What I learned from my recent, rather unsuccessful trade
Jul 10, 2014 at 3:06 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 5

MikoLayer

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It took me months of uneventful waiting, but it was getting painfully clear I won't be getting a fair treatment from the dude I was dealing with. The least I could do was to report it to the mods. which I finally did a few days ago. Just received a PM , letting me know about thankfully banning the scam suspect. Didn't post a negative eval yet, but that will most likely follow soon enough. I can disclose more detail if anyone is interested as long as mods are okay with it.
 
Am I bitter? You damn right have to be if you blow your hard earned grand on nothing but frustrating PM exchanges! Am I butthurt? No, I had my moments of outrage and anguish, but that was some time ago. Sometimes you just gotta let it go...  It is almost like being able to walk again after losing your loved ones. Dear beloved Mr. Benjamin's, you will be sorely missed but I will live! 
frown.gif

 
But I digress.... the purpose of this thread is to remind you three very basic rules (or good practices) of trading: 
#1: don't you EVER send anything to anyone you don't personally know as a paypal gift. A common sense really, but when you overlook this be prepared to kiss your money goodbye unless you are feeling real lucky.
#2: don't buy too much into trader feedback. It definitely serves a purpose, but by no means is a guaranteed road to a successful transaction. I never imagined someone would build up a rep with glowing feedback with multiple high profile trades, only to screw over the last guy before hopping on the ban train. It really does happen!
#3: when in doubt, ask. I don't think an honest seller should be ticked off by you addressing some legitimate concerns in a polite manner. If they are, then you are probably dealing with an uptight ****** anyway!
 
One thing I still do wonder though, is whether it right for me to wait this long to report it to the mods. Hard to say, I try to be lenient as much as I can and will continue to do so even after this ordeal. While negative evals can be removed later, compromised reputation may linger. There was this one time I made an honest mistake of misplacing the tracking # before leaving for a while and the USPS took unusually long to deliver. That evolved into a somewhat uncomfortable situation, but was resolved without resorting to exchanging negative evals or mod intervention. People do deserve second chances IMO. Except this guy got a third, a fourth and a fifth from me and never delivered on his promises.
 
I will just say this, it was learning experience for me. Hopefully it can help you rediscover the obvious too! Scammers! They are out there, to get you! You can never be too safe! Don't get too excited and carried away, move on if you ever smell something fishy before committing to a payment! You might get lucky to have only stand up traders to deal with in your past thousand dealings, only to get scammed on your next one! Never take anything for granted!
 
Aug 10, 2014 at 10:52 AM Post #2 of 5
Miko,
I'm sorry for this bad transaction...
 
Am I correct in assuming his user name was/is Mr. Benjamin..?
If not,why don't you post his name,so,others can avoid him,or has the administrator already taken care of that..?
 
Aug 13, 2014 at 9:24 AM Post #3 of 5
Really sorry to read about this. Life is a great teacher. A trader friend once taught me something like this "A good trader learns with his own mistakes. A smart trader learns with the mistakes of others". 
 
Thanks for your post and keep up the faith - most guys are really cool and bad apples are almost inevitable at some point in life. Better days ahead for sure :)
 
Aug 13, 2014 at 12:06 PM Post #4 of 5
  Miko,
I'm sorry for this bad transaction...
 
Am I correct in assuming his user name was/is Mr. Benjamin..?
If not,why don't you post his name,so,others can avoid him,or has the administrator already taken care of that..?

Yep, got in touch with the mods and left a negative eval. His account has already been banned, except he may choose to sneak back in with another alias. Keep your eyes peeled for shady offers! Hope karma will catch up to him soon enough!
 
To be fair though, I did think his claim of being victimized by another scam attempt didn't add up. Too bad I was just a bit too eager and dismissed that along with other warning signs on the strength of his string of positive feedbacks on high dollar items, which is why I tell you not to be fooled by his/her previous feedback. If it walks like a duck... and you know the rest 

 

Darken23, youngGeezeh

 
Not sending items and insisting on Paypal gift payments.
 
Ken Lee, Cantrelle ?
romeo2steps@gmail.com
 
Under the former account, had a dispute claiming a member tried to scam him by saying an item never arrived, yet then sold it again to another member insisting on a Paypal gift payment then sent a tracking number generated from the USPS web site ("Electronic shipping info received" = Item not sent). Unfortunately that member didn't think to realise that if another member had tried the "item not received" scam then he wouldn't have had the item to sell again to him!
 
Under the latter account, requested a Paypal gift payment to avoid fees for a pair of HD-800s (likely sold under the other account) then never sent the tracking number.

 
Aug 13, 2014 at 7:27 PM Post #5 of 5
This is why I used invoices on PayPal.  Yes, it may cost be a small percentage but everything is laid out in perfectly clear detail and it protects both parties.  Sorry to hear about you getting screwed over, has happened to me as well, not here but other sites and even some direct from vendor purchases.
 
I also try to make sure any purchases I make online, through a vendor or PayPal are done with a credit card that has good support.  American Express has refunded every disputed transaction that I have ever reported to them, without a lot of questions asked.  That has also saved me when items aren't properly delivered, can put a stop payment on the charge.  Usually that is a good eye opener for the one who is attempting to screw you over.
 
Good luck with your future purchases, not everyone is a wanker, but keep up the cautiousness.
 

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