Am I Being Scammed ? by a TaoBao Seller

[Skys The Limit]

I sent $1000 by western union for product keep emailing him after sent money kinda hard to get a responded back

Chat Log:

Seller(2012-12-09 17:41:01):
so i have to ask for the ship company again

ME(2012-12-09 17:42:18):
I need these hats right away can you handle the shipping ?

Seller(2012-12-09 17:42:37):
yes,i will ship tongiht by DHL

ME(2012-12-09 17:43:31):
Please Rember you past the 24hrs you siad they`ll be shipped please promise me you`ll have them shipped tonight

Seller(2012-12-09 17:43:43):
ok.

ME(2012-12-09 17:44:21):
Dose your shipper have the hats inhand ?

ME(2012-12-09 17:44:33):
or do you have them?

Seller(2012-12-09 17:45:28):
yes,the hats had been in ship company

Seller(2012-12-09 17:45:59):
before ship ,they ask for me and told me ,if ship to your post code by DHL.IT IS NOT SAFETY.SO I HAVE TO TELL YOU

Me(2012-12-09 17:46:44):
It`ll be fine get me the right tracking number please

Me(2012-12-09 17:46:56):
call them up & ship it now

Me(2012-12-09 17:47:03):
ok.

Me(2012-12-09 17:49:00):
when will you call them?

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:07):
i had called just now

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:12):
they said they will ship today

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:21):
and give tracking number in 2 days

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:39):
because DHL tracking number,ususally ship company will give us in 2 days

Me(2012-12-09 17:50:35):
You know what ship the Hats by EMS then

Me(2012-12-09 17:51:35):
EMS AIR

Me(2012-12-09 17:54:59):
I wait for your Reply

[AmazonStealth]

Western Union, Really? Unless he is a supplier that you have had a successful history with, I would kiss it goodbye, but I could be wrong. If the hats are NE hats, I would find it ironic how the scammer got scammed.

[mcmx]

I thought it was near impossible to order directly from a taobao seller. You should use an agent who accepts PayPal since taobao is ideally meant for people only in China to order directly from/

And I don't think DHL is the safest for shipping branded items...(assuming they're replica hats).

[BigCJ]

Just keep on him and hope that they keeps his end of the deal.

For the future: WU is a big NO NO...

[MM78]

Is this a sample order or large order?

[Futuremogul888]

He might just be stalling. I've had this happen. They tell you they have the inventory in stock when they still have to manufacture it.

[Skys The Limit]

Question seller said it takes 3 days to get a tracking number from shipping agent

Please also note he said they have package

[Futuremogul888]

Alot of these suppliers will lie to you like you are stupid. Sometimes they are not in a position to deliver as soon as they promised but don't want to lose the sale. So they will make up some step that they don't even have to go through to buy themselves more time. If they were truly scammers the minute you delivered the money, you would not hear from them again.

[Skys The Limit]

Seller Emailed me this:

ONCE WE GOT THE TRACKING NUMBER
WE WILL SEND TRACKING NUMBER TO YOU

BECAUSE WE USUALLY GOT TRACKING NUMBER IN 3 DAYS

[Gamefreak]

WU is always bad unless you have prior experience with the seller. Im not talking about 1/2 experiences either. I got wary of WU after sending about 5k with them. They were asking for WAYYYYY too much info and I think they made a mistake when they mentioned money laundering and a couple of other key words to me after I kept asking questions...

G ment seems to be all over WU stuff.

[FizzyFish]

Sounds like he is a middle man.

Deliveries within China take about 3 days on average.

To me, sounds like he is waiting for the hats to arrive to him - so he can box em and ship em to you.

He will have the tracking number once he has got the hats and he has posted them out.

Very common for TBao seller to offer things they don't have in stock in my experience.

[Packattack12]

Originally Posted by Gamefreak

WU is always bad unless you have prior experience with the seller. Im not talking about 1/2 experiences either. I got wary of WU after sending about 5k with them. They were asking for WAYYYYY too much info and I think they made a mistake when they mentioned money laundering and a couple of other key words to me after I kept asking questions...

G ment seems to be all over WU stuff.

You're saying the g ment keeps tabs on WU? Does WU send reports to the Feds? Man, privacy in this country is going down the S hole. F.

[MM78]

If you send funds under 2k you don't need to give up any ID, etc.

[Gamefreak]

not here in CA. If you send over 5k is seems they are asking for ID and SSN, business records and more stuff.

Seems like they are keeping tabs on you or maybe its just in CA but after that I never use WU again...

[Skys The Limit]

Buyer (2012-12-12 14:47:33):
??????

Buyer (2012-12-12 14:47:53):
背

Buyer (2012-12-12 14:48:17):
I need the hats this week before Christmas

Seller (2012-12-12 14:56:28):
i asked for ship company

Seller (2012-12-12 14:56:40):
they said they will have tracking number soon

Seller (2012-12-12 14:57:20):
because before christmas.every year,this time,the ship company is busy

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:27:44):
Please tell me you have the number now

Seller (2012-12-12 16:28:54):
THE SHIP COMPANY TOLD ME WILL HAVE IN 3 DAYS

Seller (2012-12-12 16:29:06):
NOW EVERY SHIP COMPANY IS VERY BUSY NOW

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:32:56):
When you say ship company you mean factory?

Seller (2012-12-12 16:33:11):
SHIP COMPANY

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:34:01):
This is going to hurt me if I cant get hats

Seller (2012-12-12 16:34:25):
I HAD CALLED TO SHIP COMPANY

Seller (2012-12-12 16:34:39):
YOUR PACKAGE HAD BEEN IN HONGKONG DHL SHIP COMPANY

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:35:33):
Why is their no tracking number if they have the package?

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:38:19):
Plase answer my question

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:04):
YES,

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:23):
YES,DHL HAVE DHL TRACKING NUMBER

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:36):
DHL IS NOT THE SAME WITH EMS

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:51):
IF I SHIP EMS.I HAVE THE TRACKING NUMBER IMMEDIATETLY

Buyer(2012-12-12 00:29:40):
ok

BUYER(2012-12-12 00:30:51):
Whats DHL HongKong phone number want to call & check

[Greedo]

I'm not surprised the seller is getting frustrated with you, you're emailing him 3 times a minute!

[Skys The Limit]

If you contact him before you understand We are all good got the package

[mcmx]

You don't want to piss off your supplier...especially if they could easily run with your money if paid by WU

[Iwuvcurrency]

I had this same issue with my supplier recently.. But I didnt pay by western union it was by credit card.. It took him 3 weeks of sending me messages like that until a real tracking number came threw. Then when I got the products 4 out of 7 had issues! SMH!

[Iwuvcurrency]

When they keep saying they shipped already and are waiting on tracking is what p!sses me off lol.. Im sure they get a tracking number when package is dropped off just like we do.

[error]

Originally Posted by Iwuvcurrency

When they keep saying they shipped already and are waiting on tracking is what p!sses me off lol.. Im sure they get a tracking number when package is dropped off just like we do.

Not the way it works in China.

Sellers use shipping couriers who forward your package to the respective shipping companies, dhl, ems, etc...

When you place an order, your seller boxes it, and hands it over to there courier/forwarder.

With DHL they receive a reference number at this point, they do not receive a tracking number until DHL scans receipt of the package. So ask your supplier to at least provide the DHL referrence number.

[makavi94]

Generally would not pay through WU for new member.Unless you have prior exp with seller,don't send by WU.