The Bad Shopping Experience Thread

[CJay]

He was so threatening that I had to contact eBay abuse and threats helpline to ask what to do.  eBay assured me that I was right, the item was technically lost and I should have receive the refund. They suggested forwarding the chat log to him.

Not entirely similar to your experience which sounds awful, but this last week I put in a lowball offer for a very tatty, incomplete Kenwood R1000 (of which a good example would usually sell for ~£100 if in decent condition up to ~£150 in excellent boxed and complete condition) figuring there'd be a little back and forth and perhaps we could meet somewhere in the middle at around £60-65.

Not a chance, I got an abusive message from the seller which, stupidly, I replied to explaining why I offered what I did.

What happened next was just surreal, the seller sent  messages via the eBay service, eventually saying they had my address and that I was putting my family in danger which I regard as a threat.

eBay of course did absolutely sod all.

Another bad experience with a UK seller  (and I think the 'owner' of a very popular retro computing Youtube channel) where they left me feedback 'buyer wants everything perfect, avoid' after I'd complained about their piss poor packaging which destroyed a 48 pin shrink DIP IC socket in the post and also destroyed the replacement even after I told him I was happy to pay a little more for better packing.

[AVGresponding]

You can't fix stupid, you have to wait for Darwinism to take effect.

[MrMobodies]

What happened next was just surreal, the seller sent  messages via the eBay service, eventually saying they had my address and that I was putting my family in danger which I regard as a threat.

eBay of course did absolutely sod all.

I'd call the police and maybe take out a harassment order.

I was working at this firm when I came across an ebay seller just like that, it was to do with a card printer, I made some inquires on increasing the manufacturer's warranty that was listed with it and turned out it was fake they didn't not have such an agreement, so when I investigated they copied someone else's listing word by word picture by picture sold without the warranties. Their listing wasn't their own. I asked them not to send out the printer and reported them. Ebay customer services agreed, organized a refund, and to cancel the order. The seller still sent out the printer with tracking after I asked them not to, it never arrived anyway but accused me a day after of receiving it and keeping the money despite their tracking showing nothing arrived.

They they started threatening me saying they know people in the area etc etc that they will be getting it back.
I had a right go at them threatening to involve the police.

I said it was quite simple, if you want it back you deal with the courier. We have cameras here, if you turn up and start causing trouble you will have a lot more problems to deal with than picking up a parcel that we don't have yet and neither does your own tracking support it. If it turns up, tracked or untracked, I'll let you know, then you can arrange for it to be collected at your own expense.

Another bad experience with a UK seller  (and I think the 'owner' of a very popular retro computing Youtube channel) where they left me feedback 'buyer wants everything perfect, avoid' after I'd complained about their piss poor packaging which destroyed a 48 pin shrink DIP IC socket in the post and also destroyed the replacement even after I told him I was happy to pay a little more for better packing.

There were a few times about 10 years ago this happened to me with all sorts of things I brought off ebay.

One time I found a set of brackets for a customer which I had difficulty finding as there wasn't much of them about especially on Ebay at the time for this particular model. Seeing how it was the only reasonably priced one I can fine, the next one was over seas and overpriced and with many parcels getting damaged in the post I explained this to the seller and specified how I wanted it packed in bubblewrap and thick strong cardboard and asked for how much. The seller replied, it's fine and not to worry but sent it poorly packaged in some thin bubblewrap in a bag where they got bent and one snapped.

The seller refunded me issued me a refund straight after reporting the damage without saying anything or a care in the world.

[arcitech]

"Item Condition: New"

...right bruv. new.

[unknownparticle]

Had a fairly perturbing situation with an ebay seller a few years back, here in the UK.
It occurred due to the no arrival of an item I purchased from this nut job. I waited over 2 weeks, well past the indicated delivery time, then contacted him to advise non delivery.  He responded by saying that tracking confirmed delivery 2 days before I contacted him,  I replied saying that must be wrong because I was in that day and nothing had arrived.
He then started to become hostile, saying I must be one of these scum bags that claims non delivery, even when it has been delivered, just to get a refund.  I asked for proof of delivery.  After a few days he sent this and the signature wasn't mine, just a scrawl.  I told him that whatever had happened to it, it never arrived at my address and the signature was not mine and nothing like it, so refund me.
I heard nothing back but a few days later there was a knock at the door, it was him, his wife and their dog!  They started ranting and raving at me, accusing me of fraud and insisting that he was going to force his way in and search my house for the item to prove it! I told him to jog on and tried to shut the door and both he and his wife tried to force me back!  I managed to close it, with great difficulty, then went to the window to watch them whilst I called the police. He was going insane with anger, shaking his fist at me and shouting threats and profanity, his wife was also joining in.
It was then I played my ace card, I pointed up at the CCTV cam that looked at the front door, it also has audio!!  it took him a while to realise what I meant, then he saw it!  I also pointed at my phone and mouthed Police at him!  I was on a 999 call as we spoke!
The realisation then hit him and his wife!  They started to walk away, still spouting off. The best bit was, his car was in the drive and another cam had his reg no.!
This pair had driven about 175 miles to confront me, with nothing!! 
They had gone by the time the police arrived, but I had obtained their details from ebay, so made a statement and provided a copy of the CCTV recording.
The Police said that even if I had done what they claimed, they would have been in serious trouble anyway, but as I was innocent of any offence or wrong doing they would be charged with attempted serious assault, attempted break in, threatening behavior with intent to cause harm,  breach of the peace and a few other things.  Enough to get their attention.  It also transpired later that they had been questioning my neighbors, and a delivery driver who they happened to see!!
It went to court about 5 months later, I had to appear as the only witness, but backed up with incriminating CCTV evidence.  They were charged with attempted assault, attempted forced entry into a private residence, causing distress and anxiety and breach of the peace.
Turned out he had a record of violent behavior, so it didn't go well for him!  He got 24 months suspended, she got 6 months suspended.
They were ordered to pay substantial compensation to me, plus my expenses for having to travel to a distant court. They were also ordered not to make any contact with me in any way, permanently.
Ebay were advised of this situation and they permanently deleted their account and were told they would never be able to have another ebay account.  Don't know about paypal.  Whether they can get around the ebay ban is another matter.
So, make sure you have CCTV guys, because without that I could never have proved what happened and they would have got away with it.
There are some troubled individuals out there. 

[PlainName]

Blimey! At least there was resolution for that one, but it would be far better not to have that hassle in the first place.

[rsjsouza]

Depending on the place in the world, the issue would have been solved quicker, although with much more dire consequences...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine

[MrMobodies]

I had been sold many times before used things advertised as new where I'd report and take action if they cost considerably or are in bad condition.

I reminded a seller to remember the anti static bag for some ram that I just ordered and they replied that they always do that.

A Lenovo M92p minipc arrived today.


For the small box and the weight of that thing I would have expected bubble wrap outside or a larger box

I heard a rattle and as I opened it I found one screw loose:


I didn't want to take a chance with it as I wouldn't know what damage that could have caused so I started a return and seller approved. Seller said it was a caddy screw. I thought fair enough, it's only one and accidents like this can happen.

When putting it back I heard a little rattle and then other screws fell out behind the fan with one crushed up against the board.


Crushed up aganst board when I removed the fan:


See the scratch marks on that die on closeup:


All Four caddy screws like someone just thrown them in there for me instead of putting them in a bag in the packaging.
I am not sure if it was an accident that I'd like to think or whoever put it there thought it was acceptable.

Now I have ask sellers to check for these things too.

[AVGresponding]

How broken is the ebay app these days? I bought something yesterday, and despite being the only bidder, it took 13 minutes from auction close to being declared the winner.   

[arcitech]

Got an old 87 that appeared to be in decent shape. “Used” condition, which on eBay in the biz/ind category has rather stringent requirements.

It shows up, and where the two (of three total) enclosure posidrive fasteners under the battery door are gone. Rings of rust highlight where they once sat.

I open it up, and the thing is just uniformly coated with rust particulate. Seems like it probably sat out in a garden shed for a decade or more while the screws gave way to entropy.

One of those rotting screws also took a stand-off (plastic, integral, also one of three) along with it.

Pinged the guy politely. Boy oh boy was he proud of how accurate his cal was in his response — the cal that, of course, relied on the rust staying in place. He closed the door on any dialogue. I gave nearly zero ducks, as it didn’t cost a heap.

A week and a half later, I find myself yanking its input terminal block for use in an 87III that arrived with sheared block posts, and upon removing a fuse to make the job simpler, lo and behold there are two parallel 10ohm resistors bridging the HRC cartridge (with solder just as shiny as his dots on the battery lead he admitted to replacing), which was of course open. These teensy doodads were positioned to minimize likelihood of being spotted, of course.

This willful negligence & reckless deception is beyond acceptable, I think to myself, and send a photo of what I’ve found. I then open a return, of course he’s stubbornly righteous and claims he won’t take it back as I ripped out wires (a bold take on snipping resistor leads) and shouldn’t have torn it down. I take the stance from the outset that I don’t plan to send it back, and plan to let eBay decide the outcome after the precursory few days lapse.

He’s got the balls once I’m able to escalate to call the fuse “repaired” — yeah guy, you must live in a world where an airbag is repacked into a steering wheel.

Scumbag works on avionics. Jesus.

Never buy from a guy whose username is the three letters by which a daily financial publication often goes. Or do, and enjoy ripping his work, and logic, apart, if you dig that sort of thing. You’ll get some free parts out of it, at least.

IMHO he should’ve been banned from ever selling again.

[rsjsouza]

It isn't clear from your post: did the meter power up and work on all ranges, despite the rust and the fuse antics?  lf so, AFAIK it is considered "used" but it is obviously in bad shape and previously "fixed".

I would never sell such thing in this state, but if a buyer of mine complains of something inside a working equipment after opening it, I would also dispute back the buyer's claims. 

[arcitech]

It isn't clear from your post: did the meter power up and work on all ranges, despite the rust and the fuse antics?  lf so, AFAIK it is considered "used" but it is obviously in bad shape and previously "fixed".

It'd be downright stupid for me to have tested the meter in all ranges, without first sufficiently cleaning it. Perhaps you meant modes though, and in a sense, yep, it "worked" but certainly didn't meet two important core criteria: that the device function as intended and arrive without any key components missing. Check the condition requirements yourself for the business & industrial category's used condition. Simply being functional is insufficient.

A foundational aspect of a handheld meter is inherent safety in a device intended to be touching both a human and voltages up to & including 1kV. Fasteners & fuses can be replaced. A standoff that's not just cracked, but totally absent, certainly can't without the entire front half of the housing being replaced.

I did hope when initially reaching out to the seller that a fair partial refund would make things right. That wasn't an option for this indifferent and dismissively prideful arse though, and it didn't bother me until I much later found his lazy and willful effort to deceive, and for a component material to the device's safety.

Yeah, there are probably enterprising idiots who try to make fraudulent claims that have no basis in fact or seller responsibility, but I'm not an idiot of that particular sort. And yes, sellers should certainly contest any claims where they've got even one leg to stand on, but this seller had none, and the righteousness all his messages were steeped in hopefully indicates there were lessons learned.

[arcitech]

An interesting sort of silver lining for the dark cloud that I suppose is this thread:

The other day I spotted a New Open Box Fluke 87V/E2 Kit (a fabric case, some fancier leads & alligator doodads), TPAK. The box looked like it’d been through the war, but sure enough, all accessories were there.

Something didn’t seem right with the meter at first glance. Ah, the shift button and secondary dial indicators: they weren’t yellow.

Wait a minute, there’s not even text on the meter’s screen bezel.

I wasn’t sure if it was an 83 or 85 or maybe even an older 87 but I sent a friendly note to the seller. Then I noticed the Amazon Warehouse tape on the exterior of the box in the pictures — that’s the branding they use (similar to Amazon Renewed) for selling returns that they’ve decided not to fraudulently sell as new (don’t get me started!).

I figure some wannabe conman swapped in their old meter and maybe even the serial number sticker got migrated, then returned their “87V” back to Amazon thinking no one would be the wiser. And I’m guessing that, initially, nobody was. That’s the only way I could see that branded tape making its way onto that tattered retail box.

I should get to learn the details for myself, because the seller thanked me and offered me a coupon to their store that mainly sold stuff I’m not interested in. They said they’d dispose of it, so I floated the idea of buying that now-delisted item for the accessories and to run a mock investigation on the meter (was it missing the whole display bezel? did the SN sticker get carefully migrated? etc.). They were game for a couple Jacksons and I’m smirking at the level of anxiousness for the postman to make his daily pass more than I think I’ve been for a long time.

It’s a shame these sorts of bad actors kick off a sequence of events that can have a pretty long tail with several people getting ripped off after the fact. I’m honestly hopeful that there’s some possibility that either Amazon (who’d likely give no ducks) or Fluke would be interested in chasing down what, from my IANAL point of view, involves wire fraud, mail fraud, & almost certainly falls under federal jurisdiction. Even if I don’t get to indulge my dreams of being a tiny action figure-sized version of some superhero or another (imho this is far from a rat-class move), I did score some decent accessories and a random old meter for a deal, and helped shield who I’d imagine is a seller with no culpability in the fecal smears all over the situation.

[madires]

Also beware of the discount/bargain scam! Scammers use hacked reseller acounts to offer more expensive stuff (smartphones, coffee machines, ...) for a too-good-to-be-true price and try to lure the potential buyers away from the shopping platform for the payment, i.e. no buyer protection anymore. Either the product description includes a note like 'contact seller before buying' or the seller cancels the order and sends you an email. This scam is quite rampant at the moment.

[MrMobodies]

I was looking for some alcohol cleaner and ordered a few strengths from different sellers which turned up fine except for one.
Listing states:
"Fast Aid 70% Alcohol Hands & Surface Cleaning Disinfectant Spray Sanitiser"
"FAST AID 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) Hand and Surface Disinfectant Spray"
Listing photo shows a "Robinson Healthcare" branded bottle with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.

Received: Clinell Universal spray



Ingredients:

Benzalkonium chloride (0.45%)
dideclydimonium chloride (0.4%)
polyhexamethylenebiguanie hydrochloride (0.1%)
phenoxyethanol (0.075%

I don't see any 70% Isopropyl Alcohol in the ingredients above.

A listing description of one brand and a picture of a another brand both showing 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and they sent out one with none.
Opened a return and I think it will be fine from there.

I cannot see this Clinell Universal spray listed on the other seller listings so it looks like it wasn't sent out by mistake.


Some weeks ago I ordered 2x 8GB 1600mhz DDR3L PC3L-12800S as listed and pictured.

They turned up packaged well in an anti static bag as I'd expect but it was a it is DDR3 slower speed PCL-10600 (1333MHz) non low power variant.

The seller apologized and said that's all they had left in stock but could I test it to see if it works. I replied that I am sure it works but it is not what I ordered so returned that without a problem.

Well at least they apologized but I'd imagine it would have been if they'd just cancel the order, a message explaining that they are out of stock and amend the listing than waste their time and money posting it.

[PlainName]

Well at least they apologized but I'd imagine it would have been if they'd just cancel the order, a message explaining that they are out of stock and amend the listing than waste their time and money posting it.

They wanted you to try it so that they could then say that, well, it works so how about taking that and they'll give you a fiver discount. They most likely knew they had no stock of the faster stuff and are hoping that buyers will go for the slower one rather than have nothing for a bit longer. That's if they notice - a certain percentage of punters won't spot the difference.

[MrMobodies]

Apparently it was banned in 2017 (EU and UK) and again at the end of 2022 (UK). I started a thread on it in Dodgy technology. It seems to me that they had been using old EU regulation (cherry picking old EU) in the safety documents about the side effects and safety.

They wanted you to try it so that they could then say that

When it comes to things like this I don't usually "try" things anymore without careful consideration of what ingredients are inside.

I remembered when I was over 8 or so I had a lot of problems cleaning my glasses.
I didn't know at the time the plastic lens was the contributing factor.

Years after I started to buy cleaner from the opticians in this small metal can with this provided cloth. I think they mentioned something about alcohol OR ethanol? on the back. Well some sell the cloth separately but it worked as long I don't use the used bits of the cloth.

Now in 2000 or 2001, one day when one was empty I brought one it did absolutely nothing but smeared it making it worse.
I was shocked. Is this spray faulty?
I noticed something the can.
Pretty decorations of flowers and trendy colourful writing. (Increased my anger like that would compensate and make me feel better like the prettiness of the packaging itself is more important than putting in the correct ingredients to properly clean my glasses.)
And I see "alcohol free" something I don't remember seeing before.

I went from opticians to opticians and all they sold the same "non alcohol" stuff under many different brand names. I tried a few and they were useless and did the same thing. I remembered being told by one optician that it was government guidlines to help alcohol addicts off the smell of alcohol  the same style of bullshit was used when one optician refused to provide me with a replacement glass lens (when my previous one closed down) claiming that the government banned it and because "it is dangerous" and "glass is illegal", "where did you get them from?" when that wasn't the case. It was to do with some disclaimer form if they shattered and damaged my eyes to do with narrow lens but I have them now and never signed such a form.

I found it was easier cleaning them with washing up liquid and very carefully using a damp tissue to wipe the residue off and I even found that difficult.  Now with glass lenses the same ones i am using since 2009 they are so easy to clean. I use to loose my temper many a day trying to clean the plastic lenses it didn't seem to take lot to smear them.

This is why when I order something with specific intent I expect to be as advertised.

[Whales]

This reminds me how glad I am to live in a world where ingredients MUST be listed somewhere.  It's not perfect (eg nonspecific "hydrocarbons" as an ingredient) but it's 1000x better than the alternative.

[PlainName]

They wanted you to try it so that they could then say that

When it comes to things like this I don't usually "try" things anymore without careful consideration of what ingredients are inside.

I think things went adrift there. My comment wasn't about the not-IPA but the memory, in reply to:

Some weeks ago I ordered 2x 8GB 1600mhz DDR3L PC3L-12800S as listed and pictured.

They turned up packaged well in an anti static bag as I'd expect but it was a it is DDR3 slower speed PCL-10600 (1333MHz) non low power variant.

The seller apologized and said that's all they had left in stock but could I test it to see if it works.

Perhaps I should have used 'test' instead of try. Mea culpa.

[MrMobodies]

I think things went adrift there. My comment wasn't about the not-IPA but the memory, in reply to:

Perhaps I should have used 'test' instead of try. Mea culpa.

Sorry about that I misread.

They wanted you to try it so that they could then say that, well, it works so how about taking that and they'll give you a fiver discount. They most likely knew they had no stock of the faster stuff and are hoping that buyers will go for the slower one rather than have nothing for a bit longer. That's if they notice - a certain percentage of punters won't spot the difference.

I take pictures form opening to testing and check everything when I can.

I think I heard someone referring to  people who do that  as "chancers". What a cheek asking me to test something that turned up not to the specifications I expected and as listed. I wouldn't mind testing it (like I use to with mechanical hard disk with the old MHDD in dos) but that is not worth my time and I imagine that the seller could also say, well it works and you have opened and used it so I don't have to accept a return on unless it is faulty.

The seller also sent it from a different address and non name than the one on their account  so I asked the seller that I received something from this address is this from you? I didn't tell them there was a problem until verifying.

Accepting money off certain things is very rare when they are like that unless I have a use for it and it happened to fit somewhere. If something is hard to find, I find it, order it and it had a fault but there is a part in there that may maker the other work then I might negotiate.

[super7800]

possibly a scam? (or just a really really good deal?) https://www.ebay.com/itm/364127073324?autorefresh=true

did tinyeye and google reverse image search. Showed nothing (doesn't always mean anything though). bought it. sent them message asking for additional pictures (which i find to be a very good way of detecting scams). So far i have had 100% success on eBay (and almost 100% with PayPal) with fraudulent vendors, So i don't think ill be out any money if my hunch is correct, that this stinks of a scam. But i've wanted a friend for my tds7104 for awhile now, and the price was right

i asked for more pictures and they sent them. However they could just be from the same source. At this point i wasn't even going to post this, however they did mention something about a "gift" and to "wait". seller is speaking in broken English. (2/2/2023)

but then today the plot thickens (2/3/2023). they contacted me with a "suspicious" message saying the tracking number was incorrect, and that this is the right one. 1ZE3R0490308469377. this says it was created a day before i even placed my order (placed 2/2/2022 afternoon). the one they gave eBay, 1ZX102890338173395, says it was already delivered! (and shows no record of being dropped off). They also did the classic scammer move (that i've seen before) which is to buy really cheap items to get positive feedback on their account. the shadows are also all in the same spot, despite the pics supposedly being taken at different times.

Edit 2/5/2023 it now says (removed item) in my purchase history. Now I'm starting to get concerned. The "new" tracking I was given says it will be delivered tomorrow. I guess I will have to wait and see...

Plot gets even thicker (2/5/2023). Item is in category not protected by ebay money back guerentee (this is a thing? Why?). Item is deleted, and I can't contact the seller. Just filed a complaint with PayPal. I really hope they can help. Seems it won't be resolved until the end of the month though. Turns out when something is screeming at you that it's a scam, it probably is.

2/14/2023 PayPal denied my case since there was tracking. Obviously never even read my response. I reopened the case as recieved but open box, but im not hopeful. Looks like there in greece, so contacting the police won't be helpful. Suggestions?

2/24/2023 PayPal decided in my favor! I knew PayPal would pull thru when ebay didn't. Imagine if I had paid using card tho... psa: ebay has categories with no protection but PayPal can still issue a refund.

what do ya think, am i being scammed? or is it just ups being terrible and a language barrier? Can you fake a UPS label?
Definitely probably scam.
Definitely Definitely A Scam. Dang.

[MrMobodies]

Looking for a laptop battery tp replace a dead one and not easy to find at the moment. It only has to hold about 10 - 20 minutes charge  forif the DC plug falls out.

I remember reading about this old scam with sellers selling used batteries called theg "untested battery scam" with them mentioning 100% charge but not how much capacity it can hold and sold as untested.

I understand when sellers have hundreds batteries to sell and they may have no means to test them. I have seen them in the past £5 to £10 with returns and some even guaranteed for about 30 minutes which I brought and many of them were fine.

I found something similar just now but I don't think it is a scam more like way overpriced and not worth touching considering no returns for the price.

I think this seller is selling them way overpriced without a warranty.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304798093201?

Genuine DELL E5420 E5430 E6420 E6430 E6520 Battery T54FJ
Condition: Used
£21.59
“Condition Untested - Our Product may have been previously used. We have tried to show as best we can ”.

Genuine DELL E5420 E5430 E6420 E6430 E6520 Battery T54FJ

Price: 26.99 I see it is reduced to £21.59 on listing

30 day return | Seller pays for return postage | See details- for more information about returns

Our Product may have been previously used. The item has signs of cosmetic wear. **We have tried to show as best we can on the photos. The photos are of the actual item being sold. Photos may slightly vary as the product images developed in a highly illuminated surrounding.

THIS PRODUCT CONDITION: UNTESTED
**Guaranteed photos. There is no time and clue to make the test. Sold as seen, 50% chance of it not working or working properly but you're also getting the chance of a bargain if it does work

We have tried to show as best we can on the photos. Photos are of the actual item being sold. Photos may slightly vary as the product images developed in a highly illuminated surrounding.

Be Aware of these products, We can’t take responsibility and have no returns!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Come in brown box

At least they mention above.

I wouldn't say that is a bargain more like a gamble if they can't guarantee that it holds at least some charge and no returns.

Do you think that is a bit overpriced for what it is?

Okay no time to test but:
*"Guaranteed photos" "We have tried to show you the best we can.."  like that is going to tell me anything useful whether it works or not.

Shop with confidence eBay Money Back Guarantee
Get the item you ordered or get your money back.

Should the condition be described as "untested?" or "for parts not working?" in a category with no money back guarantee?

I think the seller might be putting themselves at risk for forced returns and refunds in that they have also selected 30 day returns in the listing despite intending for none as in description.

[kermitfrog]

FYI Dave did a recent video on his Youtube channel about fraudulent sellers on Ebay selling test equipment. Very informative and well worth watching

[jsantoro]

There also people trolling here for the WTB ads. I was contacted by a member, who only just joined a few days ago point to a "friend" of his that had what I wanted. I inquired and got back pictures from an Ebay listing that was not his. He has since disappears but the member is still here. If you want a name PM me.

[gmb42]

There also people trolling here for the WTB ads. I was contacted by a member, who only just joined a few days ago point to a "friend" of his that had what I wanted. I inquired and got back pictures from an Ebay listing that was not his. He has since disappears but the member is still here. If you want a name PM me.

You'll need to report this to the mods, they don't monitor this thread.