Paypal Disputes – The 6 Commandments For Dealing with Ebay Fake Flash Sellers
Posted by KittyFireFlash on September 15, 2008
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Never attempt direct communication with an eBay Seller of Fake Flash drives. Many eBayers have been tricked, blackmailed and frauded even further by innocently contacting the seller. Fakestopper, one of the most senior and experienced members of SOSFakeFlash explains why the only place to communicate is at the PayPal Dispute console.
FakeStopper, knows a great deal about fake flash drives on eBay. She holds the record for acquiring fakes. Well seasoned in dealing with eBay Fake Flash Sellers in several countries she provides advise and counsel to eBayers facing the dilemmas of what to do and how to handle situations. SOSFakeFlash’s version of Dear Abby or Ann Landers.
Recently an eBayer fighting with kaho.chan, was tricked into closing his dispute. Since then, he has not heard a peep from kaho.chan. He is not the first victim of fake flash drive purchase on eBay to fall into this trap and he will not be the last….FakeStopper replies:
SuperNova, my suggestion is for you to write an email or give a call to PayPal. Tell them this is what the seller told you to do. Show them the email he send you and tell PayPal you closed the dispute in good faith thinking the seller was going to refund you back.
I suggest to a lot of people NEVER to communicate directly with the seller with email other than the PayPal dispute. I cannot stress enough seller Kaho.Chan, Shopwithmela, 3totrade, Pengsoloshow, and Whatcools are all very very SNEAKY. They will plead very innocent for you to close your dispute or for you to return the product and later never refund your money back. I have experience with 3 of them when in fact they are the same person.
So for anyone who is in paypal dispute:
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DO NOT Communicate outside the dispute
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DO NOT Close the dispute until you got your full refund
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DO NOT Send the item back unless your got your full refund and the postage price to send back
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DO NOT Settle outside the dispute until your got your full refund
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DO NOT Accept unwanted gift if you send the item back (most likely you will not get your refund if you send it back and you lose your proof)
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DO NOT Leave positive feedback.
I hope this helps.
Kind Regards,
FakeStopper
Once more we at SOSFakeFlash stress – be careful, be wary, be suspicious when dealing with a fake flash seller on eBay. They can also be very vindictive – if they are forced to refund you. In some cases they run to file a non paying bidder dispute against the eBayer who was refunded by PayPal. They even try to get their listing fees refunded at eBay stating that both seller and buyer agreed not to go through with the original transaction.
If this is begining to sound like the Twilight Zone, sometimes we think it is. For your own protection, please follow the 6 Commandments For Dealing with Ebay Fake Flash Sellers in PayPal dispute.
SOSFakeFlash 
Norman Jenkins said
Kake and cunning are two appropriate words to use with this trader.
At this stage I am only begining to try and achieve a refund from 3ToTrade for the 32GB memory stick. Not only does it show just under 16GB memory capacity but looses all data when removed (safely)from the computer.
Why PayPal /Ebay continues to support this individual surprises me completely.
Comeon said
Don’t just complain to PAYPAL get your credit card issuing bank involved, they trump PAYPAL.
So if Barclays issued your card bitch to them, this way PAYPAL has to pay for chargeback fees, if you wanna understand how PAYPAL works understand that they work by percentage, if a seller costs them more then they earn from the seller then they banned the seller’s account. Actually PAYPAL aint even that dumb, they is a business, they’ll ban a seller before he or she starts losing Paypal money.
So BITCH TO YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY once the investigation takes places PAYPAL is charged, and yes they’ll initially just pass on the fees to that particular seller, but threshold baby, if one dude proves to be a liability then he’s gone.
And be an educated Consumer, think before you buy do your bloody research, Nothing comes for Free, if its too bloody good a deal there’s a good chance there’s something wrong.
Comeon said
Why be surprised that Paypal/eBay does nothing for you and gives you the run around? they is the same company, and they get paid everytime you get ripped off.
Write to BBC WatchDog! Write to BBB. Ebay gets paid at your expense, that is why they have to pay LVMH 40 million this year.
They’re not on the buyers side and defineately not on the Sellers side, they’re on the side of the fees they charge
kittyfireflash said
This is indeed the conclusion of many eBayers, Comeon.
Fake Flash Ebay Angels hear this over and over and over again from buyers they pull from the fake flash flames. We have counsellors and coaches for those in refund groups and yes after 10 rounds in the ring with eBay and PayPal this is the conclusion eBay members come to.
Sad, because they say they will never recommend eBay to a friend or family member. Some have gone as far as to say they wouldn’t recommend eBay or PayPal to their worse enemy either.
You have voiced the thoughts of many!
mad teacher said
Quite so – I shall be warning all my students (one of the subjects I teach about is the Internet) about the potential risks on eBay. Until I bought fake flash drives from Hong Kong I had not had any bad buying experiences (though one of my nice sellers had one). Most of the people I bought from were nice, helpful, genuine folk who answered any questions as honestly as they could. I met some labsolutely lovely people when I picked up purchases in person. I’d hate to see eBay destroyed by the sale of fake flash drives. eBay needs to do something about it if they don’t want to see eBayers deserting them in droves.
mad teacher said
Quite so – I shall be warning all my students (one of the subjects I teach about is the Internet) about the potential risks on eBay. Until I bought fake flash drives from Hong Kong I had not had any bad buying experiences (though one of my nice sellers had one). Most of the people I bought from were nice, helpful, genuine folk who answered any questions as honestly as they could. I met some labsolutely lovely people when I picked up purchases in person. I’d hate to see eBay destroyed by the sale of fake flash drives. eBay needs to do something about it if they don’t want to see eBayers deserting them in droves.
SAD MAN said
i bought a mp4 player 16 gb and it hasnt arrived yet… its been bout 13 days… and all my other stuff bought from hong kong that i bought that day has arrived yesturday so it should come tomorrow or friday… ANYWAYS!~
it was pretty cheap… 27 canadian for 16gb mp4 plays video. it stated holds 16000 songs 40 hour video. idk about those stats but i want to test. where do i test how?
also i bought 3 ps2 games for .99 usa dollar FREE SHIPPING TO CAANADA but after i won he said to me the shipping was 3.00 each. and he needs 6.00 for the 3 combined. so he refunded me… i belive him he has 100% feedback over 100 things sold . and he does live in usa and me in canada so i know it would cost i guess. i thought i was just gettn a bargin 🙂 that was today.
fightflashfraud said
To test flash memory you need h2testw which you can download free here:
ubware said
I have left postive feedback, and i have been ripped and my 16gig flash is not 16 gig, can i still get paypal involved and try and get my money back
Paul said
The lastest problem I had with one fake seller: I raised a Paypal Dispute, the seller then gave a part refund outside of my Dispute console but through Paypal. When I refused to change eBay negative feedback left and close my own Dispute he then raised his own Paypal Dispute on his refund saying I had not delivered the goods. I tried to pointed this out to Paypal, they withheld my money ruled in his favour and I had to raise numerous appeals before the promise of a refund (still dont have!). All this took a great deal of time over 2 months with a lot of frustration. Probably 20+ e-mails to Paypal explaining many times his trick!!!
kittyfireflash said
To Ubware,
Yes you can file a dispute against a seller who sold you a fake – read false capacity drive even if you left positive feedback. About 75% of people who file a dispute left positive feedback – they found out afterwards once they began to fill up the drive and then lose data files. As the seller deregistered you may have an easier time too.
Generally once things have been settled people will now update their feedback with “follow up feedback” indicating they bought a fake ie state the true size against the advertised size. But if a seller deregistered you will not have that chance as feedback is frozen.
EspressoFrog said
I’m still at war with my seller who still won’t refund me unless I remove my negative feedback and talks to me like a yakuza. Ebay is giving the roundabout sending me to paypal, paypal to ebay. So I’ve decided to send the whole case including the key itself to the HK police 🙂 I take it as a huge recreation now. Sad to know Ebay is turning a blind eye on those sellers.
Paul said
Good for you, did you pay through Paypal and if so have you opened a dispute?
Kevin Coleman said
Hi,
I have used flash drive/card tester & find it fantastic with a much neater interface. The link to downolad it is http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=13 & it’s free!
Adrian said
Hi, Comeon you suggested to get Barclaycard UK involved. I too paid using Paypal but I pay Paypal via my Barclaycard Visa but Barclaycard are not getting involved. They say that as Paypal is a third party not the guilty party then they won’t take any action and can’t refund me the money. Just the call to my credit card company cost £1.20 (using Skype).
On their website they have the following:
“3. Third party payment
It’s common to use third party payment methods such as Paypal or Mypaysystems when buying
online. You should be aware that this may affect your legal rights to claim for non receipt of
goods, faulty goods or missing refunds, because these third parties are not the supplier of
the goods.”
Appears that this means that they won’t do anything for me :0|.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Randy said
Reguarding Paypal and Barclaycard.
extracted from a ebay posting.
#13, I completely agree, but if a card issuer refused to help, and were one of those who told a national newspaper that they would do a charge-back, then they could earn themselves some bad press.
The following credit cards told the Telegraph they will support a valid claim by using the charge-back system offered by Paypal: American Express, Barclaycard, Bank of Scotland, Britannia, Capital One, Co-op, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Intelligent Finance, Liverpool Victoria, Lloyds TSB, Marks and Spencer, MBNA (including various charity and other affiliated cards), Mint, NatWest, Northern Rock, Norwich & Peterborough, RBS, Saga, Sainsbury’s, Smile, Tesco, Virgin and Yorkshire Building Society.
The following debit cards will support a valid claim by using charge-back systems for all purchases: Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Citibank, Co-op, Coventry Building Society, Halifax, Intelligent Finance, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS and Smile.
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/4201389/Play-your-cards-with-care-in-online-dealings.html
Haseeb said
I am currently trying to return a fake ipod touch.
thankyou very much for the advice aswell it may get me my refund
theodore2011 said
First of all I’d like to thank you guys for the great job you’ve been doing.Fake items are becoming more and more on ebay though.So,my question is the following:
If paypal accepts our claim,what is their policy?Do we get refund for the item and then we have to send it back at our own cost?Do they give refund for the postage as well?Any opinion would be worthwile.
Thanks…
R Hilling said
Keep up the good work.
I have dud ’64Gb’ drives from easytrade_12388, and nteteasc who has been de-registered by ebay.
easytrade_12388 refunded the money, so good on him.
I am having a dispute with ebay/paypal re nteteasc, they want me to send the item back which would cost as much as the refund. So I will push on exchanging emails with ebay to get a full refund. Currently I have asked them to pay for the return if they want me to do that.
Kriss said
i have a question. i bought several 16hb cards from ebay seller should should19160, now he is no longer registered to ebay.
i made a claim not recieved, but seller acctualy sent items, and took very long time to recieve it. so paypal close claim, that item recieved. but items ae fake, of course. how to chance claim to not as describes, and reopen claim, because paypal doesnt allow to open a new despute for same claim, and get my money of course…
i have proof with hwtest.exe
timmy2000 said
How much are you out of pocket by Kriss?
If it is a small amount (€20 or so) of cash then may not be worth getting all hot and flustered about.
If you do want to pursue it I believe that you can (and should) get your money back.
With PayPal the fact that a case is opened and closed does not mean that you cannot open another case – just put whatever reason from the drop down menu
that it allows and in the description put in the real reason for your commplaint. Or even send an email directly to PayPal if you just cannot navigate
to a link that allows you to open a case/claim.
The fact that this eBay member is no longer trading is pretty suspicious and should go in your favour I should think.
Tim
Kriss said
case are desided in my favour, but refund was not issued because seller sent items. i ge items afer long time, and they are fake of course. i woldnt bother, but its about 10 psc by 15$ so it makes about 150$ in total, thats lot of money.
Steve said
When I buy a product from a reputable seller, I expect to receive a product fit for purpose, this site clearly show most of these large flash drive are counterfeit or faulty.
If you bought one and are helping Pay-Pal retrieve your losses, I believe we should request additional costs for the following.
Technical report.
Cost of returning item to seller,
Copy dispatch note.
Other administration cost
After all these don’t come cheep and the seller should be held accountable for distributing defective or counterfeit products.
Madashell said
Good grief,
reading this site makes me feel really stupid for falling for,
“USB Pen Key Flash Drive Memory 256GB YES 256GB from lukeluke2236”
item No.220538600724
Too big to run a whole h2testw,but chip genius tells me it is not what it purported to be.
Kingston tell me this is fake,I e-mailed there letter to paypal, but they closed the case as I apparently have to take it to a local expert or shop,which I didn’t do quick enough.
This is so blatant a fake, cheap BLUE (never made in this size) no numbers on drive or packaging.
I am not giving up on this I can scarcely recall being so annoyed over such a relatively small sum.
This thieving scammer has sold at least 21 x £40 of these drives, nice profits for him and E-bay,
scum when I have my money back,I will never deal with ebay or paypal again they are colluding with fraud