treo off ebay

[joey3002]

I know this is the same as other threads.. however..
Bought the wife a treo off ebay on march 14th. Just got it Saturday.. im skipping the numerous emails/phone calls to the seller. anyway... i get it, and the embedded name in the unit is the same name of the person i bought it from. im not saying the name you can change.. but the name in the about page..its hardcoded.

so i call sprint to activate it and im told 1st its been reported stolen. i simply say, ok, ill have them call in. so i call back about 2 hours later, and i get a different rep. He says who did you buy it from? I gave him the exact info on paypal and all. He says, she still has it regged under her account. You need to take it to the sprint store with 2 forms of ID and all your papers to show you bought it.

I dont want to lose this phone without getting my money back.. if I take it into the store, will they keep it? or will they actually look at my papers and override something?

thanks

[kgeier82]

did u buy it as used or new?

i just bought a wx for 370 NEW. this is one reason i only buy new phones on ebay.

less hassle, and worry. They cant take something you bring it away from you. i wouldnt worry about that. bring the ebay auction print out, a paypal payment and your id. see what they say. better yet, dont show them you have the phone, just show them the papers, they really dont "need" the phone to reactivate

know what im saying

[joey3002]

yea, i have the dec info on paper here..

[kgeier82]

itll get sorted out. have you called the seller'? not an email , but a phone call?

[joey3002]

yes, she is um.. not very helpful.. lol i will call her this week though

[Scoobmd]

If that doesnt work- paypal and ebay also have a fraud protection plan. If you used a credit card, then you can also try to dispute the charges.
So there should be many ways to help reclaim your money if Sprint can't help.

[joey3002]

i just did paypal.. no cc but from my account

[kgeier82]

if you have to go the paypal protection route, be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait...


and wait some more...

not there yet..... finally! no not yet, ok now!

it takes forever

[joey3002]

heh.. great..

[joey3002]

wow.. this is great..
so i lost 145.00
--
After careful review, this claim has been decided in your favor and $200.00
USD has been credited to your account.

This is the maximum amount covered by PayPal. If your claim was for more
than the amount recovered, the outstanding balance is due from the seller
and we will make our best effort to recover it for you.


-----------------------------------
Transaction Details
-----------------------------------

Transaction Date: Mar 14, 2007
Transaction Amount: -$345.00 USD

----

i did call the seller, and she said her account has been closed and she's with a new provider. I asked if she had a balance owed and was told no as well.. im going to take it monday to the sprint store with all my papers.. if i can activate it, ill send the 200 back to her..

[Carterism]

Wirelessly posted (dee's cell: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D052; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

Basically you need to talk to the seller and tell them to clear it for you. Unfortunately this is the only way you can activate that treo. Does the seller have good feedback? Hopefully and maybe they just need to clear the esn. That would require the seller to call in to Sprint. Good luck.

[Carterism]

Wirelessly posted (dee's cell: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D052; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

ok I didn't see all the other replies. wow that sucks. that seller definitely deserves back feedback and maybe a ban from ebay. contact ebay. I'm sure u have already.

[Wayne 1]

I'll repeat this again for other potential Ebay buyers. DO NOT buy a phone from a Ebayer without at least SEVERAL years on Ebay. Also DO NOT buy from a Ebayer with ANY negative feedback and the MORE positive feedback the better (at least a few hundred).

The reason for this is a Ebayer with a perfect long term rep on Ebay is NOT going to sell you a piece of sh*t phone. They're not dumb enough to risk their rep for a few hundred bucks.

And by chance you do get a junk phone they are MUCH more likely to take it back to prevent trouble with you and getting negative feedback on their Ebay account.

One more point, USE ONLY Credit Cards thru PayPal for payment. I've never had a problem getting a credit thru my CC company when a vendor has attempted to defraud me!

[kgeier82]

i think the feedback system on ebay, while set up correctly is trash.

i had bought a few ipod accessories from this guy. first he said the first shipment was lost (after 2 weeks of waiting for my stuff). He then didnt send me the correct stuff, wrong colors. one of the cases he sent me was all scuffed up, so i asked for a new one. he said i had to send back the item to him for analyzation! good lord, it cost all of $4 to buy from him in the first place.

after the whole scuffed thing, he refused to send me a new one,whether i send the old one back or not. He said i removed it from the plastic sealed it came in, and had used it. I replied to him telling him it was still in the plastic it came in, which was un-resealable stuff. He then said, and here is the kicker... "You will be left negative feedback if you leave it on me, i will not tolerate negative rep".

i told him to F off, politely of course. As a buyer, i always am truthful, and pay asap, which is usually right at the end of what i buy. I have over 100 positive feedbacks.

i just couldnt believe this guy and his morals. moral of my story, and yours...

be careful who u buy what from. when it comes to phones, i request the ESN before i bid if its a used phone. you can call sprint prior to your bid and inquire about an ESN, if its clear, bid, if not (like yours) buy a different phone. if its new, its not that big of a deal (which i usually buy new phones anyways, still cheaper than store).

[gedansky]

I think negative feedback should have to go through arbitration at eBay before being allowed. Too many eBayers would give you negative feedback just because you gave it to them, which is crap. If you do a bad job and you don't make good on it, you deserve to be punished. If all you did was execute a transaction in good faith and got the shaft, you should be able to protest without repercussions.

[Duran]

The paypal protection route is too long.....in December I sold a A900 and the buyer recieved it .......then 25 days later after recieving the package he filed a dispute that he didn't recieve it, it had delivery confirmation! I presented my case and he never responded he figured he'd lose so I waited til February to get my money back.........when the case was automatically closed.....geez also Paypal had collections on me because I had a negative balance on that issue....but they stopped after it was resolved by Paypal themselves and it was like nothing ever happened....why would I fall to a scammer? I'd rather wait to get this dispute solved...than succumb to a scammer...however I still deal on ebay and online trading forums.....I have an excellent record and I will not sacrifice it....geez people these days.

[joey3002]

yea, i have bought a few things.. i pay within an hour of auction ending.. at that moment, my part of the transaction is complete and i deserve a positive feedback. but most sellers now wait to see what you do.. before they leave you any feedback.

[Wayne 1]

I've had several companies try to defraud me over the years and each time I had used a Credit Card for payment. EACH time the situation was cleared up quickly when I contacted the Credit Card Company. :tu:

[missdiva]

Paying isn't the only part - if a buyer has already gotten pos. feedback it gives them that much more reason to cause issues - ask for partial refunds, complain about something, do a switch/return etc etc. Imagine you sell something, you get payment, leave a positive, then the buyer says "it arrived broken" and ships you back a different item completely/keeps your new one! So many things could go wrong after payment. Once something is in the hands of the buyer, and both parties are happy, then the transaction is complete...and then FB should be left.

Checking esn's is useless b/c 5 minutes later something could change. Like someone else said make sure there are no negs & always use your CC and there's no risk of losing $, just the possibility of a wait while the companies process the complaints. PP only protects up to $200 and sometimes requires a letter stating what's wrong w/ the item.. however you can charge back the difference above $200 to your CC. You can email the seller and ask them to confirm that the ESN will be guaranteed clear upon arrival - and then save the email with them replying "yes" . If nothing is in the auction about it being clear or not, you can sometimes use that email for a pp complaint or for a cc chargeback if they try to say "the seller never promised it was" Also, If the seller alreayd knows it's bad, they probably won't reply or will say "maybe" or something. If they say yes and it's not clear, it will probably be something they can fix easily and that they weren't aware of.

I disagree about only buying from experienced sellers. Everyone has phones these days. Many sellers are random people just upgrading or switching to a different model, many keep their items pristine, have lower than usual prices, are attentive to the buyer b/c they aren't doing this as a job - therefore better service, quicker shipping, easier to get a hold of etc etc. If someone is new/has no fb and lists 10 high priced phones that's a flag - but if they have one or two iit's most likely them/their spouse swapping or selling a replacement etc. I've noticed most of the ones who sell tons of phones rack up a lot of negs (hidden within +'s and most people miss the negs or don't search using the neg tool) and have ridiculous terms like shipping isn't refunded if the ESN is bad or they don't guarantee anything beyond DOA... These phones aren't so expensive that someone would likely list one to scam someone and go through all the drama for a few hundred bucks- would happen more with a $2,500 laptop or something.

Best way to handle situations like this is calmly state you are giving them a chance to contact you/clear the issue, but if by xxx date xxx time it is not handled, you will be forced to file a charge back, which will freeze the sellers pp account and go into collections if not paid. Give them two options - so they can see fixing it/refunding you is the better one. Most people don't realize charge backs push the debt back to them and their PP account will be frozen until it's paid & will do what they have to to avoid that.

Good luck... make sure to leave the neg, report the seller (selling stolen item) and worst case - sell the phone as parts.

[Wayne 1]

Excellent post missdiva! There is alot of quality info in it. :tu:

Before I consider buying from someone on Ebay, I inspect all their feedback. If its a high dollar item, I contact other customers (if recent enough transactions allow, if not I pass on doing business with them) and get more in depth info from them.

Good point about sellers, I prefer to pass on the sellers that buy a bunch of junk and dump it on Ebay. In other words if they sell phones for a living, I pass.......

[otacon]

I'm selling my 700p on Ebay right now. I just got a Moto Q so I figured I'd sell it to someone who wanted one. I keep all my electronics in excellent condition. I got an email from someone asking if this was a scam. A scam? He said if it wasn't a scam I'd include the ESN number so people could check it out. Scam? who's running a scam here. I've been on Ebay for a long time with a 100% feedback rating. It irks me to think I'd try an scam someone for a stupid phone. I explained to this person that I activated the Q on my account thus releasing the ESN of the P. He replied back, it's still a scam. You can't win with some people. As was said, not ruining my hard earned feedback for trying to scam someone for a phone.

[Wayne 1]

I'm selling my 700p on Ebay right now. I just got a Moto Q so I figured I'd sell it to someone who wanted one. I keep all my electronics in excellent condition. I got an email from someone asking if this was a scam. A scam? He said if it wasn't a scam I'd include the ESN number so people could check it out. Scam? who's running a scam here. I've been on Ebay for a long time with a 100% feedback rating. It irks me to think I'd try an scam someone for a stupid phone. I explained to this person that I activated the Q on my account thus releasing the ESN of the P. He replied back, it's still a scam. You can't win with some people. As was said, not ruining my hard earned feedback for trying to scam someone for a phone.

Sounds like he is the thief. He may be trying to get the esn from you to use it for illegal purposes. Some people on here say its best to release the esn to customers after receiving cleared payment. Of course that requires trust of the buyer toward the seller. It has to start somewhere. :)

[kgeier82]

here's to hoping my 700wx gets here ok this week, and all goes well.


i hope :)

[aau007]

I'm selling my 700p on Ebay right now. I just got a Moto Q so I figured I'd sell it to someone who wanted one. I keep all my electronics in excellent condition. I got an email from someone asking if this was a scam. A scam? He said if it wasn't a scam I'd include the ESN number so people could check it out. Scam? who's running a scam here. I've been on Ebay for a long time with a 100% feedback rating. It irks me to think I'd try an scam someone for a stupid phone. I explained to this person that I activated the Q on my account thus releasing the ESN of the P. He replied back, it's still a scam. You can't win with some people. As was said, not ruining my hard earned feedback for trying to scam someone for a phone.
It is your phone, your sale, your terms. If he does not like it, he does not have to bid. Don't let him push you into something you are not comfortable doing.

[Wayne 1]

Yes! He's just trying to steal esn's, most likely and trying to lay a guilt trip on him.

[loveshinesthru]

i agree wayne.

[missdiva]

It's like a cheating spouse accusing you of cheating :) They put you on the defense to try and take attention away from the fact that THEY are the bad ones. Once someone asks that I would ignore them and put em on your blocked bidder list (kind of ridiculous - if you think something is a scam, you don't even bother with it - why email someone like their "YES" reply would mean anything if it WAS a true scammer!)

Just put "100% guaranteed clear esn. Due to fraud, I will not give this out - but I do guarantee it fully as it was my own phone ..blah blah blah"

[kgeier82]

people and their lack of responsibility these days....

back in my day..... wait, that was just yesterday !!! :)

[Wayne 1]

Buy your phones from SU members! :)

[missdiva]

For the most part - agree - BUT 3 people on SU screwed me out of $! ($100, $300, and $400!) You never know - just be careful and always use a CC.

[Vanity3]

Wow, this thread is making me rethink the whole buying phones on ebay situation. That was my next step since Sprint shot me down when I asked for the Moto Q at the new member price. The best deal they were willing to offer was $100 off. Anybody selling a Q for less than $350?

[Wayne 1]

Wow, this thread is making me rethink the whole buying phones on ebay situation. That was my next step since Sprint shot me down when I asked for the Moto Q at the new member price. The best deal they were willing to offer was $100 off. Anybody selling a Q for less than $350?

There was one in the "for sale" forum , maybe its not sold yet. :fingers:

[kgeier82]

Buy your phones from SU members! :)


I think ill stick with ebay.

People are people anywhere (as a previous post mentioned). at least the transaction is documented with ebay/paypal.

SU transactions are strictly on a trusting basis.

[missdiva]

In the end its all the same - only true protection is your CC. If someone's scamming you the fact that it's documented on Ebay is irrelevant - they're a--holes enough to scam you they aren't going to give a you know what about it being on Ebay or having bad FB. :) Ebay itself does nothing - PP sometimes does something up to $200 - your CC will just about ALWAYS do something for the FULL amount!

[Wayne 1]

PayPal is a great service to use (Ebay bought them several years ago) to allow you to pay for a item with a CC even if the seller doesn't have a direct CC account set up with Mastercard or whoever. Of course the seller has to pay around 3% of the purchase price and has to have a premier PayPal account set up. PayPal and Credit Cards are a great combination. Pass on any potential deal if the seller won't or can't take a CC thru PayPal. You can buy insurance thru PayPal also...... :)

[joey3002]

In the end its all the same - only true protection is your CC. If someone's scamming you the fact that it's documented on Ebay is irrelevant - they're a--holes enough to scam you they aren't going to give a you know what about it being on Ebay or having bad FB. :) Ebay itself does nothing - PP sometimes does something up to $200 - your CC will just about ALWAYS do something for the FULL amount!


yep.. i just got 200.00 out of 345 back... went to store and was told they couldnt do anything even after i brought all the papers.

im calling her again today..

[missdiva]

there's a rule now, you can't accept PP without accepting CC's ....

I don't know why they told you to bring papers saying you bought it... that wouldn't change the stolen status. Just b'c the scammer sold a stolen thing and the buyer is honest doesn't mean the phone is no longer stolen. HOWEVER - if its not actually stolen and they just owe money on the account, in 90 days the esn will clear itself...

Everyone get an Amex - they are the best with chargebacks. Someone from SU sent me a stolen phone for $400 and dissapeared and they are getting me back the money - even without me shipping it back because the seller dissapeared before giving me the address!

[otacon]

As it pertains to Ebay, go with your gut and inspect their feedback with microscope. As questions about anything you're buying. Sellers that don't respond might be suspect. Stock photos is another give away unless it something small. I'm selling a 2gb Sandisk MicroSD card right now and I'm using a stock photo in my auction. Ask them to post pictures of the actual item WITH their Ebay ID writen down somewhere in the photo. If they refuse to post ANY actual photos...another give away. I have my 700p on there right now and I've made sure to answer every question in a timely manner. There's always going to level of trust in anything not handled face to face. You can minimize your risk just following some basic rules. Ive been getting hit with the "Give me the ESN to make sure it's clear" scam 10 times a day right now. I'm sure people on here would be more than happy to check out an Ebay auction or anything online. I've been on Ebay forever it seems....lol

[Wayne 1]

there's a rule now, you can't accept PP without accepting CC's ....


That's interesting, not surprising either with GREEDY Ebay looking for ways to INCREASE their revenue, since THEY own PayPal!! There continues to be a PayPal revolt and now it will accelerate on Ebay, with the above rule in place (sellers have to absorb another 3% fee!). I haven't had any trouble with PayPal yet, so I'm not soured on them, yet.

[Wayne 1]

As it pertains to Ebay, go with your gut and inspect their feedback with microscope. As questions about anything you're buying. Sellers that don't respond might be suspect. Stock photos is another give away unless it something small. I'm selling a 2gb Sandisk MicroSD card right now and I'm using a stock photo in my auction. Ask them to post pictures of the actual item WITH their Ebay ID writen down somewhere in the photo. If they refuse to post ANY actual photos...another give away. I have my 700p on there right now and I've made sure to answer every question in a timely manner. There's always going to level of trust in anything not handled face to face. You can minimize your risk just following some basic rules. Ive been getting hit with the "Give me the ESN to make sure it's clear" scam 10 times a day right now. I'm sure people on here would be more than happy to check out an Ebay auction or anything online. I've been on Ebay forever it seems....lol


Excellent post!!! I've noticed those stock pictures and I've never bought from anyone using them! :Popcorn2:

[missdiva]

Actually, memory cards are just about the highest scam/fraud category. Tons and tons of fakes and its near impossible to tell - people use them and down the line they stop working and they have no clue even at that point. The sellers get great feedback b/c they look real and work at first. You can see a bunch of follow ups like a month later "STOPPED WORKING - FAKE" or whatever - its so sad.

I wouldn't use stock pics for anything IMO...or at least one stock pic AND a real pic. That puts you a step ahead of the guy w/ just the stock pic - and there are tons of honest sellers who just don't know how to or don't bother to add a real pic, which puts you at an advantage if you do. Plus anything used is very subjective - whats good/fair to you may be bad/horrible to someone else - a close up pic takes away most of the possibility they will be dissapointed, at least in terms of cosmetic condition.

:)

[otacon]

True about the "Sandisk" memory cards....I gotcha on that one. I see a ton of those on Ebay....the not quite Sandisk cards...lol

[loveshinesthru]

how can you tell?

[Scoobmd]

how can you tell?
Good question since I'm looking for a cheap SD card myself. Most of the ones I see look like stock pictures...

[otacon]

If they use stock pictures unfortunately you'll never be able to tell until you get the card home. Check their feedback going back a few months. I found two auctions that showcase a real Sandisk Card and a "fake"/generic one:

Real:

Real Sandisk 2GB SD Card (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-2-GB-SANDISK-SECURE-DIGITAL-2GB-SD-MEMORY-CARD-MP3_W0QQitemZ160104986163QQihZ006QQcategoryZ122613 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Fake:

Fake or Generic SD Card (http://cgi.ebay.com/2GB-Secure-Digital-2-GB-SD-2-G-Memory-Card-2G_W0QQitemZ200098540973QQihZ010QQcategoryZ103409Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Notice how they look VERY similar. For all of you going the MicroSD route. This is a picture of the actual card I'm selling on Ebay right now.

Sandisk MicroSD 2GB (http://www.abstractlight.com/SD.jpg)

If all you see is stock photos than ask them to take a picture of the actual card. Any legit seller would be more than happy to. Both the adapter AND the memory card itself must say Sandisk on it. The adpater is not really any big deal but make sure the picture of the card itself says Sandisk. Like I've said, if you have any questions, post the auction here and let others check it out.

[missdiva]

one difference w/ the sd- on the bottom there's a lip as opposed to it being totally smooth across. I forgot which is which though lol :) I'm sure there are many differences and it's always changing . There are a bunch of guides on ebay that people wrote w/ pics of the real and fake ones. It's not like w/ designer bags where you can totally tell.. its IMPOSSIBLE to tell unless you have something specific to go by. But the fakes even have serial numbers and correct stampings. You can always contact the company with the serial number to confirm. Thats how I found out one I got was fake.

[pixielee]

HI ~ I work for PayPal / eBay Fraud ... it is very important, not only to look for good Feedback .. but also to read through some of them - From Buyers - sometimes sellers listl 100s of .01 penny auction things just to get good FB; if there is NEG FB - be sure and look at it, sometimes people click the wrong thing, or just didnt really mean to leave negative ....you shold look for real photos being used in the auctions, and see if they are listing multiple of the same item - using the same photo - and always use PayPal or a Credit Card to pay - no cash, checks, or money order .. they offer you no protection if the transaction doesnt go as planned. Always too, insist on insured, trackable, delivery - PayPal offers you 45 days to file a claim, either as an item not received, or the item was not was described. If they are unable to resolve the issue for you, then you file a chargeback with your credit card issuer < you have 180 days with most card issuers >

Most sellers are honest *smiles* those are things to help make you feel comfortable about who you are dealing with .. there is sadly a bad apple every once in awhile .. if you are ever suspicious .. report the seller .. it never hurts to have them looked at .. and i assure you .. we DO look!

Good Luck with your Treo!!!

[Wayne 1]

alyxx:

Wow, I've never had a chance to communicate with someone from ebay fraud. I've been on Ebay for years and had good and bad with sellers, mostly good with a few liars. When it gets right down to where the rubber meets the road, will Ebay help (safe harbor or whatever?) with fraudulant sellers.

Such as with misrepresentation (more than a few people don't accurately describe products), not shipping the product, fake money orders, etc. As you know not everyone takes credit cards or paypal. Paypal has a bad reputation with some Ebayers. Personally I haven't had a problem with PayPal, yet. Your detailed thoughts are appreciated! :)

In addition how can older feedback be accessed (types of auctions) once the links are dormant? :Popcorn2:

[pixielee]

i actually work on the PayPal side ~ eBay deals with the sellers, and eBay has does have a buyer protection process as well .. http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html - which i did neglect to mention before! and also - generally speaking, if they are not taking PayPal, you might not want to deal with them - at least for any high $$ items - never use a personal check, but if you must send a check, get a cashiers check from your bank instead .. much easier to track if its been cashed and a seller never really sent anything, than a money order.

and your right .. the bad rep kind of comes usually because as a seller, there are very specific rules to have 'seller protection" and not lose your money with fraudulant buyers ( there are more of those than sellers! ) when sellers do lose their money, becuase they didnt follow these very simple steps .. they get upset and hate PP - all you have to do though, is make sure you have "Seller Protection Eligible" on the transaction details page when they pay you .. ONLY ship to the confirmed add on that page .. and get a delivery tracking number .. laughs, and really send what you listed!

And also .. just because i saw someone post it .. passing your PayPal fees along to the buyer is illegal by credit card company laws. All merchants who accepts credit cards pay a fee and are not allowed to pass that fee to their customers ... you can charge reasonable shipping and handling fees however *smiles* - the point of that is not to list in any communication that you are charging extra to use PayPal

[Wayne 1]

alyxx:

Thanks for your answers. It seems cell phones are very troublesome items to buy and sell on auction sites. Can you think of any other tips from your experiences working for PayPal, that will help honest buyers and sellers to avoid the dishonest ones? :)

[pixielee]

Those are really your best options ... as a seller if someone asks you to send the item to a country not listed as their address ... DONT ... no matter who they say they are sending it to lol

The BIGGEST thing for PayPal people .. is do not reply to spoof emails .. 100s of people everyday give out their personal information, and then get mad at us. We are not the ones sending the spoof emails < really if we wanted your information, we have it already > - if it isnt addressed Dear < your name as registered on your paypal account > then its not from us. We will not address any email as "dear paypal customer, or dear paypal user ...

[Wayne 1]

alyxx:

Thanks again for helping. I recently read in here that sellers that use PayPal must now ALSO accept credit cards for payment which requires a Premier type account. Are there any exceptions to that rule?

[pixielee]

well, sort of .. if you do not sell alot, I believe Personal Account holders can take up to 5 credit card payments - you may want to double check that since i am in fraud now lol - the fee is a little higher than the 2.9% - but then you do not have to upgrade and have ALL your payments take a fee

[Wayne 1]

If you don't want to accept credit card's, can you still do so with a Personal Account?

Thanks again! :)

[Seaborn111]

this post has interesting timing.

I just won a PPC6700 on Ebay and i'm waiting for the seller to respond about the ESN. I got an email from the seller the day after i won requesting payment, and i simply replied:

"I can't wait to send payment! but before i do, since i've won the auction, could i get the ESN sent to me, or better yet an image of the ESN? Thank you!"

no reply for 3 days, here's to hoping.

[pixielee]

if you sell on eBay, and you want to accept PayPal, you do have to accept credit card payments - You can still keep a Personal PayPal account, but there is a limit to how many credit card payments you can receive in 1 year, ( I believe its 5, but it may vary by account - log into your account and click LIMITS ) - if you go over that number, you will be prompted to upgrade - if you receive a credit card payment through PayPal for an an eBay sale, and you deny it .. you can get into trouble, upto and including termination of accounts (( thats usually for repeat offenders lol )) - -

[Wayne 1]

Thanks alyxx, your help is sincerely appreciated! :)

One method (other than PayPal) that has been very helpful to me on Ebay is to require ONLY Postal Money Orders and when received take them directly to the Post Office. They clear them instantly with their computer system which stops any potential fraud cold in its tracks.

They have the ONLY money order system (I'm aware of) that allows instant verification the payment is legimate. Other money orders, cashiers checks, etc. need a few days to process thru the banking system, then the seller must call that bank, clearing house, etc. and verify the money order/cashiers check did indeed PAY. I NEVER ship anything to a customer before I actually have real money in my hands. ;)

[Wayne 1]

this post has interesting timing.

I just won a PPC6700 on Ebay and i'm waiting for the seller to respond about the ESN. I got an email from the seller the day after i won requesting payment, and i simply replied:

"I can't wait to send payment! but before i do, since i've won the auction, could i get the ESN sent to me, or better yet an image of the ESN? Thank you!"

no reply for 3 days, here's to hoping.


He may be a thief (selling an unusable phone), or he thinks you may get the esn and then not send him payment. Look his number up using the member phone number request which is your RIGHT since YOU won the auction. Also remember he will receive YOUR number too. Call him on the phone and ask what his problem is? :)