ChrisHicks

I bought a dvd on ebay back in Dec. and just recently recieved it. it is an obvious bootleg. I can't do anything through paypal since it is beyond the 30 days. also, the seller no longer exists on ebay. what can I do? my purchase was made on Dec. 9/2003.

Tazwolff

Report it to ebay as said in the other threads on this matter. Other than that, write it off and in the future only buy DVDs from sellers that have real stores, or a very strong rep on ebay. One that comes to mind is a seller called Glacier Bay Video.

iove

Dispute it with your CC company or file a claim with ebay. That'll put you in the doghouse with paypal, though. Depending on the amount considering eating and leaving the appropriate feedback.

Troy Stiffler

Meh'. PayPal's services are a joke anyways. If you would have filed a complaint at PayPal, and the seller replied with "he's right I rip people off and sell bootleg DVD's", you probably would have never seen your money anyways. PayPal advertises that they protect you. But they don't actually protect you. The seller is the one who actually protects you (by keeping a balance in their account). If they don't have money in their PayPal account (or possibly bank account), you'll never see your money.

People are just as safe sending a personal check to eBay sellers. I always send a check, just from principle. If at all possible, never use PayPal. If people want to rip you off, they will rip you off. They're not going to be nice just because you used PayPal. You have just as good of a chance requesting that the seller send you a refund.

You *could* do a chargeback if you used your credit card. You have up to six months to do that. But, like 'love' said, it'll put you in the doghouse, and they'd probably freeze your account, and any funds in it. And, if they, at any time, ever need access to your bank account, you have already authorized them to take out whatever they need. So, say that you do a chargeback, and get back, say, $30...credited straight to your credit card. And, the seller doesn't have the money in his account to cover the chargeback. PayPal is then allowed to withdrawl $30 from YOUR bank account...assuming that you have one on file.

It's sick how PayPal advertises that they're safe. But it's so abolutely easy to steal from both buyers and sellers.

I do 300+ transactions per month. So ten or twelve, out of, oh, 8000 transactions ain't very bad. But... Before I learned my lesson, I had lost $280 (42 feedback, I was the buyer) $1815 (1800 feedback, I was the seller), and just yesterday $2285 (I was the seller; still pending). Then, I had a few other sour ones, but they were under $100. And, funny thing is, all of these were US transactions, with people with very good eBay feedback, with CONFIRMED addresses at PayPal. As of today, I will NEVER accept a PayPal payment for any $500+ transaction.

So, in closing, I must say... You're probably screwed. Be glad it was only a DVD!

Seeker

how did you lose money (1815) as the seller? did they do a chargeback after you shipped?

Troy Stiffler

It was for approximately 50 P1/PII laptops. We had sold them to E.T. Company ( http://www.etcompany.com/ / etco on eBay ) I had sent the buyer a spreadsheet with a rundown of the conditions of all of the laptops (missing hard drives, no power, bad LCD's, etc.). When he got the laptops, he simply filed a "misrepresented items" claim with PayPal. He told me that I never told him about missing hd's, broken screens, etc). And that is a complete lie, since thanked me [over the phone] for being so specific about everything.

Next, I tried to give him a refund. I called him, and he informed me that I'm not allowed to have a freight company pick up the laptops, either. So, I'm actually out $1815 AND 50 laptops. And better yet, with a new market I got into shortly afterwards, those 50 laptops are worth approximately $5-6K! So it was definatly shitty doing business with etco.

It's sorta-kinda still pending. PayPal says that they'll "investigate", and get back to me within 70 days. But our rep' pretty much said that he did a chargeback directly through his credit card. So we probably won't be seeing the money. I would wet my panties if we actually got the money back!

We keep a rather large company fund. And it used to stay in PayPal. But not anymore. After our problems with them, I looked into the terms further (you know that nobody reads their 26 page t & c before agreeing, right?). And I found out that they're in no way a bank, regulated like a bank, aren't insured like a bank, and have no real obligations to give you your money if you ask for it. They are simply a business (just like your local ice cream store) that charges credit cards, and transfers the money from account-to-account. So, when dealing with so much money, I would much rather have a real bank handle our money. So all of the funds will be kept in a very small bank; far away from PayPal.

It's a shame that their advertised policies are so phoney.