Screwed over by Paypal and a cretin. Please help.

[anagrama]

OK folks, I'm hoping someone can help me here, 'cos as it stands it looks like I'm out of pocket by £20 and a NES:

Back in July I sold this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3617&item=2742740294) NES to a guy called Brent Cerka (eBay id: vintagebedhead).
He's located in the US, and while I thought it unusual that he'd want a PAL machine, it was clearly stated in the auction title.
He paid via Paypal ($80 including shipping - 'Hell', I thought, 'He must really want this if he'll pay that much to ship it from the UK'), and I packaged the machine up and posted it.
I supppose I really shouldn't have been surprised when, a week or so later I get an email saying:

" I did recieve the system, BUT it has the wrong ac adapter that is not
compatible with our plug ins, so therefor it is useless to me. I do believe
that neither your picture or your description did not notate that so, I will
send it back and I would like a full refund on the system and a full refund
on shipping as well. Any questions just let me know.
I would like to get this taken care of ASAP
Thanks
vintagebedhead"

To which I replied:

"Brent,
I am afraid that is simply not possible. My auction clearly described it as a PAL
(European) machine, and the AC adaptor is clearly visible in the phonto.
If you had asked any questions regarding compatability etc. prior to bidding, I would have been happy to assist in any way I could.
To quote from eBay: "Your bid is a contract - Place a bid only if you're
serious about buying the item. If you are the winning bidder, you will enter into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller. You should
contact the seller to resolve any questions before bidding."
I believe a NES uses a fairly common 9V power supply, and would imagine that any Radioshack or similar electrical store would be able to provide an AC adaptor which will fit an American socket.
Regards,
James"


He replied:

"James
Well I did get an adapter at Radioshack and it did make the system
work.
When I tried to play a game it worked for 2 levels and the game was
black
and white, after trying to play a different game it just showed a blank
screen whenever I tried and it will not work. What now? I have tried
everything and I have not yet made a response to your ebay account,
Hopefully now after trying everything you will now help me out! I hope
we
can resolve this
vintagebedhead"

I explained that it was black and white because of the PAL / NTSC difference, and offered to refund his £18 bid price (but not shipping) if he returned the machine to me. That was on the 4th of August, and was the last contact I had.

Then, this morning, I found an email from Paypal Chargeback division saying I'd had a complaint filed against me from a user "regarding merchandise
received damaged or not as originally described".
I figured that it wouldn't be a problem once I explained the situation, since he did receive it, and it was exactly as described, so I wrote a response, incuding his emails to me (which prove he received it), and, though somewhat irked, put it out of my mind.
Then tonight, I get home, check my Paypal account and discover that the $80 has been removed. I phone Paypal's customer support line and are told that the buyer has instructed his credit card company to cancel the payment (2 months later!) and that since I couldn't provide the postage tracking number (it was over 2 months ago, I'd thrown it out) there was basically nothing they could do. The guy on the other end told me to email chargeback-appeal1@paypal.com, since he couldn't cancel it AND keep the NES, but admitted that there was, frankly, little chance of getting the money back [and how exactly are Paypal going to make him post the NES back to me?].

So what can I do? I'll email Paypal, but want to wait until I've calmed down a little beforehand.
Has anyone else had similar experiences? Frankly, I'm amazed he can do this so easily, so long after the fact, especially since I have done nothing wrong, but now have neither the machine or the money.

Surprisingly enough, I'm rather pissed off.

[jonjandran]

There really isn't anything you can do. The Buyer has all the rights with E-Bay and Pay-pal. Just take it as a lesson learned.
Even if you had the Delivery Confirmation # , Pay-pal would still give him his money back with the "merchandise not as described" thing. I've had it happen to me.

[Raccoon Lad]

Since when does £20 equal $80?

[TRM]

Damn. Just reading that pisses me off, and I wasn't the one who got screwed!

[anagrama]

Since when does £20 equal $80?

$80 (£49) was the total including shipping. The final bid price was £18, plus postage/packing at £31. I realise I contradicted myself above, but I am out of pocket by $80, since I've already paid to ship it to him.

Anyway, I've had an email response from Paypal, and apparantly they'll look into it, but I'm not too hopeful about getting anything back. Fingers crossed.

[Raccoon Lad]

Why the hell would anyone pay £31 shipping on a NES?
That buyer's an idiot, I would have made him keep the damn thing if he was stupid enough to buy a system from overseas expecting it to work perfectly on his TV.
He obviosly must have wanted an NES, but why not get one from the US? @_@

[Lost Monkey]

I think the ONLY way Paypal might help you out here is if the buyer has a history of this type of behaviour.


*NOTE TO ALL: Put this guy (vintagebedhead) on your blocked bidder list!

[Buyatari]

Why the hell would anyone pay £31 shipping on a NES?
That buyer's an idiot

Well that buyer just got that NES for free.

Sounds more like a thief than an idioit to me. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Its too bad you didn't post this here sooner I bet one of the collectors here would have traded him a US one for his PAL version.

You ALWAYS have to keep your receipts its going to be hard to prove anything now.

1st try the obvious approach. Email him and see if he will mail you your unit back to you.

Let us know what happens then. If you need to get nasty we can help you but hopefully he will send your unit back now that he has his money.

Adam

[Queen Of The Felines]

Also be sure to leave negative feedback stating "Bidder is blind, illiterate, and a big fat fucking dumbass."

Just kidding, of course.

Maybe.

Kristine

[GrandAmChandler]

I think there have been similar "buyer scams" posted on here before. So if you have the tracking number, then your but is covered right? I think I will start a folder with all my tracking numbers in it, just for this reason....

[jonjandran]

I think there have been similar "buyer scams" posted on here before. So if you have the tracking number, then your but is covered right? I think I will start a folder with all my tracking numbers in it, just for this reason....

No your but is not covered if you have the tracking #.
The buyer claimed "merchandise not as described , defective"
This is a different issue than "merchandise not sent"
Most likely the buyer gets his money back and Pay-pal doesn't even make him send it back.

[ddockery]

From the description, I would say that he really didn't know the difference from PAL to NTSC and was an idiot. He probably also later realized how ridiculous the price was. These two things then pissed him off, and he then decided to become a theif as well. What an asshole. In the future, if anyone outside a PAL area, you should probably make sure they realize what they are getting.

[Vroomfunkel]

Well, it's not much help now, but I suggest keeping the guy on "Favourite Sellers" and when he lists anything, we can all bid ridiculous amounts, pay him with Paypal and then return his favour :evil:

It has got to the stage where if anyone from the US wins any auction of mine, I will question whether they understand the difference between PAL and NTSC before I send anything off. I hate to do it, because it is patronising for those that do, but I have had, and heard, far too many bad experiences in this respect. Plus people who bid from overseas and then complain when the postage is more! Some guy from Norway won an auction for a box load of Megadrive stuff I sold a while back, and then complained when I said the postage would be higher ... I mean, c'mon!!!

Tirian

[BigBoogie]

gete paypal to ask him how it was "not as described" you described it right you should not lose your $$. Keep on them, call them, you never know.

[anagrama]

Well, I've emailed chargeback-appeal1@paypal.com, giving them a full explanation of the situation. Apparantly their investigation will take 30 days, but I'm not too hopeful about a positive outcome, even though the machine WAS exactly as described and DID reach him. I've emailed the buyer aswell, asking for the console back but have had no response yet.

In the past, I have usually made sure that anyone in the US bidding on my PAL items know what they are getting, but I guess I let it slip this time.
The pain in the arse is that, while Paypal are investigating it, my account is £50 in the red, so when I list a great bunch of stuff this weekend, the first £50-worth is going to go covering this.

[Buyatari]

No your but is not covered if you have the tracking #.
The buyer claimed "merchandise not as described , defective"
This is a different issue than "merchandise not sent"
Most likely the buyer gets his money back and Pay-pal doesn't even make him send it back.

Paypal didn't give the guy his money back

The credit card company did. You can tell the credit card company ANYTHING and they will reverse the charges.

For paypal all you need is the receipt. He will need to reciept to prove fraud if he does not recieve his item back.

Adam

[anagrama]

I've heard back from the buyer now, and apparantly he's already shipped the NES back to me, but has sent it by surface rate, meaning that I can expect it in around six weeks. :angry:
So, assuming that it eventually arrives and that I can re-sell it for a similar amount, I'm still out on the £30 postage, but I guess I'm going to have to write that off as a lesson learned since I very much doubt Paypal will help me now he's returned it. Grr.