eBay Laptop Scam

[Jazzy]

A surfer bought a laptop on eBay for hundreds of pounds – but was sent a photocopy picture of it instead.

Paul Barrington, 38, fell victim to the scam after winning the auction for an Apple MacBook.

His winning bid was £300 for the top-of-the-range machine that can cost up to £1,500 when bought new.

But the bargain proved too good to be true when a feather-weight package arrived a few days later in a small, square box.

It contained only a black-and-white photocopy of a photo of what Paul thought he had ordered.

Paul, of Ilfracombe, Devon, had been forced to sell his last surfboard to pay for the laptop and was hoping to use it to launch a new career as a wedding DJ.

He said: ‘I sold my pride and joy for a piece of paper.

‘It’s the first time I haven't had a surfboard since I was 10 years old but I need a laptop so I checked the listing and the seller’s rating.

‘He’d been a member for a few years, so there was nothing to be suspicious about.

‘I was excited about winning the auction and just thought, ‘I’ve got a laptop so I can start the business’.

‘The package was as light as a feather. Why bother sending a picture in a box? It doesn't make any sense. I almost had to laugh.’

He has has been in and out of hospital in recent months with a lung condition known as Bullous Emphysema, which has meant he is unable to surf and had to give up his job in child care.

‘The worst thing is, I’m trying to set up a business and this is a massive delay,’

A spokesman for eBay said: ‘We were very sorry to hear about Mr Barrington’s unusual experience. We'll try to make sure he gets a refund as soon as possible and investigate the circumstances around this sale.

Hope he's able to get a refund but I somehow doubt that's going to happen.

 

[MrDawn]

man that sucks, why do all the good people get shit on?

 

[~KAGE-008]

Some people do that just for money, especially when it comes to things like that. They might NOT have the actual product -- hence why those people often go to the point they use snapshots of other auctions instead of a picture of the product they ACTUALLY have for sale.

 

[Chilil]

That sucks, hope he gets his money back. But that is basically the reason I don't use eBay. I always see things like that on Judge Judy or whatever.

 

[DrLeftover]

Several years ago, Ebay made their fraud statistics look much better than they had previously.

The company changed the way customers reported fraud, made the process harder and more complicated, and raised the bar on the burden of proof against those filing the reports in favor of their regular sellers.

All of the sudden, the numbers of reported cases of fraud went down dramatically.

In short: Don't use Ebay.

Period.

 

[MrDawn]

I've had some bad luck with Ebay. Ordered a show and it came in the mail with half the discs smashed. I'm sticking with Amazon. Haven't had nearly the problems with them that I had with people on Ebay.

 

[Jazzy]

I never used EBay and after reading some horror stories, I will stick with Amazon. Never had a problem with Amazon.

 

[Ashley]

I never used EBay and after reading some horror stories, I will stick with Amazon. Never had a problem with Amazon.

That's the site my mom and I use the most is Amazon. Loads better luck there. I wouldn't even consider trying Ebay. Hopefully the poor guy gets his money back.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I remember a similar story like this about a playstation 4.

Personally, I'd rather shop around for a good deal from a retailer than buy something off ebay.

 

[~KAGE-008]

It also happens when it comes to watch/retro game collecting. I remember seeing that someone bought a GBC game without knowing the seller didn't have the actual product, but another unrelated one instead.