Idiot pays £450 for a photo of an Xbox on Ebay.

Simmysim

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Oh no, you cut me really deep insulting my music tastes:eek: how ever will I get over it?

Gormless? Hmm, we'll just ignore my first class degree shall we and focus on my taste in music, yup that sounds sensible:rotfl:

Oh you have a degree? Oh I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Carry on with the insults, we are hanging on your every witty, highly educated word.

As for cutting you really deep, I doubt you need anybody else to do that.

gunsandbanjos

Simmysim wrote: »

Oh you have a degree? Oh I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Carry on with the insults, we are hanging on your every witty, highly educated word.

Thanks, I was just dying for your permission! You really are quite trolltastic:D

Anyway, I bid you farewell entertaining as you are:rotfl:

Mylo_The_Moggy

Hmmmm nice bit of publicity & an X-Box thrown in for nothing........
Can't help thinking he clearly knew what he was getting into. I mean, going to the papers with a woeful tale of being scammed & bringing his 4 year old child into the story. Then hey presto, internet fame & a free console. :think:

http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/09/teenager-scammed-into-buying-450-photo-of-xbox-one-on-ebay-gets-given-real-one-for-free-4223279/

AND his FB page makes interesting reading, amongst his boasts about his "Photo". His mates think he's an idiot too lol.

https://www.facebook.com/peter.p.clatworthy

melliott1963

I agree with Mylo.

I think he clearly knew what he was doing, knowing that this sort of scam always goes on whenever a new console comes out, but also knowing he'd be able to get his money back.

Then he comes up with the sob story about it being for his son (because lets face it, EVERY 4 year old wants an XBox One, to play Call of Duty or whatever, and £450 is nothing to spend on Christmas presents :eek:), and he ends up getting a free one given to him.

So for very little work, he gets a spanking new XBox One for Christmas for free. And there are people out there calling him an idiot . . . . . .

Ade_Sands

bxboards wrote: »

Oh come on. Do you honestly believe this was a purely innocent listing?

The intent of this listing is obvious and the buyer does not deserve to lose that money, and the seller certainly has no right to it.

It concerns me people here are defending the indefensible. This listing was the work of a con artist.

The scammers are flat out - I recently seen Xbox one BOXES for sale for prices ranging from £200-£350 - In some cases, very small letters in the description - "this auction is for the Box not console" Grrrr..

Flyonthewall

Ade_Sands wrote: »

The scammers are flat out - I recently seen Xbox one BOXES for sale for prices ranging from £200-£350 - In some cases, very small letters in the description - "this auction is for the Box not console" Grrrr..

They do the same with every new console, mobile, gadget etc and they did it with the GTA collectors edition too when that was recently released.

Them listings do state box only or box not console though. Sure, many are trying to mislead buyers and not all write that part in a massive font or whatever, but when the information is there it's down to the buyers to read listings properly and so many don't.

The sellers are in the wrong but I don't get why so many buyers just don't read the listings (that goes for all listings, not just ones like this).

Stoke

techspec wrote: »

Obviously stupid "it said photo but i didn't think it would be" said the 19 year old father of a 4 year old (chav).


He could have opened a SNAD - anyway. That wasn't a photo - it was a printed picture with lines across.

Nice bit of casual class snobbery. So what if he has a child, what the !!!! does that have to do with anything?

All of you self-righteous snobs calling him a chav wouldn't dare say this if it was a little old lady who had been defrauded £450 would you? It's another ivory tower moment where you guys pick on someone because they're a bit younger than you and a bit more naive.

The seller may well have described the item accurately, but that doesn't mean it was an innocent listing. It was a clear attempt to defraud someone of money. I use the term defraud strongly because the listing style and category chosen to me shows intent. It was a scam and considering the seller listed it around Christmas time when money is tight, a heartless one.

Note that the item was listed in the Video and Games Console categories. If the seller was genuine, he'd have listed the photo in the appropriate category. It was a clear attempt to catch someone using eBay on their mobile or perhaps not reading the descriptions fully. I can say for myself that when I use eBay mobile, I tend to avoid reading the descriptions because the Android app doesn't format them properly so it becomes difficult.

If you guys ever fall for one of these scams I hope you don't come here expecting any kind of advice because you don't deserve it whatsoever.

Flyonthewall

Stoke wrote: »

Nice bit of casual class snobbery. So what if he has a child, what the !!!! does that have to do with anything?

Wouldn't call him a chav. Having a kid young doesn't suddenly make you a chav. Doesn't exactly make him seem the brightest person though, chances are he didn't mean to have a kid at that age. I agree that the kid really doesn't have anything to do with it - even considering he said it was for the kid.

All of you self-righteous snobs calling him a chav wouldn't dare say this if it was a little old lady who had been defrauded £450 would you? It's another ivory tower moment where you guys pick on someone because they're a bit younger than you and a bit more naive.

If some little old lady (assuming she didn't any obvious health problems affecting her that would make a difference in this situation) saw a listing that said photo and still bid anyway assuming it would be something else I'd still call her stupid. It doesn't just stop being a stupid thing just because she's some little old lady.

Wouldn't call anyone a chav because of this, but anyone who bids knowing it said photo as this guy did I would still call stupid.

The seller may well have described the item accurately, but that doesn't mean it was an innocent listing. It was a clear attempt to defraud someone of money. I use the term defraud strongly because the listing style and category chosen to me shows intent. It was a scam and considering the seller listed it around Christmas time when money is tight, a heartless one.

Agreed. They listed it around Christmas time because that's when the console has been released. Had the release been in summer the seller would have listed it then.

Note that the item was listed in the Video and Games Console categories. If the seller was genuine, he'd have listed the photo in the appropriate category.

True. But people do make mistakes for categories so as a buyer you shouldn't assume everything is in the correct category and make buying decisions on it (especially where so much money is involved).

I've seen some random stuff under video games, I don't just suddenly assume it's for video games because of the category it's in.

It was a clear attempt to catch someone using eBay on their mobile or perhaps not reading the descriptions fully. I can say for myself that when I use eBay mobile, I tend to avoid reading the descriptions because the Android app doesn't format them properly so it becomes difficult.

If you guys ever fall for one of these scams I hope you don't come here expecting any kind of advice because you don't deserve it whatsoever.

The word photo was in the title. Even on mobile you should still know what you're buying. If you can't see it properly use a computer. Not reading a description properly is no excuse. Descriptions are there to be read, not glanced at or ignored.

For a genuine listing it just causes sellers more hassle when people don't bother reading listings properly.

Although this guy shows you can read it properly, be unsure and still bid away all your saving anyway but nevermind. Hopefully most buyers if they bothered to read things properly wouldn't be so stupid as to bid on something that wasn't right.

Stoke

Flyonthewall -
To be honest, I use eBay Android all the time to buy things but they tend to be BIN's. Items I need for jobs rather than second hand goods etc. I do read the description, but I can understand why on an Android device or even iPhone it can be awkward especially due to the way eBay formats it.

I still think you're being very unfair though. We all make mistakes. Some people bash their car into someone else's. Others perhaps drop someone's mobile phone. These are called accidents, mistakes. This item has been listed to catch someone, basically coerce them into making a mistake. Now I agree, nobody forced him to bid, but when you have sellers like this trying to catch you out and your frantically bidding on an item, you might spot another supposedly genuine one and bid on that one without thinking.

The seller got what he deserved. The only thing that would make me happier is knowing the seller was spending Christmas day in a jail cell. He'll be back and you know it.

Flyonthewall

Stoke wrote: »

Flyonthewall -
To be honest, I use eBay Android all the time to buy things but they tend to be BIN's. Items I need for jobs rather than second hand goods etc. I do read the description, but I can understand why on an Android device or even iPhone it can be awkward especially due to the way eBay formats it.

I still think you're being very unfair though. We all make mistakes. Some people bash their car into someone else's. Others perhaps drop someone's mobile phone. These are called accidents, mistakes. This item has been listed to catch someone, basically coerce them into making a mistake. Now I agree, nobody forced him to bid, but when you have sellers like this trying to catch you out and your frantically bidding on an item, you might spot another supposedly genuine one and bid on that one without thinking.

The seller got what he deserved. The only thing that would make me happier is knowing the seller was spending Christmas day in a jail cell. He'll be back and you know it.

As annoying as badly formatted listings may be I'd still read it properly. Might take longer but it's worth it if you realise there is something listed that you're not happy with.

Bashing someone elses car or dropping a phone is a very different thing. You don't ever think "hey there's a car there, should I hit it? Oh, go on then! Even though a crash would mean damage I'm sure that magically neither car will suffer any damage at all."

Accidentally bashing into someones car is one thing - something you didn't have control over and didn't plan. Bidding on a photo that you know is a photo, regardless of the sellers intent, is something planned and therefore not an accident or mistake. Something you might regret, yes, but not an accident.

Ebay are pretty strict when it comes to bans. They often limit the accounts of family and something even ban them too. He may have been IP banned in which case he'd have to use a different IP address. I imagine he'd also have to use a different email and possibly even write his name and/or address slightly different to avoid the system flagging him up as a previously banned seller.

I am stating this again: Yes the seller was wrong. Not defending them, despite saying photo it seems clear they were trying to mislead bidders.

However, I am curious if you'd all be so hard on the seller if there were more to his side of the story.

I read somewhere within the news story comments about it being the sellers friends who had put up the listing as a joke. If something like that were the case do you still think it's fair that due to other peoples bad sense of humour that he can never sell again?

Afterall, we only really have one side of the story.