Help! Am I screwed? Buyer trying to scam me

qwerty · #1 08-16-2010

I recently sold a laptop on ebay w/ delivery confirmation. The laptop sold for $700 USD.

Couple of days later I checked the tracking and it showed "delivered", but the buyer emailed me and claimed that he did not recieve the laptop.

Long story short he said he went to post office and they said they delivered it, but he does not have the laptop which means that a. he is lying, b. it was stolen.

Now I just learned that I cant be covered by paypal because I didn't add a signature confirmation as the value of item is +$250! (big mistake!!!)

So my question is, what the heck do I do now? Am I screwed out of $700?

bmwsouthside · #2 08-16-2010

there is a very small chance that paypal may side with you since you did have delivery confirmation. I wouldnt count on it but cross your fingers. paypal is a very evil company. they do not help people, they hurt people and destroy families every day.
1) I never ship expensive items by usps. always use fedex ground tracking is free or ups and add the amount of insurance the item is worth to you. It will save you heartache and trouble for stuff like this.
I am learning as I go just like you but you can limit these type of mistakes if you cover yourself at all times. good luck

IDK · #3 08-16-2010

Why no signature conformation???? Big mistake man. Even with that fact, the buyers excuse does not fly, because unlike UPS, USPS will not leave a package. Someone has to accept it. So since you got the tracking, call up the PO, and confirm the delivery and see if you can get some proof from them showing it was. Without proof it will be your words against theirs and you know how that goes. even still there is the threat of charge back, so you are gonna eat it regardless I'm afraid.

bmwsouthside · #4 08-16-2010

I already had a guy steal a gift card from me this week.
I am filing charges against him so he will not be happy when the police knocks on his door because he is actively ordering items on ebay every day.
The other was a very expensive purse that cost $320. The buyers address all of sudden changed to malaysia after I shipped to north carolina (original address) They wouldnt leave feedback and paypal wouldnt release the money. I called paypal and got limited 30 minutes later AFTER they released the funds. I tried to transfer and paypal account is locked forever.

qwerty · #5 08-16-2010

the guy just filed an item not recieved dispute...what should I do?

**SaiJin** · #6 08-16-2010

OP,

1. Put your country flag please. Different place, different advice.
2. Call HIS post office, ask to talk to the manager, then ask which carrier delivered it to him.
3. See if they are willing to give you a statement about this whole thing AFTER you explain to them what is going on.

4. File a mail fraud with the postal inspector and have a copy of that document.
5. Call PP up and tell them you have all the above documents aside from Signature confirmation, and of course ask for a supervisor and ask them what can be done that you don't lose out.

6. Set your country's Flag.

qwerty · #7 08-16-2010

I just called paypal and they told me I was basically SOL and it would probably go to the buyers favor......

Thats pretty stupid, whats stopping me then ripping off another seller with the same tactic?

**SaiJin** · #8 08-16-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by qwerty

I just called paypal and they told me I was basically SOL and it would probably go to the buyers favor......

Thats pretty stupid, whats stopping me then ripping off another seller with the same tactic?

What's stopping you? Karma and good conscience.

Call them again until you get a nice supervisor.

qwerty · #9 08-16-2010

Will they do anything? He basically said no signature, its your fault

Can you guys give me suggestions on what to argue with paypal for my favor (besides what sajin posted)?

Edit: Also will filing a police report do anything? And if do, do I contact my police or the buyers?

jeffweico · #10 08-16-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by saijin

What's stopping you? Karma and good conscience.

Call them again until you get a nice supervisor.

I have never seen PayPal side with a seller when there was no signature required when the amount in question is over $250.

But Saijin is right. Don't wallow in the mud with the pigs.

**SaiJin** · #11 08-16-2010

Instead of spending most of your time here, do everything you can think of right off the bat, you have nothing else to lose at this point. Yes, report to the police locally and ask advices.

Then when you are out of ideas, come back here.

topseller · #12 08-16-2010

You are wasting your time. Paypal will never side with the seller. Even if they do all the guy has to do is file a chargeback with his CC company and paypal will deduct it from your account.

You only have 2 options.

1) Eat the refund and hope to make it up.
2) Abandon the account and start a start a new paypal stealth account.

If you do 2, you will need to cancel the CC account used to open the paypal account and you need to close the any bank account ever associated with it.

The buyer will get their money from the chargeback with CC company who will take it from paypal.

Paypal will then go after you for the negative balance. If your paypal info is legit except to receive collection calls, but for anything under 5K they just sell off to the bottom feeders.

**SaiJin** · #13 08-16-2010

Listen, OP has nothing to lose at this point. He may be wasting his time, but if I were him, I'd take that 1% chance, and if it works some way somehow, Great! If it doesn't, then I'd know I've done everything I could possibly do.

So don't discourage him to try anything.

pod · #14 08-16-2010

jeffweico - Don't wallow in the mud with the pigs.

saijin - Instead of spending most of your time here, do everything you can think of right off the bat, you have nothing else to lose at this point

Listen to these guys! This is in your hands. Get on top of the delivery postal station now. Mistakes do happen. The guy may have not received it. It may be somewhere else. I went through this once and it was just human error. The postal guy went and got it and took to right house. But the longer you wait the more likely you're screwed.

This is a super duper long shot! But PayPal will not care so the only hope you have right now is you. You will lose a charge back just like IDK says. If you want this fixed you have to find that package [If its really missing]

So to stress the key point: Nobody, anywhere, cares about this but you. Nobody will do anything, at all. If this is not just a plain old ripoff you need to get on top of whoever delivered it...

qwerty · #15 08-16-2010

I guess I will call his post office tomorrow and see wtf is going on - according to him he contacted the post office and it was delivered...but he could be lying

I just realized that I actually had Anti Theft service on the laptop (LoJack) when I bought the laptop and it is still active, it says I have to file a police report however before I can request to retrieve the stolen laptop - do I have to contact his police or mine?

Also can I report the stolen laptop to Dell as well? (its a dell laptop) - that way I may have a chance to find it again

pod · #16 08-16-2010

Again, call the post office that delivered the package. Dont get HIM to do anything.

If that lojack cant be disabled by him, email him and tell him after you talk to post office you are calling police to activate it. Tell him to triple check it wasn't delivered and someone else at the House got it and forgot to tell him. And that you dont want him to "accidentally" get arrested when they activate the lowjack...This way if he is trying a fast one he may get scared of the lowjack and pretend "oops" it was here...

If he is pulling a fast one it may spook him into backing out

qwerty · #17 08-16-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by pod

Again, call the post office that delivered the package. Dont get HIM to do anything.

If that lojack cant be disabled by him, email him and tell him after you talk to post office you are calling police to activate it. Tell him to triple check it wasn't delivered and someone else at the House got it and forgot to tell him. And that you dont want him to "accidentally" get arrested when they activate the lowjack...This way if he is trying a fast one he may get scared of the lowjack and pretend "oops" it was here...

If he is pulling a fast one it may spook him into backing out

Yeah I told him that too and he told me to activate it and file a police report.... but are the cops going to do anything >.<

pod · #18 08-16-2010

What are the cops going to do? File a charge against USPS?

If he does not care about what you do, he may not have it. Call the post office first thing and tell them they delivered a $1000 laptop to the wrong house...

Activate the lowjack too

qwerty · #19 08-17-2010

I'm required to insert the police report information for activating the lojack, my question is do I contact MY local authorties or the buyers?

**aspkin** · #20 08-17-2010

The buyer's local authorities.

qwerty · #21 08-17-2010

Hmm we may have a problem, the buyer lives in New York ... doing a google search it seems I can't file a police report online OR over the phone?!

Now what do I do - should I just file it with my locals?

IDK · #22 08-18-2010

Aww man, he got you good... At this point it's time to man up and take a loss. He got you, but trust, it will come back on him. Get yourself together and move on. You have learned a valuable lesson and you like everyone has at some point been exposed to the evils of eBay. Grow from it.