Last November Clive Rose* sold two handmade Japanese swords on eBay, worth a total of £1,940. The buyer, once he had received them, demanded that the cost of the more expensive sword be slashed. Rose refused to haggle and asked for the items to be returned and a refund issued.
Eventually a box arrived. “We couldn’t open it until we had signed for it,” says Rose. “On the label it said two items were inside. When we had signed and opened it up we found the cheaper £540 sword badly damaged because of poor packaging, and a brick. The other £1,400 sword, for which he had been trying to barter, was not there.”
The buyer claimed Rose had forfeited his rights by signing for the parcel, while eBay’s response was similar. Although Rose sent photographs and message threads to support his case, eBay took the money from his PayPal account and refunded the buyer for both swords. Rose, who has a 100% satisfaction rating from other buyers, had his account suspended for withholding eBay’s seller fees and is now threatened with debt collectors because his PayPal account is overdrawn.
The tale will be familiar to many eBay sellers who have experienced difficulties with problem buyers.
It was only after The Observer intervened that the auction site examined the history of Rose’s buyer – what the company found was a pattern of suspect behaviour. “The buyer’s account has been suspended and we are happy to issue the seller with a courtesy refund to ensure he is not left out of pocket,” eBay says.
It is a year since The Observer reported that eBay had introduced a pilot programme to address issues around similar problems. At the time, critics claimed its measures to protect buyers from dodgy transactions left sellers at the mercy of fraudsters who can manipulate the system to effectively steal goods.
Readers related instances where a buyer falsely claimed to have been sent beetroot instead of a mobile phone, while another buyer stuffed an envelope with a used T-shirt instead of a £258 pair of trainers he claimed to be returning. Both were refunded under eBay’s “money back guarantee”.
“There is something wrong,” eBay admitted last April. “The system was built on the premise that most people are honest. It needs to be more intuitive.”
Under the experimental scheme, a seller can ask eBay to intervene before issuing a refund if a buyer returns a damaged or substitute item. Ordinarily, they have a week to resolve the dispute before having to part with their money, but an unscrupulous buyer can ignore contact and open a claim directly with eBay. In many cases it issues an automatic refund without any evidence from the seller being considered.
The seller has no recourse under PayPal’s seller protection scheme since this is invalidated when a buyer claims directly through eBay. And although eBay’s own rules require buyers to send disputed items back, refunds are sometimes released before this happens – or after damaged or substitute goods have been returned. Even eBay can see the flaw, and in a brainwave that would seem obvious to anyone else the pilot scheme requests photographic evidence when buyers or sellers allege damage or duplicity.
Twelve months on, has the trial made a difference? Not according to Londoner Catherine Lewis who sold a coat via the website. The buyer claimed that it never arrived and, because Lewis could only provide proof of postage and not of delivery, eBay forced a refund. “When I looked at the buyers’ feedback other sellers all told the same story,” she says. “The buyer claimed the item didn’t arrive but eBay gave a refund, even on items that were signed for. Worse, the buyer has been reported to eBay three times before for this and no action has been taken. They are free to keep buying items and claiming back the money – essentially stealing – and eBay is not doing anything about it.”
Ebay may have been duped by its own rules which only allow sellers to leave positive ratings for buyers in case, as it admits, criticism puts the latter off future spending.
The score of warning reviews that Lewis found were all spelled out beneath the obligatory heading of “positive”. Buyers, on the other hand, can damage a seller’s status with negative feedback, posted anonymously, and every case opened against a seller results in a defect against the buyer.
It’s a policy that appears to protect eBay’s profits at the expense of sellers’ reputations, as eBay’s own website explains: “We’re counting any activities we’ve found that decrease a buyer’s likelihood to come back and shop with us again, as defects”.
It only occurred to eBay to read the reviews of Lewis’s buyer on its own website after The Observer alerted it to them. It then discovered that the individual was a serial fraudster and suspended their account. “This is not good enough on our part,” it says. “We have a buyer abuse team that uses software to scan the site to spot this behaviour. In this case, this buyer clearly has been abusing the system and it wasn’t picked up.”
So anxious is the company to keep buyers spending that it turned a blind eye to a stream of violent threats sent by one to a seller in Australia. The victim made 10 complaints about the abusive messages to eBay which responded by restricting the messages to three a day to each of her three accounts. After her fifth complaint she was advised by customer service to ignore the abuse, which included rape threats. The sender’s accounts were eventually terminated whenThe Observer got involved. “This behaviour will not be tolerated,” says eBay, which had tolerated it for days until a headline loomed.
According to eBay, it will announce permanent policy changes in the autumn. “Learning from the experiences of the 50,000 UK and US sellers in the pilot, we have created a different returns experience, including putting obstacles in the way of suspected fraudsters to prevent refunds, or even blocking a buyer entirely when we suspect fraud before they’ve been refunded,” it says. “We’re also giving the sellers who offer free or 30-day returns the ability to allow partial refunds on faulty, damaged and lost item claims so that they can recover costs.”
The extraordinary fact that eBay has only recently “put obstacles in the way” of fraudsters is no surprise to Dean Marchant* whose business was threatened by the knee-jerk refund policies.
He sold a £400 turntable to a buyer who requested a return and sent back a different damaged device. Marchant sent photographs of the smashed item to eBay which, nonetheless, refunded the buyer. Because the buyer had contacted eBay’s dispute resolution service, a defect was recorded against Marchant.
“I had erroneously been issued with two previous defects and this third one put me ‘below standard’, excluding me from money-saving promotions,” he says. “It is crushing my ability to do business.”
Ebay decided to refund him as a goodwill gesture after an Observer investigation, but claimed that since it never gets sight of items it could not judge whether the correct item was returned. Marchant plans to start a lobby group of disaffected sellers to challenge what he sees as bias against sellers. “My experience, and that of other sellers I have spoken to, is that buyer-fraud of this kind is rife,” he says. “Every single seller I spoke to had a tale to tell of at least two incidents in the past year. The simple fact is the eBay policy allows this fraud.”
* Names have been changed
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/may/21/ebay-accused-failing-sellers-buyers-manipulate-system-protection
As a new customer PayPal charge my credit card 1 USD then reverse it back which was normal, all the sudden they charged me 1.95 USD then another 1.95 USD and topped-up my PayPal account with this amount , tried to contact their customer service to reverse this amount again never get a clear answer and never reverse my money back, I tried to add another credit card as I need to buy something exceed the limit of the registered credit card, again they kept charging me 1 USD and 1.95 for 3 or 4 times and never get this money back as well never reversed back the money they stole from my card without my request or permission at the beginning.
Their customer service never ever give me a solution to my issue they want me to add more credit cards.
They used my credit card with a transactions then topped up my PayPal account so i will be stuck with them. to protect my self and save my credit card from being used without my request or permission by PayPal i have disabled both of them and report all those transactions to my bank.
PayPal are thieves ! and I have the e-mails between me and their customer service confirming my story
Source: http://www.paypalwarning.com/paypal-stole-money-2/
A few years ago I was dating this girl and her father REALLY hated me. Which was a bit odd as most parents love me (or at least lie about it real well). He was just a huge [jerk] and I always called him on his sh*t. Anyways, her parents got divorced, we broke up a few months later etc etc.
Fast forward to around a year later. Me and [another] girl from Tinder were dating for a few months and things were starting to get serious. We're at the point where she wants me to meet her family. Mother, step father, little sister. Why not? I have no problems meeting them... She told me how excited her step dad was to meet me as it turns out we both happen to be Kansas City Chiefs fans.
Well, f*ck me if it wasn't the same [jerk] father of my ex girlfriend...
From Redditor /u/therealJayT:
Not a gamestop employee, but I worked at a subway that was in the same parking lot as the gamestop. After working at that subway I became friends with some of the managers at that gamestop. I would give them free food, they would give me discounts on games.
Anyways, one day one of the managers comes in after his shift and I ask him how his day went. He said that it went fine until the last few hours of his shift. Apparently some guy came in asking to return a game that he got from a different game store (not gamestop) and asked for a full refund. When the manager said that the guy couldn't return it because it was from a different store, the guy went apeshit and started yelling and destroying stuff in the store. Then the man pulled out a knife and started going to town on a cardboard cutout. After doing that the dude left without saying anything to anyone.
Manager says that the dude was probably high/drunk when it happened.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/bicr5z/gamestop_employees_of_reddit_what_are_some_of/em00e13/
This happened five years ago, but I’m constantly reminded of it as soon as those garish, tasteless Christmas decorations start popping up everywhere. Bile-green, blood-red abominations, coupled with monstrous depictions of horrid elves and grotesquely obese ritualistic idols. I can’t be the only one; I’m sure some of you feel it as well. That creeping sensation of veiled horror, perpetually harrowing in the periphery. The Spirit of Unholy Christmas.
I was in College back then. First semester. I was sharing a dorm room with the weirdest, most awkward girl I’ve ever had the hesitant pleasure of knowing. Black Lizzie. She wanted us to call her Black Lizzie. Not Elisabeth. Not Liz. Not Lizzie. Black Lizzie. She was the kind of angsty, edgy teenage girl you’re secretly convinced is just a myth. An exaggerated caricature. There’s just no way they can exist, you know, in real life.
But she did.
She wasn’t all bad, don’t get me wrong. She was easy-going, fun when you got her alone, and always kept her side of the room impeccably clean and tidy. But she was just into so many bizarre and obscure things. She’d have elaborate dice and Tarot cards and pendulums and massive volumes of esoteric books; some I guess were roleplaying manuals and such, but there was also shadier occult literature like Anton LaVey, Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley and stuff like that. She was also obsessed with the dark web. Couldn’t stop talking about all the shit you could find on there.
So when Christmas break came around I was more than ready for a few weeks without the incoherent conspiratory ramblings of Black Lizzie. No more talk of red rooms or esoteric doomsday cults. No more disgusting strands of impossibly long raven-black hair in my shower drain. No more tattoos of occult symbols or edgy social commentary.
But still I felt sorry for her. Apparently she didn’t get along with her family, big fucking surprise, and had no one to spend Christmas with. In a weak moment I always asked her if she wanted to spend it with us, but I quickly came to my senses once I realised how that trainwreck would inevitably unfold. Spending Christmas alone used to be one of my greatest fears. Now I welcome it.
I got up early that morning. My dad was picking me up, and it was a long drive home, so I promised I’d be ready no later than 8 A.M. Lizzie was sound asleep. I’d heard her sneak in late, probably shitfaced as usual, and I had no desire to wake her up. I tippy-toed gently past her bed, but let out a painful shriek as something sharp burrowed into my left foot.
“Fucking Lizzie,” I murmured as I grabbed the dice. It was one of those pyramid-shaped ones, 4-sided or whatever. I tossed it onto her bed furiously. Fucking worse than legos.
I brushed my teeth, grabbed my stuff, and was about to stealth out of there when I noticed it. It was placed neatly on our kitchen counter. A Christmas present; beautifully wrapped in black and red, with a sparkling silvery ribbon. I couldn’t help myself. Had to sneak a peek.
“To Kendra, Heart Elisabeth.”
I couldn’t believe it. We’d never discussed exchanging presents, and I felt really bad as I realised how much effort she’d put into wrapping it. I grabbed it with both hands and gently lifted it. It had some weight to it given its size, but it was also strangely compact, like whatever was in it was really wedged in tight. I clumsily dropped it to the floor as my phone started buzzing.
“Fuck, shit, hell, fuck,” I stated eloquently as I fished it out of my pocket. It was my dad. He was waiting outside.
“Sorry, Lizzie,” I whispered, “I’ll get you something after the break, promise.”
***
Spending Christmas with your family changes over the years, you know. It’s like it loses all meaning after a while, slowly becoming just another awkward ritual that no one really enjoys. Small talk, pleasantries, bad jokes, too much alcohol, repressed feelings, overcooked dinner, overly pragmatic presents, an abundance passive of aggressiveness; after a few days you want to spend the rest of it alone, or with friends, or with anyone but your blood.
For me it took roughly two hours. That’s all I could take. Mom and dad had already got into three arguments, my little brother cried non-stop, asking if they were getting divorced, and my uncle was absolutely hammered before lunch. When dinner was served, I was all familied out. Desperately in need of a break. It was around that time Lizzie started tagging me in her Facebook-posts.
Within an hour she’d tagged me seventeen times. My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing, and eventually I had to excuse myself in order to figure out what the hell was going on.
It was just nonsense. Seemingly random photos taken in our room, headlined with unrelated phrases. I only have eyes for you. Enjoying the view. There is nothing but the scent of you. Some posts were just blurry selfies, her distorted face in strange angles, devoid of any discernible features. Season greetings.
She’d tagged several other people from school in other posts too, each one darker than the other. You leave me breathless. Her gaze was empty and blank, like she was in a trance, or on something really potent. I can’t move without you. I can’t hold my tongue. A hazy photo of our shitty couch. A black and white photo of our shower drain. A picture of a Christmas present on our kitchen counter, wrapped in black and red, adorned by a sparkling silvery ribbon.
Wait. Hold on.
I stared at the photo. It was the same fucking present. Identical. But how could that be? I had it. I brought it with me. Forgot it in the car. It was in the car. I was sure of it.
A message suddenly popped up on my screen.
Did you like my present?
I swallowed deeply. Felt my heart pumping. But why? “What’s up with you?” I wrote.
Why are you tagging me in all those photos?
Those three dots kept bouncing up and down for what felt like an eternity. Disappeared. Then appeared again.
Because you were there.
What the fuck do you mean, I was there?
Dots dancing. Dots bouncing. Dots trembling.
A photo suddenly appeared, and I almost dropped my phone as I took it all in. I don’t know why, but it felt so...intrusive. Like some fucking violation. It was a photo of me. Sleeping in my bed, sheets unnaturally drawn aside, my half-naked body exposed.
“What the fuck!!” was all I could write,
Why would you do that!!
I was seething with anger and shock. Lizzie was always weird, but I never once took her for some sick, perverted voyeur.
Enjoy your present. Chances and odds are that you find it endearing.
I tried messaging her over and over, but she didn’t respond. I went over the other posts, and people were freaking the fuck out in the comments. What the fuck was going on with her? Cabin Fever? After what, three hours alone? It didn’t add up. Maybe she’d taken something? Some hallucinogen? Maybe she was suicidal?
I couldn’t think straight. All I could think about was that present. I grabbed my dad’s keys and bolted out to the car, popped the trunk, and lifted it out with trembling hands. It felt heavier somehow, even more compact than before.
I don’t know how long I stood there freezing, looking at it from all angles, weighing it idly in my hands, but at some point I just decided to place it gently on the ground. I think I knew, subconsciously - that I couldn’t bring that thing with me inside. That I needed to open it right there and then.
So I did.
I can still imagine it vividly. The protruding veins, the torn flesh, that hideous, darkened red color, the sticky, tepid liquid. Later I’d learn that there were other presents. Dozens of them. Some were left at the dorm, others opened in the flickering, warm light of a fireplace, more than likely accompanied by horrifying screams. Every one of them unveiling a unique piece to a macabre jigsaw puzzle.
Lizzie’s body.
They found her phone neatly placed on our living room table, next to a pool of blood and the one last missing piece; her severed head. According to dorm security her eyes were open, mouth agape in a twisted grin, tongue sticking out. Posing for the camera.
I was gifted the symbolic organ of love. I can still see it. Everytime I close my eyes.
To Kendra, Heart of Elisabeth.
Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/ee4k50/spending_christmas_alone_can_really_mess_with/
For over a year now I've been fighting with Etsy's legal division.
I first had an item removed for alleged copyright infringement. I have spoken with someone who deals with copyright legalities and he was even confused how Etsy allowed the opposing party to file a claim against the design, but I did have a name that was trademarked and that was likely the cause. No problem, changed it and I filed a counter notice which Etsy states after 10 business days if you don't hear anything from the opposing party you're able to relist. Waited about 3 weeks just for safe measure and relisted. A week later I received another takedown notice for the same item, same party.
Repeated the steps of waiting to relist just thinking Etsy's system was wonky and maybe slow. This became an every few week occurrence. Going back and forth with the Etsy legal team I was informed once you file a counter notice and it goes in your favor, the opposing party can not file another claim against that listing. Cool, I felt like I was in the clear again knowing I was in the right. What do you know, it happened about a month later. Aggravated with the whole situation I was discussing the issue with the Etsy legal team again and I have in writing from one of their members stating once a specific listing has a counter notice filed and the opposing party doesn't respond after 10 business days, that same item with the same URL can not be filed against anymore. You'd think that would mean I'm safe. Months later, another notice and this time Etsy closed my whole shop. Wow. Etsy totally going against their own word. Every single notice was against the exact same item every time - same URL and all. After my shop being closed for weeks because the Etsy Legal team does things on their own time and me losing tons of sales, one of their members finally restored everything for me and stated they would remove the infringement strike - which they should have removed every single one anyways.
That was in February. Just had the same listing removed. Again. Surprise. It has been over 2 weeks and the legal team won't respond to me. Clearly they are in the wrong, even going against their policies AND their own statements in their emails.
Does Etsy even really care about their sellers? I understand a company not wanting to get mixed up in everyone's legal matters but at the same time have some faith in the people who keep you running - sellers - and stand behind us a little. At this point it's harassment and incredibly ridiculous. I could just stop listing this item but it's a huge portion of my income(this is my full time job) and I'm not in the wrong here so I shouldn't need to stop selling it.