15,903
4
81
They immediately denied it due to the fact that they arent responsible for quality of goods delivered.
Click to expand...

try it again saying that its not about the quality, its about you not getting what you paid for. If they still deny it, dispute the paypal charge on your credit card.
 
I

Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
13,066
2
81
Originally posted by: tboo
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Paid by credit card? Youre set, just dispute there and chargeback the charge. And dont do business with anyone that has a handle with 420 in it, youre guaranteed a douchebag.
Click to expand...

Wont Paypal come after me if I dispute it with my CC company?
Click to expand...

According to the merchant agreement, I don't think they can.

Besides, that's between Paypal and the CC company, NOT Paypal and you. You gave them a chance. F*** them, F*** this seller.


Also contact Microsoft and let them know this guy is dealing in pirated goods. I'm sure they'd love to know. Contact both his and your local PD and file a report. They will happily give the kid a knock on the door if they are feeling pissy on that particular day.
 
S

Schfifty Five

Lifer
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
Originally posted by: tboo
First a little background:

I bought an Alienware computer off a gentleman at the Notebookreview forums. He advertised it as an Alienware m9750 with the 1920x1200 screen, Vista Ultimate, 2.0ghz C2D, dual 7950gtx cards in sli, 160gb hd, dvd burner with lightscribe, all manuals & install disks plus original box & a belkin 300w ac/dc adapter. We bargained over a price($2240 shipped via Paypal)he would include MS Office 2007 Enterprise Edition as well. I received the laptop & all I got was the laptop itself & the power cord. The laptop didnt have the 1920x1200 screen, it had the 1440x900 version, & it didnt come with vista ultimate-it came with Vista home premium. It also didnt have a lightscribe burner & didnt include any of the install disks, manuals or original box.

I sent him an angry email & opened a complaint with paypal. He immediately got back to me & said he was busy but he would send the manuals, cds, packaging, Vista Ultimate software, MS Office 2007 software, & some money to make up for the reduced specs on the laptop.

I recieved his second "package" & all it included were 2 illegally burned dvds: one of Vista & one of MS Office 2007(with no serials btw). No money, no manuals or no original packaging.

It was clear this guy was not going to send me what I wanted so I escalated my Paypal complaint to a claim. They immediately denied it due to the fact that they arent responsible for quality of goods delivered.

What are my options? I realize I most likely wont get a partial refund(what I wanted), or the original items promised but I want to make sure this kid pays the piper. I also have a feeling, considering I only got the laptop & power cord, that the laptop is stolen. Should I contact Alienware? Microsoft for the illegal software?, FBI or Postal service?

I should mention that he is scamming people on PBNation as well. His username is Protoballer420
Click to expand...

What does that mean? How can paypal say that? That means I could sell any ol' piece of junk as new or something better and then just get away with it hassle-free. Paypal has some buyer/seller protection stuff which should apply to your case I assume.
 
I

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
Originally posted by: Injury
Originally posted by: tboo
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Paid by credit card? Youre set, just dispute there and chargeback the charge. And dont do business with anyone that has a handle with 420 in it, youre guaranteed a douchebag.
Click to expand...

Wont Paypal come after me if I dispute it with my CC company?
Click to expand...

According to the merchant agreement, I don't think they can.

Besides, that's between Paypal and the CC company, NOT Paypal and you. You gave them a chance. F*** them, F*** this seller.


Also contact Microsoft and let them know this guy is dealing in pirated goods. I'm sure they'd love to know. Contact both his and your local PD and file a report. They will happily give the kid a knock on the door if they are feeling pissy on that particular day.
Click to expand...

lol that's what I was thinking.
Contact MS and tell them he's distributing pirated MS software.
 
I

Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
13,066
2
81
Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
What does that mean? How can paypal say that? That means I could sell any ol' piece of junk as new or something better and then just get away with it hassle-free. Paypal has some buyer/seller protection stuff which should apply to your case I assume.
Click to expand...

Clearly you've never had to deal with Paypal. That's pretty much how it is. You could advertise a computer with awesome specs, take a dump in a box and ship it off and Paypal won't care as long as you can prove you sent a box with SOMETHING in it. They only stand to lose money if they get caught up in a he said/she said situation. They probably make millions a year on scam deals.
 
T

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
Originally posted by: tboo
First a little background:

I bought an Alienware computer off a gentleman at the Notebookreview forums. He advertised it as an Alienware m9750 with the 1920x1200 screen, Vista Ultimate, 2.0ghz C2D, dual 7950gtx cards in sli, 160gb hd, dvd burner with lightscribe, all manuals & install disks plus original box & a belkin 300w ac/dc adapter. We bargained over a price($2240 shipped via Paypal)he would include MS Office 2007 Enterprise Edition as well. I received the laptop & all I got was the laptop itself & the power cord. The laptop didnt have the 1920x1200 screen, it had the 1440x900 version, & it didnt come with vista ultimate-it came with Vista home premium. It also didnt have a lightscribe burner & didnt include any of the install disks, manuals or original box.

I sent him an angry email & opened a complaint with paypal. He immediately got back to me & said he was busy but he would send the manuals, cds, packaging, Vista Ultimate software, MS Office 2007 software, & some money to make up for the reduced specs on the laptop.

I recieved his second "package" & all it included were 2 illegally burned dvds: one of Vista & one of MS Office 2007(with no serials btw). No money, no manuals or no original packaging.

It was clear this guy was not going to send me what I wanted so I escalated my Paypal complaint to a claim. They immediately denied it due to the fact that they arent responsible for quality of goods delivered.

What are my options? I realize I most likely wont get a partial refund(what I wanted), or the original items promised but I want to make sure this kid pays the piper. I also have a feeling, considering I only got the laptop & power cord, that the laptop is stolen. Should I contact Alienware? Microsoft for the illegal software?, FBI or Postal service?

I should mention that he is scamming people on PBNation as well. His username is Protoballer420
Click to expand...

What does that mean? How can paypal say that? That means I could sell any ol' piece of junk as new or something better and then just get away with it hassle-free. Paypal has some buyer/seller protection stuff which should apply to your case I assume.
Click to expand...

Here is what Paypal told me:

"Our investigation into your claim is complete. As stated in our User Agreement, the claims process only applies to the shipment of goods. It does not apply to complaints about the attributes or quality of goods received. Therefore, we are unable to reverse this transaction or issue a refund."

The funny thing is their response to my claim was almost immediate
 
Cdubneeddeal

Cdubneeddeal

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2003
7,473
3
81
Since you used a credit card, I echo the statements regarding doing a chargeback. However, Paypal will close your account, so be aware of that. I would still follow through on the chargeback though. He obviously was out to scam you and most likely was hoping you wouldn't notice.
 
A

Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,978
0
0
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Paid by credit card? Youre set, just dispute there and chargeback the charge. And dont do business with anyone that has a handle with 420 in it, youre guaranteed a douchebag.
Click to expand...

When I was trading I always had a clock set @ 4:20, according to my Heat it means nothing. Making character assumptions about someone over their screen name is about as reliable as relying on skin color in real life.

O/P definitely contact Paypal & Microsft. If he sent the pirated software via USPS you might want to check with them as well. No clue if that violated any law but if so the postmaster can be quite a nasty SOB.
 
T

tboo

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2000
7,626
1
81
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Since you used a credit card, I echo the statements regarding doing a chargeback. However, Paypal will close your account, so be aware of that. I would still follow through on the chargeback though. He obviously was out to scam you and most likely was hoping you wouldn't notice.
Click to expand...

This is why Im reluctant to do a chargeback. I dont want to lose my Paypal account. Perhaps I should cut my losses & ebay the laptop?
 
B

bctbct

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2005
4,868
1
0
I think you should file a Item Not As Descibed w/paypal and if you lose just file a chargeback with your CC. That way you have two chances to win and will not have your paypal account closed.

Many times sellers will refund if you file w/ paypal. Just make sure you research your time limits and file before they expire.
 
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