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Warning - watch out buying an MTB on eBay (LONG)!
Didn't find this group until the other day, otherwise I would have
posted this 3 weeks ago. (Quote from my post from July 2nd in alt.mountain-bike follows) ------QUOTE START I'm writting this post partly as a warning, partly because some help would be welcome and partly because I need to put words to my frustration. Saturday a week ago I was surfing looking for interesting parts for my bike or perhaphs even a good deal on a new bike. So I check out what's on ebay and find a good deal on a Specialized Enduro: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...y=22 677&rd=1 I mail the guy through eBay with a few questions and also because I wanna check him out due to it being the first thin he sells on eBay, and he answers me back with the info I request corcerning the bike size and if it will fit me also in effect reasureing me that while he is a new seller he is totally legit. He also tells me that he is currently in the UK and that he is willing to pay for the delivery. This of course only makes the offer look even better as having the bike send within the EU means no tax to pay at customs and so. He's eager to close the deal and since no one has so far made an offer on the bike he offers to close the auction ahead of schedule, in effect meaning we deal without using ebay. To make a short story long we agree on the $1100 and come monday I mail the money through Western Union. My name is causing a few problems, there's a none english letter in it and also in my adress so retrieving the money becomes a little difficult because Western Union has changed one letter to another but sometime tuesday after a few mails back and forth he is able to withdraw the money. Now - his withdrawl of the money I only know because of checking it on the Western Union site because I have heard nothing since the last mail about how to spell my name in english:-( So in short I have send $1100 to a guy that looks to have grabbed the money and since decided to ignore me completely. Question is should I just wait some more or do you guys think this is a case for the police? I would like to try to get in touch with the guy in another fashion than just email, but I have not been able to find his telephone number or even verify the adress he has provided. So I wonder if anyone in the group knows how to find some info on this guy? NAMEANI MISCHI ADDRESS:352 BARKING ROAD CITY:LONDON ZIP:E13 8HL COUNTRY: UK Supposedly he's from the US currently staying in the UK and in ebay he's registrered as residing in ELLENSBURG United States /Seattle-Tacoma And his email is Dani Bruce If any of you is in the market for a Enduro I suggest you wait till this matter has been resolved before you buy something from the Dani guy! Now I would like to think that the reason I have heard nothing from him since he has gotten the money is due to some family emergency or something, but it's been more than a week now so one has to wonder. I still hope the deal comes true and I get the bike, partly because else my money is lost and I'll have to stick with my 1998 FSR Elite for a while(no new bike this year for sure), but even more so because I so far have had the luxury that whenever I have made arrengements to buy stuff from people on the net it has been good experiences and I really want to keep it that way. Maybe I'm just naive? ------QOUTE END Through the response I recieved to the above post I learned that the scammer has tried to do the same moves on others offering items as differently as guitars and espresso machines, and also learned about one guy that did sens money to buy a guitar and never got anything. I now belive that it's not just a single individual working eBay in such manner but some sort of organized fraud. The guy the sold me the bike waited a few days and then offered the bike again using the exact same add and even the same username, once I saw that I of course contacted eBay and also informed a bidder on the bike about the whole thing plus I made a bid on the bike (after all I had allready paied for it). Being an official bidder enabled me to learn the name and details behind the user name which turned out to be an totally innocent US guy, which had just has his named misused. Furthermore as I made a bid on the second sale of the bike I was first outbid by someone and that cause someone to mail me an offer on a different Enduro. I played along with the offer and was treated to a description and pictures simply copied from a review on SingleTrackWorld plus language very similar to the one used by the one which suckered me in the first place. Eventually I was asked to send money to this person: Billi Jovani 233 A Heathway Dagenham Essex,London zip RM9 5AN And then I mentioned that I would come to the UK and get the bike which would save the seller money due to him offering to pay UPS shipping - which not surprisingly cause him to inform me he had another buyer. The whole business is now a police matter and I really have no hope of getting my money back. So now it's more about warning others no to be as naive as me and if possible to get the &¤%¤&¤% scam artists brought to justice. Kind regards Bruno, Denmark |
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#2
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Warning - watch out buying an MTB on eBay (LONG)!
iddqdATworldonline.dk wrote:
Didn't find this group until the other day, otherwise I would have posted this 3 weeks ago. (Quote from my post from July 2nd in alt.mountain-bike follows) ------QUOTE START I'm writting this post partly as a warning, partly because some help would be welcome and partly because I need to put words to my frustration. snip Are you aware there is a uk.people.consumers.ebay group that was only formed a couple of weeks ago. I suspect you're out of luck but maybe if you post there someone may have some ideas. Good luck, Tim. |
#3
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Warning - watch out buying an MTB on eBay (LONG)!
I live fairly near this guy ... of course there is no reason for you to
trust me (but if you've possibly lost the bike anyway) but I could go down and say hello to this fellow . If you want me to give him a knock send me a mail on --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.502 / Virus Database: 300 - Release Date: 18/07/03 |
#4
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Warning - watch out buying an MTB on eBay (LONG)!
"Ian" wrote in message
... iddqdATworldonline.dk must be edykated coz e writed: OUCH! I buy and sell on Ebay a lot, but have always got the goods, this reminds me not to get complacent, I hope you manage to get somewhere with this Bruno, have you informed Western Union that they are involved in a fraud? Ian, do a Google search on "Ebay" and "Western Union" - they must be well aware by now. Basically NEVER use Western Union to pay for anything on Ebay, and in fact make sure to check out carefully whatever payment option is proposed. I always do, and also insist first to come and pick the goods up in person (even if I have no intention to do so). If the person refuses without good reason, be cautious. So far I've bought 200 items online and never (touches lots of wooden items!) had a problem, but it really pays to be careful. ----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- |
#5
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Warning - watch out buying an MTB on eBay (LONG)!
In message , John Wallace
writes "Ian" wrote in message ... iddqdATworldonline.dk must be edykated coz e writed: OUCH! I buy and sell on Ebay a lot, but have always got the goods, this reminds me not to get complacent, I hope you manage to get somewhere with this Bruno, have you informed Western Union that they are involved in a fraud? Ian, do a Google search on "Ebay" and "Western Union" - they must be well aware by now. Basically NEVER use Western Union to pay for anything on Ebay, and in fact make sure to check out carefully whatever payment option is proposed. I always do, and also insist first to come and pick the goods up in person (even if I have no intention to do so). If the person refuses without good reason, be cautious. So far I've bought 200 items online and never (touches lots of wooden items!) had a problem, but it really pays to be careful. The two things that struck me from this poor situation. 1. I wouldn't carry out any large trade with a seller with no track record on Ebay (you can still be ripped of . but you lessen the risk. There was someone recently who built up a good feedback record, then put a load of stuff up for auction and took the money and ran. 2. if you do a deal outside of Ebay you don't have any of the protection that you have doing it via Ebay. -- Chris French, Leeds |
#6
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Warning - watch out buying an MTB on eBay (LONG)!
chris French wrote:
The two things that struck me from this poor situation. 1. I wouldn't carry out any large trade with a seller with no track record on Ebay (you can still be ripped of . but you lessen the risk. There was someone recently who built up a good feedback record, then put a load of stuff up for auction and took the money and ran. Well you are right of course but then again. Most first deals are just fine - in fact a friend of mine bought an Ellesworth frame from a eBay newcomer. I was just naive and unlucky since the huge majority of deals are perfectly legit. To me it seems what you must do is the following: 1. Never ever send money to something the other party can access without having a legit permanent residence. 2. If possible use an escrow service or even better do the actual deal face to face. 3. Make sure you talk to the person also - at least on the more expensive items. Don't accept excuses about a phone not being possible and make sure you do the call. 2. if you do a deal outside of Ebay you don't have any of the protection that you have doing it via Ebay. Well going through eBay is not worth much. A account can be build on false information and it's not like eBay are real quick to respond in case of problems, in fact I had to jump through hoops to get anything than a automated response and that's when the scammer tried to sell the bike a second time. Plus they don't even offer a phone number the police can call, in fact it seems they do everything possible to distance themself from any sort of responsibility - more like something you would expect from a less than legit company! Plus their so called ensurance will only cover you so far, so that's not worth much either. Kind regards Bruno |
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