Sewing Machine Ripoff

[Azura]

I found an online article (supposedly) by a guy who bought a factory second sewing machine from the same factory that makes Sailrites. His machine was labelled "Yamata" but was the same walking foot, high horsepower, zig zag stitch machine that Sailrite sells for $750. and he got it for $325. He goes into a lot of detail about the minor adjustments that he had to make to get it running correctly but was quite pleased with his purchase. The company that he ordered it through was "SpecBrands" AKA "eSPECTRONS CORP" and he gave a website address.

I ordered the same machine December 3rd, paid by PayPal and shortly after received a receipt stating that the machine was coming by standard shipping. After a few weeks I found that the website was gone, the phones disconnected, and my eMails were unanswered. PayPal was notified but they don't seem to be able to do anything. I'm out my $320. and have nothing to show for it. Don't let it happen to you!

[RaptorDance]

Did you pay with a Credit Card? If so you're protected by Reg-E and you will get 100% of your money back.

Regards,
Bill
Retired Bank Exec.

[Joli]

That sucks.

How is the boat coming along?

[Alan Wheeler]

Sorry to hear that John. I was ripped off for US$800 odd a few years back. It was a brand new Navman Auto Pilot. The guy had a fantastic description and even a Serial No. I now know what NOT to do. Never send a registered check via WesternUnion. I thought I was afe and tracked the entire thing online right to the point of where the guy signed for it. I had his signature, address, phone No.. But by the time I realised the package was not coming, it was too late. He had cleared out. Ebay was of absolutely no help what so ever. So never send a check.
Having had a few bad dealings on Ebay, I don't bother with that anymore.

I thought PayPal gives you some form of insurance. Is that not the case??

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

I thought PayPal gives you some form of insurance. Is that not the case??

PayPal does offer some protection but you have to read the fine print. I just had a situation where PayPal sent the wrong address to the vendor and before I figured it out their 30 day window to report items not received had passed. They just let it slide. (I ripped them a new one for their screw up) For the most part I enjoy e-Bay and will continue to use PayPal.

[scotte]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Having had a few bad dealings on Ebay, I don't bother with that anymore.

I'm with you there, and neither eBay nor PayPal will do anything to help you. In fact if you use PayPal for an eBay auction, they are off the hook and it gets deferred to eBay (even though it's the same company now). I once bought a GPS antenna that was advertised as a particular Garmin model. What I got was some cheap knock-off. While the antenna works, it's not what I thought I was buying. Even though the ad clearly stated it was a Garmin, eBay wouldn't even pull the auction for false advertising. Oh well...

And then there's the guy that was selling some cheap battery powered drill that happened to be yellow+black. The auction included a picture of the drill, and DeWalt had eBay pull the ad due to "trademark infringement" because it was a yellow+black drill... Even though the guy with the auction explicitly stated it was brand X and not a DeWalt!

OK, rant off...

[hugosalt]

Sorry to hear your horror stories, but thanks so much for sharing.
I was just getting ready to start using e bay, have been hesitant over the years,
now will be very cautious. Are the so called vendor ratings worth anything as far as
reliablity goes? thanks again!

[Alan Wheeler]

Well you have to be really careful about ratings. Sometimes ratings can make a seller look good. But when you look into it, the ratings can actually be slightly false. In my case, the Seller had about 10 top ratings listed. It was afterwards when the sale went belly up that I looked into the ratings more closely. It turned out the guy had bought a lot of small ticket items over a period of a few days. They were just junk items and of very little value. Then of course the Seller had posted a top rating about the person he had bought from. So the the Tally you see first off shows 10 top ratings. But when you get into the deeper detail, there was no rating at all against the Sellers name. I tell ya, this guy was good. As the words to the somg go, "Shame on Him if he fools me once, Shame on me if He fools me twice". I haven't been so gullable scince.

[GordMay]

I wouldn’t purchase anything from a “virtual” source, who I don’t know, and who may not even exist (in reality).
Remember, if it appears to be too good to be true, it probably is.

If you’re intent on purchasing “bargains” on Ebay (etc), look for the "PayPal Buyer Protection" messaging in the seller's listings to see if an item is covered.

See PayPal’s Disputes between Buyers and Sellers - Buyer Protection Programs:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...ide#pbp-policy

Slightly off-topic, but interesting:

The 25 Most Common Mistakes in Email Security
The 25 Most Common Mistakes in Email Security - IT Security

25 most common mistakes in email security on IT Security. It’s worth going to the original article and reading the details but here are the mistakes to avoid:

1. Using just one email account
2. Holding onto spammed-out accounts too long.
3. Not closing the browser after logging out
4. Forgetting to delete browser cache, history and passwords
5. Using unsecure email accounts to send and receive sensitive corporate information
6. Forgetting the telephone option
7. Not using the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) option
8. Being trigger happy with the “Reply All” button
9. Spamming as a result of forwarding email
10. Failing to back up emails
11. Mobile access: Presuming a backup exists
12. Thinking that an erased email is gone forever
13. Believing you won the lottery … and other scam titles (No, you have not won an iPod Nano)
14. Not recognizing phishing attacks in email content
15. Sending personal and financial information via email
16. Unsubscribing to newsletters you never subscribed to
17. Trusting your friends email
18. Disabling the email spam filter
19. Deleting spam instead of blacklisting it
20. Failing to scan all email attachments
21. Sharing your account information with others
22. Using simple and easy-to-guess passwords
23. Failing to encrypt your important emails
24. Not encrypting your wireless connection
25. Failing to use digital signatures

[ssullivan]

I actually have had all good experiences with PayPal when things went wrong.

Sure, some of their policies are cumbersome, and your money can sit in their account for a month, but when I was ripped off and filed a report, I got my money back within 2 weeks.

[hugosalt]

Thank you Wheels...Gord,

I'm taking notes, next time my kids accuse me of being "old fashion" about
caution and buying on e bay I'll refer them to this thread!

[jzk]

I love ebay. There are deals to be had. Just treat it like you would any other transaction.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by jzk

I love ebay. There are deals to be had. Just treat it like you would any other transaction.

Yeah, the trick is to READ the seller's ratings.

You have to go through and see hundreds of positives and read each and every negative to see what the seller is weak with.

I've never had a bad buying experience on eBay.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

Yeah, the trick is to READ the seller's ratings.

You have to go through and see hundreds of positives and read each and every negative to see what the seller is weak with.

I've never had a bad buying experience on eBay.

That is it right there. The reputable sellers have good reputations. You can just spot a scammer from a mile away. The rating are such that you can quickly flip through them 200 at a time looking for the bad ones which are in red. And, don't discount a seller over a few bad ratings as that could just mean bad buyers.

[senormechanico]

I agree about reading the feedback. Imho, it's the best way to spot a scam.
I've had good experiences with eBay both buying and selling.
Recently, I purchased a new Garmin top of the line GPS chartplotter and radar from a power seller and it arrived a few days ago.

Steve B.