Author Topic: BEWARE OF THE FLUKE 87V SCAMS ON EBAY! (Read 29745 times)

mianchen · « **on:** July 08, 2012, 12:13:30 pm »

My original post:

Quote

eBay auction: #170870093466 sold £102
eBay auction: #170871894127 sold £108
eBay auction: #170871894165
eBay auction: #170872373607

The seller has no feedback at all...

The Scammers' IDs:

Quote

myths2692147
aluminiumstick
pharmurlife

Quote from: retiredcaps on August 05, 2012, 06:42:18 pm

It is officially a scam. I received an email today from ebay from the Loss Prevention Department stating that the auction I bid on, but didn't win, should be avoided.

Well, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

saturation · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2012, 01:18:49 pm »

Probably, and from Hong Kong. Not worth the risk, there are so many Fluke 87V for sale on eBay from reputable people.

retiredcaps · « **Reply #2 on:** July 09, 2012, 07:31:20 pm »

Well, I tried to bid on 2 different auctions from the same seller, but was outbid at the last second. So we will see if I missed out on a great deal or saved from getting ripped off.

jons28 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2012, 05:30:12 am »

FYI I bought one of these! Not very hopefully though of getting it? I have spoken to a few resellers and they advised that they go for around $300 wholesale! I’ll give it another week or so before taking it up with PayPal. If any of the other buy have go theirs I would love to know. And if I do get mine I will let you know. I will also open it up and check the Rev number and take some images as well. Buyer beware I guess fingers crossed! $:-\$

Psi · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2012, 06:57:20 am »

lol, seller information.... aluminiumstick ( 0 )
No sales at all.

jons28 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2012, 07:37:06 am »

yeah I know more like f""kstick. I should be able to get a refund through PayPal I believe. F""kstick has another week! Then I'll ask to reverse it. Still would like to know if anyone else has received ther unit from this seller yet?

retiredcaps · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2012, 07:51:40 am »

Quote from: jons28 on July 20, 2012, 05:30:12 am

FYI I bought one of these!

Arrggh, you probably beat me in one of the bids!

I buy stuff from Asian ebay sellers and normally have to wait up to 6 weeks before getting stuff. I don't know if paypal will do anything until that timeframe as passed?

Yes, you can get a Fluke 87V for $150 used with patience, but many USA sellers won't ship internationally or if they do, they charge at least $35 for shipping. I can see why a NIB Fluke 87V with free shipping can be attractive to non USA customers.

jons28 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2012, 08:07:14 am »

Hope your right! The seller stated that the unit was brand new. From the pictures of the box it comes in its the new version. The older units (1-2 years old) have the cardboard egg shell type. Don't be to disappointed, two sides of the coin you could have dodged a bullet and I have been ripped off! As mentioned I will let you know the out come and post images if it does arrive

Christopher · « **Reply #8 on:** July 20, 2012, 08:10:41 am »

PayPal are very good at reversing payments, especially if there's no tracking number and 0 feedback... I wouldn't worry, contact the seller for a tracking number and see what he has to say

Devian · « **Reply #9 on:** July 20, 2012, 08:18:38 am »

I suspect they are original or high copy, check with the supplier

jons28 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 20, 2012, 09:27:26 am »

I spoke to the seller and asked for the postage info when I first paid. It took 3 days for the seller to post it and the only feedback I got after a number of messages was the followin ""You only paid for free shipping and free shipping is without online tracking number. Anyway, I shipped out the item on yesterday. Estimated delivery: Within 13-25 working days. Thanks"" I purchase from dealextreme and they seem to have no issues supplying information with free shipping lets just say I am hoping to be pleasantly surprise but not holding my breath. Thank I appreciate the advice and feedback.

mianchen · « **Reply #11 on:** July 21, 2012, 10:33:03 am »

Quote from: jons28 on July 20, 2012, 09:27:26 am

I spoke to the seller and asked for the postage info when I first paid. It took 3 days for the seller to post it and the only feedback I got after a number of messages was the followin ""You only paid for free shipping and free shipping is without online tracking number. Anyway, I shipped out the item on yesterday. Estimated delivery: Within 13-25 working days. Thanks"" I purchase from dealextreme and they seem to have no issues supplying information with free shipping lets just say I am hoping to be pleasantly surprise but not holding my breath. Thank I appreciate the advice and feedback.

Hope you get it soon....still sounds too good to be true to me. Fluke 87V retail price is in the mid RMB2000 range ($400+, £200+) in China's Taobao website (a Chinese eBay equivalent), but you never know, you might get lucky

T4P · « **Reply #12 on:** July 21, 2012, 05:59:03 pm »

And quite a lot of money here in my country

timcki · « **Reply #13 on:** July 26, 2012, 04:50:13 am »

My experience says, If it sounds to good to be true, then it is a scam or counterfit.

EVERYTHING you can buy has a counterfeit knock-off.....
Always buy from a reputable dealer, if there is a problem you will have some sort of recourse.

Psi · « **Reply #14 on:** July 26, 2012, 04:56:25 am »

There was a scam i saw the other day where a company/person would offer cheap iPads.
They would actually ship the first 20 units, and they were 100% legit.

After that point the word-of-mouth had made huge numbers of orders start coming in, so they stop shipping, kept the money and disappeared after 2-3 weeks of new orders.

jons28 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 26, 2012, 05:34:23 am »

Nothing as yet in the mail. I will wait for the end of the month and then take it up with PayPal. I'm in Australia and have bought from China and Hong Kong on many occasions. never more than a 14 day wait. Seller advised me that they posted the unit on the 12th of this month. As mentioned I will ensure I inform the forum of the final outcome.... Not looking good though. Have to agree though two things my father said to me if it sounds too good to be true then it is too good to be true, other you don't have to have a long neck to be a goose. Should have listened!!

slateraptor · « **Reply #16 on:** July 26, 2012, 09:06:24 am »

It's either a scam, stolen, or counterfeit. You'll be lucky to pay less than US$300 + shipping for a NIB genuine Fluke 87-V. Used meters in good condition close at US$225-280 on eBay; even beat up field meters sell for around the US$200 ballpark.

jons28 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 27, 2012, 08:55:24 pm »

So I disputed the transaction with PayPal and it took less than a day for aluminiumstick better known as Chan Wing Yan to issue a refund. I should get the refund back in the next 30 days apparently as advised from PayPal. So a few notes...... Don't buy from aluminiumstick or another seller called pharmurlife. Both have been selling Fluke 87's with no reserve from Hon Kong. I got stung for what I through was a great deal you've been warned now don't fall for the same trick.

Now for a few questions. Why would they do this? Just to give the money back after 3 weeks.... Is my bank account under treat do they have another motive for this scam

? Just don't understand why they would bother. Will I have trouble getting the money back. Can they just tell PayPal they are refunding and not sending the money? Any advice is most welcome and or experiences. Thanks

P.s. once I get the money I will smash his feedback. I wonder why no one else hasn't ?

T4P · « **Reply #18 on:** July 28, 2012, 05:37:39 pm »

14 days? they always take more then 14 days... oh please

tom66 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 28, 2012, 06:10:10 pm »

Well, if it does arrive, it would be interesting to see if it is the genuine article. I can't see how anyone can make much money out of this unless they are somehow scamming eBay/PayPal by withdrawing the money quickly and cutting off ties...

tramjoe · « **Reply #20 on:** July 28, 2012, 06:29:43 pm »

Hi,

I have no idea if the seller is a phony as in "will not deliver anything, take the money and run", but my feeling is that you are in panic with no good reason regarding the transaction itself.

First, when purchasing from China / HK vendors, you must be patient. I have many transactions that went very well, from vendors I would buy again, either on eBay or aliexpress, that would have gone sour if I started to go crazy like you did after 24 days.

Most of the time, shipping is erratic from these places, especially with free shipping. Just look at china post stats (tables displayed in many ebay auctions). They tell you that 24 days is not that uncommon.

You can recognize good (in my book) vendors by their reaction when shipping goes bad. Just this morning, I had a vendor issue me a full Paypal refund because after waiting for 30 days I still haven't received my product. The refund was his call in that case, and I gave him a very good review for that. Of course, that's with free shipping and no tracking using China Post. All smoothly. No eBay dispute or anything like that. And this is how it happens _most_ of the time, those vendors usually know what's good for them, the system is not very kind to shabby sellers. And you know what, I will probably receive the item anyway, maybe in a couple of weeks, maybe more. That happened to me before, several times. Only one in tens of purchases from eBay/AliExpress did not eventually make it to my home, and apart than this one, everytime I got a refund after running out of patience, I eventually received the parcel.

Regarding the seller answer about free shipping and no tracking, this is just standard practice for those direct from China/HK deals! And it also means that, on eBay, _they_ (the sellers) are taking the risks just so _we_ can get interesting deals. However, _we_ need to accept the China Post hickups. Again, I do not understand why you frown upon this. I mean, you are buying something real cheap, with free shipping, probably even so cheap that you know there is a 90% chance your are buying something stolen or counterfeit, but you seem to do so like if you were doing business with Element14 or Mouser, not really adapting to the rules of that very different game...

Chill out, just my 2c.

jons28 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 29, 2012, 11:55:16 am »

So just to qualify I do buy from china very frequently, mainly Dealextreme. As I am in AUS most things take around 14 days. I recently have purchased some LM7805's from Hong Kong as well as MOC 3021 all purchased through eBay. Both sellers ask the buyers to contact them if you haven't received the parcel within 14-20 days if you are in Australia.

I wasn't being impatient, I was as some mentioned worried If was buying a stolen or scammed product. I placed one bid and was never expecting to win at that price. I was being proactive by contacting PayPal and opening a line of communication with the seller. To my surprise I was given a refund straight away by the seller. I never asked for this! In the end I was right to do so as it is a scam and the sooner I take it up with eBay the better. Before you judge me tell me you wouldn't take a fluke 87 V for $150 if you bid and won on eBay? Please don't take the moral high ground on this either.

Just thought I would give some feedback as the question was asked byMianchen I believe in the first place. Didn't really post to be judged just to inform? I learnt another lesson I suppose. I will leave it to you to discuss by yourselves.

P.S. tramjoe I think you missed the whole point of the posts.

T4P · « **Reply #22 on:** July 29, 2012, 03:33:04 pm »

Well then, how did you know it's a SCAM?

tramjoe · « **Reply #23 on:** July 29, 2012, 08:42:34 pm »

P.S. tramjoe I think you missed the whole point of the posts.

Probably.

Sorry for being judgmental then, I guess. My point was not to be so, but merely to express my reaction after reading the thread in all honesty and stress a couple of points that I thought could be of use - but it seems I was wrong in that.

retiredcaps · « **Reply #24 on:** August 01, 2012, 06:43:08 am »

Quote from: jons28 on July 27, 2012, 08:55:24 pm

Don't buy from aluminiumstick or another seller called pharmurlife.

I also noticed that pharmurlife was also selling Fluke 87Vs at the same time as aluminiumstick. The first feedback for pharmurlife was just posted earlier today. It wasn't a Fluke 87V that was sold, but see

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=pharmurlife&ftab=AllFeedback

!!!- "WARNING" - !!! TO ALL EBAY BUYERS THIS SELLER "RIPPING PEOPLE OFF" WARNING

$142.50 on a Western Digital My Book Essential 3 TB.


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Author Topic: BEWARE OF THE FLUKE 87V SCAMS ON EBAY! (Read 29745 times)

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