Brand New E-10 $455?

Phoned him twice today= no answer. He now says he'll ship the e-10 out on the 24th. Yesterday he said it would ship out today. He still has not provided the means of shipment nor has he answered my last 2 e-mails (let alone provided the serial number of the camera as I requested yesterday):

Subj: Re: Order status
Date: 5/21/03
To: [email protected]

Second Attempt at a credible response from you:

In a message dated 5/20/03 5:41:53 PM Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:

Then today you wrote:
will be sent in 5/24

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"TOMORROW" DOES NOT MEAN 4 DAYS LATER!!!!!! SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!!!! DO YOU EVEN HAVE THIS ITEM?????

PLEASE RESPOND PROMPTLY. MY PATENCE IS WEARING VERY THIN!!!!

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I was also e-mailed by another buyer who actually spoke to the guy. Here's his e-mail to me:

I called him this morning and he said he was going to e-mail all his
customers today.......now we will see. I asked him how he was shipping and
then I wanted to tracking number..............I will wait till around 4pm
and if I have not heard from him I am going to call him again........he told
me he would ship, like you, in three days......wonder why he waits three
days he already has our money........

my response:

probably catching his plane tomorrow for some obscure south Caribbean island. He needs time to pack, withdraw all his hard earned money from paypal and convert it into foreign currency.

This guys a total jerk!!! Legit or not, it's the ebay experience from hell.

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Tonight I received this e-mail from the same buyer:

How long are you going to wait before you contact E-bay and pay pal? I
suppose we have to at least wait until he might have shipped some
cameras......makes me really mad.....

I sure wish we could find out more people that bought and go as a group to
e-bay and pay pal.........it would help..........

let me know your plans here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I DID contact PayPal for the second time in as many days. At this point we can either wait for shipment (HA, HA, HA) or, request a refund (which the seller did offer me yesterday). I'm willing to give this until next monday. If I haven't received a tracking number, etc, etc, then I'll request a refund from the seller and give him 24 hours to do so. If he fails to comply I'll file with PayPal to recover my money.

This guy is from the middle east, or Somalia...........could this be construed as a terrorist attack?

Sorry, part of the e-mail didn't get copied correctly. Here's his e-mail stating the item would be shipped of TODAY:

The item you ordered is found refurbished, it had to e new as I ordered it for you, and it will take one more week to get the new one, so what do you see? waiting for a week or sending the refurbished one? by the way the refurbished one will be sent to you tomorrow, it's refurbished by Olympus and has their warranty for 90 days, you can also have a total refund of your money, sorry again.

and another e-mail received last night:

I'm sorry again for the misunderstnding, my dealer didn't mention that the
camera is refurbished and he gave me that price because it's rerfurbished, I
tried with him to get the new one at the same price, but I couldn't, I know
it's my fault, I'm really sorry, so what do you see?

Then today he says it will ship on 5/24.

Either he does not have these cameras and is ordering them based on how many buyers he managed to round up on Ebay, or, he does have them and is simply developmentally delayed and has no business trying to run a business on Ebay, or, he's just a plain scam artist.

Whatever, I'm about ready to pull the plug on this deal just so I can spend my time worrying about better things.

if he has them at all. BTW, if I got a so many messages from buyers and esp if questioning my legitimacy, I would a bit annoyed! Maybe the guy is going away for a long weekend (it is a holiday) or business. Many Ebay sellers only ship once or twce a week, so that's not a big deal either.

digi-dork said:

if he has them at all. BTW, if I got a so many messages from
buyers and esp if questioning my legitimacy, I would a bit annoyed!
Maybe the guy is going away for a long weekend (it is a holiday) or
business. Many Ebay sellers only ship once or twce a week, so
that's not a big deal either.

Click to expand...

I have a perfect feedback rating on ebay of 133. I didn't get it by misrepresenting refurbs as new, or not shipping items off within a reasonable period of time after payment was received, or by ignoring e-mails, or not stating what shipping service would be used, or by one day saying I'm shipping tomorrow and then the next day saying it'll be 3 more days.

I bought 2 other items on the exact same day as I purchased this camera. I received both of them today. Now, if this guys claims are to trusted at all I will have waited a full 6 days before he's even sent the item off! I'm the one that should be more than a bit annoyed by his inefficiency.

His legitimacy is being questioned because he isn't acting in a responsible or honest manner. I've dealt with this type of seller before and the only way is to call a spade a spade (and I have done so in a polite but assertive manner).

I have phone him 5 times (from mn to cal.). I left a message asking him to call me collect. He ignored my request.

Legit or not, he's irresponsible and inefficient. Period! Long weekend or not, he has an obligation to his customers FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!

streetshot said:

Bought an E-10 off Ebay this morning for $455! The ad consisted
soley of generic decriptions from Olympus. The seller didn't say
anything like "slightly used, in great shape", etc, etc. The
clincher was that a 1 year manufacturers warranty was stated in the
"specifications". So, I figured if this was some heavily used piece
of junk I'd hold the seller to the warranty and pull out of the
deal. I e-mailed the seller and said that I assumed the camera came
with all accessories, and also asked if the 1 year warranty was for
real. Here's the response I got back:

"All cameras are new, sealed and come with the original accessories
set and
USA manufactorer's warranty."

A brand new E-10 for $455? I'll believe it when I see it. I've
gotten some great deals on Ebay but this price is $150 below a
refurb.

Here's the link. I'll post my experience when I get the camera (IF
I get it.....LOL....gulp!). If he's got anymore and he's legit then
it's a great way to take the leap to an entry level DSLR.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2929946114&category=30010&rd=1

Click to expand...

-- http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=redalert0&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=25
NC4Z
C2100, Tcon 14 & 17

Yep. He's cancelled ALL his auctions. Even the one's for the "steroids". I've given him until the end of the day to respond to my e-mails or refund my money. I have a feeling I'll be filling out a fraud claim with PayPal by tomorrow.

Digo-dork wrote:

if he has them at all. BTW, if I got a so many messages from buyers and esp if questioning my legitimacy, I would a bit annoyed! Maybe the guy is going away for a long weekend (it is a holiday) or business. Many Ebay sellers only ship once or twce a week, so that's not a big deal either.

See, it is exactly this kind of rationalizing that causes people to get duped on a deal that is 'too good to be true". Better to be a cynic and be ready to pull the plug if one finds the B.S. becoming too thick to logically explain.

Besides, how could he be "going away for the weekend" when he's told everyone he's shipping on SATURDAY the 24Th?

. . . was shaky from the beginning, and you entered into it with that knowledge.

Too bad it appears to be going sour on you . . . there were a lot of us holding out some hope that you got another fantastic camera deal!

I don't think dork was implying that he's seen anything here to make him believe that this was a legitimate deal, and that you were the one causing the problem.

But isn't it true that PayPal will make you wait a "reasonable" length of time (whatever that is) before they will proceed with a "non-delivery" claim anyway? 30 days perhaps?

If that's the case, you might as well relax for a bit . . .

streetshot said:

I have a feeling I'll be filling out
a fraud claim with PayPal by tomorrow.

Click to expand...

--

Doesn't it strike you a little stange that this guy writes in such broken english. He is obviously not in this country. A very useful ... actually to my way of thinking, essential ... tool when dealing with these auctions is a internet tracing application. That way you can simply trace an email address or a URL and see where the individual is rather than where he says he is. I will lay odds this guy is in China or Russia ... both of which are the hot rip-off locations of the moment. If you can provide the email address or a URL on this guy I will happily run a trace for you ... or ... you can go to http://www.tucows.com and download a trace application for yourself. A very good on is NEOTRACE. Cheers ...

Jerry

Paypal will email you that they aren't responsible and when you intiate a chargeback with your cc company they will freeze your account. And they may also then settle it arbitrarily by withdrawing funds from your bank account to cover it. Which is all allowed per the agreement you probably didn't read like everyone else who signs up. I just went through a two month nightmare with this very problem. My advice is to delete your bank account from your account before you start any chargebacks because once you do, they will lock you out. You can only view the information. You can't make any changes to your account at that point.

Karen

streetshot said:

streetshot said:

--They may be all screwed up. I checked all the stuff sold in the
last month and a bunch were cameras but the auctions all ended
today. I think they may be stopping the auctions because prices are
too low.

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=redalert0&sort=3&page=1&rows=25&since=30&rdir=0
NC4Z
C2100, Tcon 14 & 17

Click to expand...

If you click on his "ebay Store" he's got a ton of cameras all
ending on may 25 and 26.

I see someone bought the c-5050. So maybe he and I were the only
suckers. At least I paid with a credit card through PayPal.

Click to expand...

JerryAllen said:

Doesn't it strike you a little stange that this guy writes in such
broken english. He is obviously not in this country. A very
useful ... actually to my way of thinking, essential ... tool when
dealing with these auctions is a internet tracing application.
That way you can simply trace an email address or a URL and see
where the individual is rather than where he says he is. I will
lay odds this guy is in China or Russia ... both of which are the
hot rip-off locations of the moment. If you can provide the email
address or a URL on this guy I will happily run a trace for you ...
or ... you can go to http://www.tucows.com and download a trace
application for yourself. A very good on is NEOTRACE. Cheers ...


Jerry

Click to expand...

--Jong Heyward [email protected]
NC4Z
C2100, Tcon 14 & 17

Well, we'll never know for sure if this guy was legit or not. Although there is a fellow corresponding with me that also purchased a camera from him. He DID talk to the seller in California, so I think the theories of some Russia/China internet commerce scam are not accurate.

At ay rate, I demanded from the seller that he provide me with the serial number of the camera, the shipping service being used and an explanation of why the shipping date was changed, by 5pm today or I would declare the transaction null and void and demand a refund.

It's 2pm cst and here's what I just got from PayPal (an interesting note from the seller is at the bottom):

Dear Michael,

Tamer Ibrahim ([email protected]) has refunded your payment.

Temporary Hold Information: A temporary hold has been placed on
funds that were returned to your account because you used Instant
Transfer to fund the original payment. The funds from this payment
cannot be released until they have arrived from your bank account,
which usually takes 3-4 business days.

Note from Seller:

My e-bay and paypal accounts were hacked, your money is refunded avoiding any troubles.

So, maybe he was honest to a point. I don't believe he ever had the hardware....maybe was operating auctions and then ordering the product. I'm just glad it's over and no $$$ was lost on my part. It'll be interesting to see how the guy that's been e-mailing makes out.

Digi....sorry if I came off as a hot head........but try and look at things from my perspective.

Karen Stuebing said:

Paypal will email you that they aren't responsible and when you
intiate a chargeback with your cc company they will freeze your
account. And they may also then settle it arbitrarily by
withdrawing funds from your bank account to cover it. Which is all
allowed per the agreement you probably didn't read like everyone
else who signs up. I just went through a two month nightmare with
this very problem. My advice is to delete your bank account from
your account before you start any chargebacks because once you do,
they will lock you out. You can only view the information. You
can't make any changes to your account at that point.

Click to expand...

Hmmm....I've recovered money twice from PayPal with no hassles at all. At any rate the seller refunded my money today (amazing!), but if he hadn't what about this from paypal:

If you made your purchase on eBay, you may be eligible to file a Fraud Report and Insurance Claim through eBay. eBay offers insurance to protect the transactions in its community, and PayPal works to independently supplement their program in cases where we are unable to recover funds through our own investigation. To learn more about filing a claim with eBay, please visit eBay's Fraud Reporting and Insurance Claim Form.

If eBay dispute process is resolved in your favor, you must contact PayPal customer service with proof that your eBay claim was granted to be eligible for PayPal's supplemental eBay coverage. This must be done within 30 days of eBay's grant. Buyers may receive up to $200 additional coverage from PayPal when they qualify for eBay's insurance policy (currently limited to $200).

Note: PayPal's supplemental eBay coverage only applies to U.S. buyers who pay Verified sellers.

--
Bill Huber, Fort Worth, Tx
UZI, http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber

In my case, there were two incidents, the first the seller admitted he didn't have the product but also didn't refund my money. Paypal sent me an "Oh well.." email on that one. I did file a fraud report with both Ebay and Paypal. The second was for a camera represented as a Mint restock. It took the seller two weeks after repeated emails to ship it. It arrived with no manual, no AC adaptor and a broken wb button. I immediately returned with. Again, I followed Ebay procedures and again was sent a generic email. At that point, I contacted my cc company and filed a dispute and Paypal froze my account.

For more horror stories check out these links. I will be closing my Paypal account as soon as I can.

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jsp?forum=97

http://www.aboutpaypal.org/california_suit.htm

Karen

streetshot said:

Karen Stuebing said:

Paypal will email you that they aren't responsible and when you
intiate a chargeback with your cc company they will freeze your
account. And they may also then settle it arbitrarily by
withdrawing funds from your bank account to cover it. Which is all
allowed per the agreement you probably didn't read like everyone
else who signs up. I just went through a two month nightmare with
this very problem. My advice is to delete your bank account from
your account before you start any chargebacks because once you do,
they will lock you out. You can only view the information. You
can't make any changes to your account at that point.

Click to expand...

Hmmm....I've recovered money twice from PayPal with no hassles at
all. At any rate the seller refunded my money today (amazing!), but
if he hadn't what about this from paypal:

If you made your purchase on eBay, you may be eligible to file a
Fraud Report and Insurance Claim through eBay. eBay offers
insurance to protect the transactions in its community, and PayPal
works to independently supplement their program in cases where we
are unable to recover funds through our own investigation. To learn
more about filing a claim with eBay, please visit eBay's Fraud
Reporting and Insurance Claim Form.

If eBay dispute process is resolved in your favor, you must contact
PayPal customer service with proof that your eBay claim was granted
to be eligible for PayPal's supplemental eBay coverage. This must
be done within 30 days of eBay's grant. Buyers may receive up to
$200 additional coverage from PayPal when they qualify for eBay's
insurance policy (currently limited to $200).

Note: PayPal's supplemental eBay coverage only applies to U.S.
buyers who pay Verified sellers.

Click to expand...

Well, shoot! No E-10 bargain, eh? But at least you're back to even (or will be shortly) . . .

Anyway, you'll probably find one under a counter at Best Buy in a year or so for $199!

Was some interesting reading for us, though. Thanks for sharing the adventure!

streetshot said:

Tamer Ibrahim ([email protected]) has refunded your payment.

Click to expand...

--

Hi Karen........interesting (and scary) stuff to say the least. It's like trying to prove your bank made an error....ha! No one wants to listen, but if you overdraw your account by $1 they're on you like vulchers!!!!

Thanks for the heads up!

Beacon said:

Well, shoot! No E-10 bargain, eh? But at least you're back to even
(or will be shortly) . . .

Anyway, you'll probably find one under a counter at Best Buy in a
year or so for $199!

Was some interesting reading for us, though. Thanks for sharing the
adventure!

Click to expand...

A true case of "if it's too good to be true"...yada, yada, yada.

I did just return from a pawn shop where they had a Canon D30. The young fellow said he just found it untagged in the back room but couldn't get it to work. I checked and there was no memory card in it. I offered him $250. After a pause he said sure because it had been sitting around for so long and no one seemed interested in it. Then he said he'd throw in a box of lenses for $50 more if I was interested. I said "how about $25 and you eat the tax"? "Might as well, they ain't doin' us no good gatherin' dust".

Then I woke up..........it was one of the best dreams I ever had!

olympus on ebay!

Only trouble is, people keep bidding too much and the cameras go for about the same price as the refurbs in the emporium.
My advice is once you see me bid don't bid any higher, thanks!

--
Ian Yates

LOL! You really had me going again! I was gonna come right over there and rub your head for good luck! LOL!

streetshot said:

Then I woke up..........it was one of the best dreams I ever had!

Click to expand...

--

Good strategy. Now if we can just get the rest of the world to go along, you might get a really good deal!

Ian Yates said:

olympus on ebay!
Only trouble is, people keep bidding too much and the cameras go
for about the same price as the refurbs in the emporium.
My advice is once you see me bid don't bid any higher, thanks!

Click to expand...

--