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got scammed on ebay.. looking for advice

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Guys bear with me here, I have a horror story to share, and looking for some advice... so here it goes-----
I bought a laptop from this ebay seller with seller id "idriveacobalt87";.
Here is the ebay listing: Link
The purchase date was Oct. 19, 2009. I received the laptop on Oct. 26 2009. I had noticed that the sender was the same as the seller, ie, he probably told his friend to mail it so I cannot find out his address. He is some 22 year old kid still living with his parents; from my research online.
Anyways, The laptop was definitely not as described, the lcd monitor has two vertical lines. (I took a picture of it right before I send it back, luckily. He doesn't know that I have a picture) Also, the CPU, memory, graphics card were all swapped out for much cheaper substitutes.(I ran a program called CPU-Z to find that out) I would not pay more than $100 for this piece of trash. I contacted the seller on that same day and he agreed to take my refund if I ship it back.
this is what he said:
----(begin)---------
Wow. Im really sorry for the incovience. I had someone who said they knew about computer look at it and he said it was all factory. I guess he doesnt know as much as he thought. Would you want it if i refunded you part of you payment? If not its no big deal. Once again im really sorry for the misinformation and the incovience.
------(end)----------

That same day, Oct. 26, I shipped it back to address where it came from.
The delivered date was 10/29/2009. The next day, the seller emailed me saying he cannot refund me because of this BS (here is his own words)

-----------------------------------(begin)------------
Im sorry to inform you that I am unable to refund you your money due to the fact that the laptop you have returned was returned damaged and in non working condition. It look as if it has been opened in multiple places. In the front especially its seem to be deformed and broken. There are new chips, scratches and pry marks which i have all documented. Also when I turned on the computer, it did power up but the screen remained blank and black. I did call eBay and spoke to a gentleman named Andy and told him my situation. He told me to inform you of this and to offer you the laptop back and not to refund your money. I sent photos to ebay to show them the damage. Please get back to me as soon as possible. ------------------------------------------------(end)----

which is a bunch of lies. OMG. Now, I paid $630 for the auction and paid $24.05 for UPS shipping back to him.(still have the receipt w/ tracking number) I made sure it was well packed and paid UPS for shipping insurance etc. Why would I damage his laptop and send it right back.. I tried to contact him a few more times until it was obvious he was just trying to scam money off me.
I already talked to my credit card company and they said I need to wait 15 days to file a claim.
I will feel terrible if he gets away with this. Man i am willing to sign affidavit, polygraph, sworn in court, cross-examination, pay court fee, anyways, whatever it takes to get him caught. I care less of the financial loss compare to the fact that some knot head is out there trying to make me look like I am the scammer!
I got really mad today when I got this message today:
----(begin)-----
Lies! Please. If you told me that you intentions were to receive the laptop, swap parts out or destroy it apart, and then send it back and ask for a refund i would not of sold it to you. I have already spoken to eBay about what has occurred. They have it on their records. They instructed me on what to do. I have evidence if needed. Witnesses also. So now ill just wait for the "authorities" to contact me and then go from there. Im sorry this didnt go according to plan for you.
----(end)-----

Please advice....
1)anything else I should do? I filed a complaint to IC3 in addition to talking to my credit card company.
2) how not to get so mad over this.
THANKS

About myself:
I am an actuarial software analyst with a MA degree in math, just graduated about 2 years ago. making a descent living but I need to work hard and long hours.. I need to take actuarial exams for my job in a week so that's another source of frustration, man I need to deal with this mess even when I am so stressed from work and studying.
 
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Sorry to say it sounds like you've done all you can for now. When you received the laptop, you should have documented everything you said was not described correctly and told Ebay. Since you sent it back to him, he took full advantage of Ebay not knowing the condition of the computer and said you had damaged it whether you had or not. Maybe that one picture you have can be proof enough to show Ebay the condition of the computer when you received it and leave it to them to compare your pic to his of it damaged. I'm sorry for your horrible experience and keep at it! I hope you get him caught!
 
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Buy the sound of the story he has given you, without making presumptions, his story sounds if he had a answer for you before you even complained about it.

If he has spoken to ebay, i suggest you contact them aswel to confirm his story. Tell them your side if the story as well.
What was his user rating or what ever its called? Sorry dont use it myself for anything that could be electrical or such for this very reason you have mentioned, unless i can pop around and view the product. Got some great cars....
But this is about you. Would make sure ebay has his report on record.

Make sure you give him bad rating with explanation why.

Good luck with it all and keep us posted

Cheers
 

pigoo3

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I bought a laptop from this ebay seller with seller id "idriveacobalt87";.
Here is the ebay listing: Link

How did you pay for it?

I'm assuming that this was a Windows laptop not a Macintosh.

BTW...your link doesn't work.

- Nick
 
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Bit expensive for what you get, isn't it?
For that kind of money you could get a nice MacBook with a 2.0 GHz CPU and at least 2 GB RAM with a 160 GB HDD.
 

Raz0rEdge

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As suggested, definitely call eBay to voice your side of the story to make sure it's documented. Also send them the picture you took of it when you received it..

When possible file the claim against your credit card..

Hopefully you get this resolved, eBay can definitely be used to defraud buyers, but for the number of fraudulent transactions as compared to legal ones that occur prove that it's a minority..but it definitely sucks to be a potential victim.

But I am curious, since Windows laptops are very cheap these days, why did you opt to buy a used one for what you might pay for a brand new laptop? Also the specs, as listed on the eBay auction seems very wrong..

Regards
 
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Why didn't you file a claim with paypal? They usually cover you if there is any kind of refund(they remove the money from the sellers account and hold it). His rating is below average...96% with only 34 transactions is bad...if it gets a little more worse, he won't be able to sell anymore. File a paypal dispute! If you have receipts(proving where you shipped the item, and that you paid for shipping insurance) and pictures of how you got it when it arrived, you will win. Buyers always have the upper hand in the paypal dispute system.

Calling ebay, from my experience, does nothing because they are not the ones who handle the final transactions, and can't resolve disputes. they will turn you over to paypals website where you can file a claim. You are not even allowed to post on ebay's site warning others of this scammer...for some stupid reason!
 

pigoo3

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I paid via paypal, but used my credit card to pay via paypal.

Good thing you paid via Paypal...that gives you some recourse.

It sounds like your main issues are:

- the problem with the screen
- and that the CPU, graphics card, and memory were swapped out

I have made a couple of disputes of my own with Paypal. You have to understand that Paypal does not want to refund any money...so they are going to make you bend over backwards to prove your case.

The screen problem I can definitely understand...and that picture you took should help.

I think that you're going to have a tougher problem proving the CPU, ram, and video card swap...because the auction description does not get super specific regarding the "quality" of these parts.

I think that you may have rushed things a bit if you already returned the computer to the seller...because now you no longer have the item to prove anything (other than the photo).

As far as the screen damage...this could have happened during shipping, and that would also be an avenue to pursue...except again...if you don't have the laptop or the shipping box...it's hard to prove it was a shipping issue.

And like others said...is this laptop really worth $610 dollars?? I can go into any "Best Buy" store and see brand new laptops like this for the same or lower prices.

Hope this helps,

- Nick
 
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Definitely start a dispute with Paypal and they should back you. I sold my original iPhone, unlocked and working, on Ebay and only guaranteed it would be working on arrival. The buyer admitted it was working on arrival and said it stopped working several days later and wanted a refund. I thought that was ridiculous because I had held up my end of the deal, but Paypal backed the buyer anyway and wanted me to refund. Luckily in my case the buyer didn't send it back to me and I didn't have to refund. Probably finally figured out how to use it.

But your case is even more extreme, so I don't see any reason why Paypal won't back you. Basically it'll come down to your word against his and they always side with the buyer. Even if the guy has no money in his Paypal account, they will basically charge him the money and give it back to you. Under the conditions of using Paypal everyone agrees to it.
 
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I think that you may have rushed things a bit if you already returned the computer to the seller...because now you no longer have the item to prove anything (other than the photo).

He should still be ok since he does have the photo and a tracking number proving he returned it. When I had my dispute Paypal told the buyer to ship the item back to me, and once the buyer gave Paypal the tracking number, they were going to take the money from me and give it back to the buyer. The person could have sent me an empty box for all Paypal knew, and they still would have forced the refund.

Also, I'm pretty sure the buyer in my situation had no physical evidence to give to Paypal since their only complaint was that the phone wouldn't turn on. Paypal was going strictly on their word, and even though they admitted that the item met the auction description by working when they got it, Paypal still backed the buyer.

In this case the buyer still has a photo, which should be plenty of evidence by Paypal standards.
 

pigoo3

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He should still be ok since he does have the photo and a tracking number proving he returned it. When I had my dispute Paypal told the buyer to ship the item back to me, and once the buyer gave Paypal the tracking number, they were going to take the money from me and give it back to the buyer. The person could have sent me an empty box for all Paypal knew, and they still would have forced the refund.

Also, I'm pretty sure the buyer in my situation had no physical evidence to give to Paypal since their only complaint was that the phone wouldn't turn on. Paypal was going strictly on their word, and even though they admitted that the item met the auction description by working when they got it, Paypal still backed the buyer.

In this case the buyer still has a photo, which should be plenty of evidence by Paypal standards.

I'm pleased that you had a more positive experience with Paypal than I did. I have had two disputes with them, and neither ended in my favor.

I am an honest guy...and if the Paypal process did not work for me 2 out of 2 times (I was a buyer in both cases)...then there has to be some sort of flaw(s) in the system.

- Nick
 
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why not just file a paypal claim and call it a day. Paypal will side with the buyer 90% of the time.
 
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Wonder why you actually purchased it? From the description supplied it has had a real rough life and with a seller with pretty limited feedback, buyer beware! Never purchase from a seller with less than 98% positive feedback as PayPal only warrants goods from sellers with over 98%. To have only 96% from 30 odd transactions is pretty ordinary!
 
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Another thing I noticed with this seller, All of his seller feedback is "Private"
 
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dtravis7


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But doesn't it seem odd,The seller keeps his feedback private?
hopefully paypal will side with the buyer.

I noticed that also and it's one of the first times in my years on Ebay when all the feedback was private like that.
 

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