Dealing With The Deceivers On Ebay?

[elysee]

Earlier this year, there was a seller on eBay who had a listing for a Caran D'Ache fountain pen. However, the listing was truly for a Colibri fountain pen with a steel nib which was put into a Caran D'Ache box. I contacted the seller about the pen to inform him of the problem and he replied with a kind thank you for the information. Yet, he continued the listing. Fortunately, no one purchased the pen.

 

Then, a few weeks later, the same listing was posted again. I contacted the seller again and, this time, he tried to claim that Caran D'Ache made the pen. So, I found the pen on the Colibri site and sent him the information about his pen as well as introduced the seller to the difference between a Caran D'Ache pen and a Colibri pen. Again, he kindly thanked me and continued the listing. Fortunately, once again, no one purchased the pen.

 

The seller, yet AGAIN, listed the pen in the same manner a few weeks later. Since the original listing had irked me so much, I had been watching for the second and, then, third listing of this pen. We had yet another round of "this is not a Caran D'Ache pen" with the same thank you and continued listing of the pen. Sooooooooo, since the seller had reposted and continued this fraudulent listing, now, three times, I reported the listing as, this third time, there were folks, other than me, watching the listing. The listing was removed. Unfortunately, with final exams and grading demanding my attention, I was not able to check eBay to determine if the pen was listed to trap unsuspecting buyers of holiday gifts.

 

My habit has always been to contact sellers whose listings contain errors/problems. This has always been an enjoyable experience which has resulted in several eBay friends. However, last fall when the above described pen was posted on eBay, providing correction and appropriate information did not seem to work, prompting me to report the listing to the powers-that-be of eBay.

 

How do you deal with incorrect/problematic auction listings?

[inkstainedruth]

Can you report the seller to Ebay? I know that if you had bought the pen and it was not as advertised you can open a dispute if the seller did not make good. But in this case I'm not sure what the correct response would be.

I had some issues with a seller a while back -- the item was as described, just seriously overpriced, and "relisted" -- at the original asking price (as opposed to what I had paid, which was still about double what the pen is probably worth) as soon as I hit the pay button. Seller then claimed that there were multiple (identical) items. (Yeah, right -- several identical third tier pens with identical nibs from a different company....) I don't remember now what I did, other than to make a note to myself not to ever deal with that seller again (but I think I may not left positive feedback).

I did point out to the seller that $100 for a third tier pen was wishful thinking (at best) on his part; I might have gone so far as to suggest that if he thought he'd get that kind of money he was smoking something not legal in most states. I did see that one of the "duplicates" went for over $40, though.... I had been worried that it was some sort of scam, and that it was just a single pen that was being repeatedly "sold" and then never sent.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[OcalaFlGuy]

You have done More than your due diligence.

 

It is time to let Maxwell's Silver hammer of Fleabay come down upon his head.

 

Report his ass.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Sasha Royale]

Would it be worth a temporary investment of $100 to "put the screws" to him via Ebay Buyer Protection ?

 

Some of us can afford to be NASTY . It's fun.

[elysee]

Can you report the seller to Ebay?

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Every eBay listing has a "Report" hyperlink, , next to the "Print" hyperlink on the right-hand side above the item number (above the line separating the "Description" and "Shipping and payment" tab sections. There are many reasons/criteria for reporting listings including that the item is misrepresented/fraudulent.

[elysee]

Would it be worth a temporary investment of $100 to "put the screws" to him via Ebay Buyer Protection ?

 

Some of us can afford to be NASTY . It's fun.

 

Unfortunately, this seller wanted more than $200 for his "Caran D'Ache" pen; the starting price for the pen did increase by the third listing.

Edited June 27, 2014 by elysee

[richardandtracy]

Then it's the report button. Post a link to the sale & we'll all report it. If there's a flood of reports E-Bay shouldn't be able to ignore it.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[novarider]

Then it's the report button. Post a link to the sale & we'll all report it. If there's a flood of reports E-Bay shouldn't be able to ignore it.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

In that case everyone please report this one. I contacted the seller and he responded with a thank you but the listing continued. I reported it to ebay and it is still continuing.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MONTEBLANC-BOHEME-FOUNTAIN-PEN-IRIDIUM-POINT-MADE-IN-GERMANY-/360971246655?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item540b901c3f

[jar]

In that case everyone please report this one. I contacted the seller and he responded with a thank you but the listing continued. I reported it to ebay and it is still continuing.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MONTEBLANC-BOHEME-FOUNTAIN-PEN-IRIDIUM-POINT-MADE-IN-GERMANY-/360971246655?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item540b901c3f

I too contacted the seller with the same results and so have also reported the item.

 

My experience in general has been that most people when politely informed of a replica or mislabeled item do take them down or change the description, but after I contact them if no changes are made it gets reported.

[Paul80]

Is it really worth reporting these sellers to eBay, do they ever do anything about them.

 

I have lost count of the number of times I Have reported sellers of Fake Montblanc pens to eBay and never ever seen a listing pulled as a result, every single one has been allowed to run. Hopefully they will act a bit quicker if the buyer finds out it fake but I bet most don't or if they do it will be after the 60 day cutoff for complaints.

 

You have to be vary cearfull on eBay, both as a buyer and a seller, there are a lot of scam sellers and scam buyers out there, be careful folks.

 

Paul

[jar]

Is it really worth reporting these sellers to eBay, do they ever do anything about them.

 

I have lost count of the number of times I Have reported sellers of Fake Montblanc pens to eBay and never ever seen a listing pulled as a result, every single one has been allowed to run. Hopefully they will act a bit quicker if the buyer finds out it fake but I bet most don't or if they do it will be after the 60 day cutoff for complaints.

 

You have to be vary cearfull on eBay, both as a buyer and a seller, there are a lot of scam sellers and scam buyers out there, be careful folks.

 

Paul

 

Yes. I have seem almost all of the ones I report pulled.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

The only specific examples I remember where I contacted the seller for something like this concerned vintage safety razors. In both cases, the seller did modify the listing. I'd included links to demonstrate the point, since these people had no reason to accept some pseudonymous eBay member as an expert without evidence.

 

I suppose if the seller didn't respond to the correction, or kept the listing up anyway, then I'd use the report button. I go long periods without looking at eBay, though, and my searches are pretty selective, so there's a limit to how much I can catch.