Scammed on Ebay

[dreamshark]

Noting that Windows 10 is going out of support this fall, I thought it might be time to buy a newer version of Microsoft Office (I'm on 2010 now). I don't actually want the newest Ofice because Microsoft DROPPED PUBLISHER from its Office Suite last year. I LOVE Publisher! I've been using it for flyers, invitations, cards, and random paste up since Publisher 1.0 in Office 97. The last version that still has Publisher is Office 2021 Pro, only available used. So I ordered an unopened copy from Ebay for about $50, which is how I got my last version of Office.

Well, this time, I got scammed. Shortly before the estimated delivery date I was contacted by the seller who claimed there was some kind of problem with the USPS delivery and that they had re-sent another identical item to cover the loss. This sounded a little sussy, since it wasn't even overdue at this point, but I was out of town and not paying too much attention. I got home and the item had not arrived, but the seller had sent a new USPS tracking number. Which was a real tracking number; gave me a delivery date of April 8 when I entered it on the USPS site. On April 9 the package still wasn't here, but the USPS said it had been delivered. Wait a second.  . 

Your item was delivered at the front door or porch at 3:14 pm on April 9, 2025 in AGUADA, PR 00602.

Shit, that's in Puerto Rico!  

I logged in to Ebay to lodge a complaint and found that the seller had disappeared from the site. My order still appeared in my account, waiting for me to provide feedback. So I clicked the "item not received" button and described the scam in the free text field, not expecting much.

To my utter astonishment, I got a response from Ebay in less than an hour: 

 

We've reviewed your request and resolve the case in your favor. We've issued a refund back to your original payment method. You should receive it within 2-3 business days.

And it wasn't 2-3 business days: the money was back in my Paypal account by late afternoon!  Damn, that's a well-oiled machine. I'm not sure if the seller cancelled their own Ebay account after running the scheme a few dozen times, or if Ebay kicked them off, but I kind of expected them to get away with it. Thanks, Ebay!
 

Comments

[minnehaha]

That's great, truly. We should all be so fortunate.

I bought a vacuum from Amazon and it came with a broken part. Amazon said they'd give me a full refund (send it back) or a 25% refund (go ahead and keep it). I called the manufacturer to get a new part, but they were unable to provide it for some reason I didn't understand. So, now, back it goes. I like getting the refund, but I'd rather have the vac, which was a HEPA-filtering dust-eating monster.

K.

[dreamshark]

The options that Amazon gave you were really pretty generous, from their point of view. But having to repack and send back a large vacuum cleaner sounds awful!!

I hope you left a scathing review on the vacuum. Sometimes if you do that the manufacturer will contact you and try to make it right. Maybe even suddenly discover that they DO have the replacement part you need.

[minnehaha]

That'd be nice, wouldn't it? I'd order another of the same and hope for the best, but it took them THREE MONTHS to get the thing to me in the first place, and I'm afraid that they'd just send me the same damned one if I sent this back and asked for a different one. Supply-chain issues, they said. And THAT'S only going to get worse and worse.

K. [Amazon makes returning things really easy, and I'd saved the box and knew how it had all fitted in, so the repacking wasn't bad. A struggle to get it out of the house and into the car, yes. And it is still there. I have until the end of the month to figure out how to get it into a UPS store for a return]

[dreamshark]

You used to be able to return Amazon stuff at Kohls at the service desk, if there are any Kohls left open. Although wrestling the box into a Kohls store and up the escalator might be more difficult than into a UPS store.

And yes, Amazon makes everything easy, which is why I keep using them. Every now and then I try to order directly from a manufacturer, which is usually such a shit show that I resolve never to try THAT again. I'm a sucker for competence.

[minnehaha]

I wrestled it into a UPS store, handed it over, and already have my refund. Cool.

K.

[carbonel]

I had a refund from PayPal from an online vendor that was like that. The vendor was extremely sus to start with (can't order more than $40 in one order, payments must be via PayPal), but it was offering something only available from a store that had just closed. It promised delivery by a certain date, and the day after said date when no delivery had happened, I created a dispute at PayPal. I had my money back in less than an hour. Which was good, but I'd much rather have had the item I wanted.

[dreamshark]

Odd that they insisted on Paypal payment, when that gives buyers the most protection.

[carbonel]

My theory is that they'd make enough only dealing with the people who were too lazy or unaware to go after a refund.

[dreamshark]

Or maybe Ebay just eats the cost if they can't recover it from the vendor.