[Boatanchors] Re: false STUFF

[peter markavage]

Oh, bad, bad Duane; you said "Ebay" 13 times in one e-mail on a
non-auction QSL.net e-mail reflector.

Kidding, of course. Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

Pete, wa2cwa

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 18:08:56 -0400 "Duane Fischer, W8DBF"
<dfischer at usol.com> writes:
> Any place can be a location for misfortune. Now people must realize 
> that an
> electronic auction is run by computers, not by people. I had inside 
> contacts in
> the CA location of EBAY. For all practical purposes, it is a 
> machine, not a
> human run business. Think of it in this manner, as that is very 
> close to the
> truth.        
>         
> The reason so many illegal items got on EBAY to be sold, from 
> hookers to human
> organs to illegal cable and satellite decoders, was that nobody 
> checks what is
> going to be posted, before it gets posted,  to determine if it is 
> legal, let
> alone accurate or honest. Remember machine!         
>         
> I was suspended after six months of trying to contact a human. Why? 
> Because I
> posted three items for sale, one sold, two did not. EBAY charged me 
> for all
> three items. Even though I sent them copies of all e-mails, every 
> possible piece
> of information proving my case, it made absolutely no difference. 
> Every reply I
> received was signed by a new person! made me wonder if the names 
> were being
> randomly generated by the computer.        
>         
> You will notice almost all replies are form letters! Remember 
> machine.         
>         
> Because I had the telephone number of a programmer who 'used' to 
> work for them,
> I was able to contact him. he had to put in a request for a 
> supervisor, as none
> were present. Just a handful of humans. None of whom were handling 
> phone calls
> or screening seller posts.         
>         
> When the supervisor called me, he resolved the issue in four 
> minutes. Yet six
> months had elapsed, I had been suspended, my account damaged etc. 
> None of which
> was my fault. I had done absolutely everything possible to correct 
> it, but the
> EBAY computer wanted money, nothing else, no matter what, if it was 
> owed or not.
> 
>         
> One reply I received told me to pay the bill and then apply for a 
> refund! Can
> u guess what I suggested they do with that one? Why should I pay for 
> something
> I did not owe, especially when once they had my money, I had no way 
> to get it
> back!        
>         
> How did I stop them in the first place from simply taking the money? 
> Easy. They
> can not force you to use a credit card. I refused. I was sent an 
> electronic bill
> by e-mail, remember computer run! They do not send anything by 
> regular mail; not
> a copy of a transaction, no a bill, not a receipt, nothing. They 
> told me so. All
> you get is e-mail.         
>         
> I had to go to a certain place on the EBAY site and print a copy of 
> the bill and
> send it with my check. Unless I included that printed statement, 
> they, meaning
> EBAY, would not know what the money was for! Are yo wondering why a 
> human could
> not see my ID number of the check? No humans!        
>         
> I hope I have gotten you to think of EBAY as a big machine people, 
> because that
> is what it is. You are not dealing with people here, what humans are 
> they, you
> will probably never speak with and have a problem solved, get help 
> or anything
> else.        
>         
> It is up to the buyer to watch himself/herself. Because if fraud 
> happens, EBAY
> will not help you. They will give you names of others to contact; 
> Postal
> Service, Attorney General etc. You are on your own people.         
>         
> Once upon a time when EBAY was young, and yes I was there then, the 
> percentage
> of dishonest sellers was low. But as time went on and people figured 
> out that
> EBAY was just a big dumb machine that did not know or care what was 
> going on,
> they started to exploit the system. Sellers became about 70/30 
> honest, and it
> continued to drop to now being about 55/45 honest.        
>         
> So if you plan to buy, protect yourself, as nobody else 
> will!        
>         
> The seller numbers? Easily faked. The EBAY software has holes large 
> enough to
> drive an eighteen wheeler through with room to spare! Once again, 
> they do not
> care! You protect yourself. If you don't want to get burned, then do 
> not go near
> the fire. it is that simple.        
>         
> Some did not get stung because they bought unpopular items that 
> nobody really
> wanted. Theft generally takes place wehre it is a high volume - low 
> price or
> very popular 'hot' items. Move fast!        
>         
> EBAY is just the means by which people across the country can now 
> easily cheat
> each other and get away with it. Did you ever wonder where EBAY 
> 'really' is? Who
> actually owns it?        
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> ** List Administrator - Duane Fischer, W8DBF/W9WZE **   
> ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **         
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