eBay Scammer valvamp1955

[argyle]

Please do not buy from or sell to the eBay member valvamp1955. He bought a 100% serviceable amp from me, proceeded to do the following:-
1. Receive then OPEN the amp for no apparent reason.
2. Report that an internal fuse had blown then tell me that it seems to have not affected the serviceability of the amp.
3. Wait four days then tell me that the headphone jack was only working in one channel, and wanted a refund. He even said he'd bought it primarily for headphone use(!).

Then begins a nightmare that I'm still trying to unravel. eBay told me to accept the return, not to refund but to report the amp as not received as sent. As it was obvious he had been in the amp without good reason they would rule in my favour.

I accepted the amp back (at my expense) and sent a declaration to the effect that the amp had arrived back to me not 100% serviceable as it had left. Bang; eBay rule in his favour. The funds had been put on hold rightly while the case was open to protect both of us, but as he had 'won' the case he had them refunded to him.

Here's the twist; I received an email to tell me that I had to reimburse eBay the full amount or lose my privileges AND have a collection agency deal with the case. Bear in mind my PayPal transaction says 'refunded'. I speak to eBay and they say as PayPal took charges, there wasn't enough (I guess shy by £7.95, the charge on the payment) to refund the buyer. Holy ships, I'm starting to get extremely stressed with this. It appears from eBay's advice, I need to pay another 'full amount' in the hundreds to take the amount off hold in PayPal.

So, without talking to PayPal yet, it appears that I need to deposit another £227.95 to release the first £227.95 to reimburse eBay. Explain that.

One of the morals of the story though, is do not get into any business dealings with valvamp1955 because if he doesn't fancy what he has bought, he will screw you over royally.

[Primalsea]

Did ebay advise you to accept the return in writing?

If so can you post exactly what they put in writing to you as we may be able to help a little.

I dont like ebay anyomre for high value selling or purchases unless cash is going to be paid.

[argyle]

No, they advised on a phone call. I did get a transcript number.
I'm just gutted that I have an amp that needs looking at (thanks to Colin in advance!) and what could be a big bill...if eBay/PayPal can't get their acts together.

I'll ring PayPal tomorrow but it doesn't change the fact that this guy is a chancer who beat the system! And me!!!

[Minstrel SE]

Im afraid argyle that is a harsh lesson in distance selling which everyone should take heed of. However I am a bit shocked if it has been ruled against you when you have stated your case.

Going in to the casing is a no no as it either works when the buyer gets it or it doesnt. If the buyer has a complaint they certainly shouldnt be tampering with things themselves. It removes the lines of reference as to what the buyer might have done. I dont know all the details of the amp or transaction but it is the risk of distance selling on ebay

I hope it arrived back in reasonable condition and would have thought you had a case based on tampering.

The problem with distance selling is that it removes a lot of the natural vetting process. Ive had some people I didnt like arrive at my home to collect things of low value but it allowed me to cover all bases and demo anything I though they might give me later hassle with. The stuff I generally sell is not the end of the world if the transaction goes wrong .The problems come sooner or later...not too many to be fair but there are some real nutters and fraudsters out there.

I wouldnt deposit any more money...ebay will refund the buyer then they will have to claim the money from you. I would fight your corner though and tell them you are far from happy

[argyle]

Hello Martin - I won't be selling on eBay again. This is all too stressful. I'll speak to PayPal today which should give me some answers.

[mikeyb]

This is the reason I haven't sold on eBay for about 10 years, too many assholes and scammers abusing the system.

[prestonchipfryer]

This is the reason I haven't sold on eBay for about 10 years, too many assholes and scammers abusing the system.

+1

[argyle]

Yep, never again!

[The Black Adder]

Please do not buy from or sell to the eBay member valvamp1955. He bought a 100% serviceable amp from me, proceeded to do the following:-
1. Receive then OPEN the amp for no apparent reason.
2. Report that an internal fuse had blown then tell me that it seems to have not affected the serviceability of the amp.
3. Wait four days then tell me that the headphone jack was only working in one channel, and wanted a refund. He even said he'd bought it primarily for headphone use(!).

Then begins a nightmare that I'm still trying to unravel. eBay told me to accept the return, not to refund but to report the amp as not received as sent. As it was obvious he had been in the amp without good reason they would rule in my favour.

I accepted the amp back (at my expense) and sent a declaration to the effect that the amp had arrived back to me not 100% serviceable as it had left. Bang; eBay rule in his favour. The funds had been put on hold rightly while the case was open to protect both of us, but as he had 'won' the case he had them refunded to him.

Here's the twist; I received an email to tell me that I had to reimburse eBay the full amount or lose my privileges AND have a collection agency deal with the case. Bear in mind my PayPal transaction says 'refunded'. I speak to eBay and they say as PayPal took charges, there wasn't enough (I guess shy by £7.95, the charge on the payment) to refund the buyer. Holy ships, I'm starting to get extremely stressed with this. It appears from eBay's advice, I need to pay another 'full amount' in the hundreds to take the amount off hold in PayPal.

So, without talking to PayPal yet, it appears that I need to deposit another £227.95 to release the first £227.95 to reimburse eBay. Explain that.

One of the morals of the story though, is do not get into any business dealings with valvamp1955 because if he doesn't fancy what he has bought, he will screw you over royally.

Okay... I've been through something very similar.

But in this is the case. Ebay can and will overrule Paypal even though the transaction was through paypal. Ebay's representatives are completely useless and Paypal's reps are simply getting told by ebay, it seems they have no authority.

In my case, the buyer opened a case without even trying to communicate first. He verbally abused me and threatened me with other courses of actions which really upset me.

I called Ebay them 14 TIMES... (no exaggeration) and Paypal a similar amount of times... Both said that in my case they would rule in my favor because I had put in my sale page, "untested, and no returns accepted", even on my sellers options I selected 'no returns accepted'.

2 weeks later I had an email saying that ebay had ruled in the other parties favor. I was bloody furious... I called ebay but they were like a stuck robot... nothing they can do, the decision is made. Reason being because THEY advised me to accept the return to which I accepted and did. They then told me that because I had accepted the return I had to refund because of the buyers protection... ??? Completely bonkers because that opens ebay up to fraudsters. What about seller protection you may ask?... In my case, there wasn't any.

I went ballistic... The buyer then placed negative feedback on my account which was the last straw.

I then wrote a 4 page epic of what happened to Ebay in Ireland... After a week they got back to me with a full apology, a waived refund request and the negative feedback removed.

They said something had gone very wrong and they would be training their reps about this case.

So I suggest you get typing stating the situation with dates and any correspondence.

Hope it all works out for you.

[argyle]

Josie, that's exactly what eBay did to me. Told me to accept the refund then just refund the other guy because I've got my amp back.

Thanks for the advice - I'll probably write to them tonight.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I stopped selling years ago on eBay, shame as it used to be a useful income stream. Now I just stick to forums and trusted members.

[The Black Adder]

Your most welcome.

Yep... it doesn't make any sense. They have really bad representative training and the rules are not understood even by ebay themselves I think.

I've stopped using ebay because of it.

Make sure you send it to Ebay Ireland, not US. :)

I really hope you get a good result.

[struth]

wont sell now either even tho ive not been hit badly. just not worth the risk. alas they are more interested in mass selling

[Len Co]

Sad story, unfortunately the world is full of people ready and eager to put their hands in your pocket and the Internet is providing more and more opportunities for them. My wife recently ordered a wooden jumper costing about £70 and received a half-arsed, shoddy, vest-like garment worth about a fiver in a low-end high street outlet. The site she used implied it was part of a respectable manufacturer... difficult to tell what's what these days.

[argyle]

I spoke to eBay, was directed towards PayPal and long story short, they had kept my money on hold. They obviously could see that eBay had refunded the buyer, so released the money so I could reimburse the amount. This was exasperating enough, but last night I got an email from eBay saying I still needed to reimburse them. Well, I replied and told them 'this is the paypal transaction number, this is the eBay invoice number etc, check it yourselves' as opposed to going through the PayPal link on the email to re-check. Lucky I did, as the ebay address was a scam.

I have now emailed eBay to ask them how they intend to protect my data, as the scam email had all my details, the details of the case, other details that eBay would hold exclusively. I will chase this one like a dog with a bone. I will also write up a full email detailing what assurances they gave me and what the actual outcome was. Thanks again Josie; I'm hoping they don't just chin me off with weak comments like, 'we can understand how frustrating the decision is for you', no sheet Sherlock!!

[CageyH]

Sad story, unfortunately the world is full of people ready and eager to put their hands in your pocket and the Internet is providing more and more opportunities for them. My wife recently ordered a wooden jumper costing about £70 and received a half-arsed, shoddy, vest-like garment worth about a fiver in a low-end high street outlet. The site she used implied it was part of a respectable manufacturer... difficult to tell what's what these days.

Is a wooden jumper comfortable to wear?
:lol:

[Len Co]

Is a wooden jumper comfortable to wear?
:lol:

Oops! Predictive text predictably inappropriate - mind you they do make socks out of bamboo now, so who knows?

[Minstrel SE]

I spoke to eBay, was directed towards PayPal and long story short, they had kept my money on hold. They obviously could see that eBay had refunded the buyer, so released the money so I could reimburse the amount. This was exasperating enough, but last night I got an email from eBay saying I still needed to reimburse them. Well, I replied and told them 'this is the paypal transaction number, this is the eBay invoice number etc, check it yourselves' as opposed to going through the PayPal link on the email to re-check. Lucky I did, as the ebay address was a scam.

I have now emailed eBay to ask them how they intend to protect my data, as the scam email had all my details, the details of the case, other details that eBay would hold exclusively. I will chase this one like a dog with a bone. I will also write up a full email detailing what assurances they gave me and what the actual outcome was. Thanks again Josie; I'm hoping they don't just chin me off with weak comments like, 'we can understand how frustrating the decision is for you', no sheet Sherlock!!

I wouldnt worry too much about the process and just focus now on what you will lose to put the amp right and cover any damage before you sell it again properly. Your accounts are safe as long as you have good secure passwords

I feel for you as youve had a nasty lesson in online life. I wouldnt get too paranoid about paypal as they are necessary for online transactions and they dont hold personal feelings against you. You need them more than they need you if you get my drift. They are all holding money just to protect their decision and you lost money as soon as that amp came back. I presume the buyer paid return postage?

A decision has been made by ebay but you have essentially been done over by a buyer. You still have a possibility of a small claims court against the buyer but is it really worth that? You are within your rights to complain again to the buyer but its probably best just to sigh and move on. Whatya going do as you cant get offensive in writing or anything. Its entirely a legal matter which almost certainly isnt worth the hassle

You will probably find you have to take the hit for the money you are out of pocket. I suppose you have to bless small mercies like getting the amp back. Many have lost everthing in an item not received scam. I would think your main case would be any damage to the amp with opening and tampering.

I sold a non working vintage cd player......one Celestion SL6 and the transactions went fine. I knew the buyers were enthusiasts and the items came into my possession free of charge. I tend to have a limit below £100 and I weigh up the risks carefully. When I consider the time I spent packaging them well I barely made anything worth having for my efforts.

I rarely sell on ebay now as its just not worth my time in most cases. There are some real clowns out there and the risk usually puts me off.

[argyle]

Agreed; the crux is that the amp is with me, at least 95% intact and about to be looked at by the Inca Tech guru. I have put it down to bad luck and a terrible human being