kennett Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 Sorry bear with me, I just want to vent. I was asked by my employer to source and buy a timber forwarder trailer. Found one on eBay, convinced my MD and financial controller that eBay wasn't all bad, messaged the seller through eBay and set the ball rolling. Received several "eBay" emails and spoke to them on live chat, also speaking to the seller on my work email account. Eventually managed to set up payment by bank transfer, to supposedly an eBay account which would only release funds to the vendor after I had received the trailer and verified I was happy with it. First delivery on Wednesday was aborted due to a breakdown with the haulier. Delivery rearranged for today, never arrived. Contacted eBay who have no record of the transaction, and confirmed I've been scammed. Seller no longwr replying to emails. I would rather have lost my own money than works, makes me feel sick that people think this is a way to earn a living. Potentially costing me my job, and the tied house that goes with it when I have a second baby due Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wb123 Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 Ouch. I hope your employer are forgiving. The best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rst1990 Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 How did you pay? You may be eligible for fraud protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovercoupe Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 eBay, never risk more than you can afford to lose, buying and selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 ALWAYS pay using a credit card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 3 hours ago, Rst1990 said: How did you pay? You may be eligible for fraud protection. 25 minutes ago, bruno22rf said: ALWAYS pay using a credit card. Hope it was with a company credit card? It will still sting but at least you'll get help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munzy Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 5 hours ago, Rst1990 said: How did you pay? You may be eligible for fraud protection. If I understand correctly he paid by bank transfer into an escrow account that he thought belonged to eBay. Once he had the trailer and was happy eBay would release the money to the seller. Only trouble is eNay don’t offer such a service. The bank won’t help either since the funds were willingly transferred to the fraudster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Funker Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 Hopefully it works out but yeah never pay someone you don't know with bank transfer, always paypal goods and services or credit card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnfromUK Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 I'm sorry you have had this. Ebay is a good way to get things, but not risk free. I have had two "near misses" where I have paid and wrong goods turned up or not turned up at all. The first was a long time ago when cheque payment was still common and I managed to stop the cheque when the (completely wrong) goods turned up. The second was low value and I got a refund - suspect the seller had sold the item 'off eBay' and forgotten to cancel the listing as they claimed lost in the post, but couldn't give a tracking number. What often happens is that the 'fake seller' uses photos and data from an old completed listing. I once bought a quite high value item (early electric clock) from a seller in the UK and paid cash on collection, which was all fine - still have the clock. However an identical listing - exactly the same photos appeared with a 'buy it now' and I know that at least one person was scammed. That scammer was traced to China, so nothing could be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 caveat emptor...did I spell that correctly ? Never buy anyhting of e bay if I can avoid it and if I do then no more than £20. Had a friend who wanted a baler and one was advertised up in northern Scotland, photo and all. He was sucked in and paid but the baler didn't exist. Two grand down the drain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennett Posted January 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 55 minutes ago, Walker570 said: caveat emptor...did I spell that correctly ? Never buy anyhting of e bay if I can avoid it and if I do then no more than £20. Had a friend who wanted a baler and one was advertised up in northern Scotland, photo and all. He was sucked in and paid but the baler didn't exist. Two grand down the drain. Exactly the same as this, Dunblane. He had loads more photos on request, sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Funker Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Walker570 said: caveat emptor...did I spell that correctly ? Never buy anyhting of e bay if I can avoid it and if I do then no more than £20. Had a friend who wanted a baler and one was advertised up in northern Scotland, photo and all. He was sucked in and paid but the baler didn't exist. Two grand down the drain. Ebay is perfectly safe, I've had thousands of transactions without issue. You just need to use the payment method that protects you most, PayPal or credit card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringDon Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 I agree. There are small quantities of things on there that are hard to get elsewhere. Scams are normally detectable particularly if the item is cheaper than other examples. This happens a lot with (my favourite subject) landrovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPhantom Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Muddy Funker said: Ebay is perfectly safe, I've had thousands of transactions without issue. You just need to use the payment method that protects you most, PayPal or credit card. +1 I use eBay a fair bit and never had an issue. Maybe I’ve been lucky but you are protected if you pay by PayPal. There is a money back guarantee - (below taken from their terms & conditions): Most purchases go through with no problems at all. However, if your item doesn’t arrive or wasn’t what was described in the listing: We’ll make sure that you get the item you ordered; or You’ll be refunded the purchase price and original postage costs if you paid using PayPal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Muddy Funker said: Ebay is perfectly safe, I've had thousands of transactions without issue. You just need to use the payment method that protects you most, PayPal or credit card. The same. Also sell a fair bit and get way more chancers when im selling than buying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted January 20, 2019 Report Share Posted January 20, 2019 It sounds as though the scammer talked you into paying directly as opposed to via Paypal or credit card both of which would have offered adequate protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 Shocker! If you’d have paid through PayPal as eBay prompts it shouldn’t have been an issue. Always amazes me that people are willing to do bank transfers for high cost items to a complete stranger. How much was it for mate? 😣😣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonmick Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 I buy from ebay I pay for low value items through PayPal. High value I will never pay until I am standing next to whatever I am buying and have satisfied myself they are genuine and not stolen. Scammers are usually quite wealthy as thay are very good at their trade. Never believe anyone or anything on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryman Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 I have been looking for a series Land Rover on eBay, I must have reported the same person with different names for trying to scam people over 50 times. He still keeps coming back. I contacted eBay about it and they said they take fraud seriously and do what they can. I wonder how many people he has had money out of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 Years ago I was travelling on a bus which was full of kids going to the local sixth form college. One particularly gobby individual was proudly telling the whole bus how he orders lots of stuff on ebay and then says it never arrived etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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