OT: Need your help; Ebay related

OilMan

OilMan

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Hey all,
This is kinda off topic but I've seen the community help others in the same situation with advise and I was wondering what your opinion would be on my problem.
I ordered a bunch of watches off of ebay from a person who had cruddy ratings but not because the products were bad but because it took a month to get them. I figured I could wait if the price was right so I ordered around 6. After a month the first two came in, exactly as described and authentic so I'm thinking woo hoo. I then go to rate the seller on the first two and notice they've been kicked off ebay. Uh oh. I contact the seller and she says that it was because some person had said incorrect mean things about them. I figured it was because they shipped so slow. I let my order ride because the seller assured me that they would still fill my order. After two or so more weeks I contacted them again and they went into a sob story about having to find a different supplier. They assured me that their new supplier would have the watches to them soon so I again let my order ride. Two more weeks later and nothing so I tell them I want a refund which they agreed would be put in the mail Monday. I sent an email two days ago to make sure it went into the mail. It didn't and now they've got another crap story about the watches shipped from their supplier and they will get them to me ASAP. This was after they said the check would go out Monday. I also noticed she changed her last name on the email she sent me yesterday so I'm wondering if she's going to try to go into hiding or something at this point. She did use the same email address with the different name though.
So my question is what recourse do I have to get my money back? I've read about people saying that if they go through the USPS that you could have the postal inspector go after them but I think she used UPS. Is that bad in my situation? Who do I pursue this with now? Ebay? Paypal? CC company that paid Paypal? Call the police where she lives? It's just been so long since I actually paid for it I don't think Paypal or Ebay would help much.

Again, sorry for being off topic on this but I'm not sure what to do next. But, to put it on topic again, I sometimes traded watches for knives. :)

thanks for reading,

Oily
 
In my limited experience with being defrauded via ebay and paypal, I can say that paypal gives you one month to stop payment, and they will return only what is left in the account after they review your records. If there is nothing left (person has pulled out the money) you get nothing.

Ebay was no help.

Best recourse for me was chargeback on my visa. They were very helpful and pushed the charge back to paypal, and I got my refund.

The internet police were no help whatsoever, despite multiple interviews with me and with the person whose ebay and paypal identity was stolen.

I have heard if you paid in Postal Money order, you can pursue the person for mail fraud, which is a major crime and federal. If you used another method than credit card or USPS Money order, I don't think there is much recourse.

Good Luck
Rich
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I had a similar situation with a customer who bought some knives for their company and wanted to pay with a company check. Needless to say this check was made of pure rubber. We went back and forth over the phone, fax and email for weeks. Luckily for me my state considers a fraudulent check with a value of $500.00 dollars or more a felony and love to chase down anyone who elects to go down this path.


1) The US Postal Service will more than likely allow you to fill out a complaint form and they will send a letter to your seller encouraging them to pay, but that is about it. If you paid via USPS money order, I have found it very rare to get your money back from the post office. They consider this a cash transaction. You can try, but I would be surprised if they paid.


2) If you paid with your credit card, doing a chargeback is your best option. Most of the credit card companies offer very little sympathy for fraudulent dealers/vendors. Not only will you get your money returned, but a processing fee will be charged to the dealer. It is a double hit for the dealer.


3) If you know where they live, call their local police department. If you are able to get a detective to call and place the fear of God into them, then sometimes that that will work. Unless it is a large amount of money that’s about all they can do.

Hope this helps and Good Luck!!!!
 
Update:
I may have scared her a bit with the not too happy phone messages I left her as she had some guy call me last night with tracking info on the envelope with my refund in it. Leaves me broke for a knife show that starts tomorrow in Pecatonica IL but at least I'll eventually get it back.
Thanks for all the replies guys,

Oily
 
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