eBay drama....... ugh

beef316

Thursday I won an auction for an Adcom GFA-545 amp on eBay. Got a great deal $187 shipped! I was stoked. The buyer had a rating of only 7, but it was all positive. So I said what the heck, why not. I paid immediately like the good eBayer that I am. (409 rating, 100% positive) Well, last night I received an email from ebay that stated the following:

Our records show that you were a bidder or buyer of one or more of this seller's items. We recently removed this seller's active listings and suspended the seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we cannot share further details about this seller.

If the seller asks you to complete this transaction outside of eBay, we strongly recommend that you do not proceed with the transaction. Transactions for items listed on eBay but then completed off of the eBay platform are not covered by buyer protection programs offered by eBay and can be highly indicative of fraud. For more information on Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of eBay, copy and past the following Help Page link into your browser: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/rfe-spam-non-ebay-sale.html.

If you have already paid for this item but have not received it, you should take all possible steps to receive reimbursement....... :mad:



Ebay has removed the auction and it looks like the seller's accoun, so I can't get any information from them. I have tried to get in touch w/ the seller using the paypal email address, but he has yet to reply. I also called the phone number listed on the Paypal account and guess what, it's out of service. I am going to give it a few more days, but if I had to guess; this one will be going to the Paypal fraud department.


The email address of this user is wirelessjunction06@yahoo.com and the company is Tractronics Inc. Needless to say, you probably shouldn't buy anything from them.

schwarcw

DAMN! I hate to see this shite! Sorry to hear that you've been defrauded by this scum! I hope you find some resolve to this theft. Good luck!

Lsi9

Arent you insured somehow by Paypal and Ebay?

beef316

Yes. I am not worried about getting the money back because I will. Paypal should cover it 100%. I was basically just venting.

So far, my biggest frustration is that eBay has removed all auctions and contact information from this guy. Since the auction already took place, they should allow me to contact this person to get resolution.

PolkThug

beef316 wrote:

and the company is Tractronics Inc. (

Tractronics Inc makes model railroad stuff, the bad seller probably just lifted the name.

hearingimpared

Sorry to hear of your distress. It's a damned shame that this crappola has to happen it makes you mistrust, and once that occurs, it grows and becomes insidious like mold in a damp basement.

heiney9

Don't wait, file a dispute with PayPal immediaetly. The resoultion process take some time so get it started, but still not a guarantee you'll get your money back. If you paid with a credit card you have to file a PayPAl dispute first and if you get no satisfaction then I believe the CC company takes over.

I had that happen to me and luckily I got a refund from the seller(judgement by PayPal) and the dumbass still sent me the item. To this day I have no idea what he was smoking, a very strange transaction.

Polk65

beef316 wrote:

Yes. I am not worried about getting the money back because I will. Paypal should cover it 100%. I was basically just venting.

So far, my biggest frustration is that eBay has removed all auctions and contact information from this guy. Since the auction already took place, they should allow me to contact this person to get resolution.

I'm sorry for your grief and by all means vent but let things run their course. Ebay sent you an email that they are aware of crap going on with the seller. There is no need to contact the seller in this case, you'll get your resolution through paypal. Ebay owns paypal so you're covered.

How did you pay? From my experience with MasterCard, they do not cover losses from purchases made anywhere of used equipment. Paypal will first "investigate" then file notice of a pending chargeback with the issuing bank or credit card. They have up to 90 days to respond and dispute the chargeback paypal.

beef316

Polk65 wrote:

I'm sorry for your grief and by all means vent but let things run their course. Ebay sent you an email that they are aware of crap going on with the seller. There is no need to contact the seller in this case, you'll get your resolution through paypal. Ebay owns paypal so you're covered.

How did you pay? From my experience with MasterCard, they do not cover losses from purchases made anywhere of used equipment. Paypal will first "investigate" then file notice of a pending chargeback with the issuing bank or credit card. They have up to 90 days to respond and dispute the chargeback paypal.

I used my existing Paypal balance.

BaggedLancer

heiney9 wrote:

Don't wait, file a dispute with PayPal immediaetly. The resoultion process take some time so get it started, but still not a guarantee you'll get your money back. If you paid with a credit card you have to file a PayPAl dispute first and if you get no satisfaction then I believe the CC company takes over.

I had that happen to me and luckily I got a refund from the seller(judgement by PayPal) and the dumbass still sent me the item. To this day I have no idea what he was smoking, a very strange transaction.

That is because the seller probably transferred the money to his real bank account that you had sent him. He then sent the item. After that paypal decided to that to refund your money and put his paypal account into negative balance.

So, at this point you have your item and paypals money and the seller has his money and a negative balance on his paypal account. It is paypal that lost out in this transaction.

Polk65

beef316 wrote:

I used my existing Paypal balance.

I wouldn't lose sleep over this. If paypal gets rough, point out that ebay closed the sellers account.

beef316

I'm sure I will get my money back. What I really want is the amp! That was one hell of a price.

BaggedLancer

was it a 545II or plain 545?

beef316

Just a 545 but if it sounds anything like my 535, I will be extatic.

heiney9

beef316 wrote:

Just a 545 but if it sounds anything like my 535, I will be extatic.

The 545 IMO, is the best of all the Adcom 5xx series. It has a bit more balls than the 535 with same sweet top end, lots of slam and control. The 555's always seem to have a slight grainy top end, very slight but not what I would consider bright. The 585 and 565 are better as the cost reflects, but to be fair those 2 top end amps are a somewhat more complicated design that may or may not be a long term advantage. They seem to have a higher failure/problem rate.

The 545II use coupling capacitors which can start to dry up by this age. Many feel the 545II is a better amp, again IMO, the original 545 has the slight edge if for no other reason than omitting the coupling caps which can go out of spec but they also seem to color the sound a bit as well.

All being said either 545's are excellent choices especially considering what you can pick one up for.

heiney9

At this point mine will never leave me. I bought an original 545 new is 1986 and it has been going strong ever since. Did and impromptu shoot out with the Outlaw mono's and a Parasound and the Adcom was a pretty clear winner especially in dynamics. It was slightly more forward (not bright) than the Parasound and it was so much more open and dynamic than the Outlaw mono's. It opened my eyes as I hadn't really done a head to head with the Adcom in a long long time. Just reinforced my decision from 1986 because at that time there was nothing close to its cost that could compare. Even 21 years later it holds its own very well.