Victim of Ebay fraud

[rajatQ2]

A good friend of mine at work was the victim of ebay fraud today. He used a neighbor's ebay ID to buy a Samovar, or antique russian tea maker.

The seller was a fraud, and completely misrepresented the item. The Samovar that my friend bought is covered in solder, and the parts that came with it were mis-matched. He paid around $430 for it. :mad2:


OK, so here is the item that my friend bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3728858618

The samovar looks nice from the pictures. It arrived, and the teapot, small cups, tray, and faucet are from entirely different sets. None of them match with the other pieces.

Upon further investigation, we found out where he got the parts. The samovar came from:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=63547&item=3719997441

and the tray came from:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4175&item=3706599412

The teapot looks like one of those that you pick up at the cheap chinese import store. It looks like a brass plated teapot made of tin, or something like that.

He's mad, and not sure what to do next. Any suggestions?

[DarkFury]

I hope he used "PayPal"... I'd file a complaint.

[Molinak Sun]

if he paid with paypal visit this link for info on how to file a buyer complaint.

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/buyer-complaint-outside

[bachviet]

File complaints with eBay & paypal.

[rajatQ2]

when i saw that that brass jug had just been bought as a 'lamp', and for $50, then sold for $400, i couldn't help but laugh my ass off.


on a side note, why do people repost the same idea, if it has already been said?

[tupacboy]

when i saw that that brass jug had just been bought as a 'lamp', and for $50, then sold for $400, i couldn't help but laugh my ass off.


on a side note, why do people repost the same idea, if it has already been said?

just to make sure that you get it... or maybe cause ur not responding...

[Jenny]

Also because a lot of times, people will read your post and then reply without reading the other replies. Not that big a deal.

[mojo]

also because they are time vampires and know that you'll never get back that fifteen seconds of time, as they horde it for their own eventual immortality

[WhiskeyPapa]

on a side note, why do people repost the same idea, if it has already been said?Because a lot of times, people will read your post and then reply without reading the other replies.

[WhiskeyPapa]

On to the serious stuff... Your friend made a big mistake in using a neighbor's eBay account. If your friend complains and makes a big stink, he's risking getting his neighbor a nasty neg on his eBay account.

If your friend paid with check, he could stop payment on it. (Again, risking a neg for the eBay neighbor.)

Has your friend tried contacting the seller? The seller made it sound like it was perfect ("museum quality"). Perhaps the seller will be honorable and offer a full or partial refund.

Basically, your friend really limited his options because he was too frickin' stupid to sign up for eBay.

[rajatQ2]

Well the guy offered to refund the money. He also may have created a temporary ebay ID to over-bid on his own item, making my friend pay some $400. He was really nasty about it, but hopefully he'll give the money back.