Incompetent forger

>,
says...

You could email the relevant manufacturer, and say he's knocking out
forgeries of their product..

 

[snip tale of woe and inaction]

And while I accept that this is a rare event for you (and others) it is
this sort of crap that makes me so wary of ebay that I won't use it.

If you cannot trust the people who run the company and site to act
correctly then it's hardly a shock that con men lurk within the
environment they have created. Call me a luddite but I fail to see the
attraction.

 

Depends. As you know, the consumer credit act covers anything

According to the Financial Ombudsman, the Consumer Credit Act does not
apply to PayPal transactions - so card companies are under no obligation
to honour any chargebacks whatever the amount.

Quite often they will though, so it's worth a try.

 

I can't see that Honda will really be worried about someone copying
decals of one of their 1974-era bikes, for which they no longer supply
parts.

 

Me? Call someone else a Luddite?

No, I understand entirely. In six years and maybe 1000 trades, I haven't
had any real problems. But what you say is true.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in
message

Well, in a similar time but with about 1/4 of the trades I've had two
problems of goods not being sent. Both times it was small sums (sub 10
quid), both times PayPal refunded me with no problems.

 

I agree with all you say, but I also agree with Paul when he says that
Ebay's control system to prevent fraud, and to act when it is reported,
is hardly inspiring.

 

I have no reason to disagree with a single thing you say. We're back to
the age old position - we're both different people. I don't have stuff
lying around that I'd wish to sell on - what stuff I do have cluttering
up the place should be binned.

I'm sure some useful stuff is traded via ebay. However I do get the
impression (from the few times I've looked at it) that's it's either the
internet version of a cheap and tacky junk shop or else a forum for some
very sharp people to exploit those who are not quite so quick witted. I
don't have need of a junk shop nor do I wish to be ripped off. I'm one
of those daft people who prefers to deal with a human being in a real
shop rather than participating in the internet shopping equivalent of
hunting down and killing your prey (provided your bid is high enough).

 

*Ding* with glockenspiel accompaniment.

As I said earlier, the irritating thing is not the presence of the scam
artists (who are very few, as you say) but the apparent unwillingness of
Ebay to knock them on the head as soon as they're reported.

 

I can never work out when you start a reply with "Haha" whether you are
being sincere or simply ripping the piss.

 

As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in between. It *is* an
excellent medium for honest people simply wanting a few quid for
things cluttering up their shed, but it is also absoutely teeming with
sharks trying to palm off nicked stuff, duff goods to dimwitted buyers
and pirated goods, all with a low level of any chance of detection.
I've bought and sold a good deal across Ebay and only had one real
problem (pirated goods which were not as described and a couple of
phone calls got me a refund from a frightened seller and his Ebay shop
closed shortly afterwards). But it really is a minefield. There's
plenty of good honest sellers and buyers but the numbers of cheats are
ever increasing. You just have to apply a lot of common sense to any
dealings and even then the scams will probably get you at some time,
as per TOG's decal seller. The real problem is that Ebay does not
seem to have a very robust attitude to fraud. There are others trying
to use this as a lever for their own business model - http://www.cqout.com
operates a three strikes and you're out feedback policy - obviously
the true fraudulent users will find ways round that as well, but it's
better than the seemingly openhouse approach of Ebay.

But it's not just Ebay - I advertised a bike on Biketrader a while
back and stupidly left my email adress in the ad. The ratio of
scammers to genuine enquiries was about 10:1....

 

I'd love to know how they can make this work, when a "retaliatory neg"
is virtually SOP for any lowlife that one has just negged.

I've collected four negs, including this last one. The others were a
non-paying bidder, who got kicked off Ebay, the Morini buyer, and the
utter goit who won the auction for my Honda CB7650 and didn't pay, so
another NPB.

That's four negs in well over five years, none opf which was justified -
and on the above forum, I'd be kicked off, it seems.

 

Well, I'm not sure, but if negs have repercussions, it might make them
less likely to be used - but them again, maybe not. I'm not sure this
system will work, but I reckon Ebay's needs some work.

 

snip>

I can think of a couple of people who probably wish there was the same
rule on newsgroups.

 

Heh.

 

Oi! Not what you were saying about my FZR bits!

 

The Older Gentleman secured a place in history by writing:

The question is: How much time are you prepared to put in to ensure the
world revolves according to your principles (which are fine and
unquestioned)?

I'm not sure I could be arsed again. I spent a lot of this weekend arguing
about whether the average UK citizen is less principled than they were a
decade (or two or three) ago, or whether I am getting old. I'm beginning to
understand why people seek a 'better life' abroad - I'm really tiring of
the general level of dishonesty and lack of scruples that I seem to
encounter almost daily. I think the vast majority of people are basically
decent, but the minority is growing apace and I'm really saddened by it.
Possibly because I have children, so acutely beginning to focus on the
world they're going to grow up in.

Too many chancers, too many not prepared to take responsibility for their
actions, too many who feel the world 'owes' them something, too many who
think money is more important than morality.....pffft...I hate the whole
concept of the Grumpy Old Man, but I think I may be becoming one.

 

Yes, morality is evaporating, every man for himself nowadays.

Sadly, it's only conflict that brings unity. Just ask anyone who lived
through the 2nd world war.

John