SCAM EBAY BUYER??? "trainbay"

[kevinlms]

On 08/06/2020 at 23:22, MartinWales said:

Had one about two years ago, where several part built and relatively rare wagon kits were posted in a large box. Unfortunately no packing other than newspaper at the top of the box meant at least two arrived in several pieces, both K's kits. 

 

Unfortunately one was white metal, the other plastic.....

Well at least that made it easy to identify, which parts belonged to each model!

[simon b]

Good evening all, hope your having a good weekend. Just a quick update because it made me laugh, it seems he doesn't check his feedback often because my post is still there.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by simon b

[Claycrossjunction]

I find eBay an mixed bag buying for the most part is ok selling on the other hand not so good. When you first start selling your buyers money can been held for a time and even on the release date be moved again. The offers you get are often too low to make it worth while. The buyer holds the cards the seller often has bow down in case of bad feedback effecting future sales. eBay now is not the eBay of before their seems to be little balance now I also believe they only want big companies who pay big fees to them and resolve problems themselves less problematic for eBay. That said Amazon is not as good has it was once was either. If you do sell on eBay your motto should be ' Seller Beware ' their is always a scammer waiting.

[simon b]

I just had a short email conversation with another member who this guy did a similar thing to:  Claimed the item was broken, and sent back an empty box! 

 

I have pointed him in the direction of customer services to get the bad feedback removed from his account. But it shows that my experience with him wasn't a one off.

[hayfield]

Simon

 

If the seller received an empty box contact eBay, its fraud !!!  If eBay gets too much trouble they will ban him, But don't accept the initial rebuff from eBay pursue it. They will listen

[simon b]

27 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Simon

 

If the seller received an empty box contact eBay, its fraud !!!  If eBay gets too much trouble they will ban him, But don't accept the initial rebuff from eBay pursue it. They will listen

 

It was another member he sent the empty box to, I think he did resolve it with customer services but the feedback wasn't removed. I just mentioned it to him as he hadn't noticed it was there.

[hayfield]

Thanks, then its the cost of living in a free society.

 

But in the end as a seller who checks the buyers feedback, we must also protect decent sellers from dreadful buyers. The system works both ways in also protecting decent sellers

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

Thanks, then its the cost of living in a free society.

 

But in the end as a seller who checks the buyers feedback, we must also protect decent sellers from dreadful buyers. The system works both ways in also protecting decent sellers

 

A great idea in theory, but the system controller is eBay, both poacher and gamekeeper, and they're only interested in the money.

 

Mike.

[hayfield]

Granted eBay perhaps should in theory police matters better, but I worked with a chap who sold car parts and would regularly be banned only to reopen under a different name, no idea how but was very mercenary with few morals. Banning does nor always work !! 

 

eBay will only continue to be successful providing buyers are happy and sellers can sell, we are talking about the minority of sales that go wrong and in everything the few spoil it for the many

Edited July 26, 2020 by hayfield

[polybear]

7 hours ago, simon b said:

I just had a short email conversation with another member who this guy did a similar thing to:  Claimed the item was broken, and sent back an empty box! 

 

I have pointed him in the direction of customer services to get the bad feedback removed from his account. But it shows that my experience with him wasn't a one off.

 

I've mentioned this several times on RMWeb - possibly on this thread - if you encounter a dodgy buyer and the item is being returned, video it being unpacked from start to finish.....

If all else fails, use the small claims court.  Buyer might not be so clever then.

[Paul80]

What we need is a thread on here were we can list all the eBay buyers we have had issues with, so we could add them to our blocked bidders list.

 

Would that be allowed by the mods?

[AY Mod]

40 minutes ago, Paul80 said:

 

Would that be allowed by the mods?

 

Too open to abuse I'm afraid plus I wouldnt have the time to deal with any complaints from anyone grumbling they'd been incorrectly maligned. 

[GWR-fan]

I have several non-paying bidders whom I am awaiting the required time limit to raise a dispute for non-payment and then add them to my blocked bidders' list.  They buy and then go deathly quiet,  not responding to an invoice or a message requesting if they no longer wish to purchase the item.  Meanwhile,  the items purchased cannot be resold until the non-payment dispute is finalised.  Odd that when one checks the 100% positive feedback of each member,  the feedback from sellers is always "awesome eBayer, ...fast payment, ....super quick payment,..... prompt payment".  Makes you wonder if a seller's feedback can be relied upon as apart from reporting a buyer for a strictly limited number of reasons or not responding at all,   are sellers simply being polite in their praise of buyers.   I am reluctant to require instant payment as the only method of payment as I dislike the requirement to do so,  both as a buyer and a seller,  however,  instant payment would solve the non-paying issues but it would adversely impact on those buyers who do the right thing.  For the first six months of the pandemic I did not have a single case of non-payment and all paid within hours of making a purchase.  however, of late there seems an upsurge in non-paying bidder/buyers. 

[GWR-fan]

On 02/07/2020 at 05:54, Claycrossjunction said:

...................... eBay now is not the eBay of before their seems to be little balance now I also believe they only want big companies who pay big fees to them and resolve problems themselves less problematic for eBay. .....................................

 

What I am finding more and more distasteful with eBay as a seller for many years is that eBay treats all sellers as if they are a business.  I am constantly being bombarded with messages and links and invitations to eBay gatherings and being constantly told how to improve my sales by using eBay's optional selling aids and offering 3 day posting delivery times and including free postage on all my items.  In Australia postage on a piece of rolling stock is $8.95.  For a locomotive the cost is between $12.20 and $15.35.  For multiple purchases over 1 kilogram, the cost is generally between $18.50 and $21.50.  Now if I was to absorb those postage costs by offering "free postage" then any potential buyers would look elsewhere.   I am tired of eBay rating my selling performance because sales in one month may not be meeting my power seller level and I am being remonstrated for not meeting eBay's projected sales targets.   It seems to get promotional listing deals in Australia one now needs to sign up to eBay's "eBay plus" programme.  It is almost three years since I was offered a free final listings fee offer.   What of those of us who are selling their personal items as a hobby to fund other purchases?  We are not businesses.  I am not going to risk my record being sullied because the post office cannot deliver an item in three days and buyers mark you down because an item is a day late.  Fortunately I am getting to the bottom of the barrel as regards items that I have for sale as I am finding that eBay and PayPal fees are eating heavily into sales.  Of cause,  the fees are lower than an auction house rates,  but for most of us,  eBay is supposed to be fun,  but it is a long time since I had a laugh seeing close to 20% of a sale price being eaten by fees. 

[hayfield]

20 minutes ago, GWR-fan said:

I have several non-paying bidders whom I am awaiting the required time limit to raise a dispute for non-payment and then add them to my blocked bidders' list.  They buy and then go deathly quiet,  not responding to an invoice or a message requesting if they no longer wish to purchase the item.  Meanwhile,  the items purchased cannot be resold until the non-payment dispute is finalised.  Odd that when one checks the 100% positive feedback of each member,  the feedback from sellers is always "awesome eBayer, ...fast payment, ....super quick payment,..... prompt payment".  Makes you wonder if a seller's feedback can be relied upon as apart from reporting a buyer for a strictly limited number of reasons or not responding at all,   are sellers simply being polite in their praise of buyers.   I am reluctant to require instant payment as the only method of payment as I dislike the requirement to do so,  both as a buyer and a seller,  however,  instant payment would solve the non-paying issues but it would adversely impact on those buyers who do the right thing.  For the first six months of the pandemic I did not have a single case of non-payment and all paid within hours of making a purchase.  however, of late there seems an upsurge in non-paying bidder/buyers. 

 

 

I am tempting fate, but  in 17 years I have had 2 issues, one with a person who used a library computer and was unused to how eBay worked the other asked after winning if I could wait till he got paid. Both paid up without too much trouble, the first one I resold before he contacted but I had a similar item he was happy with. Most buyers pay within hours of winning a few may take 24 hours max

[MartinWales]

Just had one, whom I heard nothing at all from after winning the item, despite me sending six invoices.

 

Gave him a week, which I thought more than generous, and cancelled the sale!

   

[GWR-fan]

17 hours ago, MartinWales said:

Just had one, whom I heard nothing at all from after winning the item, despite me sending six invoices.

 

Gave him a week, which I thought more than generous, and cancelled the sale!

   

 

I hope you raised an unpaid item dispute to get your fees back.  I do not think that cancelling the sale gets you your fees returned and also puts a cancelled sale on your record.    If a buyer does not pay then the unpaid strike and cancellation should be against him,  not you.  It is tiresome awaiting the four days since the sale and then the additional time given to the buyer to respond to the eBay message to pay up and then their decision to reimburse you the fees plus make the item available for resale.  If a buyer has an outstanding unpaid dispute against him then there should be a penalty such as his privileges revoked plus say an additional one week penalty preventing him from ripping off other sellers.  It might be simple lack of respect and etiquette for a buyer to not pay,  but it places a burden on the seller as the item sold is unable to be relisted until eBay settles the unpaid dispute.  I will be raising an unpaid dispute in a couple of hours for an unpaid item sold last week.  The buyer seems to have been abducted away by aliens.  Over the next week other disputes will be raised and every guilty party added to the blocked list.  All it takes is a simple courtesy message explaining the situation.  I am open to a delayed settlement if aware of the circumstances,  but get annoyed when a buyer makes a purchase on a whim, possibly intoxicated and then sees in the light of day the reality of his actions.  EDIT:  An unpaid item dispute now raised and now I have to bide my time for another four days minimum before I can close the case.   I will give the buyer a day or so just in case he develops a conscience and then put him where he belongs,  on the blocked bidders' list.

 

The guy who recently extorted me for damage to a loco three weeks after taking delivery,  last year accused me of using his eBay details and falsely selling him an item.  He had never purchased from me previously and denied even being in the model railway hobby and yet his eBay name contains the name "Stannier" and a BR cab loco number.  He refuted the sale saying that neither him nor anyone else in his household had made the purchase and said that I must have falsely used his details to make a sale.  I can only assume that alcohol may have been part of the purchase.  I should have blocked him last year and saved myself the recent trouble and extorted compensation.  Ironically,  he resides in one of the most affluent suburbs in Sydney,  where every home is in the many millions of dollars.

Edited August 3, 2020 by GWR-fan
Additional info

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

Ironically,  he resides in one of the most affluent suburbs in Sydney,  where every home is in the many millions of dollars.

 

You can now see how he funds his lifestyle!

 

Mike.

[polybear]

6 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

 

 I should have blocked him last year and saved myself the recent trouble and extorted compensation.  Ironically,  he resides in one of the most affluent suburbs in Sydney,  where every home is in the many millions of dollars.

 

Bored layabout waste of space useless son of a very rich daddy perhaps?

[cessna152towser]

I had one who delayed for several weeks, on a boxed set of three Bachmann wagons.  After several invoices and no response  I was on the point of opening a non-paying bidder case with eBay.  As a last resort I messaged the buyer that as it was obvious he was no longer interested in the items I had decided to keep them.  Within minutes the money was in my Paypal account.  No explanation or apology.  He got the wagons, never left any feedback.

[JZ]

On 27/05/2020 at 09:23, MartinWales said:

So how would you know that it was received safely? More often than not a quick email produces an answer

I send nothing without tracking. You can then check whether it has been delivered or not. Stems from a transaction I did on RMweb. Sold a detailing kit for a Lima class 60. Buyer asked me NOT to send it tracked to save money. OK I thought, we're all friends on here. Couple of weeks later claimed it hadn't arrived and wanted a refund. I had proof of postage, but that is all it is, proof I posted it. Couple of months later he posted pictures on here of the conversion that he did with the kit that he said he bought from me. Cheeky c**t. Contacted him again and he deleted his account. Since then, I have only had one buyer claim it never arrived. When I went to the RM website and retrieved his signature and sent it to him, it was "Oh, I forgot."

Moral? Never send anything without tracking.

[MrWolf]

It's all very well sending an item tracked, but it also depends on who you send it with. Certain couriers dump parcels on your doorstep mark the parcel as delivered and clear off. When the parcel is stolen, the tracking on their website says it has been "signed for by a member of the household". There is no copy of the signature and no comeback for the buyer. So whilst there are some unscrupulous buyers out there, there are plenty of people who genuinely didn't receive a parcel and can't do a thing about it.

[hayfield]

If you buy using eBay and Packlink the eBay guarantee kicks in, the buyer has to send in a dispute eBay will reimburse the buyer, if its Royal Mail via the Post Office, seller reimburses the buyer, seller claims from Royal Mail. As for the new entrants you must look at their terms and conditions. Hermes still has not got back to me after a week. A few years back DHL were very good with a potential lost parcel

 

The good things about the couriers is that they take a photo, in my case of the wrong property. Having said this you have distance selling rules on your side plus if you followed Ebays rules them as well  

[JZ]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

, there are plenty of people who genuinely didn't receive a parcel and can't do a thing about it.

Maybe I've been lucky, but in nearly 1800 transactions, buying and selling, not one package has gone missing. I did buy a boxed set of CDs once and the seller deleted their account after I made the payment. Ebay refunded me on that one. Otherwise, there was a Bachmann WD bought from a seller in China. That failed to arrive after 6 weeks, so the seller sent me another. 3 weeks later both arrived within a few days. Seller offered to let me have the second for £40 rather than return it.

[MrWolf]

They don't always take a photo. It doesn't matter if some smackhead nicks the parcel five minutes after the courier has dumped the parcel on your doorstep whether or not a photo is taken. 

The fact that Hermes in particular don't give a toss and are pretty much uncontactable, makes most people write off their losses. 

What kind of company doesn't have an email address or a customer service department?