Got Screwed on Ebay (via Paypal)

[Nathan Acree]

Now that looks promising, sent them an email and will call as soon as I can. Hopefully this will get some results.

Thanks again,

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

Originally Posted by opelnut10 North Carolina has a state investigative enforcement agency known as the NCSBI (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation) with statewide powers and that's where my contact would be addressed....

[jeff denton]

I just checked this whole thing out for the first time and just can't believe it's possible for some scumbag to pull this and get away with it. I really don't think he will. "Crime Pays" they say, (my judge friend adds "but not for long").
Put up this butthead's name and address here. I wanna do some research on just that info, just for fun, if you would. It's not hard to do, I tend to know the right people with the right access to the right information.
Chris, could you get a "blue screen" at will, with a name and address?

[Nathan Acree]

Well it looks like it is just that easy to get away what this guy did. Admittedly it was my fault, I thought I had better buyer protection through paypal.

I have the guys name and (supposed) address. I would be more than happy to post everything I've got but for one I don't want to get Gary or this site in hot water and the Sheriffs dept. said to not do anything that would be considered illegal or even on the edge as it could jepardize my chances of recovering anything.

But I do appreciate the thought Jeff. I would love to show up at this guys door with five people and a baseball bat but unfortunately its just not going to help.

-Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

Originally Posted by jeff denton I just checked this whole thing out for the first time and just can't believe it's possible for some scumbag to pull this and get away with it. I really don't think he will. "Crime Pays" they say, (my judge friend adds "but not for long"). Put up this butthead's name and address here. I wanna do some research on just that info, just for fun, if you would. It's not hard to do, I tend to know the right people with the right access to the right information. Chris, could you get a "blue screen" at will, with a name and address?

[benncojr]

Originally Posted by Nathan Acree Well it looks like it is just that easy to get away what this guy did. Admittedly it was my fault, I thought I had better buyer protection through paypal. I have the guys name and (supposed) address. I would be more than happy to post everything I've got but for one I don't want to get Gary or this site in hot water and the Sheriffs dept. said to not do anything that would be considered illegal or even on the edge as it could jepardize my chances of recovering anything. But I do appreciate the thought Jeff. I would love to show up at this guys door with five people and a baseball bat but unfortunately its just not going to help. -Nathan Acree Albuquerque New Mexico

What you are doing is a Public Service announcement!

You are letting the world know that you should not do any transactions with this individual. As far as what happens with the information after that is out of your control!!

[Nathan Acree]

Just thought I would give an update to this situation- Paypal has finally refunded ALL of the money that one of their other users scammed from me with their service.

Basically what it came down to was that Paypal insisted they were making further efforts to recover the rest of my money ($2250). After exhausting every avenue I could with Law Enforcement, Paypal customer service, my bank etc. I got exactly no where. Apparently it is pretty easy to steal $2450 and get away with it.

So being an aggravated obsessive-compulsive type finally paid off. I emailed Paypals "Executive Escalations" claim team every day to ask what progress they have made in recovering the funds. I would always get some canned message back that did not address what I was asking, my specific problem etc. just the same statement that preventing fraud was their number one concern and they are taking steps to recover the additional funds- uh huh.

So, while doing some more research, I found a website that lists the email addresses of all of the "Executive Escalations" customer service people as well as many of Ebay and Paypals Executive officers. After about a week of emailing these people every day I come home from work to find a message on my phone that Paypal has decided to refund my money in full, even beyond the maximum buyer protection of $2000, and are refunding the full $2250 (the original transaction had protection to $200 which they paid initially). In addition there was a stern warning that they will not do this again and that I should be more careful about who I buy from (not to worry).

So let my stupid mistake be a lesson to others- Don't ever let Paypal do a direct transfer from a bank account, always use a credit card. And even if the person you are dealing with appears to be on the level don't trust them any further that you can throw them.

And also, if persistance does not work maybe becoming a pain in the ass will.

-Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

[opelenvy]

Congrats! Good to hear your persistance paid off. You still plan on the S2000 swap? Would love to see that!

[newman27]

Wow - this is good news - congrats! Interesting that Paypal encourages people to direct debit their bank accounts via their "Paypal Verified" program. All of my Paypal transactions hit my checking account and my credit card is listed as a backup source of funds (presumably in case I don't have enough in my checking account). I need to see about switching that around if Paypal allows it.

[tomking]

I switched off the direct bank account thing long ago and use the paypal mastercard. Too dam risky letting others have access to the bank account.

[Tru-Craft]

Thanks for the info, glad you got your $ back!
I will look at my paypal account and see what I have.
Lyle

[kwilford]

I had added my chequing account to PayPal a few years ago when a seller would only take non-credit card PayPal (the fees are less). A few months ago I noticed that my chequing account had become the "preferred" account, with my credit card the "back up", presumably to save PayPal the card fees.
I don't see any way to reverse the order, short of removing the chequing account. The disadvantages of doing that includes not being able to buy from those sellers not allowing credit card PayPal, and the bank connection allows deposits of PayPal balances back to my bank account (on the rare occasion that I sell something, such as when I sold those head gasket sets). But it isn't a huge task to click a couple of times when doing a PayPal transaction to select the credit card. They make it a bit inconvenient by making you verify your choice while they expound on the virtues of using your bank account versus your credit card, but I haven't been swayed. Especially after this story.

[traytodd]

In order to be a "validated" member, Paypal wants the bank account number and makes it the preferred method of payment. When you manually select a credit card, they make it sound like this is the riskier method and that they are doing you a favor by pointing this out. The real reason they prefer the ATM transaction is it is cheaper and less risky for them since you can challenge and reverse a credit card payment. I almost always go with the card.

[BDD]

If you have his contact information you could have a lawyer write him a serious letter informing of several legal penalties.

Hopefully the police will send him some strong messages too.

Ebay will be useless to you. Their intent is to make as much money as possible off of internet sales all over the world (with often inflated prices because it is an auction or because the seller is pushing the price up) with minimal contact with real people or anything that could be called customer service. Good work (like other scams) if you can get it. The "Better Business Bureau" is a myth. They maintain some lists which probably get thrown out in a short time.

Small claims court is probably the legal route for you.

[OpelJim]

from the UK named Raymond Griffiths or Griffins google his named before you sell him your Opel.
Too many ways to get ripped off on the internet
Always do your due diligents first especially out of the USA

This is a public service announcement for all the
Opel owners who might be selling a car

[luch1]

We had a similar experience with e-bay and paypal a couple of years ago. Lost $2500. Won the dispute, filed with the local police, the internet fraud, the whole nine yards. Finally had a local police friend follow up for me and he investigated and tracked the people's address and had the local police pay them a visit. The response was "Too Bad!" and the police said they could do nothing more.
I AM VERY CAREFUL now with all e-bay auctions. Sellers must have a rating over 50 to be eligible for buyer protection above $200. A very expensive lesson to learn.
I am very sorry it has happened to someone else because it takes what should have been great experience and now leaves a bad taste.
The good thing is these crooks are few.

[BDD]

It's interesting that what most people are left with for a legal system, unless maybe they have a lawyer on retainer, are the "Better Business Bureau" which does absolutely nothing (it's mostly a public relations thing meant to create the impression of a watchdog but with no teeth and probably bad gums), small claims court, which has now power of enforcement, the police department who apparently can't do anything either and Ebay and their other business that they'd probably like you to think is totally separate and unbiased, Paypal which will do nothing for real people as a matter of policy and business.