[dhtahoe]

Well I have heard of ALOT of people these days getting taken on E-Bay so I guess it was a matter of time before I hit a scam. I bought a set of after market HID headlights for my wifes Subaru Impreza and they turned out to be huge pieces of crap. After only three days ALL FOUR lenses had cracked due to the excessive heat the bulbs put out. The seller says that because I left te headlights on for too long they cracked and that we are at fault. The funny thing is that unless I have the key on and the car is running the lights are off. They had an fake DOT label on them so the seller can claim that they are street legal. I have e-mailed the seller who CLAIMS that he is in Detroit but when he e-mails me back about my claims it is clear that he is not of this country because he speaks little or no english. All his feedback was great but I fear that that is fake too. So what do I do now... I have never had to file a claim with e-bay so what would be the most effective way to shut this scam down.

 

[Jayridesacove]

perhaps this will help

http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

 

[dhtahoe]

Perfect... what can I do on the e-bay front?

 

[Ciaran]

Start the claim process with e-bay. Sometimes a letter from e-bay threatening to suspend the sellers account is all the motivation needed. Many scammers count on people being too lazy or not knowledgeable enough to report them to e-bay. Also contact ebay's fraud department and let them know. out of curiosity, what was this sellers feedback score?

Here is how I ebay... There are exceptions to the rules I follow, but in general here's how I do it...

NEVER ever buy anything from overseas.
Only buy from people who have OVER 200 positive feedbacks from BUYERS. Many people are great buyers but horrible sellers.
Always contact the seller before you bid. Ask any general question about the item or shipping. If the reply is vague then don't buy. Ask if local pick up is available even if you are not local. If the seller gets defensive it may be a scam. Ask for more pictures of the item. Ask for close ups.
Try to buy from Power Sellers or folks with ebay stores. These folks have been "certified" (for lack of a better word) by e-bay as good sellers.
If you find a good seller, bookmark them and buy from them again.
ONLY pay via PayPal. Paypal offers buyers protection on many items.
And the number one rule... If it looks too good to be true then it probably is.

I hope you get your money back on the lights. Scammers like this make e-bay, and those of us who use it, look bad.

 

[dhtahoe]

All his feed back was positive, but when I REALLY started to read them I noticed something. Many of the same typos on his feedback are the same as one's on an e-mail I got from him today. Not just small ones either... same words same typos made by someone with horrible english skills.

 

[Jayridesacove]

do you have a link to the seller?

 

[Echo]

I would think it would be hard to fake feedback - I mean you gotta have a completed auction to leave a feedback, and every one of those costs $$. Or am I missing something?

 

[dhtahoe]

Maybe but I think if you were good at scamming you might figure it out. They have bee one step ahead all along from what I see. Seems like all the ones I see that have this weird spelling and typos all seem to be $9.99 items. Cheap to sell to say yourself maybe. I don't know just a thought. These guys seem to find a way these days... somehow. Oh not the brand he claimed either. I have friends with APC headlights and these are ALMOST them but cheap knock offs.

 

[Rockhound]

Echo true it would cost money but very little in the scheme of things... especially if it is all an elaborate scam. There are a whole team of people that research scams on ebay so start with them.

That might get you anywhere but at least it might shut down this particular scam.

Its definitely good advice to email the seller first, see what type of person they are and if you can do business with them.

 

[JRB]

I know I am just out to scam people on ebay. I will kill that devil one day.

 

[dhtahoe]

I talked to the seller he spoke little or no english (depending on how good of a point I made) You know selective english. He was a total dip about cars and did not know that I am an Aircraft/Auto mechanic for a living. Sat there and gave me so much BS about how they are not for highway use (even though there is a fake DOT stamp. And I know this because it's the same government seal that's on my pilots licence. Then cahnged his story to "you left them on your fault" whatever that means. I would not consider normal driving time of 20 minutes to work excessive. And they were not the brand he claimed. So I nail his ass last night and even got an e-mail from APC headlights stating that they were not theirs. So the guy is screwed. Thanks for the help monkeys.

 

[merrrrjig]

I buy and sell a lot on ebay! I only got screwed once on a shirt where the guy unregistered. But I used paypal and I had my money back in about 2 days!