How I was ripped off $85 on an auction...

[Uzumaki]

<rant> major rant ahead, put on abesto suit if you got em!

 

Way back in late May (28th to be exact) a buyer won an auction for an uncommon Virtual Boy game and paid with PayPal a few days later. The amount plus shipping was almost $75. The buyer had confirmed address and I went through PayPal to make shipping label and sent it, tracking shows it arrived a few days ago. No further word from the buyer other than + feedback.

 

2 months later (end of July actually) I received a charge back notice from PayPal. The buyer had filed charge back through the credit card company claiming unauthorized CC use. I replied with address and tracking number. I also contacted the buyer through eBay message but got no reply at all. Phone number got me no response :x

 

I also checked the buyer's history. No selling at all but continued to buy a lot of video game stuff and South Park stuff as well. The 1 month history showed almost $15,000 a month spending habit. Since eBay selflessly refused to let me search completed auction older than 30 days and buyer had private feedback I couldn't go back to early June.

 

September 4 came, the charge back was completed and PayPal added $10 fee for processing this so my loss crept almost to $85. Buyer still continued his $15,000 a month spending habit until mid September when she became NARU'ed

 

Buyer's info:

 

eBay ID: T1nkerbell101

Tammy Hershberger

2036 Madera St.

Waukesha, WI 53189

 

I have printed out the auction page (now expired, 90+ days old), the original eBay end of auction email, PayPal email, email from Post Office on shipping label creation, printout of Post Office tracking showing it was delivered, and a lengthy cover letter and sent it off to what I hope is the right police station.

 

From this scam, 3 things come to my mind: 1 package never arrived (doesn't seem likely because of feedback and no response); 2 the buyer is a scammer who falsely charged back to claim all free goodies or; 3 it was a case of stolen ID and the buyer is not Tammy at all. Either way if she also scammed other sellers and some of them do take the time to make complete report on transaction and forwarded it to police station, then justice may prevail

 

I do not have any hope of getting the $75 or the game back from this but I do hope she ends up with a homosexual nymphomaniac cell mate for years. (especially if she is homophobic)

 

I don't know about you but some of you sold video games on eBay and if the address seems familiar, please check your history and let me know if you did business with this person and if you had any trouble or not. Buyer seemed to prefer Nintendo, SNES, Gameboy, and Virtualboy in addition to South Park stuffs.

 

$75 would buy me:

• full tank of gas (13 gal) plus a single 5-gal. gas can for lawnmower
  
• a dozen great classic games
  
• 1 or 2 new modern games
  
• 5 month of Warcraft subscription
  
• 3 month of Everquest subscription
  
• 6 cases of beer
  
• Lots of pizzas
  
• lots of sushis (or sushies)
  
• an used XBox with games and accessories. (never owned XBox system)
  
• a decent sized party
  
• 3 or 4 games from AA store
  

 

</rant>

[holygrailvideogames.com]

Call PayPal at (888) 221-1161. Sometimes they will refund part of your money when you are scammed like this.

[Uzumaki]

follow up: found a couple hits on google search:

http://www.auctioncut.com/ebay-seller-scam-t1346.html

 

http://www.auction-arses.com/index.php check the top 10 most wanted, t1nkerbell101 made it

Edited September 24, 2008 by Uzumaki

[AtariLeaf]

I'm sorry to hear about this. I can imagine the frustration and anger.

This just reaffirms to me that, buying or selling, its money order or nothing.

[Buyatari]

It is a good thing ebay now protects buyers from negative feedbacks.......................

[lostanddreaming]

<rant> major rant ahead, put on abesto suit if you got em!

 

Way back in late May (28th to be exact) a buyer won an auction for an uncommon Virtual Boy game and paid with PayPal a few days later. The amount plus shipping was almost $75. The buyer had confirmed address and I went through PayPal to make shipping label and sent it, tracking shows it arrived a few days ago. No further word from the buyer other than + feedback.

 

2 months later (end of July actually) I received a charge back notice from PayPal. The buyer had filed charge back through the credit card company claiming unauthorized CC use. I replied with address and tracking number. I also contacted the buyer through eBay message but got no reply at all. Phone number got me no response :x

 

I also checked the buyer's history. No selling at all but continued to buy a lot of video game stuff and South Park stuff as well. The 1 month history showed almost $15,000 a month spending habit. Since eBay selflessly refused to let me search completed auction older than 30 days and buyer had private feedback I couldn't go back to early June.

 

September 4 came, the charge back was completed and PayPal added $10 fee for processing this so my loss crept almost to $85. Buyer still continued his $15,000 a month spending habit until mid September when she became NARU'ed

 

Buyer's info:

 

eBay ID: T1nkerbell101

Tammy Hershberger

2036 Madera St.

Waukesha, WI 53189

 

I have printed out the auction page (now expired, 90+ days old), the original eBay end of auction email, PayPal email, email from Post Office on shipping label creation, printout of Post Office tracking showing it was delivered, and a lengthy cover letter and sent it off to what I hope is the right police station.

 

From this scam, 3 things come to my mind: 1 package never arrived (doesn't seem likely because of feedback and no response); 2 the buyer is a scammer who falsely charged back to claim all free goodies or; 3 it was a case of stolen ID and the buyer is not Tammy at all. Either way if she also scammed other sellers and some of them do take the time to make complete report on transaction and forwarded it to police station, then justice may prevail

 

I do not have any hope of getting the $75 or the game back from this but I do hope she ends up with a homosexual nymphomaniac cell mate for years. (especially if she is homophobic)

 

I don't know about you but some of you sold video games on eBay and if the address seems familiar, please check your history and let me know if you did business with this person and if you had any trouble or not. Buyer seemed to prefer Nintendo, SNES, Gameboy, and Virtualboy in addition to South Park stuffs.

 

$75 would buy me:

• full tank of gas (13 gal) plus a single 5-gal. gas can for lawnmower
  
• a dozen great classic games
  
• 1 or 2 new modern games
  
• 5 month of Warcraft subscription
  
• 3 month of Everquest subscription
  
• 6 cases of beer
  
• Lots of pizzas
  
• lots of sushis (or sushies)
  
• an used XBox with games and accessories. (never owned XBox system)
  
• a decent sized party
  
• 3 or 4 games from AA store
  

 

</rant>

[lostanddreaming]

<rant> major rant ahead, put on abesto suit if you got em!

 

Way back in late May (28th to be exact) a buyer won an auction for an uncommon Virtual Boy game and paid with PayPal a few days later. The amount plus shipping was almost $75. The buyer had confirmed address and I went through PayPal to make shipping label and sent it, tracking shows it arrived a few days ago. No further word from the buyer other than + feedback.

 

2 months later (end of July actually) I received a charge back notice from PayPal. The buyer had filed charge back through the credit card company claiming unauthorized CC use. I replied with address and tracking number. I also contacted the buyer through eBay message but got no reply at all. Phone number got me no response :x

 

I also checked the buyer's history. No selling at all but continued to buy a lot of video game stuff and South Park stuff as well. The 1 month history showed almost $15,000 a month spending habit. Since eBay selflessly refused to let me search completed auction older than 30 days and buyer had private feedback I couldn't go back to early June.

 

September 4 came, the charge back was completed and PayPal added $10 fee for processing this so my loss crept almost to $85. Buyer still continued his $15,000 a month spending habit until mid September when she became NARU'ed

 

Buyer's info:

 

eBay ID: T1nkerbell101

Tammy Hershberger

2036 Madera St.

Waukesha, WI 53189

 

I have printed out the auction page (now expired, 90+ days old), the original eBay end of auction email, PayPal email, email from Post Office on shipping label creation, printout of Post Office tracking showing it was delivered, and a lengthy cover letter and sent it off to what I hope is the right police station.

 

From this scam, 3 things come to my mind: 1 package never arrived (doesn't seem likely because of feedback and no response); 2 the buyer is a scammer who falsely charged back to claim all free goodies or; 3 it was a case of stolen ID and the buyer is not Tammy at all. Either way if she also scammed other sellers and some of them do take the time to make complete report on transaction and forwarded it to police station, then justice may prevail

 

I do not have any hope of getting the $75 or the game back from this but I do hope she ends up with a homosexual nymphomaniac cell mate for years. (especially if she is homophobic)

 

I don't know about you but some of you sold video games on eBay and if the address seems familiar, please check your history and let me know if you did business with this person and if you had any trouble or not. Buyer seemed to prefer Nintendo, SNES, Gameboy, and Virtualboy in addition to South Park stuffs.

 

$75 would buy me:

• full tank of gas (13 gal) plus a single 5-gal. gas can for lawnmower
  
• a dozen great classic games
  
• 1 or 2 new modern games
  
• 5 month of Warcraft subscription
  
• 3 month of Everquest subscription
  
• 6 cases of beer
  
• Lots of pizzas
  
• lots of sushis (or sushies)
  
• an used XBox with games and accessories. (never owned XBox system)
  
• a decent sized party
  
• 3 or 4 games from AA store
  

 

</rant>

 

 

I had the same thing happen to me by Tammy Hershberger, I sold her southpark figures and family guy figures. She received my things and then in late july I Received a notice from paypal about a charge back. The CC ended up giving her back her money and now paypal wants $374.25 from me!!!! I started dealing with her in late april. I did a total of three tranactions with her. Now I am out of my stuff, ebay can't recover my things so I am out of luck. Uzumaki is there any way that I can contact you about this matter to see if there is something that can be done, I am considering taking legal percautions. Please let me know.

[Uzumaki]

I have a bit of good news:

 

We are pleased to inform you that we have successfully disputed chargeback

case #PP-xxx-xxx-xxx. The buyer's card issuer has decided in your favor

and within seven days you will receive reimbursement for $72.14 USD.

 

 

 

It is PayPal's standard practice to dispute wrongful chargebacks. One of

the benefits of using PayPal is that our team of chargeback specialists

will gather the necessary information from you and work with the credit

card company until the chargeback is resolved.

 

We appreciate your prompt response to our request for information about

this transaction.

 

Since CC company canceled the charge back, it could mean the person who scammed many sellers on eBay is also facing charges for fraud and is looking at jail time and restitution. I mean about $15,000 a month for many months is a lot, most people on full time McMinimum wage would barely make that in a year.

 

@lost since your charge back happened at the same time as mine, keep checking your email for refund, hopefully you'll get it all back.

 

Now if Paypal would also cough up the $10 they took...

[Headfamily]

I'm glad you got the money back. I would say take that money for gas and go beat the stuffing out of him for the trouble. But more than likely he is in jail for fraud charges, so he is probably girlfriend to a guy named bubba right now. Bubba may not like his new girlfriend getting beat up. lol

Edited September 26, 2008 by Headfamily

[lostanddreaming]

I have a bit of good news:

 

We are pleased to inform you that we have successfully disputed chargeback

case #PP-xxx-xxx-xxx. The buyer's card issuer has decided in your favor

and within seven days you will receive reimbursement for $72.14 USD.

 

 

 

It is PayPal's standard practice to dispute wrongful chargebacks. One of

the benefits of using PayPal is that our team of chargeback specialists

will gather the necessary information from you and work with the credit

card company until the chargeback is resolved.

 

We appreciate your prompt response to our request for information about

this transaction.

 

Since CC company canceled the charge back, it could mean the person who scammed many sellers on eBay is also facing charges for fraud and is looking at jail time and restitution. I mean about $15,000 a month for many months is a lot, most people on full time McMinimum wage would barely make that in a year.

 

@lost since your charge back happened at the same time as mine, keep checking your email for refund, hopefully you'll get it all back.

 

Now if Paypal would also cough up the $10 they took...

I am glad to hear that! They did take two of them off but I still have to pay $165 So I am going to call paypal and talk to them. I will let you know what happens.

[Mike 01Hawk]

You ever get your $10 back from PP?

[Uzumaki]

Never.

 

After getting the full amount back from the scammer, I'm not going to chase Paypal for 10 lousy bucks.

[AtariLeaf]

Never.

 

After getting the full amount back from the scammer, I'm not going to chase Paypal for 10 lousy bucks.

 

Thats probably what they count on.