Fears of Ebay Fraud

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Vaio-VGN-T...yZ140084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Is a very low priced TZ198 and yes I know theres 19h left as of this post. But the seller has ZERO feedback and he uses chris colpic's vaio tz box picture along with colpic's tz 198 description.

Im very eager to try and win this auction but could use some opinions based on some long timers experiences with zero feedback ebayers and more experienced posters on these forums as Ive just joined them a few days back and so far in the searches not too many similar situations pop up.

Thank you.

 

If the pictures are stolen and you know they're from somewhere else, it's a huge tip-off to a possible scam. Avoid!

 

I would avoid it. Zero feedback, and an expensive notebook as a first item is extremely dangerous. And not to mention, as you said before, this sale is using another person's pictures, so another sign that this seller might not even have this product in possession. And of course, the fact that this user is currently selling three Sony VAIOs without any feedback makes it even less trustworthy.

As they say quite often, if the deal looks too good to be true, it usually is.

 

If you are sure that the seller copied pictures from another source, you should never buy from him. Whether the seller has zero or 1000 feedback, it doesn't matter. You should never buy from anybody who copied pictures. Especially, for expensive item like a notebook.

 

Ugh such a sad world, I want that notebook yet paypal's fraud protection sucks ! Thanks for the advice guys. Will abstain from that auction with all my might.

 

are you crazy?

you are actually thinking of sending that much money to a zero feedback account?

c'mon, don't be stupid. you gonna lose your money.

 

This picture is from Outrigger from this forum. Look his review and you will find this picture...is his living room!

Strange, because e-bay when you post a laptop they ask you some documentation, documents, invoice...etc to veify if this is truly yours.

Possible scam, AVOID!

 

Yeah, I agree.

Stay away from this seller

 

Generic advice: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

If you use paypal to buy you are probably alright, never ever use payapl to sell anything expensive.I got screwed selling my asus g1 using paypal, the guy who bought it had excellent feedback, he bought a bunch of small things over an 8 month time period, he then purchased 3 computers within a 2 week time period and claimed they were all broken and filed claims with paypal against all the sellers, mine was only 2 months old and was in mint condition.Paypal ruled in his favor on all three and he actually sent back boxes filled with tiles, he was banned from ebay but paypal never reversed their decision and gave him refunds, never ever ever sell using paypal, they pretty much automatically side with the buyer and do no investigation at all.

 

I've been on both ends, have filed claims and have had a claim against me. In my experience Paypal does investigate, the buyer claimed I sent a laptop with a broken screen, I know I didn't but it was possible it got damaged in transit. However the buyer did not choose to purchase insurance, and I clearly stated I will not be responsible for damaged/lost items(both in my auction, and when sending the invoice). The claim was decided in my favor, but I know now to always require insurance no matter what to avoid situations like this. I've filed at least 5 charge backs this year against eBay sellers, because of no delivery. I always got my money back within 2 weeks. The credit cards I used were Citi, and Chase, it really depends on what customer service representative you get sometimes they issue a conditional credit then investigate, or they'll investigate first then issue a credit.

If you're having a serious issue with Paypal, contacting the BBB is a good way to get them to notice you.

 

I agree, I'm been very very lucky(Knocks on wood) I'm aware of all the anti Paypal websites, that is where I got the idea of charge backs, never shipping before having the funds in your bank account, requiring insurance + signature + tracking on items $250 and over. In future instances, if you truly know the item was not damaged when you shipped it, have them file a claim with the shipping company. When accepting a return package, open it in front of the delivery person if it is not what it's suppose to be reject it, and have them make a note the item shipped was xxx, not xxx therefore the recipient rejected it. Obviously you won't always catch the delivery person, but for high priced Paypal requires both the buyer & seller to include signature confirmation to prove delivery.

 

Yea, good luck on actually speaking with anyone who actually works for paypal, it sounds like you got really lucky so far, there are hundreds of sites out there with tens of thousands of users who have been scammed by paypal.The fact in my case is that the scammer was actually banned from ebay, I have a spotless record 123 feedback at 100% and paypal did not even care nor did they even take two minutes to look into it.Paypal was completely disinterested at best and completely and totally incompetent in my experience.I filed a report with BBB, although that will not help even in the slightest degree in helping people who have been scammed by paypal.

 

Heres the current bidding list for this TZ on ebay

e***3( 1 ) US $2,025.00 Nov-17-07 23:23:15 PST
e***3( 1 ) US $2,025.00 Nov-17-07 23:22:34 PST
l***l( 61Feedback score is 50 to 99) US $2,000.00 Nov-17-07 18:48:05 PST
e***3( 1 ) US $2,000.00 Nov-17-07 23:22:21 PST
e***3( 1 ) US $1,938.00 Nov-17-07 23:21:56 PST
e***f( 6 ) US $1,888.00 Nov-17-07 08:52:40 PST
p***9( 1 ) New eBay Member (less than 30 days) US $1,600.00 Nov-17-07 10:22:48 PST
Starting Price US $1,000.00 Nov-16-07 06:41:31 PST

Anyone who bids of this TZ deserves to get nailed for it. Its obvious fraud. Ill get my friend in eBay to look at this guy tomorrow and get the fraud team to keep an eye on him. Whatever ya do don't bid on this. As for colpic I had him investigated and there is no eveidence of fraud, just really poor delivery times as already noted by others on this forum and his feedback. If you have to go ebay then id recommend waiting till others on this forum have received others from colpic and then bid with (relative) confidence.

 

I got my TZ from colpic. Yes, it took forever but it did arrive in perfect condition and Chris always responded to emails very quickly. As long as I were not in a rush, I would order from him again.

 

Hey Voipben

Glad to hear you got it safe, sound and shiny and congrats on the purchase. Guess that should answer the question of who to go with, an obvious fraudster or someone who delivers (even if slowly). And I totally agree about the email responses. I mailed chris 3 times regards an Asus VX2S and he responded all 3 times within 30 minutes and one of the questions was of a particularly technical nature that required his to contact his suppliers for the answer. That is impressive in this business. Other suppliers would do well to take note of this.

 

eBay pulled the plug. http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Vaio-VGN-T...yZ140084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's gone!