Freaky auction

[bfodnes]

I thought this one is a little freaky

http://cgi.ebay.com/METAL-DETECTOR-MINELAB-EXCALIBUR-SOVEREIGN-GARRETT-SE_W0QQitemZ250171328325QQihZ015QQcategoryZ14955QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Its two of them by he way, seller has 55 rating all on $ 0.01 items.

Also state to contact before any payment.

Just thought I should tell you. delete if improper post.

Thanks

 

[adam in cal]

I would streer clear of that , all the mispellings and several other telltail hints indicate that you may get ripped off, the fact that its listed in Antiques and silver coins, and as you stated the low feedback with all 1 cent items tells me its a bogus deal, designed to rip off your hard earned dough. most of it is cut and pasted from someplace else , and what is written by the seller makes no sense and is chalked full of mispelled words. there are too many real deals to take a shot with this one ......

 

[Rick(ND)]

n/t

 

[bfodnes]

lol, damn good detectors sovereigns, especially that one.

Look at customer questions......

 

[cwilk]

Some of those Ebay programs they sell on infomercials suggest the method that Ebayer is using to quickly build feedback. I would bet no money is changing hands. Listing fees were probably 5-10 bucks but they got instant status. There are plenty of websites dedicated to these how to Ebay programs (scams.) They are a waste of money.

The seller is probably selling a detector but as you point out from the answers to the questions he doesn't know much about them. The questions are probably from shills too just like the feedback.

There is also the good possibility that it there is no detector as you say. I am not a Minelab user (I do like this forum though!) Are the pictures all of the same detector? Doesn't look like it to me.

I wouldn't bid either.

Chris

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I have made and lost money on Ebay.About six months ago I saw a Minelab Relic Hawk for 475.00 plus shipping which came to 497.00.The women had Sovereign coils for sell also with a feed back score of 100 percent with only 12 sales.Anyway the seller from Warwick R I requested a money order so I sent the money order and never received the Minelab.Ebay was really not much help they gave me the gals telephone number and I left a message stating that I would like to have my money back but no reply.I did give a negative response after two weeks which explained on her feed back that she excepts money but doesn't send merchandise(mail order fraud).The only thing Ebay suggested don't send money order's,and that this is preferred payment of crooks and that Paypal payment can be recovered and not a money order.Another Ebayer contacted me through email stating that he had been ripped of by this Warwick R I low life also and that Ebay suggested that he should contact local police department to deal with this crook.Bottom line I'll probably never recover this money, but I did learn from this not to trust sellers on Ebay who request money order's.

 

[cwilk]

Try the Post Office Fraud Department. If they ripped off more than one and used money orders they'll get involved.

Paypal has it's problems too. My account was hijacked and I had money slowly drained from my checking account. Got it all back thankfully. I still sell on Ebay and accept only checks and Money Orders.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[Brian in Oregon]

thats a pipe dream to think the USPS will get involved. I hear this all the time and never has the Post office gone after any money. Especially the small amounts.

 

[cwilk]

No offense taken.

The Post Office has a fraud department and will get involved. Local law enforcement is a good idea too but somebody already suggested that. You can also check the area and see if some local news channel has one of those consumer advocates who do news stories on scammers. Finally you could serve and sue the person if you can locate them.

From a practical point of view, the amount of effort any agency puts into pursuing this scumbag depends on the amount of money involved and the number of people involved. Chances are this is not an isolated incident. A real bulldog is invaluable. There is also the matter of collection which will probably be more difficult.

I speak from experience. I recovered $643.00 that I was scammed out of on Ebay in the very early days. I found a postal inspector in Tallahassee Florida named J.R. Gonzalez who was my bulldog. He confided in me that there was only a slight chance that I would recover any money but he could send out letters and follow up with local law enforcement for me. They made this girls life pretty difficult for three months. She was questioned several times and finally agreed to refund my money if they would stop their investigation. I just dug the file out and saw how much time and money I put into recovering this money and it was probably at least 50 hours and at least 200 dollars. I would have spent a lot more. I also recall when the check cleared I phoned Mr. Gonzalez and said now lets put her in jail. I was willing to spend more money to travel to Florida and testify at her trial. Mr. Gonzalez just laughed and said I should be real happy I got paid.

Finally, the $643.00 meant very little to me and it was all principal in this case. I received the payment shortly after 9/11 and donated it to a local charity to completely wash my hands of the matter. I should probably toss the file but I keep it in hopes that if this person scams somebody else I might be able to assist.

Best,
Chris

 

[Brian in Oregon]

sometimes you got to fight instead of rolling over. From the responses I've read from people who have gotten scammed with Postal MO's, the Post Office wont even get excited unless its in the thousands. Brian

 

[cwilk]

Yep, sometimes you have to fight. I recently had an acquaintance take 10 bucks from my pile of money on a bar at a local watering hole. I watched him do it from across the room. It was no mistake. He rearranged my money and moved my drink and smokes around to hide his actions. I told him if he had asked me for money I would have given it to him but since he took it we had a problem. Cooler heads prevailed, he returned my ten bucks and was asked to leave and not come back.

A tangent, I know, but your first sentence got me to thinking about it. A few people asked why I was making such a big deal over ten lousy dollars. It was the only way to handle it in my mind.

As for the case of the missing metal detector. It gets me so angry to hear about somebody losing their money like this. I always read this forum but this was the first thread I posted on (I think.) I love to see what you Minelab guys are finding! The guys on the Garrett forum are used to my long, winded posts!

Best,
Chris

 

[Rick(ND)]

I think someone let them know what is going on and they checked it out and pulled the ad.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Chris I haven't rolled yet.

 

[brissietex]

Too many scammers out there now on it and it seems the last few times, I bid on something, I got outbid in the final minute of the auction. Turns out that there is a program out there that let's you wait to bid in the final minute of the auction. This sucks because I found out that I was outbid at the same moment the auction was over. It is a small loophole in Ebay bidding and is very unfair to the bidder who has a good bid on an item but may want make another bid after being outbidded <sp? :>. I now only buy from registered dealers on Ebay using the buy it now option unless the item is less than 100 bucks and not something I really want so losing the bid is no big worries.

Here in Australia, we have a very good auction site called Gray's Online that if a bid is made in the final 15 minutes of the auction, the auction is extended for another 15 minutes (and so on for a set # of times before a final close). This is similar to a real auction where the higher bidder who really wants the item, will bid until he has exhausted his price limit. To avoid 'padding bids' ie someone who is a fake bidder to run up a bid, your credit card is registered and tracked by the service and a fee is charged on top of the item so very little dodgy bidding going on.

cheers...Keith

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I think if Ebay doesn't protect their customer base better the ones who follow the rules they will loose business and become a second rate classified post.Too many Ebay customer's are becoming disenchanted with the crooks,scam's and excess fees.