Goddamn eBay and the Entire Human Race While I'm at it

[grrgoyl]

I never thought I'd find myself wistfully missing "the good old days," but right about now I am. I am referring to the simpler days, when most people were honest and honorable. Sure, women had fewer rights then and gays had none (wait a minute, we still don't really have any. Scratch that), but folks were as good as their word and crooks were the aberration and not the norm.

I am AGAIN in the middle of an eBay-related saga. The Finding Neverland seller got off scot-free with my 12 bucks...well, almost scot-free. PayPal settled an investigation in my favor; the bad news is with no money in his account there was no way for them to recoup my losses, but they promised to take some kind of action against him. Was it worth it, nvanbreeme@sbcglobal.net? Was it worth besmirching your reputation for my lousy $12? I certainly hope so, you filthy, motherfucking thief.

Now I'm going through it again with the MST3k guy. After paying him $44 for two seasons he suddenly stopped answering my emails, and now 2 weeks later I still have nothing to show for it. Believe me, I am going to fight a lot harder to get back $44, and I have options. I am still giving him the benefit of the doubt; in our first transaction he claimed he was in a major car accident, explaining the delay in shipping. If that's also his excuse this time though I might be a little suspicious. I may be insufferably naive, but I also find it hard to believe that a fellow MSTie could be a bad person. It isn't the money so much as being ripped off. What is it about me that makes people turn to a life of crime? Perfectly respectable sellers get my money and then suddenly decide it's time to run off to Tijuana to open that oceanside bar with my $44.

But I still need my MST, so I had to go back to eBay. You can think me an idiot if you want, but what choice do I have? I found another seller and started corresponding with him. He works from home like me and was very sympathetic to my tale of betrayal. He said he knew the other seller and that he was "seriously burned out" on eBay...which still doesn't excuse him from either refunding me or sending me the goods, in my opinion. The new guy offered me seasons either through eBay or outside of eBay. Since I've been burnt both ways, it really made no difference to me. I asked for his price list and he sent it, along with the message (and this is a direct quote): "And shipping is free! Lovely! Wee!" Apparently he thinks talking like a cartoon character will make it easier for me to trust him. At this point I am so disillusioned and fed up with cheaters and scammers that I honestly feel like crying, and I wanted to tell him that my faith in humanity really, truly cannot withstand too many more blows. But I didn't want to look like an emotional basketcase this early in our relationship, so instead sent the money with the message, "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please don't rip me off!" He responded very humorously, "HAHA! Now that I have your precious money, you'll never hear from me again!....I'm kidding, I'll send them out tomorrow."

If I MUST be stolen from, I don't mind so much if they have a sense of humor about it. But I really, really, really hope this guy is honest. I really, really don't want to look back on this exchange with bitter irony and tears in my eyes. I mean it this time.

Comments

[mooselet.livejournal.com]

You know, it's amazing how far $44 will go in Tijuana. It would be damned hard to resist that siren's song.

I'm sorry you're being screwed so badly. That really sucks a whole tremendous lot. : (

[grrgoyl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, my fault I guess for being so quick to throw my money away on crap. I just wish the threat of prosecution from eBay or PayPal held a little more (or for that matter, any) weight.

[mooselet.livejournal.com]

I just discovered a community you might be interested in: ebay_blacklist.