What should I do?

I bought a used computer off of eBay and thought I was getting a good deal. The guy had 63 feedbacks at his score was at 93%. However, I later found out that he was a slow shipper. He has shipped computers before. I bought it in May and still haven't recieved anything yet. I tried calling him and it turns out the phone has been disconnected. I filed a paypal dispute with him and I won- That doesn't help at all though because he drained his Paypal account and Paypal won't do anything. I'm going nuts! I tried looking his phone number up and found a woman who had the same phone number and lived in the same town as the guy, so I got the address. In the last feedback he got, another buyer claimed that he shipped a Label Maker on 5-23. I won and paid for the auction 5-21 which makes me a bit hopeful that he could have sent it. He hasn't sold anything after May (mysteriously). I only have his name to work with and I am unsure of his address. Is there anything else I could do?

With very little available, write it off as a learning experience.

He didn't meet the $2000 buyer protection? If not, really, the only thing you can do is call the cops.

...sorry to hear , very unfortunate story...

bryphotoguy said:

He didn't meet the $2000 buyer protection? If not, really, the only thing you can do is call the cops.

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No, he met the $200 buyer protection though. Paypal says that they don't guarantee recovering funds associated with buyer complaints I really can't believe I don't even get 1 cent back.

Good deals on eBay are very rare. When it's too good to be true, make sure they have the $2000 protection, don't buy anything over that amount, and pay with PayPal.
I have yet to get into trouble when I follow those 3 things. I always get a full refund.

The computer I bought was under $200. I paid by PayPal and it didn't work out for me. I'm just wondering why PayPal even bothers to put buyer protection if they can't even recover any funds. Its like saying "You're protected just because we say so, but when the tide turns and you don't get your item, you don't get your mony back either" If PayPal can hold funds in my account until the buyer leaves positive feedback or doesn't file a dispute, They can't hold funds from the crooks account?? Its insulting that they hold money from a verified member, but not a unverified member. Anyways, they should at least withdraw the funds from the guys credit card or something.

I think that's what PayPal does or suppose to do, remove funds or put a hold on the account in cases like this.

93% is NOT good, pretty lousy in fact, and if you look at PayPal terms, they require a seller to have +98% positive feedback.

Look for sellers with over 100 sales at 100% and leave negative feedback to alert other buyers.

Sorry to hear about what you're going through. I got shafted like that from Paypal once before too, I've refused to use them since. In my case though I called the cops in his area and reported it, found out several other complaints were filed. The difference was I had tracked the guy down a bit with his IP address from an email, and the cops paid a visit to his work place. I got my money back a few months later.

y-guy said:

Sorry to hear about what you're going through. I got shafted like that from Paypal once before too, I've refused to use them since. In my case though I called the cops in his area and reported it, found out several other complaints were filed. The difference was I had tracked the guy down a bit with his IP address from an email, and the cops paid a visit to his work place. I got my money back a few months later.

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You're lucky you got his email and his IP address. I guess I will just have to let this slip. You know how eBay used to have the trademark What ever IT is, you can buy IT on eBay, They should change it to eBay/Paypal is full of IT.

Thanks eBay, Paypal, You're the best (sarcastic tone)

I have bought over 50 laptops on eBay. What I do when I am considering buying one is I carefully read all of the seller's feedback if they are not a "Power Seller". I am blessed that I have never been in your situation before where someone actually scammed me. But yes, 93% feedback IS pretty lousy. Have you called paypal to discuss it with an actual human being?

xj6jaguar1985 said:

Have you called paypal to discuss it with an actual human being?

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No, I don't know what to say. They'll probably just tell me that they've done all they could and can't do anymore.

You don't know until you try. Explain the whole situation and do a little schmoozing. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.

I've been messed with that ebay/paypal thing before.. and I had a valid complaint, and another woman who bought the same thing from the same seller got her money back!

Sorry to hear it's not going as you had anticipated. I take it his name isn't in the phone book?

skaheadpunk said:

Sorry to hear it's not going as you had anticipated. I take it his name isn't in the phone book?

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I check last night and he is no longer a registered user on eBay which means that he may have been suspended or he closed his account. I did check on Google for his name, but there are too many of them. Plus all of the people with the same name live in different towns in Tennessee. The only information I got was his phone number listed on eBay in which I checked on Google and found that a lady was registered to. She lived in the same town, so I got her address. I never got farther than that though. eBay is still investigating the fact that he has disconnected his phone number and thus may have fake information. There is 1 guy that I am looking into because he does live in the same town and his name is similar but not totally the same. I'm not going to stop until I get my money back.