Ebay problem -- insight needed

dougman999dougman999
in Help Wanted!
So, I stumbled onto this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160415963027

After studying the picture for a good hour up against real Stadium Events boxes, I figured it's probably legit.  So I hit the BIN right before I had to leave for work.  Right after paying, I checked out completed auctions for a bit, and see that someone's been selling DVD cases with SE as the coverart.  And that's exactly what I just bought -- something fricken worthless.

So, I contacted the seller, here's our messagelog so far:


Dear indykb23,

Ugh, I'd rather
you not send me this. I really don't want it, and I wouldn't want to
deceive others by selling it myself. The thing is worthless.

I
have no problem waiting the 21 days or however long it takes to free up
the funds. I don't really see how you can't just a refund; I'll check
into it myself through ebay.

===
Doug

- dougman999
Hi, I've thought about it a
bunch, and this has just turned into more hassle than I thought it could
be. I considered using my own money to do a refund, but my credit
cards are both maxed as is. I'm sorry, but I'm just going to mail you
the fake game. You will have no trouble selling it. I will leave
positive feedback for you.

-
indykb23
Did this answer your
question? If not, let the seller know.
image
image


From:
dougman999
To: indykb23
Subject: Re: dougman999 has sent a
question about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT -
Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: 28-Mar-10
15:17:41 EDT

Dear indykb23,

You can relist it and sell
it to someone else, if that's possible.

- dougman999



From:
indykb23
To: dougman999
Subject: Re: dougman999 has sent a
question about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT -
Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: Mar-28-10
10:16:17 PDT

Dear dougman999,

Okay, so I've been
checking paypal everyday, and it still has the funds locked. It's
locked, because something about me not having recently sold stuff on
ebay. How long do you want to wait? I had lots of watchers, and many
offers for the game, very near my asking price. I'm certain, if you
wouldn't have bought it I would have sold it to someone else. Perhaps I
can mail it to you, and then you can just sell it?

- indykb23



From:
dougman999
To: indykb23
Subject: Re: dougman999 has sent a
question about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT -
Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: 22-Mar-10
18:23:48 EDT

Dear indykb23,

Okay, we'll wait and see
what happens when the funds clear up. Is there a way to do a refund?

About
the box itself -- if it was an actual NES box, rather than a DVD case, I
would have still bought it, even if it was a reproduction. It would
look cool on my shelf with the rest of my NES boxes.

Who the hell
made these DVD cases anyway? You can't even put an NES game in one.

- dougman999



From:
indykb23
To: dougman999
Subject: Re: dougman999 has sent a
question about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT -
Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: Mar-22-10
12:40:29 PDT

Dear dougman999,

Hi Doug, it's still
unavailable, paypal says as part of new policy they are holding the
funds for 21 days, to ensure buys are happy with their purchase...ug.
Anyways, they also said they might speed up the availabilty of the funds
if the item is shipped right away. So I marked it as shipped. So I
think we might have to wait a week to see if it works.

I actually
bought this fake game thinking the same thing you were, 'oh sweet this
guys got a $5000 dollar game and doesn't realize it.' The guy I bought
it from sold it in 2 hours, I also sold it in 2 hours...sorta.

- indykb23



From:
dougman999
To: indykb23
Subject: Re: dougman999 has sent a
question about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT -
Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: 21-Mar-10
20:10:01 EDT

Dear indykb23,

Okay, I just marked it as
payment sent. If it still won't let you do it by sometime tomorrow,
I'll mark it as item received. Thank you so much for helping me out
with this... you won't believe how stupid I felt after I realized it was
a DVD case!

- dougman999



From:
indykb23
To: dougman999
Subject: Re: dougman999 has sent a
question about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT -
Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: Mar-21-10
14:47:51 PDT

Dear dougman999,

Yes I can do this for you.
I tried just now, but paypal said I have to use my own money, because
your payment has not cleared. I read up on paypals policy for holding
funds, and it could take up to 21 days before I'd actually have access
to your payment. I did read though that this process can be sped up if
the buyer marks the item as received.

I know this is a bit
stressful for you, so give it a few days and see if your funds clear.

- indykb23



From:
dougman999
To: indykb23
Subject: dougman999 has sent a question
about item #160415963027, that ended on Mar-21-10 14:26:02 PDT - Stadium
events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake
Sent Date: 21-Mar-10
17:36:26 EDT

Dear indykb23,

Hey man,

I studied
this up against some pics of a real one for a good hour, determined it
might be legit, and pulled the trigger. Now I checked the completed
auctions and see that this is actually a DVD-style case, not an NES box,
reproduction or not.

I obviously do not want this, but I have
already paid. Can you send me my money back? You can keep whatever
paypal and ebay fees are, and $10 extra for your help.

Thanks!

- dougman999




So... am I screwed here? 

Comments

  • ihavethatpmaihavethatpma
    You can just file a claim instead of dealing with the seller, and I'm 99% sure that you'll get your money back. Don't let that guy push you around like that, he knows he's giving you the short end of the stick.
  • pats1717pats1717
    I would File a dispute as not received through ebay and you should be able to get your money back.
  • dangevindangevin
    That's the WHOLE REASON they keep your funds in escrow. Don't wait, escalate.
  • VGS_captmorgandrinkerVGS_captmorgandrinker
    Worse comes to worse, pay AllYourBase to go whoop his ass (same town).
  • oMoToMoT
    Why would you think this had a chance of being real when the title of the listing is "Stadium events nintendo game - SEALED MINT fake" and the description is "This is a mint sealed STADIUM EVENTS. This is for entertainment purposes only and is in no way an attempt to sell the original video game. I believe it to be a fake, and I don't think there is anything in it."
  • dougman999dougman999
    Okay, I opened a dispute. Can't seller issue refunds? I was more than willing to help him offset the cost of the fees.



    And Tomo -- I was thinking it was a reproduction box, like UncleTusk's SMB/DH one. I was just going to put a World Class Track Meet in it and put it on my shelf with my other CIBs.
  • milligangamesmilligangames
    The seller should be able to issue a refund immediately (and if you do a cancel transaction through eBay he gets refunded the fees as well), UNLESS you paid via eCheck. eChecks are when you have a 0 balance in your PayPal account when you purchase an item, so PayPal takes the money from your checking account, which always takes at least a few days (and sometimes up to 10 days) to clear. In any case you as the buyer have a lot of power here. Tell the seller "give me a full refund now". If he doesn't, file an "item not received" case with eBay and ask for a full refund. You'll get it, unless he wants to stop selling stuff on eBay permanently.

    Edit: by the way, don't offer this guy any $10 bonus. That's ridiculous. If you want him to get his fees back just ask him to file a cancel transaction request.
  • Darth VaderDarth Vader
    "F" this guy. I think you are being way too polite. I've had problems similar to this, and filed a claim. Takes a while but you get your money back at least.
  • AllYourBassAllYourBass
    Originally posted by: captmorgandrinker

    Worse comes to worse, pay AllYourBase to go whoop his ass (same town).

    Well I'll be fucking jiggered. He is from my town.
  • dougman999dougman999
    Claim settled in my favor. How do you get tracking or delivery confirmation from US to Canada? Moreover, since I never was sent anything, what should I even do in this case?



    And here's his latest message:

    Dear dougman999,



    It's too bad this issue had to be escalated. I think I found a way to speed things up for us both. Paypal states on their site, that if a buyer leaves positive feedback on a purchased item, they are way more likely to release the hold on the funds.



    - indykb23
  • MoeDownMoeDown
    Dude, whatever you do, DO NOT leave the guy a positive feedback. That's a load of bs the seller made up to cover his own ass.
  • i love baconi love bacon
    well, it's not "a load of bs the seller made up to cover his own ass" (that's exactly how the PayPal hold works), but it's definitely NOT something you want to do in a case like this where you're trying to get your money back.



    dougman999 - you said the case was settled in your favor, did they release the funds back to you?
  • VGS_captmorgandrinkerVGS_captmorgandrinker
    Originally posted by: AllYourBase

    Originally posted by: captmorgandrinker

    Worse comes to worse, pay AllYourBase to go whoop his ass (same town).

    Well I'll be fucking jiggered. He is from my town.



    I thought the town looked familiar, and I've only send a few Canadian NAers packages. 

    I was going to PM you anyway, got a nifty stoner postcard that I was going to email you a scan of.

  • dougman999dougman999
    The funds have not been released back to me. This won't happen until I send 'something' to the seller with tracking, and the seller receives it. That's what I'm confused what to do about. Do I just mail him a letter with tracking to Canada?
  • i love baconi love bacon
    has he even sent out the 'dvd case' or whatever it is? why would you have to send something to him? feel like posting the PayPal correspondence regarding the claim?
  • tuxedocivictuxedocivic
    That doesn't make any sense.



    And that guy could have sent your a refund in a second. Or if it was echeck you could have cancelled the check??
  • i love baconi love bacon
    there's no way to 'cancel' an eCheck through PayPal. not sure if the guy could have issued a refund either, as the transaction was never fully completed for him to refund anything. never had any funds placed on hold in a case like this as a seller, wish i knew more.
  • dougman999dougman999
    Matter has been resolved -- thanks for your help guys. Mods can close this topic.
This discussion has been closed.