Yup! It FINALLY happened. I ordered something from eBay and got scammed. Not scammed as in I lost my money, but scammed as in I was sold a knockoff. eBay seller bestsellertian is selling folks 100% pure knockoff duplicates of Sennheiser’s CX-300 in-ear headphones; yup, they’re fake. A few days after the auction closed, his two most recent feedback items indicated that he was selling fakes. NOTE: Nowhere on his listing did he indicate anything that would lead someone to believe this. The following is my conversation with him:
September 26th
Jared: Hello, I sent payment to you yesterday from this auction and have
not heard from you. Can you please update me on the shipping status of this auction?
September 27th
bestsellertian: I do not use the shipment of Paypal. So I cann’t give you the status. But I sent it just now. You will recieve it soon
Jared: That’s okay. I was just wondering cause I hadn’t heard from you.
Thanks.
October 5th
Jared: Hello. It has been over your auctions stated timeframe for
shipping and you haven’t provided me with any kind of tracking. That much I could have dealt with, but today as I was reading your feedback, I found that you’re apparently selling knockoffs? I hope that’s not the case.
IF the item ever arrives, I will be giving it a thorough inspection and if I find them to be knockoffs, I will be taking this to eBay. I sincerely hope I needn’t go that far and I would hope that you will DO THE RIGHT THING and remedy the issue.
bestsellertian: They are made in the factory set up in China.
That’s the reason they look like different from the items sold here. And that’s the reason they are cheaper. Because I can get them from the factory directly.
Of course you can check them thoroughly. I wish you will like them. Though most buyers give me good feedbacks, actually there are some people who don’t trust me. In that case, I can give you a refund if you can send the headphone back.
Jared: You see, the thing that irritates me is that your auction says that
they are OEM. Do you know what that means? Original Equipment Manufacturer. That means Sennheiser made them, not a factory in China. Sennheisers are made in Germany.
Now, I’m not opposed to buying things from China, BUT I was completely MISLED by your auction. Do the headphones I will (hopefully) receive even meet the same specifications as the REAL Sennheisers? What are you prepared to do if the items never arrive? What service did you use to send these? USPS or UPS?
bestsellertian: ok, I will give you a full refund. Please give me your paypal address.
You can keep the headphone
October 6th
Jared: xxxxxxxxxxxxx is my PayPal address. Thank-you.
October 8th
bestsellertian: I’m sorry. But your paypal address needs to accept confirmed address. I need sometime to figure it out because I have’t been confirmed yet. Or you can reset the setup.
Thank you
Jared: Go ahead and try it again please.
October 10th
bestsellertian: your money is back.
You can check in your paypal account. Could you please leave positive feedback for me?
thank you
Jared: I quote you as saying you were going to give me a “full refund.”
That means shipping too, I received your payment but it is lacking the shipping fee. Remember, I still haven’t received the item. I thank you for your refund, but ask that you do exactly as you say you would do. I’m sorry if you’re out $5.00 on this, but that’s not my fault. I will consider leaving positive feedback, but at this moment, I don’t know why I should.
bestsellertian: I’m sorry for my mistake. I’ll give you the rest one.
bestsellertian: Go and check your paypal account.
Thank you.
So, tonight I decided to leave the first non-positive feedback comment since March 4, 2000 (when I joined eBay). I felt strange about it because he made things right, BUT I felt I was ethically responsible to help others avoid being taken by him. Additionally, I reported his actions to eBay. His current listings STILL say that his equipment is “OEM.” Hopefully this post helps some soul in the future. Just for the record, I sent him this last message:
October 11th
Jared: Hello, I wanted you to know that I left you neutral feedback. It doesn’t effect your rating, but I didn’t feel comfortable giving you positive feedback since even your recent auctions STILL misrepresent what you are selling. By no definition are your goods “OEM.”
I have taken a while to think about this and felt that this was the ethical thing to do. Perhaps you would have less conflict if you were simply honest. Funny thing is, I may have still bought from you if you had been forthright. The LEAST you could do is include a picture of the real item (the one you use isn’t even your own picture). I know you’ve done it in the past at least once.
Of course, now that I look at the auction, I see hicups. First, the guys isn’t even using his “own” picture of the item. I see stock pictures all the time, but this one is watermarked with another sellers logo. Second, he says “(not inc box, factory packet).” I wasn’t sure what that means, but now I know. Should I have caught those things? Maybe, maybe not. What’s the lesson here? Well, I guess I’m not sure. I’m as careful an online shopper as anyone I know, but even I got stung.
