Help! I think I have been scammed in eBay!
By kryzell
@kryzell (921)
Philippines
May 25, 2009 6:30am CST
I bidded on three items on the same seller in eBay, just to make sure that I make the most of the shipping cost. The auction ended yesterday. I won the three items, and received an invoice on my email for the purchases I had, and saw, that the seller prefers Gcash payment. I sent her an SMS, saying that I will be able to pay the following day, which is today, Monday...for the reason, that the nearest Gcash outlet is closed on Sundays.
Early this morning, I headed to the Gcash outlet and paid the seller the amount she invoiced me, including the shipping costs...and requested for her confirmation, which is my normal routine after paying. The whole day, I waited for her response. I even emailed. Finally, I decided to call her (8 hours after I paid). I made 3 calls, the mobile number was ringing, but nobody is answering. I am feeling nervous already...and am crossing my fingers that I wasn't scammed.
If ever I am...what's the best option for me to do? I know, Ican't retrieve the money I sent through Gcash...but any of you guys know any rules in eBay for this? Help!!!!
12 responses
@gcorp09 (940)
• Singapore
25 May 09
Well, you may want to wait a while. Meanwhile, you could send the seller a message that you had sent the money over. Sometimes, people may not be able to listen to a call for various reasons, so I will say that if after 1 - 2 days, if you had still yet to get a reply from the seller, then that's the time you will need to be worried.
If I'm not wrong, you can send an e-mail to eBay to complain using the resolution centre, but it had to be 7 days after the auction ended. I'm not very sure if the rules are all the same for different countries, but you can check on eBay.
I will say that if possible, do try and use paypal for payment, as you will be better protected. If not, if it's within your own state, you may also want to negotiate for COD terms.
@kryzell (921)
• Philippines
26 May 09
It is almost 11PM now, Tuesday. I received my first reply from her through SMS. After all the messages I have sent her through SMS and email, after all the calls she failed to answer...all she could type are the words: What's your Ebay User ID? Urgh!!! Now, I really am disappointed. On the other hand, I felt a bit of relief. I sent her a reply, still trying to be polite.
@gcorp09 (940)
• Singapore
26 May 09
Well, you may want to try sending a text message to the seller again, and see if there's any reply from the seller. I would say that there's really nothing much you can do but to wait. If the seller had sold before to other people, and the ratings are fine, you may just be temporarily experiencing a "lapse in service"... Meanwhile, just cross your fingers, and everything will be fine...
@apples99 (6556)
• United States
25 May 09
Yea thats why I prefer amazon over ebay becuse there are no biding wars and hassles to deal with, and a much lower chance of being scammed in fact so far Iv had nothing but positive experiences with amazon, I love shopping amazon I think there a lot better then ebay you also dont have to focus so much on buyers and sellers ratings as much as you do on ebay.
@silverglint (2000)
• Philippines
26 May 09
Hi, I am also a seller in ebay and I always make sure that my clients are updated regarding the shipping. I always ship the item the next day upon receiving the payment even if it meant going out of my way to make the shipment. And should there be any delay, I always make sure that the buyer is informed. Of course, anyone who had already made the payment but haven't received the payment would be worried. Maybe you can inform the seller that you will be reporting this incident to globe as a scam, as well as in ebay so that if the seller is only being negligent but not in bad faith, she/he will exert more effort to deliver the item or at least communicate with you. I am not sure about getting your money back, I believe that upon signing the form to send money through gcash, you are saying that you sent the money with your consent and the company is not liable to exert any effort to give you back the money you sent.... I do hope that you still get the item you bought...
@kryzell (921)
• Philippines
26 May 09
Sent her another SMS and email jst before replying to your response to this discussion. I am losing hope, that she is indeed a genuine ebay seller. Nevertheless, I stil tried to tex her in the most polite way I can, despite my anxiety. I am still giving her the benefit of the doubt...and just in case she has a valid reason for communicating, then I wouldn't want her to send me a negative feedback after the transaction.
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
25 May 09
That's quite bad. I'm sorry this happened to you. Perhaps eBay can do something about this or advice on your course of action. If not, then it is not quite worth it to purchase future things by this seller.
@kryzell (921)
• Philippines
26 May 09
I was able to have a chat with eBay's customer service agent through their live chat. She advised me to send a complaint...and she also gave me a link to it. She told me that, she can assure me that their admin staff will look into my situation. But since I only paid yesterday, I will have to wait for atleast 2 days. It doesn't matter now...whether or not I'll receive my items, I'm still going to leave the seller a negative feedback. Sje should have been more responible and considerate.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
25 May 09
I would not automatically think I had been scammed. Maybe the seller has a full time job that they go to and was not able to answer the phone when you called and has not had a chance to check their email yet. I would not freak out about it too much just yet.
@AltheGreat2430 (2716)
• Philippines
27 May 09
That's the ugly thing about using other method other than PayPal because the buyer is less protected. I just bought something online from Ebay and I used my PayPal to pay. I don't use any other methods of payment because the buyer has less protection. When you use PayPal as mode of payment and the seller didn't deliver the product that you bought you can open a dispute with PayPal. The seller's PayPal account will be freeze. But the problem is if the seller used an unverified PayPal account. The chance of getting back your money is less to nothing. When shopping online through Ebay or Amazon use the sites preferred mode of payment when paying for the items that you bought to be safe.
@rroxas08 (85)
• Philippines
25 May 09
This thing really happen especially if you only rely on the e-mail that was send to you, check you ebay account to see if the person who ask for the payment is the same person on the e-mail.
I don't use any other payment method for my ebay aside from Paypal, because using paypal you have the chance to get your money back if the person involve did not comply to the agreement...
I only hope that the person who requested for payment is only busy and will be able to send you your order.
Gcash cannot do anything about this, Ebay will only suspend the person's account and they cannot do anything more than that.
Next time I suggest that you pay through paypal only if he/she don't have an account with it, so be it, they wont get the sale, you get to keep your money and troubles like what you are having now...
@matt_smith86 (44)
• United States
25 May 09
I was scammed on Ebay, but it did not involve Gcash. Before you send any money on Ebay to anyone, you should check your account, not just your e-mail. This is because the people that scammed me sent me a fake e-mail that looked like it was officially from paypal, but it wasn't. I sent a Wii to the person and never got anything for it. Also Ebay did nothing for me and basically said they would suspend the person.
@my_name_is_coco (4334)
• Philippines
30 May 09
I was scammed in ebay also.it was really a scam seller.I bid for one item.I won,and I was contacted by the seller.It was my first time to buy,so I said I'll pay only in half.I checked also his ebay account.the feedbacks from other buyers were good.I deposited the money also to his account.I contacted him thru phone and he said he'll ship the items on that day.I waited for 48 hours,but I didn't receive any item.he didn't respond to my messages,either.when I checked his ebay account,it's already gone.when I contacted his phone,it's not ringing anymore.I think you should keep track of this buyer and make sure she'll indeed ship your items.
@turones (206)
• Philippines
26 May 09
i'm also from the philippines and i love shopping on ebay and amazon but i don't buy from sellers here in the philippines because they don't accept paypal. i prefer to pay through paypal because it could give protection from scammers. if i don't receive my items and the seller won't respond to my emails, i will open a dispute on paypal. they will freeze the seller's account until my full payment has been refunded. there are some items that i didn't receive but i got my money back.
