DANGER! Watch out for this seller on ebay
 

A couple weeks ago I bid on a Sparton Mirror in lid set from an Ebay seller located in Elmore OH. The set had been on ebay for more than 5 weeks and had no bids. I made an offer of $250 and it was accepted. The listing required local pickup in 5 days. I have a friend in the area that was going to get the set and hold it for me. However the friend had car trouble and was not able to make the trip in the 5 day period the seller required.

I contacted the seller and informed him of that fact, and requested that he give me a longer period to pick the set up. He refused, and in addition he refused to issue a refund and cancel the sale.

I contacted ebay and started a claim against him but ebay sided with the seller saying I had not adhered to the sellers terms for pick up; essentially allowing the seller to keep my money and the tv set too.

The seller has now re-listed the set WHICH I PAID $250 FOR and is attempting to resell an item that I essentially purchased and that, theoretically, I now own.

Here is a link to the listing which is re-selling the set I purchased.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SPAR...item3a80449102

The guys name is Ernest Scarano his email address is [email protected]

I strongly urge you to never do any business with this thief. He stole $250 from me and is impossible to deal with.

As a point of advise for all of you, NEVER NEVER NEVER, use PayPal to pay for anything by making a direct transfer out of your bank account to pay for the item. Never make a purchase on ebay when funds are sitting in your PayPal account, because they will take your money out of your PayPal account instead of letting you pay for it with your Master Card or Visa. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT BALANCE AT $0.00 ZERO Never leave any cash in your PayPal account, always draw it off and send it to your own bank immediately as soon as it is available to transfer out of PayPal.

When you pay for something through PayPal,, ALWAYS use your Master Card, Visa or other major credit card that is registered in your Pal Pal account. That way you can always go back to the credit card company and place a protest against that charge if you have a problem with the transaction. That's what I have now done because I used my MC to pay for this tv. I am waiting to see what MC is going to do when they find out the guy is trying to re-sell an item that was paid for using my Master Card.

When this is all settled I will post what the outcome is.

Meantime, I am asking all my fellow TV buddies here on VK to send emails to Mr. Scarano explaining to him how all the tv collectors now know if his theft of my $250 and that none of us will consider buying his Sparton Tv. It was a POS in the first place. I never should have bid on it. I guess that makes me the stupid one.

Sorry that you got ripped off, but thanks for the excellent advice about paypal accounts. I have a Visa attached, and always use that for purchases. I hope you can get something back, but maybe the bastard will just get his "reward" in the next life, if that's what happens.
Kevin

Also says something about what "100% Positive Feedback" can really mean.

Reminds me of something a girlfriend of mine once said, "Trust Me has the same number of letters as ---- ---, and means the same thing"...

http://elmoremantiques.com/
Location
MAP: 341 Rice Street, Elmore, Ohio 43416
Phone
1 (419) 205-8734
Email
[email protected]
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 213, Elmore, Ohio 43416


Leave it to ebay to think that a felony is ok. This is theft by conversion. Prosecute him.

That is really dirtbaggery using a minor technicality to keep the money and the set.

Sorry to hear, Bob. I sold an item back in November, and the buyer asked if he could pick it up in July. I told him "sure you can". He was a repeat customer.

How can they let him keep the money , ok so they side with him on the issue of meeting the agreement but how can they let him get away with having the money and do nothing ? in the past they have assisted in such wrong doings.

paypal another joke , they took a two year or older claim from someone that claimed they didn't get what i sold them , 2 years or more after the fact they take the money out of the account , i can't prove i even sent it since the delivery confirmation was long ago expired , so i deal with them no more , and ebay sellers who wont take a money order don't want my bid , simple as that , against ebay policy some say - bullwinkle and you loose less money by taking a money order , i'm glad there are some sellers on ebay that take cash , money orders , credit cards but no paypal , should be more like that.

you might want to contact your local police , talk to a detective and explain the whole thing , i did it once when i had a problem where i paid but didn't get my item and got my money back after he contacted the police in the area where the person lived , to heck with going to ebay.

Mike

If paypal fails, call the police as was mentioned. Next, call his local newspaper, heh.

Sorry about that, but take it as a learning experience. How could a person not feel guilt to cheat someone out of money like that??! It boggles my mind.
I used Ebay for years and although most transactions went fine, the few that didn't ruined it all for me. People can sometimes be, well, not exactly sane. It's been at least 8 years since I bought anything from the site. I just use for keeping up with going values. I have a collector friend that has a house full of old sets and parts and I deal directly with him. I stop by, share a cup of coffee, pick out a set that catches my eye, pay cash, and go home with it - no fuss, no muss!!!:banana:

What really sucks is that you made sure that you called him and explained the situation. That guy is a real sh*& bag!

He'll find out one day that Karma's a Bitch...

:thmbsp: In solidarity with our fellow collector Bob , I have sent a friendly Email asking for the return of Bob's $250 . I used no foul or threatening language and explained that just because an appointment to pick up the set was missed is no good reason to commit fraud by withholding both the funds and the TV . I myself am a Radio collector mostly , but I do also appreciate the old TVs and I know how few real TV collectors are out here . If this dealer does not honor the deal with Bob I pray that will be the LAST antique TV he sells , as the few real collectors shun him for screwing Bob on this deal .

I urge ALL our fellow collectors , no matter what ya collect , to take a few moments and send off an Email to the seller in support of doing the right thing for Bob , either give him his paid for TV , or a refund of the money spent . If the dealer gets enough Emails , It just may prompt him into doing the right thing , especially if the volume of Emails indicates that the entire collector community universally condemns this blatant ripoff ...

7 days seems like a really short time to try and collect a vintage set, you really need more time than that to arrange for pickup. The proto set took nearly 3 weeks to arrive from New Jersey, due to the bidding process with Uship. Thankfully Harry Poster was willing to hold it till they were able to stop by and make the pickup. It just seems strange that this guy would not allow some more time, especially since he seems to own a store. A store should have some back room space, shouldn't it?

Very frustrating. I don't know the exact rules, but I would assume that if the seller resells it, he must legally (and per eBay rules) refund to you, the difference between what you paid, and what the second buyer pays. It's still not fair, and he is in the wrong, but at least you might be able to get something back. Or if it sells by chance for more, you should be able to demand a share of the profit plus your money.

eBay is famous for going "by the letter of the law", and not the spirit. That's what happened to you in this case. It's like if you see a house on fire, and you kick the door down to get a puppy out, you can legally be charged with felony burglary, but of course the spirit of the law should prevail in that case, and you had a valid reason to break into the house and remove property not yours. I wish all of society (including eBay) would go by the spirit of the law...

Charles

We oughta ask Tony to send Paulie, Chrissy, or Silvio to have a word w/him...(grin) Or would you send Patsy ? Remember the one where Patsy went to see that gal Gloria who worked at the Mercedes dealers', who was bothering Tony ?!?

Yeah, a little friendly visit. That's the ticket. Let him know how things are for sure, yeah... Let him realize that it's not a good thing to mess around, yeah...
:D

No ones is bothering me..... hehe!!

All I can say to Ernie is... are you laughing at me...ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME!!! Whyyy I awwwttaa!!! sorry..... I went Joe Pesci for a minute!


Sorry you lost some bucks on ePay Bob! Lost some stuff on that overgrown tagsale monopoly myself. :mad:

I'd LOVE to send "The Boys" over to have a friendly little chit-chat w/a certain Crickmore fella in Ohio & see about gettin' my Sony KV-7010UA back..Very rare set, I'd like to have it back..He's a member here, sent him P/Ms, nada...

Sorry to hear about this. A real slimeball PC of garbage. What goes around, comes around. Karma's a bitch. He'll get his

According to the story line, she ended up killing herself. :sigh:

I remember that situation... I had hoped it was resolved; still not, and no explanation or apology, or offer to make right????!!!!!

Charles

Nope. Nothin'. Nada. Zilch. I'd be happy to PAY almost any reasonable amount for him to just send it back down here, no questions asked.

Bob,

This story galls me!

I noticed that no negative feedback was left and you have a right to do so. Perhaps you are still negotiating with him and possibly he may refund your money once he has sold it a SECOND TIME !

As to EBay, I would not take "no" for a answer. I would call back and tell them you want to escalate your claim to the next level of EBay management. Keep on doing this until you get a satisfactory response. Don't give up. Your story as told is just not right. It appears you have a good chance to recover your money through Master Card. MC would probably negotiate with EBay as to your claim.

Bob,

I'd go to your local police. Especially if he sells it to someone else.

However, what's stopping him from doing the same thing to someone else? That's why you need to go to the police. And, for that matter, who knows how many people he's done this to before, but didn't have the backup docs? Or, were simpky ashamed to tell anyone they've been "taken"?

Finally, since this is interstate commerce and the transaction was conducted via telecommunications, wire fraud might well be involved. Although getting the Sparton is improbable, you might prevent him from doing this in the future.

John

Bob-

I am sorry to hear about this BS transaction. Unfortunately, I am not near Ohio. If I was, I would be happy to go make a visit to this person and their store, and tell them "We are going to fix this, right now". I would bring a friend or two.

How far is Elmore from Hilliard? Maybe a mass side trip from Convention visitors would impress the scumbag and "persuade" him to refund your money.

According to Bing Maps, 118.9 miles, 2 hours 9 minutes...

I attempted to make a deal for the set about 2 months ago. He was probably the single most rude human being I've ever spoken with. Needless to say it didn't work out and then Bob got screwed over by him. I was planning on stopping in to give him a piece of my mind anyway. Now I'm definitely going to be making a pit stop in Elmore to talk to this jackass...

Take comfort in knowing that karma will get everyone even at some point; guaranteed. Nobody has to lift a finger. It takes patience, but it happens every time sooner or later.

Charles

Waitin on Karma may be all well and good , but I'll bet if a few folks would lift a few fingers and send off an Email to the seller asking nicely for the return of Bob's $250 , It could speed up the Karma process considerably :thmbsp:

In post one of this thread , Bob asked for folks to send off some Emails . I have done so and have seen no other mention of anyone else honoring Bob's request . If the seller sees dozens of friendly Emails urging him to do the right thing , he just may "man up" and make good on the deal , even if only for the reason of the fear of never being able to sell another antique tv to the collector community .....

Sometimes a flaming fudge bag does wonders too :D

I work with PayPal all the time at my job. We do well over 7 figures with PayPal annually. There is no way that PayPal won't give you a refund if a dispute is opened.

Ah, those wonderful days of yore...

Bob makes a very important distinction, which is worth emphasizing and which I found out the hard way. If you pay via instant transfer from your bank account through PayPal, they put the payment through immediately and supposedly then no longer have any control over it; they say it is "impossible" to recall it in the event of a dispute. I suspect that what was really happening was that it was difficult to do so or they were reluctant to do so. I was unable to get PayPal to back me on what seemed to me to be an arguable case of seller error; I bought one item, they charged for two, I carelessly authorized payment for two and then after the seller refused to change the order I asked PayPal to adjust the payment before the transaction shipped. They said because my payment was an instant transfer they were unable to do so. They seem to make a very big distinction between paying with funds from your PayPal account and paying with funds from your bank account.

Bob is also correct that PayPal can unilaterally freeze funds or issue a refund from your account with you having very little input or recourse. And they do, whether you like it or not, most often seem to side with the buyer in a dispute. If you always transfer your money out of your PayPal account and into your bank immediately and maintain a zero balance with PayPal, it makes it a little more difficult for them to hold you hostage. Of course that works against your being able to pay using your PayPal balance as a source of funds as a buyer, so you need to weigh your priorities as a buyer or a seller.

All-in-all, I've been surprised how far out on a limb PayPal has gone to protect me as a buyer. But even in one case when I was clearly "in the right" I thought they were pretty heavy-handed in their treatment of the seller.

-- Dave Sica

One thing to keep in mind is that various federal and state statutes apply to the content of e-mail to a commercial establishment. One must be careful to avoid any statement that might be even remotely construed as commercial disparagement, which can be very expensive in court. Also, one must be similarly careful should one be tempted to bring up this incident while in the vendor's normal and usual place of business. Here very interesting state and local laws apply. You could end up in jail with the guy's brother being the judge for your case...

Having said that, Bob... have you tried the Better Business Bureau for his city/county? Or, their local consumer protection office?

"We understand each other?....It won't be cinematic..."

I just want to note...
This is not the case for sellers, sellers can keep a zero PP balance all they want. It offers zero protection...PP will just back charge the attached bank account. Or at least that is the way it was 5 years ago.

Guess I better keep a near zero balance in that account too!

Or close the account and open a new one. PP can really put it on you as a seller. Unfortunately, shrewd eBay buyers can reek havoc on you...

Ouch! What a rotten thing to have happen. I'd be mega-pissed if that happened to me.

Hilarious quote. Is the three letter word off or you?