Is there a place/methodology to report a dishonest B/S/T seller?

[ajmanouk]

I've been looking around a bit to try and find some sort of thread for this (or maybe it happens so infrequently that we don't need it!) but perhaps I am missing it?

I am not going to mention any names yet, of course, but I bought an item, paid the same day, the seller acknowledged my payment and I did not hear from him at all after. Around 2 weeks after date of purchase I emailed just asking if he had indeed shipped the item. Several days later I received the goods badly damaged due to poor packaging job...tried to contact seller on several occasions including pictures, emailing him using paypal email, PM via B&B...I don't want to have to mention names if I don't have to, but I sure as hell am going to do my best to prevent anyone else getting ripped off!

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[mmack66]

Get in touch with a moderator

 

[RDiduck]

That is unfortunate. I have dealt with OP (AJ) and can vouch for him being great to deal with.

 

[cheesepiece]

I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience. I don't think there would be any need for a name / shame list but a moderator should have powers to prevent users from using the BST. Claim through PayPal and get your case assessed. If you've gone through and continue to go through all the correct channels there should be no chance of being ripped off using a secure service such as PayPal. A mod should be able to prevent the same thing happening to another user by your unnamed seller.

 

[Toothpick]

Get in touch with a moderator

This and only this through B&B.

Otherwise you should follow the proper channels for making a claim on a damaged package as mentioned above. Though PayPal and the shipping service.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

I hate to hear of your misfortune. I have dealt numerous times with people on and off of the B/S/T forum pertaining to goods and services here. I've never had a bad situation. This site seems to attract some amazingly good people. I would also say to contact a mod.
Good luck with your situation!

 

[ajmanouk]

Thank you very much everyone! It's not so much the money that irks me, just the inconvenience...that and seeing such a beautiful Merkur 39c destroyed in transit I have always done personal paypal to avoid fees but henceforth might just eat the extra few % and pay for the fees myself.

On the bright side, the seller did include a free nail-clipper in the package!

 

[ChiefBroom]

See Everything you need to know about the B/S/T, which states:

By using the B/S/T you're agreeing to our "Caveat Emptor" (Let the buyer beware) policy. This means the administrators, moderators and B&B are not responsible for possible negative outcomes that may result from sale/trade agreements made in the B/S/T forum. This is a place to swap goods among friends - but this isn't ebay and we don't charge members or provide a "service" we merely allow folks a relatively unstructured medium to sell/exchange goods with one another.

If you do get burned though, or you do have an issue - please contact a moderator from the moderator team as we will investigate your issue and if we feel a member is being disingenuous or ungentlemanly we can/will remove their B/S/T access and/or terminate their membership.

 

[gearchow]

Thank you very much everyone! It's not so much the money that irks me, just the inconvenience...that and seeing such a beautiful Merkur 39c destroyed in transit I have always done personal paypal to avoid fees but henceforth might just eat the extra few % and pay for the fees myself.

On the bright side, the seller did include a free nail-clipper in the package!

That's very thoughtful of you, but as sellers usually include shipping, it's safe to assume that they have included the paypal fees as well. We request that BST not be conducted with personal paypal payments for a couple of reasons. First, using paypal personal for goods is against paypal rules. Second, the buyer loses any ability to make a claim. In the future, please don't pay with personal payments.


Shipped it in an envelope with the head still screwed on?

-jim

 

[Bk124tt]

Isn't there a PayPal grievance process you can do? I thought that was the great thing about PayPal, the protection it affords!
On the flip side it is unfortunate that a dishonest fellow may be out there in the rare occasion.
I recently via B&B pm agreed to purchase a bst item for slightly lower than listed. After getting no bites on his post he agreed to sell it to me in writing.
After he agreed someone else offered him full price so he pm'd me saying he apologized but he had already sold it.
I asked him how he sold it to someone else when he already sold it to me.(around 11:30 pm). I was going to PayPal him in the morning but I awoke to his pm saying it was already sold.
I would call that dishonest BSTing.

 

[mmack66]

Isn't there a PayPal grievance process you can do? I thought that was the great thing about PayPal, the protection it affords!
On the flip side it is unfortunate that a dishonest fellow may be out there in the rare occasion.
I recently via B&B pm agreed to purchase a bst item for slightly lower than listed. After getting no bites on his post he agreed to sell it to me in writing.
After he agreed someone else offered him full price so he pm'd me saying he apologized but he had already sold it.
I asked him how he sold it to someone else when he already sold it to me.(around 11:30 pm). I was going to PayPal him in the morning but I awoke to his pm saying it was already sold.
I would call that dishonest BSTing.

If you purchase an item, and pay for it using the personal payment option, you have pretty much voided any PayPal protections that may have existed.

 

[BRITD]

Can someone please explain what a Paypal "Personal payment option" is and how it is any different from any usual Paypal transaction with full Paypal protections?

 

[PClark]

I would still contact a moderator, I believe it states that its not a right for everyone to use the B/S/T forum but a privilege. And if someone is taking your money and "eventually" sending you a broken product they shouldn't be allowed to use the B/S/T forum.

 

[JazzyJ]

Can someone please explain what a Paypal "Personal payment option" is and how it is any different from any usual Paypal transaction with full Paypal protections?

When you choose to send money through PayPal, there are two options given. The first is "Friends and Family," which lets you transfer an amount of money directly to another PayPal account with no fees charged as long as you transfer from existing PayPal balance or your bank account.

The second option is "Goods and services," which is how every transaction on eBay is handled. On eBay there is no friends and family option. Instead, the seller pays a small fee to use the service for the transaction.

It was considerate of the OP to want to use the friends and family option to save the seller the cost of the fee, but in the future, please use the goods and services option. It's one of the rules of dealing on the B/S/T, so it is expected and the cost of the fee is built into the price, plus it will help if something like this ever happens again.

Im sorry you has this experience though. I would say it's definitely out of the norm. I've had nothing but pleasant experiences on the B/S/T. I hope everything works out!

 

[ajmanouk]

A moderator actually was kind enough to contact me. Thanks to all for your help, it is much appreciated!

 

[mmack66]

Can someone please explain what a Paypal "Personal payment option" is and how it is any different from any usual Paypal transaction with full Paypal protections?

Paypal allows people to send money to someone as a gift (personal payment), or for goods/services. The gift payments have no fees, and are basically like giving someone cash. Since there are no fees, there aren't any protections for the buyer or seller.

Unscrupulous sellers request that buyers use the gift payment option in order to avoid paying PayPal fees.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

I thought the difference was if you choose goods/services then the receiver pays the fees and if you choose personal the sender pays the fees.
You should always choose goods/services when buying with PayPal.

 

[WetWhiskers]

I recently via B&B pm agreed to purchase a bst item for slightly lower than listed. After getting no bites on his post he agreed to sell it to me in writing.
After he agreed someone else offered him full price so he pm'd me saying he apologized but he had already sold it.
I asked him how he sold it to someone else when he already sold it to me.(around 11:30 pm). I was going to PayPal him in the morning but I awoke to his pm saying it was already sold.
I would call that dishonest BSTing.

I have a hard time calling that dishonest. Unfortunate perhaps, but not dishonest.

If he had accepted your Paypal and the transaction was in the middle of occuring then it would have been dishonest.

He would have taken your money and given nothing in return.

But until the transaction actually occurs it is negotiation, not a transaction. You didn't lose anything except opportunity cost.

My $0.02US (2000 basis)

Ww

 

[KodiakAttack]

Not the Sledge! Sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how poor the packing job must be to destroy one of those, they're beasts. Mods will be able to help with your issue on the forum, and Paypal is the going to be the best to get your money back.
Plus, if it was mailed somewhat recently (within the last week or so), the USPS has initiated a new insurance policy automatically covering parcels with insurance up to $50 for free. This could be another avenue for compensation if the seller shipped via USPS.

 

[JayEddie]

I have a hard time calling that dishonest. Unfortunate perhaps, but not dishonest.

If he had accepted your Paypal and the transaction was in the middle of occuring then it would have been dishonest.

He would have taken your money and given nothing in return.

But until the transaction actually occurs it is negotiation, not a transaction. You didn't lose anything except opportunity cost.

My $0.02US (2000 basis)

Ww

Actually it sounded like he lied about the status of the item in order to back out of his agreement, so yeah, that's dishonest. If the seller would have admitted that he was breaking the agreement because someone was willing to pay full price it wouldn't be dishonest, just bad form.