1968 Help needed in Arizona: E bay seller has my $$$

[classicsguy]

I purchased a 1968 GT/CS in Arizona and won auction. Wire transfered the money before the 72 hour deadline, Informed seller .Seller re listed car for 3 days and sold it for more money and promised to return my money once he got it. He received it at his bank on December 14 2008. Confirmed by seller and promised to return the money as soon as it got to his bank. Then came excuses like his wife got into a car accident and could not go to bank since she was the only one authorized. After a lot of promises he finally told me on January 9 2009 that he will send me the money at the latest January 13 2009. I have been calling him since that date and all phone messages have been un answered and also the e mails. This is what I have done:

Complain to the resolution center at e bay.

Filed an IC3 (iNTERNET CRIME)

Reported by phone to the Phoenix police dpt.

Just closed case at e bay and refered it to the Safety and Trust team.

Note: Since I am in Puerto Rico I am not covered by E bay protection program.


Any help or advice from someone in the area is WELCOME!!

Jon Hanna the administrator of this site knows about this case since he lives there and has been trying to help me.


When seller re listed item I advised e bay that I paid for the item and I believe that they should have stopped that auction until my matter was resolved. They did not do it.Kept telling to communicate with seller.

I have sellers phone number,name e mail and mailing address.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide!!

 

[franklinair]

Luis,
I can't believe this world! I surely wish you luck in recouping your $$$. Was this the 'T' code C/S?

Neil

 

[classicsguy]

Luis,
I can't believe this world! I surely wish you luck in recouping your $$$. Was this the 'T' code C/S?

Neil

Yes it was Neill!! Thanks for the good wishes!!

 

[njmop]

Ask the other buyer if he got the car

Find out if the "buyer" of the car 3 days later had the same problem as you (if his/her ebay ID was listed in the second auction).

I had a similar experience online where I bought some rims and tires. It turns out 3 other people had "bought" the same rims and tires from the guy. We all got the "I shipped them" and "they were stolen" and "why are you bothering me" type of responses. I also filed an internet crime report, but only got my money back because I used paypal. Paypal gave me money money back, but not from the bad seller.

The seller got away with ripping off 3 people for about $2200.

I wish I had good news for you, but these things are tough to enforce.

Good luck.

 

[classicsguy]

Find out if the "buyer" of the car 3 days later had the same problem as you (if his/her ebay ID was listed in the second auction).

I had a similar experience online where I bought some rims and tires. It turns out 3 other people had "bought" the same rims and tires from the guy. We all got the "I shipped them" and "they were stolen" and "why are you bothering me" type of responses. I also filed an internet crime report, but only got my money back because I used paypal. Paypal gave me money money back, but not from the bad seller.

The seller got away with ripping off 3 people for about $2200.

I wish I had good news for you, but these things are tough to enforce.

Good luck.

Thanks njmop: Apparently the other sale went well and seller had good feedback. I filed the IC3 report but the problem is that I dont know if the case is being investigated since they do not provide that service. The IC3 only studies the case and then refers it to the proper agencies and they are the ones that have the power to investigate.

Lets see what happens..... Thanks for feedback!!

 

[66hcs-conv]

Do you have the town where this guy lives? If so you can contact that local police. If he (or she) is in the Phoenix area, that is probably Maricopa county, where Sheriff Joe operates. He is a no BS guy, ya might want to contact the Maricopa county sheriff.

If you have a phone #, give me the area code and the first three digits of the phone # (called the NPA - NXX) & I can tell you what TELCO office that phone originates from.

Dave

 

[PNewitt]

I'm really sorry to hear about this.

No fault of your own, but I'd think that in these desperate economic times, and with thousands of jobs lost, people are doing this kind of thing.

Overall, I think people should be very leery of doing business like this on line, etc.

A flight out there, and buying it in person (might have been) would be a better plan for others out there considering buying any kind of collector car.

Just my two bits--again my sympathy and support to you.

Paul.

 

[HappyHour]

Hey "Classics" thanks for sharing this post and educating us on malicious intent of some sellers. Its great to see the forum helping another member with possible avenues on getting your money back. Im sure this was very distressful being that far away.

I think you followed prudent guidelines in contacting eBay but their conflict of interest in apparent (even if you search the web). I was pretty pissed off after reading this post I called my friend at eBay and bitched her out for working there. Sorry I couldnt help directly.

In any case good luck and Ill be watching for your money to be returned!

 

[classicsguy]

Hey "Classics" thanks for sharing this post and educating us on malicious intent of some sellers. Its great to see the forum helping another member with possible avenues on getting your money back. Im sure this was very distressful being that far away.

I think you followed prudent guidelines in contacting eBay but their conflict of interest in apparent (even if you search the web). I was pretty pissed off after reading this post I called my friend at eBay and bitched her out for working there. Sorry I couldnt help directly.

In any case good luck and Ill be watching for your money to be returned!

UPDATE: I found out that the seller that auctioned car on e bay its not his. The seller that advertised it on craigslist is still the owner of the car and has the car and title. The car is still in Phoenix.He may have scammed me and another buyer on e bay since he re-listed car and sold it. Thanks all for the good wishes!!!

 

[PFSlim]

Keep us posted on how this turns out. Maybe a good lesson for all of us to learn from. I hope the best for you and hope everything works out.

Paul

 

[robert campbell]

I hate to ask what the feedback was on this E-Bay seller?

Rob

 

[classicsguy]

I hate to ask what the feedback was on this E-Bay seller?

Rob

Feedback on seller was 100%positive,I checked that out

 

[Robbie273]

Classicsguy,

Is the problem solved yet? I live in Phoenix and if I can help in anyway let me know. Is this the 6 cyl white car with black stripes? If so I talked with the owner when the car was listed here locally.

Rob

 

[classicsguy]

Classicsguy,

Is the problem solved yet? I live in Phoenix and if I can help in anyway let me know. Is this the 6 cyl white car with black stripes? If so I talked with the owner when the car was listed here locally.

Rob

Thanks for offering help. No the problem still is not solved. Yes it was the White car with the black stripes. Owner that listed on Craigslist is named Chuck and still has car. Supposedly his "business partner" asked him to let him take pictures to put in e bay and he did. He listed it on e bay and i won the auction sent wire transfer and never delivered the car nor has he returned the money. Any help with law enforcement or maybe a lawyer can be helpful. Any help or advice is welcome!! Thanks again!!

 

[admin]

This whole situation puts a knot in my stomach and I really hope classicsguy gets his money back in the end.

It's a good reminder to us all about the dangers of buying cars that aren't local. The frustrating part is that classicsguy thought he was doing things correctly. He did buy it sight unseen, but he contacted a local member (me) to be his eyes and evaluate the car for him. I went to see the car twice, took tons of photos w/ captions documenting the car, took video and test drove it. I met the seller and shook his hand and BS'ed about Mustangs with him. Classicsguy knew exactly what he was getting with the car.

The problem occurred with the actual payment. The person selling the car on eBay was not the person I met and turned out not to even be in possession of the car or title. In retrospect classicsguy should have either flown here and physically handed over the money or used a brokerage service, which is a 3rd party company that holds the money until the vehicle has been transferred. Although there are plenty of scam brokerage services out there as well.

Anyway, I certainly don't post to rub salt in the wound. I only post in hopes that other members can learn from classicguy's misfortune.

 

[Midnight Special]

Jon, could the guy you shook hands with be used as either a witness (or accomplice) in this matter for possible prosecution (if you know what I mean)? This whole thing is beyond "fishy" and I don't see him as above board either. Who among us would show or sell a car for someone else and expect to walk away knowing it's a scam?? It seems to me that there is still plenty to work with here re; getting cg's money returned or getting someone tossed in jail! (unless the guy ran off to Mexico)

 

[admin]

Yes, the original seller (the real seller) could be used as a witness. I told him last night he could expect to see the police at his door if this doesn't get resolved quickly.

This whole thing is beyond "fishy" and I don't see him as above board either. Who among us would show or sell a car for someone else and expect to walk away knowing it's a scam??

You may be correct that he's not above board, but just to keep it straight, he (the real seller) didn't show or sell the car for someone else. The eBay seller is who did that and I think it's very clear that he's not above board.

In my opinion there are two things that could help speed the process of getting the money back.

1. An police officer in uniform showing up at the eBay seller's front door.
2. A nasty letter from a lawyer threatening legal action and civil lawsuit.

Not sure if there are any criminal attorneys as members here, but thought if so they may be able to give some advise or write a quick letter.

 

[PonyGal]

I have recently heard that eBay is having a problem with "Shill" (non-existant) Auctions where a scammer lists an item for sale that they do not have. They create an auction page as you would with any item even posting pictures with a great description of the item. They may download pictures from the internet, or, in case of cars, actually go to see cars that are for sale and take pictures telling the seller he/she wants to "check with someone else and show them the pictures before making a decision". Then they take bids on the item just like it was a real auction and when the winning bidder sends payment, the buyer never receives the item and the unscupulous seller is never heard from again.

This just may be the case here. Good luck classicsguy and I really hope you get your $$$ back!!

 

[Midnight Special]

...Excellent Jon, Thanks! Boy, I sure hope this has a happy ending for "classicsguy"!

Renee - Congrats on the new car again!! 'Can't wait to see it

 

[franklinair]

The scary thing about this scenario is that it seems to be Sooo simple to pull a scam on E-bay. Apparently E-bay has no means of authenticating legitimate auction items. Is there liability on E-bay's part? Luis said in his earlier post that E-bay told him he had no protection because he lives in PR That's B.S. Last I heard they're still part of the good'ole USA, and the fraud took place on & thru E-bay's website (a US company). Seems to me it's time for a fraud investigation (possibly involving E-bay) and criminal action against the low life in AZ.

Neil (REALLY P.O.'d) Hoppe

P.S.
I've bought 2 cars thru E-bay (a C/S & a '68 conv). I promise - there won't be another if E-bay doesn't make this right for Luis. Carve that in stone.
P.P.S.
Jon; I'd take the E-bay listings on the left hand column off the page. I would not affilliate with what I consider an unsafe business practice that doesn't protect their customers. And I for one, won't.