on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

I bought a used laptop on e-bay to use for simulating... the laptop showed up with a bad hard disk reported immediately after opening and turning on system.

Seller tells me to buy a drive and fix it myself... I protested and took it to E-Bay Buyer protection... they refused to refund my money.

E-Bay Buyer Protection is worthless.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

There's something more to the story here, in very few cases does PP or ebay side with the seller, especially on electronics. If the computer wasn't as advertised, ie a bad hard drive, they should have refunded. SNAD (significantly not as described). How about a link to the auction? Can you post e-mails to the seller or to PP or Ebay? I think the overwhelming amount of people who file complaints are happy with the outcome.

Also, if you funded the PP purchase with a credit card, you can also file a separate complaint with them, so all might not be lost.

init4fun

I hear a lot of the opposite , many folks I know will not sell there because they say the buyer protection is stacked 100% in favor of the buyer , and it's too easy to get ripped off when selling there .

Although I never sold there , I had over 50 successful purchases of small hobby odds and ends and all was well and good with me as a buyer , but then someone hijacked my account and listed some stuff for sale that was not in any way connected to me . I called them right away when I noticed it (actually its a request a callback system) and when they called me back I had them cancel my account , and of course I canceled the paypal account connected to it as well . For good measure , I had the bank that was linked to paypal change all the numbers and issue new ones and that's that , I'm done with buying from there cause I'm soon to be in downsize mode , hobby wise , and can't see taking the risk of selling there either ...

And yea , a link to the ad would be great , to see how the seller described it .

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Yes, I would agree for the most part the "protection" is really geared towards the buyer. That shifted over more so to them when the ability to leave feedback for buyers evaporated! I've done over 1000 transactions there and only been "burned" 2 or 3 times on small dollar stuff, I didn't even let it get to a full blown PP case, I just refunded. I learned a $500.00 lesson sending a camera to Mexico without tracking.....never did that again.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

Why would come onto an R/C forum and complain about a computer bought on E-Bay?

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Because you will read it?

It's not the computer that's the focal point of the comment. The issue is in the header....It's tangentially related to RC in that it can just as easily be for RC items purchased on there. Is it really that big of a deal that he posted a warning to others?

joebahl

My Feedback: (2)

I only buy online stuff i can go see close to me and pay cash for . If buying online from a company i take only the amount needed out of my savings and put it into a checking acount i set up just for buying things online hard to ripp me off when there is no cash in the acount . lol

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

Computers are so cheap these days, why buy a used one? Obviously not worth the risk unless the seller has a flawless rating and hundreds of successful auctions. I too would like to see the link to the auction.

rgburrill

eBay also does not let a seller put a negative mark on a buyer. Their logic is the buyer is the one with the money so they cannot offend him. G-d forbid if one seller said something negative that causes another seller not to complete a sales to a bad buyer.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

I bought 10 what was stated to be Sony VTC4 batteries. They were fakes. I complained to ebay and was told to work it out with the seller.
The seller told me to ship them back. He refused to accept 4 batteries because I opened them and tested them. Then he deducted his shipping charges. With the $10 sipping charges for my sending them back I wound up with $30 of a $85 purchase.

w0mbat

My Feedback: (1)

Ebay used to be a great place to buy and sell when they allowed feedback by both parties. Ever since they only allow buyer feedback, the site has been filled with criminals. I have never been ripped off so many times anywhere else. The worst part is that, as a seller, you can't warn anyone else.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

10 plus years and over a thousand transactions and I've not been truly "scammed", that can't be luck. Use common sense as a seller and buyer, and document well. The change in feedback didn't bring in a wave a "scammers", they are always going to be people who figure out how to scam something. Although the protection is there for both parties, it's def more on the buyers part. Still by far the safest "auction" site to buy from, second only to Amazon which doesn't allow one to "bid".

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Sorry Porcia83,

There is nothing more to tell here... I bought a used computer on auction... not "Buy it now". It had a graphics card in it for using Real Flight RC Simulator. So I was interested and the item did not have many bids. The bid closed in the middle of the day when people are working. I have had pretty good luck in the past and the seller had a good reputation without any black marks.

The laptop hard disk failed immediately and started spitting messages... I contacted the seller and it was "no returns", then return with a huge restocking fee, so I contacted buyer protection... they asked for pictures of the error messages. I sent them in and a few days later they denied the claim. Like you, I always thought the buyer had the upper hand. All I wanted was to send the laptop back and get my money back.

Now... I am stuck, and I am certainly not happy because the laptop was for a friend with a head injury that has caused a lot of heart-break.

E-Bay Buyer Protection Stinks...
.
.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

That does suck, it seems like that doesn't happen often.

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Oh, and another thing... once E-Bay buyer protection says - "Final Decision" they will not talk to you about the issue again period.

Maybe some movement... I tried to leave negative feedback and I could not even leave negative feedback....

so I called and I may have a chance to appeal the decision.... looks like there is a bit of hope on this... I know it is only $225 but it is important to the person that paid it.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

ONLY $225.00 ...that's serious cash dude! I'd be filing a claim on $25.00 if I felt I got screwed out of something. Good luck with the claim. Try to engage PP on the phone, not via e-mail. Also, if you call, you'll get a good idea pretty quickly if you have reached someone overseas, there is a delay in the picking up (you can hear the relay switching), and the accent is distinctive. Ask to go to the next level, and speak with a supervisor. They will route you back to the US, I believe it's in Washington State, and they might be able to help you out. I did that twice and ultimately prevailed. Takes some time and persistence, but it paid off.

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Success! They granted the appeal... I won on appeal, and I get my money back.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Not so worthless now eh? All it took was following my suggestion and 5 minutes later you won? NICE! JK

That is great news, that was a lot of money and glad to hear you got it back.

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

You were right, but I started the phone calls before I read what you wrote.

You were right... I fought the battle on e-mail and lost. Today when I could not even leave bad feedback, I called them. It took a while but the first agent was on my side and then they sent it up a step and about 10minutes on the wait and I was refunded. I just could not understand what I did wrong in the first place.

The seller is required to refund the shipping and cannot charge a restocking on a defective item. The original e-bay buyer protection went seriously wrong... I just needed to keep pursuing it. BTW this is for a wounded warrior... so I was so pleased to finally get the money back. Now we can get a good computer and be simming soon.

fourstar40

My Feedback: (27)

I once bought what was advertised as futaba servos. I bought around $50.00 worth of them. I should have known better because the price was too good to be true. When I got them I found out they we fakes. They were so bad I couldn't use them at all. Wouldn't even make a decent paper weight. I emailed the seller and they offered me 6 bucks in a refund. So then I disputed it. Paypal told me I had to send them back to get a full refund. No big deal,right? Well, they came from China and it would have cost me $30.00 more than I paid for them to send them back.

My point here is the seller was selling fake worthless servos for the real thing and I told paypal this and still sided with the seller. So, paypal doesn't always side with the buyer.

Lesson learned I guess.

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Thing is that I won the appeal on a technicality, the e-bay "judge" made a mistake. I don't know what the mistake was or why e-bay ate the entire transaction, but they did. The seller came out unscathed because I cannot leave negative feedback on her. She got paid, I got paid back and some poor schmoe in the e-bay factory fell on his sword because of some rule he violated.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy that e-bay allowed me to appeal (which I originally was not allowed to do) and they came around to seeing the inequity and made it right. I just know that it is not a slam dunk to get the deal turned around on the seller anymore.