Whereupon my jaw hits the floor....

[CatsLairArchives]

AKA 'Who is the bigger idiot'.

While searching for a used laptop, I came upon THIS description that makes me want to be abducted by aliens and removed from this insane asylum known as PLANET EARTH....

HP Pavilion dv5-1004nr
Status: Used, for PARTS - NOT WORKING
Physical Condition: 3 of 5
Includes: Laptop, Battery (dead), AC Adapter/Charger, Original Vista Restore Disc
Specifications:
2.10 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 ZM-80 Processor
4.0 GB Memory (RAM)
160 GB Hard Drive
DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
256 MB Graphics Memory
15.4" Display
1280 x 800 Resolution
Webcam
WiFi
Ethernet
Notes:
This item is used. The unit shows moderate signs of wear and tear including scuff marks, scratches, and worn finishes. This item is a customer return. The unit was in good working order 2 weeks ago, but the customer returned it with the lid completely broken off and the screen no longer displays an image. It is unknown what the customer did to the unit to cause the damage, but currently the unit does not display an image on the screen. The unit powers on, but nothing is displayed on the screen. External video was tested, but no image was displayed. The battery holds a momentary (small) charge, but Windows and the BIOS recommend replacing the battery. When the computer turns on initially it typically displays a message concerning the battery. It is unknown which parts are in need of repair or replacement. No guarantee of future performance is made on any of the individual parts or the whole. The item is sold AS IS with the cited defects.

[sms001]

Assuming "lid" = "screen?"

uhm, yes. Because of my many years of experience in the computer industry, I think I can diagnose this hardware problem.

And LOVE these lines: "Physical Condition: "3 of 5" & "moderate signs of wear and tear"

"Tear" being the operative word in that last I suppose. Sigh.

[PepperElf]

The unit shows moderate signs of wear and tear

O_o Moderate wear and tear?

That's not moderate - that's "broken". The top lid (LCD) is one of the MOST EXPENSIVE parts to replace on a computer. (the other is the motherboard). And if the video-out ports don't work too... what good is it?

At this point it sounds like it's only good for parts. Or for float-testing.

[CatsLairArchives]

Well, I found out some more on this.

Come to find out, the poor seller was FORCED to refund by the a------s at fleabay/paypal or get penalized in other ways - damned if you do, damned if you don't.

And yes, in my experience with fleabay/paypal, I have seen such criminal activities not only happen but in certain cases fleabay even actively helped in the commission of crimes.


MODERATORS/ADMINISTRATORS,
I am curious - what would you do to me if I posted the criminal's information...
After all, they are a SC of the highest magnitude, and should not be allowed to get away with it...

[Rapscallion]

MODERATORS/ADMINISTRATORS,
I am curious - what would you do to me if I posted the criminal's information...
After all, they are a SC of the highest magnitude, and should not be allowed to get away with it...

We're not a vigilante service. Paypal/Ebay etc have procedures for this, and there's the civil law enforcement options.

Rapscallion

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Well, I found out some more on this.

Come to find out, the poor seller was FORCED to refund by the a------s at fleabay/paypal or get penalized in other ways - damned if you do, damned if you don't.

And yes, in my experience with fleabay/paypal, I have seen such criminal activities not only happen but in certain cases fleabay even actively helped in the commission of crimes.

Well yeah. Ebay's policy is to kiss the buyer's ass, and fuck the seller in the ass.

The account selling the computer can't even give the buyer negative feedback to warn other that he/she is a moron of colossal proportions. In ebay's world the buyer is always right.

It boggles my mind why anybody who has only a few things to sell would even consider using ebay anymore. Their policies are geared toward sellers selling in high volumes and kicking over lots of fees to ebay. You get one moron like this as a buyer and you're done if you don't sell much.

If they were stupid enough to resell the computer on ebay, I bet they'll get some other cretin buying it, who'll then claim to be "unaware" of the extent of the damage to it and force a return and a refund.

[CatsLairArchives]

We're not a vigilante service. Paypal/Ebay etc have procedures for this, and there's the civil law enforcement options.

Rapscallion

Rapscallion, fleabay/paypal routinely ignore their own policies and rules - I have seen it happen countless times, and even have some of them documented. The only thing they care about are collecting fees and keeping their stock prices either stable or rising.

Case in point - a seller called 'stop4bargains' began ripping off EVERY person who bought from him, taking the money and not shipping the items. Fleabay was notified, and they not only did nothing to stop him, they actually HELPED him by making his feedback private without his knowledge, made it harder for bidders/buyers to contact each other to warn of the massive fraud, and allowed him to continue selling - and ripping people off - for another 2 1/2 months before he finally closed his account on his own and walked away......

AFTER RIPPING OFF OVER 400 PEOPLE FOR NEARLY 6,000 DOLLARS


ALSO, have you ever stopped to wonder WHY fleabay changed the bidding lists from actual usernames to anonymous character strings....

It WASN'T to protect bidders - it was to hide the fact that a number of sellers were using second accounts to bid on their own items to increase the price. And they did that after they were shown proof that sellers were doing so - in violation of fleabay's rules.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

ALSO, have you ever stopped to wonder WHY fleabay changed the bidding lists from actual usernames to anonymous character strings....

It WASN'T to protect bidders - it was to hide the fact that a number of sellers were using second accounts to bid on their own items to increase the price. And they did that after they were shown proof that sellers were doing so - in violation of fleabay's rules.

1. They claimed it was to stop scams involving "second chance offers," which ebay may or may not still be doing. Either way, it was a stupid idea.

2. Shill bidding is not only against ebay's policies, it is a crime in many areas.

[CatsLairArchives]

2. Shill bidding is not only against ebay's policies, it is a crime in many areas.

Exactly, which is why - as is so typical with fleabay - they took steps to hide the problem. after all, if shill bidding causes an item to sell at a higher price, fleabay makes more money on the final value fees.

They acted the same way when the Romanian hacker VLADUZ was running amok through both fleabay's and paypal's servers - instead of fixing the serious security loopholes, they lied and said first that he got an admin password by phishing while assuring everyone that Vladuz did not have access to anything else. Vladuz promptly proved they were lying by suspending user's accounts, taking control of an account belonging to FLEABAY'S LAWYER, and posting the paypal information of 1,000's of users.

Fleabay ALSO seriously censored their forums, deleting wholesale any thread that talked about the hack or mentioned the hacker, in a desperate attempt to keep the public from finding out the truth - that fleabay and paypal are about as safe as walking naked through the middle-east with a sign proclaiming Muhammad was a b---ard.

And to this day, merely posting the name 'Vladuz' anywhere on fleabay's forums will get you suspended or even banned without warning.

[Dave1982]

Rapscallion, fleabay/paypal routinely ignore their own policies and rules

That's beside the point. Regardless of how eBay and Paypal conduct themselves, this forum is not the place to go on a crusade against anyone selling/buying there. CS is for venting about sucky customers, not for trying to exact any sort of revenge.

Also, going back to your original question, the site rules address that specifically:

10. No Disclosure of Personal Information
No posting of anyone’s personal information. No exceptions. Posting a member’s and/or customer’s personal information will result in an immediate banning.

Let's get back to the original subject, please.

[Hyndis]

I don't know why anyone buys computer stuff on Ebay anymore.

Its gotten so bad that if I see someone bought their part on Ebay, its more than even money that the part has been tampered with or is an outright fraud.

Also why most computer parts makers will refuse to honor any warranty of anything bought on Ebay. Ebay really is no better than buying stuff at a garage sale. You take your chances, and don't whine at the manufacturer if you got ripped off.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Ebay really is no better than buying stuff at a garage sale.

I don't believe that. At a yard sale you can at least look it over, and maybe even plug it in to try it out. Plus you don't have to pay shipping and handling charges. And I much prefer selling stuff at a yard sale instead of eBay. No refunds to scammers that way.

[Hyndis]

I don't believe that. At a yard sale you can at least look it over, and maybe even plug it in to try it out. Plus you don't have to pay shipping and handling charges. And I much prefer selling stuff at a yard sale instead of eBay. No refunds to scammers that way.

Hmm, good point. At least with a garage sale you can physically examine the goods before purchase, whereas on Ebay you need to hope that the seller is being honest with the pictures and description of the product.

They're almost never honest!

[Kristev]

I just use e-bay to buy "Magic" cards, and rare things you can't find anywhere else, when I have the money to spare.

[CatsLairArchives]

Hmm, good point. At least with a garage sale you can physically examine the goods before purchase, whereas on Ebay you need to hope that the seller is being honest with the pictures and description of the product.

They're almost never honest!

The procedure I use is thus:

1 - Find a item.
2 - search the seller's ID online to see if other sites have people complaining about them
3 - Use http://toolhaus.org to look over ALL of the sellers negative and neutral feedback.
4 - If seller is relatively 'clean' [no repeat complaints of non-working, poor shipping, non-shipping, etc] win item.
5 - Before sending payment, check seller's information through both whitepages.com and zabasearch.com to verify and cross-check name, address, and phone number match up.
6 - If they do, send payment. If they do not, either question them about it or simply tell them to go off.


For selling, the steps are easier. Just cross-check the buyer's name, address and phone to see if they are legit [I caught a buyer 2 years ago that signed up with phony info, using the address of a u-haul rental place and the phone number of a pizza hut]