Tell me if this sounds strange to anyone else ...

[Cartman]

I filed my first claim with eBay Auctions for non-receipt of an item from a woman in the UK to the tune of $60 spent.

I followed eBay's claims formula and mailed them the packet of information (receipt for payment, email communications, etc.) and received an email saying that they received the information and that the claim would be investigated. This was like over a month ago. They said it would take 6-8 weeks.

Today, I get an email (allegedly from them) asking if I wanted to keep the claim open. Well, I wrote them back and said that since I received no reimbursement from the woman in the UK and no word from them, yeh, I guess the investigation would still be open. DUH!!

Well, just now (couple of hours later), I get another email saying that the claim has been found "in my favor" and that their "accounts payable department in England was going to send me my reimbursement via a wire transfer." Huh, huh. So, I'm thinking ... why does it have to come from England? OK, the woman is from London, but it was bought on eBay in the U.S., not eBay U.K. And, I don't even know if THAT makes a difference. I would assume that reimbusement of $60 would be made by their AP Department in the U.S. Why pay for wire transfer fees? For $60?

Anyway ... this new email asks for all of my bank information in order for them to make this transfer. They said that if I felt uncomfortable sending the bank info via an email, I could fax it to "someone" ... no idea who the person was.

Now, this is strange that a claim that they didn't even know if they should keep open one minute all of a sudden is found in my favor the next (within hours!!!)

So, I write back and tell them that eBay already has my bank info (a pre-requisite to be a seller -- so they can automatically deduct their fees, monthly charges etc.) and they also have my name and address on file (as a member). So, why do I have to send the bank info and address info AGAIN?

And WHY would someone as security conscious as eBay ask for this information via a RETURN EMAIL? I mean if this isn't bogus ...

They reference a claim number ... but, this claim number was given to my claim THIS MORNING in the first email. On subsequent emails (which I've kept), they have a different control number than the one on the emails today.

What am I supposed to think here? Am I being too paranoid? It seems like an awfully stupid way for a security-conscious company like eBay to be handling claims.

Is it me? :roll: Has anyone ever filed a claim with them?

[Flash ho]

Sounds totally bogus! E bay, as you say, is security consisous and would never ask for bank info. I would ask them to send you the money via paypal, give them no acct info on pay pal , other than your e mail addy. I would also, CALL e bay and make inquires.

[Mr T.C.]

I don't think you are being paranoid at all. I think you are being the thoughtful and careful person that we are told to be with online money matters. If ebay think it OK to email the kind of sensitive info that people go to expense and trouble making encrypted https secure systems for then ebay want to take a look at their policy - and maybe you should think twice about ebay.

I'd put your thoughts in writing to their management.

[Cartman]

Hey T.C. and Flash Ho,

I wouldn't be so confusing if ONE person kept in touch with you. Seems every email has a different person's name on it. Different reference codes.

After this mornings moronic email, I wrote to them and said that I thought it was pretty dumb for them to ask if I wanted to keep the claim open, when no one had contacted me with an outcome. Also, that I hoped that they obtained as much information from the other party as they did from me and that I was a bit peeved to be going through all of this legwork, if it was just going to be an exercise in futility. So, right there they were losing me.

Then, all of a sudden, the claim was being settled in my favor. Congratulations!!!! Very suspicious.

I'll see if I get an answer to my last email. I'm keeping them all and will send them to eBay. If they are legit, they should be ashamed of themselves.

And, on looking at the email where they asked for my bank info, the next paragraph says: "Remember: eBay will not ask for sensitive information, i.e., passwords, credit cards, SS numbers, BANK ACCOUNT NUMBERS, etc. in an email." Ahem ...

That's what makes me feel really suspicious about it.

[Helen]

I may have missed it if you mentioned the email return address. But
there are ways of tracking where it really comes from (I don't know how,
but someone here probably does know). I would not trust it even if I
found out it was legitimate. Because....

First it is a terrible policy, but more than that, I saw something on TV just
the other night about lots of people being scamed in various ways through
eBay, not BY eBay. But I asumed most of it was selling and not delivering.
Good reason to pay with a credit card, through paypal so they don't get
any of your info. (Unless you're sure who you're dealing with). :|

[Fred]

I'll trade you Karen -

I've been fighting my bank since August. Dig this - There were purchases against my Debit card with Columbia DVD Club and AOL Home Shopping. To make a long story short, I screwed up. I did not check my bank statements when they arrived. I thought my wife was doing it because she pays the bills - big mistake. :(

It turns out that my card which has never left my possession was being charged since January. I called the bank and they voided the card. I gave them the list of purchases that were not ours and asked them to do a charge back to Columbia and AOL on all charges that were listed on the latest statement. I also gave then the list of all the disputed charges since January and was told they can only go back 60 days but would try.

Here is the odd thing - according to my bank statements, during the past six months, I would get an occasional credit on my account from Columbia. The person was returning items they did not like. That led me to believe that someone might have transposed a number on an account - in other words - not a thief - an honest mistake. I mean come on now - they were mailing DVDs to some address. If you were stealing, that seems a bit stupid. Then again - he has the DVDs and I have the bill - so I'm the stupid one for not checking my statements.

Well sport fans, here is the sticker - they credited my account for the purchases made in January and February - $89. But they refused to credit the charges from August 11 back 60 days. They claim it is 60 days from the START date I gave. Now, why would I give a start date in January if there was only $89 to recover?

I asked why did they not issue a charge back on all the charges on my latest statement. Reason - debit cards do now work like checks. I think that is a lot of malarky. I think the real reason is the last 60 days had over $2000 in charges. Do you think I am a happy camper with them?

They also said Columbia refused to issue credit. I have spoken with two different branch managers who are trying to "get Columbia and AOL to reconsider". Their Customer Service stinks. I get no updates unless I call them.


Anybody here know anyone in banking?

[Cartman]

OK, yesterday I wrote this bogus claims adjustor and tell him simply that eBay has all of the information they need in my account. I also tell him that I would prefer to have payment on the claim made to my PayPal account (should be easy ... NO? eBay now owns PayPal) and just gave him my email address (same as he was writing to).

This morning, I get another email from this guy. Completely ignores my email and any hesitancy or suspicions I have and states:

If you are uncomfortable sending this info (the bank info) via email, you can fax it to me at blah, blah blah. Make sure that you include the claim number and send it to my attention so that I can pass it on the Accounts Payable department.

This, followed again, by the paragraph stating that eBay will not ask for sensitive info, blah, blah, blah by email. Of course, it's OK for them to do it via fax. :roll:

I already think that it's highly unprofessional that these folks, who are Fraud claims people and claims adjustors don't have full names. Everybody is Dan or Skippy or Tim ... no last names. No ways to directly contact them other than email or some fax number leading to who knows where.

So, I go to eBay in search of a contact higher up that I can complain to. All eBay puts on their site in the contact section is the "address" of their home office in California. No telephone or fax numbers.

They have these support forms that you can send to support, but it has six windows of subjects and sub-subjects ... none of which pertain to what I need and none pertain to how THEY are conducting business ... just those who use their service. Of course. These forms probably go to some dead form farm or something.

I know now that the $60 is a loss. I'm just glad that I was smart enough to not make it a lot more!!! In fact, this guy has got me scared enough to go and close that account (which I just opened when I was selling on eBay) and transfer the monies to another account on Monday. Reason being ... if he's bogus ... how did he get all of the information about the claim I filed (my name, the name of the person I had the claim against?) If he's not bogus, eBay needs to do some house cleaning and policy changing.

P.S. Ouch, Fred! I feel your pain ... literally! :evil: