Made a mistake. Can anything be done to recover?

[jlindy]

My wife, extremely new online purchaser, arranged to buy a purse on ebay, but did it outside of the auction itself. She actually sent a money order to the seller, not having a contact phone number, but just a name and address. Well as you can guess, a week has gone by and nothing from the seller. They claim not to have received it and mysteriously all of their 15 auctions are now gone/closed/etc. I want to think that this is a simple misunderstanding and that the auctions actually ended due to time, but I am fairly sure she was taken.

My question. With money orders, I don't think that there is anything that I can do to recover/cancel the payment right? Since she did not actually win the auction, I don't think ebay can help. I have emailed ebay to see if this seller was a case of stolen identity, but that is all that I know to do.

I know better and if she would have just asked, I think this could have been avoided. She is extremely pregnant and fairly emotional so I don't want to get on her too much about it. Any suggestions on what I can do now or am I screwed? What is the best way to avoid this

 

[Zishan]

Forget Ebay, they don't care, or atleast that's how I was treated when I was almost scammed.

The first thing you should do is contact the Money Order company. A big plus is if you have the receipt/stub of the money order so that you have the Money Order # number. This way they can track the funds to see where and to what account the Money Order was deposited to. Then you will have some sort of legal recorse. Or if the Money Order was cashed, there should be the persons ID recorded on the MO. This should also help you find the persons identity and help with legal recorse.
Hope this helps...

G. Luck,
- Z

 

[jlindy]

I talked with the bank who issued the money order and they said that there is nothing that they can do until at least 30 days, and then only if the check has been lost can they cancel the Money Order. I guess I would have the recourse on the back end after it has been cashed, but I was hoping to avoid all of that and cancel it upfront. Oh well.

Ebay says that you are protected to up to $200. (if you win the auction that is) Is that not true?

 

[AaronR]

If you purchase outside of ebay (even if you were the high bidder when the auction closes, etc), they do not recieve the seller's fees...(hence they look at it as if they are the first people who got taken advantage of in the situation)... sorry but they will never offer you help under those circumstances. On the bright side, the purse still may arrive.

hopefully it's not a Prada or something really expensive

 

[satan_srv]

My wife, extremely new online purchaser, arranged to buy a purse on ebay, but did it outside of the auction itself.

Ebay really doesn't like it when you do that. Circumventing the auction process is a no-no.

I recommend you sign-up for Paypal, Ebay's payment company www.paypal.com and only deal with verified members. Verified members mean the address and the credit card number of the user has been verified and doing business with them in ebay auctions or outside of them carries a lot more buyer and seller protection.

It sounds like your bank is giving you the run-around. you should always be able to cancel a money order, just like you can put a stop payment on cheques.

 

[jlindy]

I know ebay doesn't like people to go outside of ebay and if she would have asked, I would have helped. The only thing that I asked ebay to do was to check the validity of the seller to make sure they haven't been hijacked, so hopefully they can let me know at least the answer to that. I know they wouldn't want to help out someone that bought something outside of ebay and I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I am registered with Paypal and have used it successfully many times. She actually asked me about sending payments through Paypal last week. I thought she was just curious and didn't think twice about it, but the seller told her that they preferred a MO b/c they don't have to pay the extra few %.

It is a Burberry Tote, which isn't that cheap, but not too expensive either. It just pisses me off to have myself or my family (in this case) taken.

Who knows, we could still get it.

 

[Zishan]

Re: Re: Made a mistake. Can anything be done to recover?

Ebay really doesn't like it when you do that. Circumventing the auction process is a no-no.

It sounds like your bank is giving you the run-around. you should always be able to cancel a money order, just like you can put a stop payment on cheques.

I agree, Ebay doesnt like it when you do things outside of them.

And as far as stop payment goes, the Money Order is "guaranteed funds." That's where the no stop payment for 30 days comes in.
But, as far as I know, you should be able to purchase what they call an indemnity bond?! This is just like insurance on the money order, that if they give you your credit back for that money order, that the person with the money order doesnt provide the item and gets away with the money, that the bank is covered. So in other words, the bank doesnt pay the MO and then also credits you back, in turn loosing money.

Again, hope this helps. btw, I know this b/c I work at a bank.
- Z

 

[nsxtasy]

There are a couple of ways to avoid this in the future. One is to have items shipped C.O.D. Another is to use one of the popular escrow services.

Sorry to hear that this happened, but it illustrates one of the reasons to go through the eBay process instead of around it...

 

[jlindy]

There are a couple of ways to avoid this in the future. One is to have items shipped C.O.D. Another is to use one of the popular escrow services.

Sorry to hear that this happened, but it illustrates one of the reasons to go through the eBay process instead of around it...

completely agree. I don't like to go outside of ebay, but lately I am scared to death to buy anything on ebay with all of the fraud that this site has uncovered.

But, as far as I know, you should be able to purchase what they call an indemnity bond?! This is just like insurance on the money order, that if they give you your credit back for that money order, that the person with the money order doesnt provide the item and gets away with the money, that the bank is covered. So in other words, the bank doesnt pay the MO and then also credits you back, in turn loosing money.

You kind of lost me on the who gets paid and who loses the money. How much are they generally ($150 tranaction) and does it protect me from getting ripped off in this case?

 

[satan_srv]

Well it sounds like from what you are saying if your wife had talked to you about the transaction in more detail you probably would have avoided the situation.

Also, how was the MO shipped? No Tracking or signature?

 

[Zishan]

completely agree. I don't like to go outside of ebay, but lately I am scared to death to buy anything on ebay with all of the fraud that this site has uncovered.



You kind of lost me on the who gets paid and who loses the money. How much are they generally ($150 tranaction) and does it protect me from getting ripped off in this case?

Sorry for any confusion, I was typing fast on the way out to lunch!

My opinion, wait to see if the purse comes or not. If not, then start by getting a copy of the MO from the bank. Then start taking legal action. The MO should have information on it that will lead you to the person that deposited it or cashed it.

And feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I'll do what I can to help.

 

[jlindy]

Well it sounds like from what you are saying if your wife had talked to you about the transaction in more detail you probably would have avoided the situation.

Also, how was the MO shipped? No Tracking or signature?

God love her, but she just put it in the mail in a regular envelope. (no tracking or signature)

Yes, I do believe that the transaction would have been avoided if she told me her intentions because I would never send a money order to someone I don't know. I use Paypal, but I guess you are never 100% safe against criminals.

The moral of the story is always pay attention to your wife, even when she is talking about purses because it could cost you in the end.

 

[nsxtasy]

If the purse does not arrive, you have now earned 200 Spousal Credits. These can be redeemed for future purchases, according to the procedure illustrated in the following example:

Her: What's that package that UPS delivered today?

Him: It's a new exhaust for my NSX.

Her: Do you really think we should be spending money on an exhaust for a car that already has one?

Him: Remember that purse you never got...?

Her: Okay, never mind.

 

[KGP]

If the purse does not arrive, you have now earned 200 Spousal Credits.

Or, "Honey, look at the wheels and tires I just bought from Gene!"

Sorry to hear about the raw deal, Jeff.

 

[jlindy]

Or, "Honey, look at the wheels and tires I just bought from Gene!"

Sorry to hear about the raw deal, Jeff.

Nsxtasy, that is a great angle, I think I will have to use that.

Gene, that is the first thing that came to mind when I read Ken's post and funny that I saw yours next. I was wondering how I was going to explain that one to her.

We'll see what happens, but it's not over yet. (although that fat lady is warming up in the on deck circle)