A possible scam on eBay

[tomer.nitin]

Hi,

I am quite an old user on eBay and have bought more than 40 items till date, worth more than INR 2 lakh.

Recently I bought a NetBook from eBay, the seller sent it promptly, with a bill. On a whim I checked the serial number on bill, matched it with the NetBook, and found them different.

I reported to the seller, he offered to send a scanned copy of the bill to me. I politely told him that it won't do, and he sent me a physical copy of the corrected bill.

Thus everything was settled nicely.

Last week, I bought another NetBook for my wife, this time from another seller. Again the bill was sent with wrong serial number, and what's more this bill didn't have seller's TIN and had no seal/signatures.

I reported this to the seller and guess what, he too offered to send me an electronic copy of the bill.

This is too much of a co-incidence. I suspect that some sellers are cheating customers this way. By giving fake bills they are saving on sales tax and VAT etc. A customer won't know until he needs top claim warranty; and sellers are taking their chances on it.

I request eBay to look into it; and deal with such sellers strictly.

Regards

Nitin

[rajelectroniks]

@tomer.nitin...

Please confirm with the manuf if the serial numbers are registered with them, only then your warranty will be valid. I suspect that in your case the warranty is just dealer warranty and not manuf warranty because the price is too low for you to get manuf warranty, this is my view and I could be completely wrong also so just to be safe pl check with manuf with the respective serial nos.
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[tomer.nitin]

@rajelectronics

I suspected the same in the first Netbook's case; and therefore asked the seller explicitly whether he is providing manufacturer warranty and he replied in affirmative. I have his response in my mailbox as a proof.

But in the second Netbook's case, I have paid a price mcuh higher and I could have got a similar Netbook at the same price from Croma/Reliance Digital etc.

And please correct me if I am wrong, but why should the onus of checking whether the serial number is registered with the manufacturer on me. If I buy from a reputed store, I am assured that warranty is genuine, and I expect the same from a reputed sellers of eBay.

I have been quite a proponent of eBay; and in fact immediately after posting this thread, bought a Samsung Galaxy S2, for INR 27,990 from eBay. But this has shook my confidence in eBay. I would be more apprehensive in future and would advice my friends against it too.

Regards

Nitin

[rajelectroniks]

@tomer.nitin...

To get warranty from cos like Compaq, HP, Dell etc, you will need a proper VAT paid bill along with valid TIN and CST number.

Yes if your are buying from ebay sadly you will have to do the exercise of checking the serial nos with the manuf because ebay will not help you after 30 days of purchase and do you have the time to run after the seller who might be located 1000kms away from you ??.

As a matter of fact I will ask the seller to first give me the serial nos which I will cross check with the manuf and only then I will ask the seller to send the Notebook. But that's my way of doing things and if the seller's warranty is genuine then he should have no problems with it.
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[tomer.nitin]

@rajelectronics

Thanks for your response.

But my point is, if I have to do all this, why will I purchase from eBay at all. It is just not worth the trouble. I will either buy from reputed stores like Croma, Reliance Digital, Big Bazaar etc or from online stores which sell items themselves like flipkart etc.

This experience has seriously turned me off eBay. Earlier I used to be an admirer of this business model and have advocated it on my many online forums I am member of, but now I will have to make a 180 degree turn and make people aware of what lies beneath.

Regards

Nitin

[rajelectroniks]

@tomer.nitin...

You are very right, if you have access to stores like you have mentioned then it makes no sense to buy online. The touch and feel factor is missing.

The larger picture is that not all sellers on ebay do such things. There are some very good Notebook sellers on ebay who are a delight to do business with. So in the end choose carefully, make a wise informed decision, after all its your money.
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[tomer.nitin]

It's been 5 days since I wrote to the seller asking for a physical receipt and he had not responded. Looks like I'd to ask for refund from eBay. Is this a straight-forward process or will I be taken for a ride again?

Regarsd

Nitin

[rajelectroniks]

@tomer.nitin...

If the seller is not giving you receipt then ebay will not help you in any way.

They will entertain you only if you file claim under "ebay guarantee" that the device is bad or not as described.
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[tomer.nitin]

My suspicion was true. Today I received the bill from seller, FOR Viewsonic 19 inch LED LCD Monitor VA1931WM!!!

This after I had written him 5-6 mails asking the correct bill for my MP Netbook. I refuse to believe that anybody can make such stupid mistake, even after a certain case has been escalated.

And this is a seller with 981 feedback score and 99.5% ratings.

I'd still prefer to get the correct bill and get on with it, because I don't want to go in the process of claim etc. I don't know how long would it take and I need the Netbook urgently. But this seller isn't leaving me any other option.

Regards

Nitin

[tomer.nitin]

I have raised the claim under eBay guarantee because the seller wasn't even responding to me mails.

This is ridiculous, I needed that Netbook early and now I don't know by when and how this case will be resolved and when will I get my Netbook.

And I sincerely hope that eBay punish such sellers who try to cheat the buyers. I am also planning to complain about this incident to HP India because this seller was trying to sell a non-tax paid Netbook as a tax-paid, under warranty one.

And can I complain against this in the cyber crimes cell. I don't like being taken for a ride and would like to make sure that this seller pays for his deeds.

Regards

Nitin