TRUE FACE OF E BAY

[deena0808]

TRUE FACE OF E BAY

Hi folks!

I always thought e bay is a safe place to trade and the e bay team maintained high standards of integrity. Few of my friends advised me against any transaction on e bay. However I took the plunge. I thought I will do some transactions to get some experience and help the community if I saw things not OK. I shall now list out my experiences one by one.

First I bought a diamond ring for Rs 5200/- from a seller Mehta diamonds. .50 cts. What I received was an apology to a diamond ring. there were five small diamonds of one point each making a total of .05 cts. As a learned person you know that there is a lot of difference between .05 cts and .5 cts. the diamonds were ten times smaller. So I spoke to the seller and they promised to change it. It cost me Rs200/- to sell the item back. The seller received the item on 10 Nov 09. Did not take any action till 27 ov Nov. S o Initiated a case for refund.

There was a Diwali gift which was never sent or received. I assumed thet the gift would be despatched only once the transaction is complete.

E bay promised a reply by 03 Dec 09. I havent received one so far. Resolution centre says the case is closed. May be it means that E bay will now process the case in house and let you know later.

Isn't it strange? How many such cases would be there where the money is held by e bay for some silly reason? Cant the community invoke RTI without actually going to a court? Doesn't corporate governance teach the elite e bay team the difficulties they would face when actually some one demands such details invoking provisions of RTI and PIL. Today its so easy to do it. I like a response from the e bay management on this issue.

Please join together so that every one benefits from personal experiences and recommend good and destroy the bad. It appears to be a good cause to enlighten everyone.

[deena0808]

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

What are the standards set by e bay for providing certificate of authenticity? Is it a certificate by the seller saying that the item is genuine and good or is it a certificate issued by e Bay or an independent certifying agency.

Many buyers are easily fooled.A certificate of authenticity can be issued only by a certified agency. It should bear some form of industrial standard. BIS Hallmarking, ISI standards,gemological institute of India, wool mark etc etc. Most of the sellers type out the assurance and give. Certainly few issue very authentic industrially accepted certificates.

What should be the norm? What has e By got to say? Let it continue the way it is or there is a need to overhaul the Indian e Bay standard. I get a feeling that Indian E Bay has a different set of quality control/ regulatory standards. Am I right? hope not.

Sincerely hope Indian E Bay and elder brother are watching!!!!

a self

[drsaddichha]

I had a bad experience with Ebay. I bought a Dual sim mobile which started malfunctioning from day one of receiving it. I complained immediately to the seller, who kept assuring me that it just needs to be set properly. But gradually, it malfunctioned so much that I was forced to send it back. Then the seller started asking 1200 to repair it. I refused to pay and asked him to return it, but the seller even refuses to do that and does not even respond to my email. All queries to Ebay too have been in vain as they are powerless and on the seller's side always.

[deena0808]

ASSURED DIWALI GIFT

I had mentioned earlier in this thread that I had not received my second DIWALI Gift which I received today. Thanks a lot eBay. Probably those who are not receiving the gift are not taking corrective steps. May I request those who have not receved the gift to respond to this thread. Community forum is a powerful tool at the hands of consumer; unfortunately few customers visit this location.

Good to see the e bay team responding. Kindly address this issue as a priority one because lots buy expecting these gifts and their expectations get hurt.

[deena0808]

E BAY REFUND SCAM

How many types of scams can you think of as possible in this kind of environment?

Let me list out my experience with refund. I bought a fake diamond ring through e bay on 14 Oct 09. I asked the dealer to give me what was promised: a .5 CT ring in place of a .05 ct ring. So I returned the ring back to the seller, waited for 17 days and asked for refund on 27 Nov. I haven't received the refund yet.

Let me suggest how e bay could have resolved the issue better. Why not use a through me procedure for which the dealer should pay if he is at fault and the buyer to pay if it is his fault an additional amount of 10%.

This would restrain false complaints from buyers and ensure better product from the buyer.

Wisdom seldom dawns on those who matter. Why should it take so much of time to give the refund once all proof is available with e bay? It only gives one the feeling that e bay keeps money little too long for reasons which cannot be seen. Why should e bay clear the dealer when a dispute has been opened?

Its economics. The buyers have to be more learned and visiting community forums to learn from others experience.

If one has ever caught a fish angling you know the techniques to acheve your goal. Allow both e bay and the seller to do as many mistakes as possible. Then strike a complaint through consumer forum, RTI or PLI.You may get some response. Just remember the you are fighting an irresponsible Goliath: chances of success is little but perseverence may bear some fruit.

[deena0808]

PHISING SITE

Its a matter of concern that some members are seeing e bay as a phising site. I do not see it so. I am sure the management will take note and initiate corrective measures

[deena0808]

COMMUNITY COURT

Please understand the concept of COMMUNITY COURT. Its a platform for the sellers to take out any negative feedback received. The poor buyer who funds e bay is left out in the lurch.Buyers have no clue about their rights and are fragmented in their views. All buyers come to e bay in search of getting costly items cheap.Mind you! this is a community of sellers basically.

If one ever understands that all sellers are out here to make money and cannot be selling items at a loss and the buyer have no clue as to who the seller is except a vague e mail address which can be any one any where, it would permit you to make wise decision.

The community is dominated by sellers and ignorant buyers are often made scape goats. The only weapon at the hands of the buyer is the negative feedback which can be easily overruled by the seller community. So dear friends, make wise decisions while buying and send feed backs to highlight fraud. Do you know the composition of the jury? Why cant it be 50% buyers only and 50% sellers only? though it does not make much of a difference because most of the sellers are buyers too.

[sanjuda1987]

Dear deena0808,
Seems like you have done a lot of research on the site,Buying products ! why dont you start selling ?:| you will get the answer's to all your question.;-)

[uncannybal]

I have not received my free Diwali gift. I received a call from Ebay saying the gift will be arriving shortly within 30 days. Nothing has come 2 and half months later. Several complaints and contact with their support staff later I am fed up. They simply say 'we will get back to you in a week' They never do get back to me. This is a fraud committed on customers. Why offer a gift when you have no intention of honouring your commitment? This only shows the mentality of these people. Ethics and decent business practices have no place in their system

I am a journalist and plan to expose these people. All those who have been defrauded by their fraudulent schemes please contact me. I shall compile all your experiences and write an article. Such multinational companies coming to India simply to fool us should be stopped and forced to be ethical

Santosh
uncannybal@hotmail.com

[rptechindia]

Dear deena0808 . R U MENTAL ??

[deena0808]

E BAY BUBBLE

Sounds funny! isn't it? One of our friends in the community has a doubt if this e bay id is mental. Do some research. You may be surprised to find who is mental. Any way the remark is derogatory and I am sure the moderator will take notice. Provided there is one.

The way items with dubious credentials are allowed to be marketed on e Bay, there is every chance that this bubble might burst.This is for those building castles in the air with poor ignorant buyers money. Whenever there is a dispute why cant the item under dispute be routed through e Bay. How does e Bay plan to maintain high standards for goods listed on e bay?

I understand the plight of sellers too. But there should be some order in madness. Very consrete steps needs to be taken by the management to caution fraudsters.