Just bought something of relatively high value on eBay, and just got this message:

I could do, there seems to be something wrong with my paypal if I issue you a refund would you be happy to send the payment to my current and upto date paypal address under the terms ‘paying a family friend’?

I predict either a refund or a eBay dispute on the horizon.

8)

8) indeed!

what could possibly go wrong?

what could possibly go wrong?

On the plus side, I did just learn that Paypal now charges for sending payments via Friends/Family payments, if the money source comes from anywhere other than your Paypal balance. Is that new?

£11 on £325 apparently.

Not new, it’s been like that for a while.

Bank account is ok too, just credit cards that attract the fee IME.

always done that as i dont link my bank account with them – as i dont trust them – and they have always charged me hence why I never do it as it costs me more and gives me no protection

They cannot actually expect you will do this

Reply with

unfortunately I am unable to do this however i have some money ion nigeria i could use to pay for it if you could cover a small release fee 😈

add a gif of something suitable or absolutely not relevant your choice

How long did you have to spend considering your answer to that?

How long did you have to spend considering your answer to that?

The longest bit of the deliberation was deciding whether to go for the punch in the nuts level of rudeness, or go for the more tutting disapproval angle.

So which did you go for, and is there a link to the item so we can spam him with stupid questions be aware of the seller?

agree to it, at least so you get the refund..

Immagonna leave it and see what happens. Strangely communication levels have dropped off.

Gaaaah! based update.

The bastard has only gone and posted something to my address, which is not the item in question, to generate a tracking number/trail. Which they have just added to my eBay dispute for Item Not Received.

I have gone from confident nonchalance to getting my money back off eBay, to the worryingly real fact I could get done for £330.

Going to ring eBay CS tomorrow, but it seems I may have been flattened by an ‘eBay protection’ loophole you can drive a bus through. As I have to somehow disprove I never received the original item.

Bugger.

Is what they sent you by any chance a lot smaller than the item you paid for? Photo of the envelope, or whatever they sent with tracking number visible, showing that it couldn’t contain what you’re supposed to have got (use a ruler to show the size in the photo)?

Also make sure ebay/paypal see the message you got which suggests breaking T&Cs.

Can I be the first to say “good scam”? 😉

Good scam!

*makes notes*

What did they send for the false trail?

Oh nasty, hope you get it sorted

Refuse to sign for it?

You should still be OK, don’t open the package. Take a photo of it if you do. There is something, some kind of protection in place for not getting the item you bought? Seems like a basic form of protection. If the person sending is trying to scam you by creating a trail I doubt this in new to Ebay. Have you got proof of postage or anything to link the parcel to the sender?

Don’t open it!
probably a turd.

Is what they sent you by any chance a lot smaller than the item you paid for? Photo of the envelope, or whatever they sent with tracking number visible, showing that it couldn’t contain what you’re supposed to have got (use a ruler to show the size in the photo)?

Good scam!

*makes notes*

What did they send for the false trail?

Amusingly, it was an actual scam letter. Just like this one:

http://www.shetland.gov.uk/tradingstandards/documents/Inheritancescamletter.pdf

Came in this envelope wrapped in parcel tape:

…which I assume is 2nd Class recorded regular letter, which allows for 100g max weight and 5mm depth. Item is more than this.

Refuse to sign for it?

You should still be OK, don’t open the package.

Has already been signed for/opened.

Take a photo of it if you do. There is something, some kind of protection in place for not getting the item you bought? Seems like a basic form of protection. If the person sending is trying to scam you by creating a trail I doubt this in new to Ebay. Have you got proof of postage or anything to link the parcel to the sender?

Nothing to link to the sender, but pics taken. Due to the piss-take nature of it all, I will be reporting to the police tomorrow as well.

Don’t open it!
probably a turd.

Sniffed it. No turd.

Can I be the first to say “good scam”?

You’re awful, but I love you.

The item you should have got (why so coy?) wouldn’t fit in a standard letter? You’ve got them then if the tracking they’re giving is for a standard letter. Assuming that is that ebay actually pay attention to any of the details beyond the seller having proof that you received something he sent – which is probably a big assumption. Plenty of proof for the police though, or dare I say plenty of proof to take ebay/paypal to the small claims if it comes to that.

Something smells here. In that letter, it claims to have made over a 36% return in less than a year. It doesn’t seem right somewhere….

The item you should have got (why so coy?) wouldn’t fit in a standard letter?

Sorry about lack of info, it was an iPhone, so no, it wouldn’t fit in a standard letter. Didn’t really want to say too much last night as was stewing in my own stupidity juices at buying something like that off eBay.

Amusingly, the seller is now selling the exact same iPhone. On a live chat with eBay now to see what’s what. Probably going to change the dispute from Item Not Received, to Significantly Not As Described.

Hope you get it sorted mate. There must be an appropriate gif floating around the internet to sum this situation up….

He didn’t even send you a photo of an iPhone?

Amateur!

Balls. Good luck with the dispute!

🙂

Can I just check – does it say £1.60 on the letter (kind of hard to tell from the photo)? That’s the cost of 2nd class recorded standard letter.

Hope you get it sorted mate. There must be an appropriate gif floating around the internet to sum this situation up….

Keep us up to date. This is more exciting than what’s going on at work…

Keep us up to date. This is more exciting than what’s going on at work…

Sadly it has hit a lull. I was given some questionable advice from eBay CS, wherein they told me not to bother changing the type of dispute. So I have changed the dispute anyway to SNAD*. Next up is scanning and uploading the letter and envelope. I could do with getting a crime number as well, but do not have time to get to the Police station, and after going through several pages of questions on:

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

…it turns out they cannot report the issue.

Anyway. It’s now time to wait till the 31st to escalate the case.

*Significantly Not As Described.

*wonders if Willard works for eBay customer services*

Sorry about lack of info, it was an iPhone, so no, it wouldn’t fit in a standard letter. Didn’t really want to say too much last night as was stewing in my own stupidity juices at buying something like that off eBay

Good luck!

Hopefully eBay are used to scammers focusing on stuff like iPhones.

Best of British luck.

What a **** hope it gets sorted
I have little faith in Ebay and this is an interesting scam

It’s now time to wait till the 31st to escalate the case.

This REALLY pisses me off! Why do you have to WAIT when there is clearly wrongdoing?? Bloody eBay.
I had a case raised against me as a seller, went round in circles with the script monkeys on the phone “So you agree there is no CASE against me?” “Yes” “So why do I have to wait?” “Because a CASE has been raised”. “But you just said there is no case!” Wouldn’t leave them alone. Shout and ball and the sods until they put you through to someone who can make a decision.

I’ve already noted that when if I scam somebody for an iPhone on ebay I need to make sure I send out an iPhone sized package.

Have you opened a paypal dispute as well? Go with the not as described route, paypal are much more ruthless than ebay. You may well have more luck there.

Paypal will then hold the funds temporarily while they investigate.

Below is from:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/helpcenter/helphub/article/?solutionId=163596&topicID=48600020&m=TCI

You can open a dispute in the Resolution Centre of your PayPal account within 45 days of payment if:

You don’t receive the item

You receive an item but it’s significantly different than the description on eBay or on the seller’s website.

By opening a dispute, you can communicate directly with your seller to work out a problem transaction.

If you reach an agreement with the seller you can close the dispute. If you’re still not happy with the result, you can escalate the dispute into a claim. PayPal will review the claim and decide on reimbursement.

To file a dispute on a transaction sent through PayPal:

Log in to your PayPal account.
Click on Resolution Centre near the top of the page.
Click Report a Problem.
Select Item dispute then click Continue.
Click Find transaction ID. A new window displays your transaction history.
Click the Transaction ID you want to dispute.
Click Continue then follow the onscreen instructions.

Note:

Generally buyers must wait at least seven days from the date of payment to escalate a dispute for an item not received

If you don’t resolve or escalate a dispute within 20 days it will be closed. When this deadline is approaching, we will remind you by email

A closed dispute cannot be reopened or escalated to a PayPal claim
Only one dispute may be opened for each PayPal payment
Where an item has not been received, please ensure you have given the seller enough time before opening a dispute, you have up to 45 days from the day of transaction to do this.

Thats really crappy for you Jamie. Hope you get the bastard.
Another reason why I would never buy a phone on ebay. I was worried enough doing a deal outside of e-bay for a camera for £150, £300 would probably see me gnawing off my own finger tips whilst birthing felines.

What is the weight of the parcel?

I caught a scammer out with this method – the “parcel” they sent me was 250g less than the weight of the “won” item (minus the packaging!)

It’s p-p-p-p-powerbook!

Have you opened a paypal dispute as well? Go with the not as described route, paypal are much more ruthless than ebay. You may well have more luck there.

Already have an eBay dispute going, so fairly sure I can’t have a concurrent one going with Paypal. In hindsight maybe that would be the better option, but will see how things go.

In other news, I have now got a crime reference number. So going to upload that, and scans of all the packaging, plus weight infos from Royal Mails website. Then wait.

The lady who I spoke to at Action Fraud, thinks the scammer got their scams mixed up, hence me receiving the 2-for-1 of a non-iPhone and a scam letter.

****ing amateurs.