Worried about being part of a buy and switch scam

cleopatra4485

Barneysmom wrote: »

OP could you call his bluff? ask him for the serial number and see if he comes back with it? Then if he returns the telly and it is your one and it's ok, no harm done?

Would be good if I had the serial number, afraid I made a boo boo there, but as someone said its a good lesson learnt.

masterbrown See I don't think he's trying it on, just think he's a bit stupid, from what OP said he did'nt contact them asking for a refund, he just left a negative, and it was'nt until seller contacted him to find out why that he mentioned the fault. As I said before a loud humming is usually just a bad connection or something similar, unless its a really old tube TV.

Yes you would think so, but the feedback was so bad, most people would respond to it and as I am a new ebay seller (which he probably knows) it dropped so much. I know for a fact it wasn't making this terrible noise before I sold it and it would be such a bad coincidence that it just happened as it went to a new home. The house was quiet when we presented it to him, the sound was on, we flicked the channels. He was happy and left.

Even if it wasn't a buy and switch scam, my partner saw him load it up just on the backseat, we did offer to tape it all up for him and he refused

oh and tv was an expensive LCD

tiger-eyes_2

if you're happy the tv was working fine beforehand, personally, i'd just ignore him..put him on you're blocked bidders list so he can't wreck anymore of your auctions, & leave a calm follow up to the neg

if he's paid in cash there's no comeback as he can't open a paypal dispute anyway! (think this is still the case but rules have changed so much i'd double check!)

tazzy2010_2

Hiya I have been ebaying for a while. Personally it seems that he has either damaged it or is maybe trying to pull a fast one. If I was you (and I don't know if this is the right advice to give, but anyway....) I wouldn't give him a refund as you are innocent and he saw the tv working fine. You will be the one out of pocket when he returns a broken tv.
As he has given you this negative feedback I wouldn't waste anymore time on it, shut up shop and start again either by just changing account name (means you can start a fresh with fresh feedback). The drawback of this being that buyers can see you have changed names and may give wrong impression to buyers. Or start up again a fresh with alternative email, bank account etc. As you only have a feedback of 5 it won't take long to build it up again. Hope that helps

lindseykim13

Feedback damage has already been done so i wouldn't refund he could have dropped it etc.
You could also refund and him not remove fb anyway!

If your new to ebay just open a new account in OH name and start again its not worth the worry. Ignore him.

soolin

Personally as buyer never contacted you about the issue I would leave it well alone now and not get bogged down in any arguments. Just close your existing ebay account and open a new one with a different email address and bank details. It is perfectly Ok to do that and if you sell a few bits and bobs you have lying around you can soon start to build up some feedback.

cleopatra4485

thankyou all so much for the feedback and great advice. I will just ignore him now then. Do you think I will have a chance with reporting the feedback to ebay and asking them to remove it? I have all correspondence stating that he did indeed view and collect the tv and stating that he will remove the comment on refund, why the hell would I have the option to collect and view a faulty tv :rotfl:

luckymoneysaver

basically hes trying to get you to pay him to remove his feedback.

ignore him and take the hit, and if you've only sold 5 items, you might aswell start a new account fresh

pinkshoes

As he's already left feedback without even bothering to contact you before hand, I'd just ignore him.

Leave a follow up message to the feedback saying something like "I demonstrated TV in full working order to buyer. He liked, he bought"

In the mean time, I would buy some cheap items (i.e. 99p inc postage) from some power sellers to try and build your feedback up. Some of them seem to leave automatic feedback the second you pay.

George666

Hi if you know there is nothing wrong with the TV as you only have 5 feedback just open a new seller account on ebay and stop using the account with the negative feedback on it.
Also when you open your new account block the buyer from bidding on your items on your new account.
Here is a link for you to do that http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin you will need to log into your ebay account then click the link and add the buyers ebay user ID into the box then click the submit button.
As the buyer paid with cash there is no way they can claim it back through ebay or paypal.

cleopatra4485

This is what I said:

I have been getting lots of advice from various people, forums and blogs and they all keep saying that I shouldn't take back the TV or send repair money as I know it worked before I handed it over to you and we presented the TV to you in a quiet environment. For all I know it could have been damaged in transit, you have decided you just do not want the TV now, or even doing a buy and switch scam (although I am pretty sure the latter isn't the case)

If you feel the TV can be re-sold, I suggest that is what you do, if you no longer want the TV and you could probably make a profit, but I would be seriously out of pocket if I took back the TV with double listing fees, double final sale fees, repair bills, if it is broken as you say and a massive waste of time. I am not in the position at the moment as I am on maternity leave for the stress of it all and the expense.

I am already out of pocket massively as no-one has bought from me since my 100% positive feedback has dropped to 80% due to your comment, as I am new on ebay, people do not read the great comments I have already received. I now have stock just sitting in my house.

I would suggest that you do not buy second hand electronics in future and I am so upset that this sale has ended up like this.