[Closed] Scammed on Ebay!!!

If the bike shop is legit and your buyer works there have a chat with the boss there. Maybe on an unrelated topic first to check out the situation.

Raise dispute, speak to the owner of the bike shop.

That's very naughty indeed. Can I be the fist to suggest Bombers?

I'd be speaking to the shop too.
If he had the cheek to get the forks sent there and then does that surely the shop owner needs to know.
(then again they may be in on it )

I'd send the bike shop a link to the Royal Mail Shock Thieves thread.Then if they don't give a satisfactory explanation they can look forward to the same excellent and free publicity that they got. Should help their Google profile.

Defo phone the bike shop,let him know your on to him,people like this give other buyers/sellers a bad name and makes us all weary about selling gear on eBay,I'm going to sell a frame but I'm going to tell the buyer cash on collection and check the item before leaving it's the only way,what's his name put it up on here so no one else gets scammed.

I've sent the buyer a message asking him if he opened the internals at all and have sent eBay an email to see what the procedure is regarding this. Will see what replies get before doing anything else. Can't prove anything at this stage, so my options are limited.

Still absolutely ready to explode! 👿

Milky - it's not a shop specializing in re-selling used gear by any chance is it?

eBay is a bloody cesspit these days. As a seller, you are probably going to be out of pocket. So if everything has gone down like you said I would consider reporting it to the police as a fraud.

...or you could use the STW members to force the buyer into showing remorse.

Feel free to name and shame their eBay account.

On other note- so ebay is saying sellers on ebay have to offer an unofficial 'warranty' on an item sold?

If something secondhand breaks within weeks - how the hell do you know how they've used that item? Could have crashed/DJ'd the wrong forks etc etc etc. Bizarre.

Sounds like fraud to me. Or obtaining something through deception. Up to you to prove it though. Name and shame after a discussion with the shops manager. Unless there is a signed confession attached to a body the police aren't interested.

This kind of scam is common in certain, er, developing countries and is the reason why our staff in those countries are never allowed to take company vehicles home. You can be sure they will come back the next morning with second-hand batteries, tyres or even engines or gearboxes.

OP needs to be careful before naming and shaming as, with just his word against the shop, he's getting into defamation territory. Sounds like they deserve it though.

The threat of police involvement might help.

Alternatively wait until they flog the forks most likely to have your internals in them, get them sent to another address and do the same back to them. 🙂

Simply wait until the buyer sells something on ebay. Make sure you win it, open a dispute saying the item isn't as described- want partial refund and then leave a neg. Set up a new account now in your partners name 😉

[quote=globalti]This kind of scam is common in certain, er, developing countries and is the reason why our staff in those countries are never allowed to take company vehicles home. You can be sure they will come back the next morning with second-hand batteries, tyres or even engines or gearboxes.

Gosh, I didn't know Wales had gotten that bad.

It's bad enough selling on ebay as it is, but for someone in he trade to pull a scam like that, would you trust them to service your bike?

To be fair to the as yet unnamed shop, it could be a temp worker, or a friend, using their shipping account.

That does stink ... I'd be surprised if flEbay do anything about it to be honest as it isn't their problem and the seller doesn't have a great deal of rights.. I've heard of this happening before with electrical items where the returned item isn't the original one sent out and a faulty one returned. It is very difficult to prove.. Contact the shop even go and see them with some friends and make a fuss.

To be fair to the as yet unnamed shop,
Are you mental, I am sat here with my recently sharpened and oiled pitchfork in one hand and a slice of marmite on toast in the other.

Would be interested to here any replies you receive.

If hes robbed your internals

I'd nip round to his place of work (seriously the threat will be enough) and have it out with the spineless shit

Would you sit there if I walked in your house and took the copy of hot sexy vixens ,which may be worth more to you than a set of fork parts? out of your DVD player....no I think you would object at being mugged off, hes just done it in a roundabout way not on your home site

Go and knock his pots in or at least get a friend to do it.

[i]I'd nip round to his place of work[/i]

It could be 100s of miles away..

It could be 100s of miles away..

Justice cares not for your puny miles.

chip - Member

I am sat here with my recently sharpened and oiled pitchfork in one hand and a slice of marmite on toast in the other

How do you know the buyer doesn't like marmite? [suspicious mode engaged]

I'd nip round to his place of work

It could be 100s of miles away..

He's got a bike hasn't he.

chip - Member
I'd nip round to his place of work

It could be 100s of miles away..

He's got a bike hasn't he.

But his forks don't work. 😉

Serious mode. That is shit, track him down with a full bladder and a set of bombers.

Phone up the shop. Tell them what has happened.

I put money on it being some cheeky lad working there.

Like some have pointed out, I do not have any definite proof. It's my word against his at this point. It could well be a rogue employee of the business so I do not want to name and shame the business and damage their reputation.
I have spoken to eBay and they don't give a monkey's, so I will just have to wait for any reply from the buyer. Then I'll look at other options. Work does actually take me to very near the place every week or so, a visit could be fun 😉

Phone up the shop. Tell them what has happened.

I put money on it being some cheeky lad working there.

If hes using the shop account to post/receive personal things- I wonder if hes PAYING or just being cheeky.

Ouch.

Call the shop and speak to him.

I was scammed (or someone attempted through classifieds) a couple of years ago,

Bought some wheels for £340, no sign of them after a week so dropped him an email,

Ah sorry mate I've decided no to sell them. I'll refund you.

Got a refund for £300. Wasn't impressed.

Ignored all my emails etc. So i put his email into facebook, found out he worked in a bike shop. So I called the number asked to speak to him and said I wanted the £40 back either through paypal or in cash when I'm in the area in a week or so.

It was sorted very quick after that,

Also is there enough parts missing to compare parcel weights??

speak to the owner of the bike shop.

Has anyone ever had any success with this?

EDIT ha ha clearly singlespeed shep kind of has...

EDIT ha ha clearly singlespeed shep kind of has...

I didn't speak to the owner just the lad direct, probably s~~t him up a bit getting a call at work. (If he knew me he probably actually wouldn't be scared)

This could be a clever double bluff from Milky of course........

Do the internals have any serial numbers on? Call his bluff and ask him if he can explain why the serial numbers don't match the ones you sold.

I think contacting the shop is reasonable

if there is no joy I would name and shame

Its seems pretty clear what has happened here tbh and it is not a business I would want to give my money to

Do the internals have any serial numbers on? Call his bluff and ask him if he can explain why the serial numbers don't match the ones you sold.

Excellent idea.

Stuff like this is why I stay well away from ebay. Bought a phone once - described as unlocked/not tied to any network in the description. It arrives, its locked to a particular network. Seller tries to deny saying its unlocked even though its in the description and gets shirty but makes the mistake of mentioning that he works in a phone shop. I put 2 and 2 together using his location and this info and manage to figure out where he works and advise that I'll be paying a visit shortly. (I'm nowhere near - its the other side of the country)

He panics and gets the provider to send the phone unlocking code by the end of the day.

Phone/call into the shop and speak to the manager/owner. Tell him what has happened. Don't get angry. Don't blame the shop. Just tell themwhat has happened. I doubt they'll be too impressed that their good name is being compromised. You may not get your internals back but life will probably get a little bit harder for the perpetrator.
Depending on the manager's response, name and shame. In any (expensive)legal action it would be up to them to prove you are telling porkies.

I'd go for a softly softly approach first. Contact the shops boss pointing out that the premises was used for perpetration of a fraudulent act, thereby complicit.

Also point out the buyer that they have commited theft, and that you will happily return his internals.

PS use bombers to remove his internals....

I'd be totally straight with the guy ,tell exactly what you think he's done ask him to explain why the lowers are bone dry with not a hint of oil bearing mind that you had only serviced them a week earlier.

If he pleads ignorance tell him that you will speak to his boss next and then the police.
Failing the above we'll start a witch hunt on here.

Maybe a bit late now, but I would ring them....NOT to have a go etc, be more crafty.....

be along the lines of,
" I was out on the bike last night and my XXXX YYYYY forks have died and not working very will, do you have any experience of them as my normal shop does not do suspension"

then hopefully the shop would say...
"yes we funny enough just had some in the other day"

"oh really what was wrong with them, is it a common fault, how much did it cost to fix, how soon can it be fixed/get parts? etc"

I think you see where I am going with this, of course take notes or even better record the conversion, lead them down that path then give them hell after.

milky1980 if you like depending on make of fork, I can check if the importer of forks have that part in stock?
The Shop been a very under handed (and think very outside of the box) got your forks to nick the parts to fix a customer set, if that the case bet they charged full wack to the customer....give use all a bad name.

If you call the shop, point out that you'd prefer not to go to the police if they can help you solve the problem?

Makes you question is this person doing the same with PS3's Xbox's etc... buying broken ones for pittence then pulling a switch scam.

It's pretty clever... but also damn annoying.

I'd involve the police myself as you don't know how much else of this has been reported.

Any update on this?

*strokes pitchfork*

Awaiting his reply to my questions. Will update when/if I get an answer.

EDIT: just checked my ebay account and the message has been bounced back, so I have no way of contacting the buyer/returner.

I've also checked the bike shop's website and they specialise in second-hand/refurbed bike parts. This is getting very fishy now.

Time to contact the shop, linking to this thread methinks?

do they have the same fork for sale on the site?

find the shop and smash it up. cheeky ba****ds

Name and shame.

Mate had this with a Pug 206 ABS unit . Sold it on Ebay to someone needing one for £60 odd . Marked it very carefully to ensure that the swap scam didnt happen , and lo and behold a week later email saying dodgy part / not working etc and got the pump returned.
Different pump as no little mark in the secret place. Ebay / Paypal not interested .

Problem for the scammer is my mate has his address and knows he drives a 206. Revenge will be dealt in spades at some point in the future and will cost the scammer way more then £60.

Ebay / Paypal not interested .

That is the shit thing. Even if you take measures to protect yourself, chances are eBay/Paypal won't give a toss.

I don't sell anything over £10-20 via eBay, unless it's a item to be collected and paid for via cash on collection anymore.

Milky, can you let us have the eBay username so that we can cancel a sale if he wins. Feel v.angry for you. What a sh1t!! Hope you can find a solution soon. I'm sure there are more than enough people on here that can help, whereabouts in the country is the shop?

Hmm, my money was on it being Dave Hinde right up until you said they sell refurbed / second hand gear. Would have resulted in some epic STW pitchforkery had it been Mr Hinde. 😆

I won't name any user/shop until I've had a reply from the shop.

It could be a rogue employee doing stuff without the owner knowing and the seller ID could be a shop one used by multiple people. It does have a large amount of activity on it! It would be wrong to tar someone's name without giving them the right of reply at least.

I've linked to this thread and one I have running elsewhere so they should read this. I would like to just get this resolved but if I cannot it is only right to inform people of my experience.

I have been in the reverse situation a couple of times where I have bought items sold as new and on receipt found them to be clearly used and even faulty.

And have won my dispute each time luckily as I always notified seller straight away with pics.
Each time it was the seller trying it on but I don't see how eBay could have known for sure either way, so I am guessing your are more protected as a buyer than you are a seller.

I would like to know the sellers name also so as to avoid, the shop too.

Chip.

The problem with evilBay is that it sides with the buyer at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. Sellers are treated with utter contempt due to the few scammers that have tarred everyone with the same brush. I only ever buy on there now. Selling is too much hassle.

I am guessing your are more protected as a buyer than you are a seller.

You could say that...

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/dec/09/seller-beware-listing-ebay

Definitely sounds like a scam - go with your gut on this one - I'd be mad as hell- I'd talk to the Gaffa at the bike shop and tell him you want/need a resolution asap - otherwise you'll be turning up at the shop with the forks - and if he tries to say its nothing to do with him tell him it is pertaining to the use the shop's account being involved in the transaction - better yet find out when the scammer in question is working - f#@k the softly softly approach..

"I am guessing your are more protected as a buyer than you are a seller"

This sums ebay up these days.

I had a scammer after a bike I had listed a few years ago.

The Ebay user id was part of the name of a BBC country file presenter, the buyer bid on my bike then contacted me to make arrangements to meet up and collect once the aution ended. At first all seemed ok but then a freind of the presenter got involved as "she was not very good at buying things on ebay"? I was asking if I would meet the presenter freind with the bike, at this point he would transfet the over to me via PayPal.
After a number of emails back and too, the buyer retracked the bids made. Once the bid had retracked I found out that the bidder had a max bid higher than the bike coykdhave been purchased new!

The bone of the scam is you meet up with buyer and you get the cash in your acount "great". But a few days later a dispute is raised for non shipment of goods. As paypal/ebay favour the buyer you have lost you bike/goods and they then issue the buyer a refund which they then chase you for.

The bone of the scam is you meet up with buyer and you get the cash in your acount "great". But a few days later a dispute is raised for non shipment of goods. As paypal/ebay favour the buyer you have lost you bike/goods and they then issue the buyer a refund which they then chase you for.

Like most dealings before eBay maybe best to get a signature on collection

ebay don't count the signature unless it has gone through a third party courier. Even then it needs to be one they "recognise" rather than a man with a van delivery service.

Personally, I've asked to take a picture of the buyer holding/stood next to their new purchase. No-one has ever been funny about it. However if they scammed me, I'd be posting their mug all over the place.

However if they scammed me, I'd be posting their mug all over the place.

No, you always start with the fingers, 😀

Never, ever PayPal on collection. That's the oldest one in the book. Cash on collection only.

I've done a car a long time ago. The guy paid a deposit via PayPal to secure it. Turned up with the full amount in cash, I then refund the PayPal.

I have been in contact with both the shop who handled the postage back and the person who bought the forks.

I doubt anything untoward has gone on from their side whatsoever. Both have been quick to get in contact, the purchaser has chatted to me over the phone about what state the forks were in upon him receiving them and I can only put it down to them being damaged in transit. Unfortunately the purchaser didn't spot anything untoward with the packaging when he received them so I am no wiser as to what has happened to them.

Ebay on the other hand can go swivel. They were no help whatsoever, sticking to classifieds and local sales from now on!! Far less hassle (and fees!!)

All I've got to do now is decide what to do with them 😐

An odd incident. :/

Surely if all the oil had leaked out in transit there would have been fluid everywhere when they opened them up?

Clearly Royal Mail nicked the fork oil and sold it at auction... Doesn't really add up from what you've told us.

Before and after pics...

Pics would be pointless.

All I know is that the forks had fresh oil and worked when I sent them. By the time they reached their destination they no longer worked. I received them back and there was no oil in them and had a few extra marks. Those are the facts. The company checks out as legit (no reports of bad practice, dodgy sales etc) and the buyer has been forthcoming in talking about the problem.

Sometimes bad luck strikes, I'll leave it at that.

Unless you used ipa or meths in your forks instead of oil, you're being taken for a mug.

I'll give you a tenner for them and won't complain...

Something doesn't sound right here. OP was sure his internals had been swapped now after chatting with buyer accepts it as damaged in transit.

Losing all the oil and having extra marks does not sound like damage whilst in transit.

Wonder if some deal has been agreed and both parties want to go quietly.

Even though there has been no public outcome to this it will certainly make me more vigilant on fleabay.

I can only put it down to them being damaged in transit. Unfortunately the purchaser didn't spot anything untoward with the packaging when he received them so I am no wiser as to what has happened to them.

Its does not add up at all and that ignores the tool marks

I do hope its a secret deal that has been done or you have been done

seriously....... Thats total BS

You have been scammed! Time to **** shit up!

No offence but how does the box remain undamaged and the internal fork workings are broken

Schrödinger's Forks.

No secret deal, the forks are still sat here broken.

It all comes down to this: I cannot prove that the forks have been tampered with whilst out of my possession, despite me knowing the marks were not there before and the forks were in working order. The other parties concerned have been forthcoming in making contact with me and have been willing to talk about the situation. It definitely seemed dodgy in the beginning but there is nothing more I can do without solid proof, which I do not have.

Innocent until proven guilty applies and I can find no reports of the company or person being dodgy whatsoever (unlike lots of other companies). It would be totally wrong to name and shame an innocent party. I am upset about the situation but there is nothing I can do.

Now please can everyone put their swords back in their keyboards.

Thank the company by name on this thread for their transparent behaviour, then reccomend them for the Gulf of Mexico clean up.

And if you do nothing the next person they con will not find any reports of the company or person being dodgy either.

If you believe you're forks were tampered with you can say so.
X bought them, I posted them to x via y where they arrived were broken and were subsequently returned.
Simple you have not accused anyone of anything.

I cannot prove that the forks have been tampered with whilst out of my possession, despite me knowing the marks were not there before and the forks were in working order.

This is it. You know you have been screwed, that fully-functioning forks did not spontaneously discharge all their oil in transit miraculously leaving no trace in the packaging. Just because you can't prove it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

So, was it the shop itself that you were [s]getting turned over by[/s] doing business with? It's a pity you're on dodgy ground naming it.

It's a pretty neat scam, really. I guess the message to people on here is to avoid Ebay like the plague for the sale of items like this.

for the sale of items like this.

I would say for the sale of most things, unless buyer collects and pays cash.

All the systems that have ben put into place to protect people from buying via long distance, are now perfectly set up to allow rampant fraud against sellers.

I only use ebay for buying new items from shops now.

I don't sell anything through it.

As the used bike bits shop has shown such a high degree of customer service, you ought to name and praise them on here. No-one could fault that.