Bad Business Experience/ Beware

[j-miller]

ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO,I WAS ON EBAY BIDDING ON A EDGE EZ BOX FOR MY TRUCK. THE STARTING BID STARTED OUT AT $350. 00(HARD TO BELEIVE) SO I PUT THE FIRST BID IN OF $350. 00. WELL NEAR THE END OF AUCTION, I WAS OUTBIDDED AT $355. 00. AFTER THE AUCTION WAS OVER ,I GOT A EMAIL SENT TO ME THROUGH EBAY'S EMAIL FORWARDING SYSTEM FROM HOUSTONDIESEL(THEY ALSO GO BY STREET CUSTOMS FOR THIER WEB SITE). THEIR EMAIL SAID "YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBIDDED ON THIS ITEM. WHY WASTE YOUR TIME WITH AN AUCTION. . I WILL SELL YOU THIS BOX FOR $350. 00. HOUSTONDIESEL. COM CHECK US OUT. WE HONOR E-BAY SELLING PRICES. " SO I GAVE THEM A CALL AND ORDERED A EDGE BOX, I GOT MY BOX AND I WAS HAPPY TO GET IT, TILL I SAW WHAT I GOT CHARGED. THEY CHARGED ME $470. 00 WHICH IS STILL NOT A BAD PRICE, BUT THAT IS NOT THE POINT. I EMAILED THEM ABOUT THE MISTAKE AND NEVER HEARD ANYTHING FROM THEM FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, ONCE MY ISSUING CREDIT CARD COMPANY GOT AHOLD OF THEM. NOW SHE FINALLY EMAILED ME BACK SAYING THEY HONOR E-BAY SELLING PRICES NOT BIDS... . FINE. SHE SAYING THE ACION I'M TAKING IS STEALING AND SHE WON'T TOLLERATE DOING BUSINESS WITH A THIEF. SHE HAS BEEN CHANGING HER STORIES AROUND SAYING SHE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN WHAT MY BID WAS AND SUCH. IF SHE WAS SELLING IT ON E-BAY ,SHE WOULD KNOW WHO AND HOW MUCH EACH PERSON IS BIDDING. AND HOW DID SHE KNOW I WAS OUTBIDDED AND WANT TO SELL ME THIS BOX FOR $350. 00. SHE IS ALSO STATING THAT THE BOX I WAS BIDDING ON HAD A RESERVE OF $470. 00 AND A BUY NOW OF $470. 00. WELL I CAN'T GO INTO ALOT OF DETAILS BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS HAD GOOD OR BAD EXPERIENCES FROM THIS OUTFIT. THEY GO BY HOUSTONDIESEL ON E-BAY, THEIR WEBITE IS CALLED STREET CUSTOMS OR HOUSTONDIESEL. COM. :-{} :-{}

 

[Badunit]

Seems to me they don't have a case if they sent an email with $350 as the price and you still have a copy of it. If it wasn't from Houston Diesel and they have a problem with the price, they should take it up with eBay or whoever it was who sent the email in their name.



Credit card companies, in my experience, are very good at protecting their customers (at least their good customers). They have always taken my side on the few issues I've had.



I've bought a few things from eBay. Once, when I lost a bid, I got an email like the one you received. It made me wonder why I was bidding on an item that was presented as something hard to find when the company apparently really had a few of them stashed away. I felt a little of the bait-and-switch.

 

[j-miller]

EXACTLY WHAT MY MOM SAID ,THE OLD BAIT AND SWITCH TRICK. BUT I DON'T THINK IT IS GOING TO WORK THIS TIME. THEY KEEP WANTING PROOF THAT IF I CAN FIND ANY PLACE ON E-BAY THAT A BOX ACTUALLY SELL FOR $350. 00 BRAND NEW ,NOT REFURBISHED JUNK(HER WORDS ,NOT MINE) THEN SHE WILL HONOR THAT PRICE. WHICH IN TURN I CAN'T GO BACK FAR ENOUGH DAYS TO BRING IT UP IN MY LOST AUCTIONS , WHICH SUCKS, BUT IT IS FRESH IN MY MIND. ANOTHER RECENT EMAIL FROM HER SAYING NOW IT WAS NOT HER ACTION TO BEGIN WITH. SHE KEEPS DIGGING HER GRAVE DEEPER AND DEEPER. I TRIED TO EMAIL HER THE FIRST EMAIL THAT THEY SENT ME, AFTER THE AUCTION WAS OVER AND SHE DIDN'T GET IT,I THINK I CAN'T REPLY WITH THAT EMAIL OR SOME DUMB COMPUTER THING. WELL NOW I TOLD HER TO GIVE ME A FAX NUMBER TO MAKE SURE SHE GETS IT PERSONALLY, AND I'VE INFORMED HER I CAN MAKE AS MANY COPIES SHE WANTS BECAUSE I KEPT THAT PARTICULAR EMAIL ON FILE FOR SOME REASON... ... KNOW I NO WHY. I ALMOST FORGOT TO ALSO LIST ANOTHER NAME THEY GO BY ... . BAY AREA PERFORMANCE AND ACCORIES. MUST BE THE NAME OF THE STORE. AILIASES? THEY SEEM TO OFFER NICE STUFF AT REASONABLE PRICES... . BUT WHO KNOWS IF IT IS TRICKERY TO BAIT YOU... ... . OH ,SHE NEVER DID EMAIL ME A FAX NUMBER YET. I GUESS SHE IS LOOKING FOR ANOTHER WAY OUT:{ :{ ..... JOHN

 

[CRSmith]

Buddy, I'm truly sorry to hear about your experience, but...

 

[Cooker]

Without reading the original email it is hard to say if there was a valid offer by these people, and if there was you would have to prove the email came from them. That could be a little challenging.



The problem is you are not going to litigate for $120, but your credit card company may fight for it for you. If their lawyers on staff find the two things mentioned above to be true they will obviously see it in your favor.



Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[tbrudder]

Originally posted by Cooker

Without reading the original email it is hard to say if there was a valid offer by these people, and if there was you would have to prove the email came from them. That could be a little challenging.

Well, generally (depending on what email application you're using), you can read the headers in the message (most apps have these hidden by default) and figure out where it came from. Shows the path the message took over the internet from the sender to the recipient.



Granted, these can be forged, but it's not as easy as it used to be. Also, each message has an identifier. Back in the old days, I believe a copy was usually kept in the mail spool of the originating server. The messae ID identified it, so you could pick it out later.



Nowadays, this has privacy implications, not to mention a problem with storing all those messages, so you probably won't be able to get a copy of the email originally sent to you off of their ISP's mail server.



It should be possible, though, either through implying you have this, or your credit company's legal department alluding to this, to let them know that you have a copy of the message, it doesn't matter if they 'don't remember' sending it or not, as it has the header information showing it came from their computer.



The whole 'you just typed that yourself' thing won't fly, if you have the info showing it came from their machine...



--Ty

 

[j-miller]

Sorry Reduaram for the capital letters,I sometime's get a little lazy on not hitting the capital button. Well ,the original e-mail came through e-bays email forwarding system. At the top of the page it says question from ebay member, next line down it gives the date and time,next line who it is from and the last line and who it is sent too. Yeh ,I have the original email sent to me stored. When I try to tell them what ti says ,they don't beleive me. So that is why I would like to fax them a copy so they can see for themselves. Well my credit card company is crediting me the $120. 00 until everything gets settled. Ihave been keeping them posted on the emails from them... ... ... ... ... . John

 

[wlowe]

Here is a suggestion in regards to documenting info on Ebay. If you go to the file menu at the top of your browser and click on "Save As", a copy of the current web page will be saved to your hard drive. I usually save all the auctions I bid on for future reference, might have helped in your situation. I save them to the Desktop, (in the Windows directory), but a dedicated folder would probably be more appropriate.



Good Luck

 

[j-miller]

Thanks Wlowe, I wish I could've done that. Most times on auctions that I bid on ,I usually print it out , that was not the case this time. So now trying to go back through ebay is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. You can look at your lost auction for up to 30 days and I need to go atlest 60 days or so, which I am screwed on that part. I never had anything like this happen to me. In a way I feel like I was baited... ... ... and it worked.

 

[BV]

Sounds like a fast one to me. If you still have the Item number you might try what wlowe suggested (save the page).



Something an ole fart (Grandpa) told me years ago that I try to follow to this day - "Never buy from someone that calls you". Today you need to change the "calls" to "contacts but it still applies.



Sorry for your troubles and hope it all works out.

 

[RHARVEY]

Also how many of our(TDR) members read this and could avoid doing business with them... ...



Rick

 

[j-miller]

The funny thing is ,that I went back through all their auctions from this year and there is nothing in August for them the applies to what I am looking for. It was in August that I was bidding on this box from them and that is when I got this email from ebay's email forwarding system. I am glad for everybody's thoughts and idea's on this topic. I know I am learning the hard way about this stuff, and I hope nobody else experiences the same thing. I will try to see if I can post a copy of this email for everyone to look at and see how you all would take it... ... thanks all for your input... ... ... . john

 

[Texas Diesel]

Originally posted by reduaram

Buddy, I'm truly sorry to hear about your experience, but...

:-laf

 

[illflem]

A seller contacting you after the auction is over is a very popular ebay scam, dozens of articles have been written about it, here's one-

http://www.nbc11.com/money/2503812/detail.html

 

[j-miller]

Thanks Illflem ,I checked out the link you supplied and interesting. Ebay gave a list of options I can do , like filing a complaint to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center,which is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, and a few others. My credit card issuer knows it ,so they may be on thier trail like a bunch of bloodhounds.

 

[TxDieselKid]

Street Customs out of Baytown? They are good people. I'm sure it is a big mistake. They had some BAD trouble with the internet service that they were using. The guy basicly used the space to put porn on. They are just now getting it sorted out.



If you call them, I'm sure it would be best. Might want to ask for Shane, he is a great guy, but has little time to spend on the phone.



I'm sure it is a mistake.

 

[j-miller]

Well I guess both Street Customs and me have been victims of some type scam,which is a possibility. I know when I purchased my edge ez, they sounded real nice and I liked the products and their prices ,which I know they probably won't do business with me after this , while someone out there is enjoying playing a bad trick.

 

[j-miller]

Subj: Question from eBay Member

Date: 8/18/2003 1:34:28 PM Eastern Standard Time

From: -- email address removed --

To: -- email address removed --

Sent from the Internet (Details)









To member: chromed5. 9

From member: houstondiesel



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





You have been out bid on this item. Why waste your time with an auction. . I will sell you this box for $350. 00. Houstondiesel.com check us out. We honor e-bay selling prices.



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

This email was sent by an eBay member via eBay's email forwarding system.

If you reply to the email, your response will go directly to the member and

not through eBay.



eBay does not tolerate spam (i. e. , unsolicited commercial email) and is

taking steps to protect members from this abuse. In addition, solicitations

to buy or sell items outside of eBay violate eBay rules and are not covered

by services that protect members such as feedback, insurance, escrow, and

dispute resolution. If this is an offer to buy/sell items outside of eBay,

please do not participate. Enter the following link into your browser to learn more. Link: http://pages.ebay.com/ebaymotors/help/new/stopping_spam.html

 

[j-miller]

Now you know now why I fell for this,on my recent reply... sounded to good to be true... ... ... . john

 

[carson6]

if they screwed you....

FLAME THEM !