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About three weeks ago I purchased God of War (PS4) from an eBay seller, new and sealed, for £30. Seemed almost too good to be true but at the time the Amazon price was £33.99 so it wasn't completely crazy, and this seller had 100% positive feedback so I thought I'd take a punt. The game still hasn't turned up and I've been fobbed off with nonsense from the seller with clearly made-up delivery estimates, e.g. on one occasion I was told it was in transit and would arrive "on Monday between 2pm and 4pm" then when it didn't turn up and I requested proof of postage and tracking details I was told that the receipt had been lost and the item had been sent first class standard (so couldn't have ever been tracked in the first place). I have now been offered either a refund OR a refund and a replacement, which makes no sense. My response was to ask what the seller was playing at and the seller responded by saying they would issue a refund and send a replacement. I asked them to confirm that any replacement would be sent by recorded delivery (they said it would) and I have requested proof of postage and tracking details. Apparently I will be receiving "tracking" later today "as soon as the god of war arrives for delivery", whatever that means. It seems other people have had similar experiences with this seller. I've been monitoring this seller's eBay profile and relatively frequently negative feedback pops up from people who have had a similar experience to me, but this negative feedback ALWAYS gets removed so the seller remains at 100% positive. According to the thread linked to above a refund is always issued when an eBay dispute is threatened and in some cases people have received a random payment of £50 into their PayPal account in addition to a refund, with no explanation (!). Now, clearly, something fishy is going on, I assume the seller is pooling the funds and placing them somewhere, maybe in fact sending the odd game or two to get some genuine positive feedback. What I can't understand, though, is how the seller is managing to get rid of every single piece of negative feedback within hours of it appearing. It just doesn't make sense to me unless someone at eBay is complicit in this scam operation or whatever it is. Is it really that easy to get rid of negative feedback? If so, that completely undermines its whole purpose. I'm genuinely interested now in what is going on here. Edited by chrisp at 16:49:23 28-06-2018 |
Suspicious eBay seller
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chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years ago -
RawShark 2,202 posts
Seen 15 hours ago
Registered 10 years agoI think some sellers intentionally don't send out items as, while they'll have to refund most payments, some people just won't bother chasing it up. I'd forget about a replacement, personally. Just place a grievance if they don't pay up and buy it from somewhere more reputable. -
mrpon 37,366 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 15 years agoRawShark is in on it!!! -
fontgeeksogood 12,913 posts
Seen 5 months ago
Registered 3 years agoSCAM OPERATION to be the new FRAUD ACTIONS? -
chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years agoWhat I don't understand is how the seller is managing to get rid of every single piece of negative feedback. Just in the last few days I've seen about 10 pieces of negative feedback appear and then mysteriously disappear, preserving the seller's 100% positive feedback status. Can it really be that easy to get rid of negative feedback without someone at eBay being complicit in the scam? -
RawShark 2,202 posts
Seen 15 hours ago
Registered 10 years ago@mrpon Shush! You'll ruin everything! I've got big plans for all these sealed copies of God of War. Going to turn them into a lovely chair. -
askew 24,121 posts
Seen 5 days ago
Registered 16 years agochrisp wrote:
I think you can appeal to eBay to have negative feedback removed – particularly if a refund has been issued, regardless of what it took to get to that point.
What I don't understand is how the seller is managing to get rid of every single piece of negative feedback. Just in the last few days I've seen about 10 pieces of negative feedback appear and then mysteriously disappear, preserving the seller's 100% positive feedback status. Can it really be that easy to get rid of negative feedback without someone at eBay being complicit in the scam? -
chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years agoThere must be some way of getting eBay to investigate them, even if they are giving refunds. Clearly they're running some dodgy operation. -
BigOrkWaaagh 10,554 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoThey pay the feedback leaver to remove the feedback. -
askew 24,121 posts
Seen 5 days ago
Registered 16 years agoOr that ^^ -
chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years agoEven the odd bit of positive feedback (e.g. "item never arrived but refund was issued") the seller has managed to get removed. Madness. -
ibenam 3,507 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 14 years agoThey've got someone on the inside.
That is the only way the scenario you're seeing is happening
Edited by ibenam at 23:43:28 28-06-2018 -
chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years agoI had wondered. I really want it to be investigated but I just can't see how that's going to happen and I'm not sure of the best way to report it if the seller does have someone on the inside.
Some more negative and neutral feedback has appeared this evening (again, item not received) - it'll no doubt be gone first thing tomorrow. -
Send the seller some dick pics. -
chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years agoIn hindsight yes it really ought to have set alarm bells ringing but I guess I genuinely, perhaps naively, had no idea that feedback could be manipulated so easily.
It's not just about getting the money back; I really want the seller closed down. -
I DONT WANT A REFUND! I WANT JUSTICE! -
Dougs 100,414 posts
Seen 19 hours ago
Registered 18 years agowhatfruitlivesagain wrote:
Justice. I want justice.
I DONT WANT A REFUND! I WANT JUSTICE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA0ekg8efxg
NSFW audio -
chrisp 1,164 posts
Seen 2 months ago
Registered 18 years agoYup, that's about it. -
mothercruncher 19,474 posts
Seen 5 hours ago
Registered 15 years agoNever mind seller. Sold a bass guitar yesterday and then had the pleasure of receiving this message from the buyer:
“
You always knew that I like you I want you and I want you all. I don't play with feelings. I feel true to see you. I want to see you on whatsaap. comes . I want to see you.”
I mean, OK, I guess. Next, he wants me to include extra stuff that wasn’t in the listing and then, to top it off, wants me to send it to a random address that isn’t his ebay/PayPal one. Not happening, obvs. Refuses my request to cancel the sale and is now stamping his feet about how unfair I’m being.
I’m having a massive clear out now but have totally lost faith in selling on eBay, there’s fuck all protection against but jobs. -
mothercruncher 19,474 posts
Seen 5 hours ago
Registered 15 years agoI meant nut job, but suspect “but job” could apply equally here... -
THFourteen 54,987 posts
Seen 25 minutes ago
Registered 16 years agoHa.
I have had a lot of luck selling things on ebay, but i pretty much only sell things that there can't really be a problem with e.g. Switch games, old ipad/iphone, old monitor etc.
Anything else i tend to use facebook marketplace and have people come round and get it, or sell on here if i can. I am not selling a £200 GPU on ebay only for them to claim it doesnt work when it arrives -
Honestly, eBay is rank. I have a fuck ton of useless tat I want rid of but eBay just doesn’t give you any sort of protection against people being pricks.
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