Money orders -- watch out

[Fast Jack]

I had a motor (fishing type) on Craigs List and I got a reply from a party who was interested . We E mailed back and forth and agreed on a price , and he asked me to ship the motor to him. He paid with Money Gram (from Wally World. ) He sent a seperate money order for the frieght and my time to get it boxed up . The money orders came UPS . (He had sent several ). I noticed the serial # s were not from the same group . I called Wells Fargo bank and had them run the #s and they were all previously cashed. These things look GOOD , the have all the security features, perferations, water marks and background features. Had I deposited them they would have come back in 10-14 days. the Motor would have been gone and I would have been out. There seems to be no sure way other than cash or waiting for things to clear the bank. I called the Police department where the UPS came from.. They never called back. Unless you know who you are dealing with be carefull. This could have been a costly one for me..

[blueskyracer]

That sucks, I was recently involved in a identity theft case and it was not fun. Nothing is a sure thing any more. I got rid of all credit cards and debit cards. Life is a little more dificult but we manage. Now I send checks and tell the person to wait till it clears before they ship. It takes longer but then nobody looses.

You are very lucky that you caught this in time.

Mike

[racingfan]

I had a motor (fishing type) on Craigs List and I got a reply from a party who was interested . We E mailed back and forth and agreed on a price , and he asked me to ship the motor to him. He paid with Money Gram (from Wally World. ) He sent a seperate money order for the frieght and my time to get it boxed up . The money orders came UPS . (He had sent several ). I noticed the serial # s were not from the same group . I called Wells Fargo bank and had them run the #s and they were all previously cashed. These things look GOOD , the have all the security features, perferations, water marks and background features. Had I deposited them they would have come back in 10-14 days. the Motor would have been gone and I would have been out. There seems to be no sure way other than cash or waiting for things to clear the bank. I called the Police department where the UPS came from.. They never called back. Unless you know who you are dealing with be carefull. This could have been a costly one for me..

A buddy of mine had a similar internet story. He sells a lot of marine parts on Ebay. Sent a complete powerhead out UPS. The customer paid with a money order. Called my friend 3 days after receipt of the motor and said it was damaged and he was stopping payment on the money order. Apparently you can cancel payment on a money order. It isn't 100% guaranteed money or like cash like I always thought?? Long story short UPS basically did nothing and to make matters even more frustrating they WOULDN'T honor the insurance policy my friend put on his powerhead because the customer had signed for the product stating it wasn't damaged. Nice scam!

[Merc55H]

From what I've heard UPS insurance is pretty much worthless.

Paying with a USPS Money Order at least gives you some protection. Bought a QUincy F powerhead a few years ago and after waiting "forever" to get it was able to put some pressure on the seller since I had the proof that he had cashed the money order.

Starting to think buying and selling with a PAypal account might prevent some of this. Of course there are those fundamentally dishonest folks who just don't care. Friend of mine was stiffed on a couple Ebay auctions, paid and never saw the items, been a couple years and he's out around $300. Sad to say the seller is someone who posts here from time to time.

[sam]

Paypal is virtually useless in a dispute. Do the POST OFFICE Money Order ... Postal Service Investigators actually like doing fraud investigations.

[Jakeroub]

I've had problems with a couple of eBayers not sending the item after I paid via PayPal. In both cases I got 100% of my money back. I guess I was just lucky.

[Original Looper 1]

Ebay Fraud

Unless I personally know who I am dealing with, I no longer pay any way except by USPS money order and have the item shipped via postal service. That way you have someone that will get involved and investigate as Sam said.

I had a terrible experience with an ebay power seller. Conveniently, the photos of the advertised items left out rust and corrosion and significant imperfections (which dramatically affected the value of the items). I would never have bidded on or been interested in the items if I'd had better pictures to view before bidding.

The seller had a return policy that would allow you to send the items back if not satisfied for a full refund. He didn't honor that written agreement. He told me to just resell the inferior items & take it on the chin. He even suggested I turn them in as shipper damage (which would have been fraud). He told me in an email that basically I was screwed, ebay wouldn't touch him because he was a power seller. He was right, they didn't do anything.
This back & forth went on for 2 months. The seller, after I finally threatened to file with the postal authorities because I paid by postal mail order, he agreed to take the items back - but not for a full refund, and he would only give the refund if I gave him positive feedback 1st. Of course I refused to do that as he would have good feedback & the items without my receiving the refund 1st. No way! He would have had my money, the items & good feedback. Duh.

Finally, after starting a complaint with the postal service, he gave me back 3/4 of the original payment via paypal (knowing I didn't even have a paypal account). I did get the money eventually from paypal, but it was a real pain because they wanted my bank info and no way was I giving it to them. Then to add insult to injury, he gave me negative feedback before I even gave him feedback. The guy then sent me a final email saying ha, ha, ha!

He later changed his ebay name for trading but I've since gotten emails from 3 other people he's burned, so apparently he's still actively defrauding people on ebay.

I'm not impressed with ebay as their main goal, in my opinion, seems to be to keep the big sellers happy, no matter what. Beware!


Paul

[David_L6]

Been there, done that.

You can get burned paying with a USPS money order too.

[CSR4C]

I did have a good experience with UPS insurance. I shipped a Yamato 302 to a customer. When it arrived the skeg was bent at a 90 deg angle. The foot was sent back to me. UPS paid for a replacement foot. When the driver came to pick up the bent foot, I called UPS and offered $75 for it & they said ok .
Darrell

[Bill Huson]

UPS is good to me . . .

I use to manufacture and sell R/C model sailboat kits. The largest model, an EC-12m, was shipped in a long triangular box to make the maximum length/girth cut. The spars (mast and booms) were shipped seperatly in a skinny cardbaord tube. About one out of twenty spar packs got busted, and about one out of fifty boat kit packs got crunched. UPS coughed up the replacement cost and often gave me a free shipping voucher to ship the replacements.

Scams? I actually know someone who fell for the Nigerian scam!

[Heliarc]

Ebay experiences I have found to be generally enjoyable. However, I am currently in the middle of a PayPal dispute (actually, it's now a claim) having to do with an eBayer that sells boat racing equipment. (Won't mention any names) I bought from him before and all was fine. But this time he sent the wrong item. He admitted the mistake and said to send it back. I did send it back with a delivery confirmation. So, I know he got it. He has done nothing but jerk me around from the very beginning of this mess. I won't bore you with the details, but needless to say this eBay experience has become anything but pleasant. At this point he has (and has had for a while now) the item AND my money. And until it's all said and done .... who knows how this will turn out.

If there is a problem, that in itself is no big deal as far as I am concerned (wrong item sent, etc.). But at least make some sort of timely effort to straighten things out - without jerking the customer around. This guy has been around for a long long time. I just don't understand people sometimes. I know I'm gettin' old when I say this. But things sure ain't what they used to be.

[HRTV]

Please resolve all personal matters offline, HR is not the place to do it nor will it be tolerated.