Cheated By Well-Known German Seller On Ebay -- Live And Learn

[Paul-in-SF]

I have, of course, looked under Activity on my Paypal account, and changed the date filter in different ways. I have other transactions that show there, just not eBay transactions. I have a request in to Paypal to help me with this issue.

[Misfit]

Good luck with this.

I hope it works out.

[corniche]

I have, of course, looked under Activity on my Paypal account, and changed the date filter in different ways. I have other transactions that show there, just not eBay transactions. I have a request in to Paypal to help me with this issue.

Hi Paul,

 

Have you tried going from the other direction? Try searching "Purchase History" at e-bay, (click on the head and shoulders icon in the upper right corner). Maybe you can access the info that way.

 

When did you buy this pen?

 

Before sending anything back, take lots of pics of the item; particularly the problems - and print out (or screen shot) ALL the pertinent data.

 

 

- Sean

[Intensity]

You can see which PayPal account you have linked to your eBay account quite easily, straight from the eBay account section:

 

My eBay section -> Account tab

 

 

then:

 

 

 

 

Either you can already recognize the partially obscured e-mail where I highlighted it in yellow on the second screenshot. It shows the first and last letter of the address and the host (@gmail, etc.)

 

Or if you still can't recall, click on "See Your PayPal account summary" or "See Your PayPal history" and see where it leads you with login information.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Intensity

[Paul-in-SF]

Hi Intensity, thanks for the help, but when I click on that first link, I don't get the second screen. I get this screen instead:

 

 

I have already linked my Paypal account, but this screen keeps coming up. This is one of the things that I hope Paypal will be able to help me with.

[Intensity]

That means you didn't pay with PayPal, when combined with the fact that you can't find the transaction in your PayPal history.

 

In this case you need to go to your Purchase History section, click on More Actions to the right of the purchase in question, and select "View Order Details".

 

It will say at the bottom right what type of payment was used. For example "PayPal".

 

Then you can go again to My eBay -> Account -> Payment Options. Your "Wallet" should include linked payment methods.

 

And finally you can search your e-mail for the name of the auction item. There should have been a purchase confirmation e-mail stating order details. It will be titled something like "Order Confirmed: Item Name". Payment information will be listed in that e-mail.

[Honeybadgers]

I wonder if you paid through ebay, not paypal.

 

Either way, ebay should still be able to help. Just reach out to them and screenshot all conversations.

[jvr]

Always possible to try PayPal. I was scammed on eBay by a Japanese seller five years ago for $7,700. eBay did nothing, too late. PayPal reimbursed me. I had the seller banned from eBay but only by involving the San Jose district attorney (eBay is based in San Jose).

[Paul-in-SF]

That means you didn't pay with PayPal, when combined with the fact that you can't find the transaction in your PayPal history.

 

In this case you need to go to your Purchase History section, click on More Actions to the right of the purchase in question, and select "View Order Details".

 

It will say at the bottom right what type of payment was used. For example "PayPal".

 

Then you can go again to My eBay -> Account -> Payment Options. Your "Wallet" should include linked payment methods.

 

And finally you can search your e-mail for the name of the auction item. There should have been a purchase confirmation e-mail stating order details. It will be titled something like "Order Confirmed: Item Name". Payment information will be listed in that e-mail.

 

You're absolutely right, and I'm surprised, because I was somehow under the impression that you could only pay on eBay through Paypal. But I've been paying by credit card all this time. Unfortunately, I went to my credit card account and apparently it is too late to question the transaction (the limit must be 90 days or something, because it's only been just over that). I'll give them a call tomorrow, when I have more energy for dealing with banks.

 

Thanks for helping me clear that up.

[RJS]

If you're too late for an eBay claim quickly raise the issue with both PayPal and your credit card company. Don't leave either any longer.

[Honeybadgers]

 

You're absolutely right, and I'm surprised, because I was somehow under the impression that you could only pay on eBay through Paypal.

 

For a long, long time, it was true. But then paypal and ebay slowly grew apart - the "in site pay" was initially paying through paypal on ebay. And sometime in the last few years it switched to an ebay-specific payment handling.

 

Fingers crossed you get some resolution. I feel like eBay would really want to make things right for a customer who got screwed by a vendor who was claiming to be making things right but deliberately was running out the clock.

[greencobra]

i'm a big fan of investigating the situation in it's entirety before ruining a business. once blood has been smelled in the water, the feeding frenzy that results is hard to stop. there is a reason that rule about outing vendors is in place. i certainly would contact paypal and ebay for assistance but i'd hold off on publishing my butt hurt in public until i was aware of the situation with the offending vendor.

[Seney724]

i'm a big fan of investigating the situation in it's entirety before ruining a business. once blood has been smelled in the water, the feeding frenzy that results is hard to stop. there is a reason that rule about outing vendors is in place. i certainly would contact paypal and ebay for assistance but i'd hold off on publishing my butt hurt in public until i was aware of the situation with the offending vendor.

I cannot agree.

 

Don't get me wrong.....I'm 100% in favor of not jumping the gun and making false accusations. No doubt about that.........

 

But, on the other hand, if you've been victimized, and can clearly document it, I think it is equally wrong to not let people know. Why should scores of unknowing others be subjected to the same?

 

See something, say something.

And, always remember, there are at least two sides to every story and all should be provided an equal opportunity to present their version of it.

[Honeybadgers]

i'm a big fan of investigating the situation in it's entirety before ruining a business. once blood has been smelled in the water, the feeding frenzy that results is hard to stop. there is a reason that rule about outing vendors is in place. i certainly would contact paypal and ebay for assistance but i'd hold off on publishing my butt hurt in public until i was aware of the situation with the offending vendor.

 

Generally speaking, if a company has a stellar reputation, an occasional mistake or failure is never going to "sink" them.

 

The rule here about outing vendors is an incorrect understanding of their liability surrounding libel. This place also apparently had a core group of unbelievably toxic members years back, so they overcorrected a bit in trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Honeybadgers

[Seney724]

 

Generally speaking, if a company has a stellar reputation, an occasional mistake or failure is never going to "sink" them.

 

The rule here about outing vendors is an incorrect understanding of their liability surrounding libel. This place also apparently had a core group of unbelievably toxic members years back, so they overcorrected a bit in trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.

+1

"What he said............"

[Paul-in-SF]

This dispute has been resolved. Here is the story:

 

After I became convinced that the seller was ignoring my messages and I found out that it was too late for either refund or complaint through eBay, I sent the seller a separate and very abusive message accusing him of cheating me and acting in bad faith. He responded to that one, all wounded that I would say such mean things. Over the course of the following message exchanges he claimed that he was still waiting for a nib that would fit, and also that I was being mean just because he forgot about the pen. I insisted on a full refund, since he had my pen and I had nothing. He agreed to a refund minus the sales tax, which of course he did not receive. I said this was not acceptable, since the current situation was entirely his fault. He said he "couldn't" give me a full refund. I told him that nothing less would do, but I couldn't force him to do anything and he would just have to follow his conscience. He took this as permission to quickly install a replacement nib and ship the pen back to me, which he did. The replacement nib (Waterman's W-2A with minimal flex) is acceptable, the pen is otherwise satisfactory, so I call it even, except for what I still think of as a horrible buying experience. At least persistence finally paid off. 

[inkstainedruth]

Definitely a case of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".  Glad that it worked out for you, and that you stood up for yourself.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mizgeorge]

I hope you'll leave feedback that makes it clear that it wasn't a seamless transaction - far too few buyers bother, and as a result sellers become complacent and carry on with some rather shoddy practices.  If it's the seller I'm pretty sure you're talking about, they have a rather odd way of dealing with sales tax in the first place, which can come as something of a surprise when the final invoice is issued.

[Paul-in-SF]

3 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

I hope you'll leave feedback that makes it clear that it wasn't a seamless transaction - far too few buyers bother, and as a result sellers become complacent and carry on with some rather shoddy practices.  If it's the seller I'm pretty sure you're talking about, they have a rather odd way of dealing with sales tax in the first place, which can come as something of a surprise when the final invoice is issued.

I don't seem to be able to leave feedback at this stage, I guess it's been too long since the original transaction. That was one of the things that got me really steamed, I felt like he had purposely dragged things on so that I couldn't take any actions at all through eBay. 

 

I didn't think the sellers had anything to do with the way taxes are added, but I usually pay right away without waiting for an invoice. I had bought from him two or three times before without any issues that I noticed at the time. 

[chromantic]

It pays to perservere.

 

I had a situation where the postal carrier, per the tracking info, left my pen at the wrong address. The PO and the seller both did squat and PayPal sided with the seller because the PO said it had been delivered.

 

Fortunately, PayPal (perhaps rather foolishly) had given me a Credit account, which I'd used to buy the pen and I simply refused to pay for it (though I was very careful to pay for some other items I'd used the Credit to buy). It ended up going to collection and then this past summer I got a letter from Sumitomo (who I assune owns the bank that bought the paper) asking me to present my side in an effort to resolve the situation and, lo and behold, they found in my favor and said the PayPal charge would be reversed.

 

At every stage I emphasized that I had no obligation to pay for merchandise I didn't receive and I suggested early on that PP and/or seller simply take the loss and move on. Sumi recognized the PO tracking info was key and dropped the case. That they probably spent more than the $115 they were trying to collect might have also influenced their decision.