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D Hook · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 3158 Location: Omaha, NE

Man, I hate it when this happens. Not alot of money but boy I REALLY needed the A/C compressor I won on an auction. Paid $39.99 plus $18 shipping for a brand new, not rebuilt, never installed compressor. Sounds too good to be true, it usually is, right?

Today, I got a box that contained truck exhaust parts (some kind of header kit for a Ford F-250, custom exhaust parts or something) and six, COUNT-'EM six silver colored dinner placesetting scoops.

My wife likes the scoops. And since there's six, I guess our Christmas shopping is done!

Of course, I filed w/Paypal and they can't do anything because it wasn't a PayPal Protected auction, (didn't have the little "PP" icon anywhere) and the seller wasn't offering any kind of shipping guarantee. So I'll file w/Ebay, which won't do any good either but might as well.

I emailed the seller right away after opening the box and asked him to call me, which he did. He was very nice, very confused about how those parts could've gotten put in the box and said FedEx must have switched the labels or the contents of the box.

This is the first time in about 4 years that this has happened. Just goes to show, no matter how careful you are, it still happens. I did the usual pre-bidding contact, checked his feedback, all the stuff that usually catches the red flags. And I've made about 8 buys off ebay over the last 3 weeks and this is the only one that went bad.

Oh well...

EDIT: Out of deference to fair play, I edited out portions of this post like names/addresses, etc until the seller has a chance to check things out on his end. No one likes to be taken advantage of...really gets under my skin. Thanks to those who played the voice of reason (Nick, GoHim, Tom)and my aplogies to those ebayers on our board who are better sellers. We'll see how this develops.

BTW, it was a header adapter kit, not actual headers.

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

Did the Seller have an original photo in the ad, or a "file photo"? What was his FeedBack Number?

You didn't PayPal the guy from a cash account did you?

ALWAYS PayPal from a Credit Card, that way you can call your Credit Card Company and generate a CHARGEBACK.

Did you retain the box and packing materials? If it looks like the box has been tampered with, you could try filing a claim with FedEx.

Or, try Searching the Seller's past auctions. Maybe you can find another auction for the parts that you received. Then you'll have proof that the Seller made a mistake in shipping, honest mistakes do happen once in a "blue moon".

Joes924Racer · Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:23 pm Post subject:

Gee that sucks very E-bayish though cause iy happens
hope your luck doesnt sour more like mine did like returning
to the well agian for thew hope of water and only getting mud
seems like i was jinxed for awhile got the wrong stuff and then got something that didnt work right.
_________________
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1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

D Hook · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 3158 Location: Omaha, NE

It looked to me to be an original photo.

Paid through Paypal but via checking account instead of using my credit card like I usually do. Some sellers refuse to let you use a credit card because of the fees they get hit with. From now on, it'll have to be credit card only.

Feedback was just over 200 with 1 neg from sometime back. I checked again and he now has two, one from someone else he never shipped to.

Got too lax about checking closer on things.

I checked his past auctions and can't find anything that relates to the items I rec'd. He mostly sells small Beck-Arnley stuff like brake pads for Jags.

Box doesn't look tampered with but who can tell since its a box that has been reused from the look of it.

Darin81T · Joined: 03 Sep 2003 Posts: 124 Location: Vader, WA

The only thing that sucks about paying with a credit card is that the seller has to have an upgraded account and ends up getting charged for recieving ANY money, not just from credit cards. So the seller ends up losing money on EVERY transaction just because he/she had to accept one credit card payment. I'm not arguing with the credit card thing, I think it's definitely a good idea because CC companies have better protection policies than paypal has, but PayPal makes it a real bitch for people who have to accept CC payments.

-nick · Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 2699 Location: Cambridge, MA

hmm, I don't know if I would jump the gun on this too quick. FedEx doesn't require a return label but they will have all the return info on file. You should be able to get it by giving them the code on the label. I mistakenly thought they print out the labels and stick them on when you ship (why else would you have to fill out the annoyingly long form to ship?), consequently, I've shipped out a few packages without return labels in the past. Also, if this guy is sending out packages for multiple auctions, it would be too far-fetched to think that he mistakenly put the wrong address label on the wrong box. And he may do this full-time, thus the unanswered call. I don't think the scenario atypical. A lot of these folks are semi-retired.

I don't know how long ago this happened, but I'd give him a little time to respond. Anyway, hope it works out. I got burned about a month ago on a compression tester gauge that didn't work, emailed the seller (who had thousands of feedback), got an automated 'email received confirmation' but never got a reply. There are some lazy theiving sob's out there...

ps- I didn't even think about using CC for ebay payments (duh!). I probably won't worry about it on little things (would rather just pay it with $$ than charge it, then pay off the charge), but it's a great idea on more expensive items.

nick

D Hook · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 3158 Location: Omaha, NE

Nick:

I think you're right.

I called FedEx last night and all they can do is put out a notice about the possiblility a label was placed on the wrong box. The guy at my local FedEx said it's extremely unlikey but...there's someone out there who's trying to figure out how to attach his headers to his pickup with an A/C compressor.

They can't trace it back to the actual sender, though I don't understand why not since you do fill out a bill of lading or something when shipping and they keep a copy of it.

I'm sending the seller an scanned copy of the label on the box. He's taking it to FedEx to apply for his declared value returned to him. He also wanted the dimensions of the box because he said that info is on his copy of the bill of lading.

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

I put a handwritten label on every box that I ship, and when I get to the Shipping Company Counter, I have the information xferred to the label generated by the Shipping Company.

At times, I have shipped as many as 30-40 packages of computer and auto parts at the same time (thousands of shipments over the years). In the past twenty+ years, I have made maybe 2-3 shipping errors, where I attached to wrong handwritten address label to boxes after I mass produced the the labels, then went to attach them to the boxes.

So, it can happen.

I have also had a couple of cases where I shipped packages to Canada, and the receiving parties claim that the contents were not what I sent, and in fact the claimed contents were items that I had never sold before, and never even owned. I suspect that crooked employee/s of the Carrier intercepted the shipments, and substituted the contents. I never got to the bottom of those cases, because the Receiving Parties demanded their money back, but refused to return the boxes and contents that they claimed were "altered" or incorrect. I no-longer ship to Canada because of these are other claims for lost or damaged shipments, and complaints about Canadian Customs and Clearing House Fees which I have no control over.

So that can happen to.

Michael Louie

emoore924 · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 2822

Sounds to me like the shipments got switched.

I've had that happen to me a couple times now. In one case, the person let me keep the item incorrectly shipped AND refunded my money. In the second case, I just kept the incorrect item because the one I received was ok too (little die cast car) and I really didn't care all that much.

I'd bet the person who got your a/c compressor will be contacting the seller as well. If the seller pays for shipping back to them and the reshipping of the right thing to you, all three of you could get what you want (well, 2 out of 3 anyway...)

Probably just a careless mistake.

augidog · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Posts: 1360 Location: New Jersey

Another thing you may want to check into-read the PayPal User Agreement (different than the Buyer Protection) most people don't read the fine print and if I'm not mistaken there is something in there about the mispresentation of goods and you can file a dispute, again this has nothing to do with the Buyer Protection. It also states that it will refund money if an item wasn't received-the seller will have to prove it was shipped (Delivery Confirmation). If the seller can't prove it was shipped PayPal will just take the money out of the account and return it to the buyer-no ifs ands or buts. There are people out there that pay for auctions, say they never recieved it and get their money back (it happened to me as a Seller). So the moral is if you sell on Ebay ALWAYS use Delivery Confirmation- or you will have to give the money back.
_________________
1978 924 95 mile daily driver.
Audi TB/POR174M/High Flow Cat/2.25" exhaust
I knew that positive thinking thing wouldn't work.

D Hook · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 3158 Location: Omaha, NE

Yeah, I checked on that. If you don't have buyer protection (the PP icon on the ebay auction page) or purchase the PayPal gaurantee for it seperately through ebay, you're out of luck. When I filed the claim the other day, they said as long as the seller had a signature that proved SOMETHING was delivered, there's nothing they can do, even it it was an empty box. That's why I'll have to watch from now on that the icon is on the page or the auction qualifies for the seperate PayPal gaurantee.

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

eBay advertises that it has both Seller, and Buyer Protection Protection Plans that protect the Seller and the Buyer on every transaction. The problem for eBay Memeber is that the loopholes built into the Seller and Buyer Protection Programs give eBay a way out every time. In the six years that I have been a eBay Member, eBay has not paid off one single time when I have been ripped-off.

The loopholes built into the Protection Programs are time based with short eligibility periods. eBay tells you that you should give the Buyer or Seller a certain period of time to respond, and complete the transaction. By the time you wait through the Courtesy Period, the time allowed to file a claim has expired. Even when you start the claims process on time, you must pay strict attention to the REST OF THE TIME PERIODS. Yes, after you file a claim, there are other actions that you must do and a procedure to follow, with more strict time limits. Miss one, by one day, and your claim is declared invalid for missing a time deadline.

You are much safer using PayPal, and paying by credit card. If you do, you can try PayPals Member Protection (of course PayPal is owned by eBay, and the same thing will happen to your claim), then you can contact your credit card company and file a fraud claim, and order a chargeback.

D Hook · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 3158 Location: Omaha, NE

I've convinced the seller to refund the money and after several emails back and forth he's agreed to do so. In return, I send him the original label and he tries to recover through FedEx. All I'm out is the shipping fee so I guess that's better. Darn, sure wanted that compressor. The good thing is, there'll always be another one around the corner.