I bought a 'Brand New Macbook Pro 15 laptop' from an eBay seller last week. I bought it for $1691. I paid immediatly. The price seemed a little low considering that the going price for this type of item was between $2100-2200 and there were no used ones for even under $2000 but since the seller had over 500 in feedback I thought I would be safe.
I bought the labtop and paid at 10pm CST on Friday night via paypal. After going to sleep and waking up I heard no update from the seller. I started looking at the seller and noticed they hadn't sold anything for the last year. This was my first red flag. So I emailed the seller on Saturday and asked "Hello, Can you let me know when you ship the laptop and give me the tracking number? Thanks."
They replied the next day, Sunday" Thank you for your purchase and payment. This is just a short note to inform you that payment was received and your order will be processed and shipped within 3 business days via UPS fully insured.
If I can be of any further assistance please contact me. Thanks again"
Monday morning I received a tracking number. I tracked it and it said that an item shipped to me Friday and would be delivered Tuesday. I called UPS when I saw it was delivered and nothing was at my house. And they told me it shipped to a completely different address. And about that same time I got an email from ebay titled " MC010 Account Security Communication Partner Warning" The email said "Our records show that you recently contacted or received messages from oceandreamer1 through eBay's messaging system. This account was recently found to have been accessed by an unauthorized third party, who may have used the account in an attempt to defraud other members."
When I looked into it I noticed that the package shipped 2 HOURS BEFORE I EVEN BOUGHT THE ITEM! I opened a dispute with Paypal.
This is my communication with payal:
- 6/18/2014 05:20 PDT - Buyer: Seller is offering a false tracking number. Called ups for the tracking number, "tracking number removed" and the package was sent to an optical glasses business at 8313 Calumet Ave in Munster, IN 46321 and delivered yesterday. The delivery address states that it is an office and I gave him my home address.I went to the address that UPS stated was the delivery address for the package and talked to the owner of the business called Eyepad Optical LLC and he let me look at the box and I confirmed it had tracking number "tracking number removed". The box was very small so it would not fit a Macbook computer and also was not shipped by the seller but from a business that sold eye glass cleaning clothes. The box contained what appeared to be cleaning clothes only.I was contacted earlier on the same day by ebay stating that the seller's account had been accessed by an unauthorized user. It told me to contact the company I used to pay for the item so I contacted ebay and paypal yesterday. I also contacted my credit card company as directed by ebay. Until the seller can give me a valid tracking number showing the Macbook was shipped to my house we can assume he is trying to commit fraud.
So somehow this guy got a tracking number for a business in my same city and Paypal closed the dispute in his favor. I had to file an appeal.
Why did I have to do this? Paypal decided in the sellers favor because he provided a tracking number and nothing else.
Here is all the proof I gave them after I called them 3 times:
1. Ebay Seller's account was hacked and accessed by a third party
2. Tracking number was shipped to a completely different address (same city, but if they called UPS they would see it isn't my address and not even close)
3. Package shipped 2 HOURS before I even bought it. It was picked up 2 HOURS before I bought the laptop at 10pm on a friday night and I just bought it at 8pm? How is this possible??
4. I verified that the label of the small package at the business matched the one the seller sent and it was from a eye glass cleaning cloth company.
5. Item shipped from RI and the seller was from CA
6. Seller hasn't sold anything in over a year
7. The box shipped weighted 5 lbs but the actual macbook is "Weight: 4.46 pounds" for just the laptop not including cables, box, or shipping box
What type of research does paypal do? I called and told two different people all of the above and the claim automatically closed out in the seller's favor. All because of a bogus tracking number from a hacked ebay seller account.
Update for Appeal Resolution:
"The seller has provided valid tracking information on the above case. As a
result, your appeal can not be granted at this time.
We encourage you to contact your seller for resolution.
We value your business and regret that you have had this experience.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Sanjeev Rao
Protection Services"
