Re: [CR]Ebay,PayPal, buyers advantage?

(Example: Racing:Jacques Boyer)

Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 21:30:59 -0800 (PST)
From: "Peter Naiman" <hetchinspete1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Ebay,PayPal, buyers advantage?
To: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>, Greg Lone <gwlone@yahoo.ca>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <20061107034004.13413.qmail@web82201.mail.mud.yahoo.com>


Jerry; I've had mixed results with Ebay as well. Personally I've found customer service reps at both Ebay and Paypal very helpful on the phone, especially since in the last year I've had my Ebay Account broken into more than once by scam artists.

As for settling claims, neither Paypal or Ebay are much help, as it seems both are only interested in bottom line profit. I'm sure most list members have noticed Ebays rise in fee structure.

I will agree, however as a scource of parts Ebay is invaluable to us, and as long we do our homework and purchase from sellers with good track records, the vast majority of sales are successful without problems.

Best regards, Peter Naiman Glendale, WI

Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote: In the instance of my claim, I did not quite receive a full refund either. I think it may be a case of PayPal taking the refund out of the seller's PayPal balance. So if the balance is less than your claim, you may receive only a partial refund. But that is a lot more than eBay will usually do for a buyer. I've never gotten any help at all from eBay to resolve a complaint.

Of course, from the seller's point of view, PayPal is sometimes seen as unfair, as I have heard reputable sellers complain about having unjustified refunds for fraudulent claims taken out of their balances. So I'm not saying PayPal is so wonderful, but I do believe they favor buyers, and since I only buy on eBay, that is in my favor.

Of course the good thing is that maybe 99% of eBay transactions, at least for classic bikes, are done with no problems at all, so many of us, myself included, have done hundreds of transactions with only a handful of problems. In perspective, eBay and PayPal have been a tremendous benefit to the hobby, especially if you live in a place like West Texas, which is not exactly a hotbed of cycling, and where it is therefore impossible to pick up the bits you need at garage sales and swap meets.

Regards,

Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas

Peter Naiman <hetchinspete1@yahoo.com> wrote: Jerry; Not sure if I totally agree with your assessment of Paypal. I purchased a bike through UK Ebay in September, and after paying through Paypal, didn't hear a word from the seller for over six weeks. I wrote the seller through Ebay a few times over a few weeks seeking a tracking number and also tried calling the seller, with no reply. I filed a complaint with Paypal and upped to a claim at Paypal's customer service reps advice. After a few weeks Paypal emailed and sent me a refund of L105.00 Brittish Pounds. I paid L450.00 Brittish Pounds for the bike, shipping included.

I never replied to Paypal as luckily the bike arrived just as I got the last note of refund by Paypal, but considering what I paid, I'm curious as to why Paypal only sent a refund of L105. The seller was on a long vacation and that's why I never recieved a reply. There was minor damage to a pair of Pre-war Bluemels fenders due to poor packing by the seller, so we're currently working out a fair price to replace them

Best regards, Peter Naiman Glendale, WI

Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Actually, if you are a buyer, PayPal is better than their parent company eBay. At least they will often accept a legitimate claim. eBay on the other hand completely favors sellers. Their complaint process is a complete joke. Even in cases of obvious and flagrant misrepresentation, they never find enough grounds to force the seller to make good. Moral is, if you don't know the seller, try to pay with PayPal and a credit card. At least that way you may have someone willing to assist you if things go bad.

Regards,

Jerry Moos, Big Spring, Republic of Texas

Greg Lone wrote: I am currently embroiled in my first dispute with a EBay seller. {bicletaville in Roseburg OR } I "won" a early 60's Bianchi Specialisma frame ,with quite good original paint. I like original paint. The box arrived UPS with a accompanying brokerage fee and taxes.{$60.00} The box was in near perfect condition .When opened, I found a very well wrapped frame. when unwrapped I immediately saw significant "impact damage' to the bottom of the head tube and down tube, the thing had clearly been crashed at some time in the past. The seller had stated that other than minor paint blemishes it was in great condition. His photos in the listing weren't great but led one to think it was a nice original frame. I Emailed my findings to him ,his reply; it was perfect when shipped , go chase UPS. Knowing I would be laughed out of UP S's office I lodged a dispute with EBay. Fine, get a repair est .from a third party and their opinion as to why the item materially differed from the listing description. My LBS happily provided all with little problem and modest cost. Submit to pay pal, fine claim accepted. Now I have to return the frame and wait for whatever Pay Pal decides to refund me. The refund will not include the brokerage fee ,the Canadian tax, the charge for the repair estimate and letter from the LBS. My time and trouble to take it back across the U.S. border to UPS it back to the seller, not always a easy proposition in this post 911era. Finally the shipping charge back to the louse who sold it to me in the first place. All in all I will be out at least $100.00 {on a item which only sold for a little over $100.00] and have nothing to show for it other than a very bad taste in my mouth. I must say I have bought vintage parts from over 100 EBay sellers {including several list members} with normally great results. However I find EBay's and Pay pal's handling of problems like this one to fall far short of satisfactory.

Greg Lone Langley British Columbia Canada

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