I really hate getting ripped off and I bet you do too. Like many people, I use paypal for the buyer protection feature. Heck - if a seller stiffs you, paypal will make you whole - unless… they don’t.

I recently hired Steve Rodrigue of FE Coding, http://www.fecoding.com to build a website. Steve had been aggressively pursuing another project, so I figured that I would start him off with something basic, then scale up from there. The terms: Half down ($950 USD) with balance due upon completion. After missing deadline after deadline & offering up excuses like he broke his toes (no kidding) I finally got him to commit to either deliver the project by a final deadline or issue a refund. As you may have guessed, he did not deliver & agreed to issue a refund.

Just one small problem - Steve Rodrigue says he doesn’t have the money. FECoding, apparently is broke. He is now ignoring my emails, so I have to communicate through my blog:

Hi Steve - when will I get my money back? (In the event that Steve does the right thing, I will write a follow up post).

So… since steve.rodrigue1@gmail.com won’t pay, I am forced to turn to my protectors at paypal. I filed a claim, waited for the investigation and of course, they found in my favor. I guess that means they will replace the money that Steve Rodrigue stole, right?

Not quite - read on Bucko:

Dear Charles Price,

After careful review, we have concluded our investigation of the Buyer Complaint described below.

We have decided in your favor, however, we were unable to recover any funds from the seller’s account. As stated in the PayPal User Agreement, recovery of funds associated with a Buyer Complaint cannot be guaranteed.

Please know that we will make our best effort to recover the funds in question if they become available in the seller’s account in the future and will take appropriate action against the seller. Such action may include issuing a warning, a temporary restriction, or terminating the account.

Keep in mind that PayPal uses a number of factors to determine when to take action, including member complaints. Due to privacy laws, we cannot discuss the details of any action taken. We hope you understand our policy and that it assures you that you are safe using PayPal.

-----------------------------------
 Transaction Details
 -----------------------------------

 Seller's name: Steve Rodrigue
 Seller's email: info@fecoding.com
 Seller's transaction ID: 

 Transaction date: Jan 23, 2009
 Transaction amount: -$950.00 USD
 Your transaction ID:
 Case number:
 ———————————–
 What to Do Next
 ———————————–

 This case is now closed. No further action is required by you at this time.
  ———————————–
 Other Details
 ———————————–

 To make sure future transactions proceed smoothly, we suggest you visit the
 PayPal site and click the Security Center link located at the bottom of any
 page. There you will find tips on how to avoid fraudulent sellers in the
 “Fraud Prevention Tips for Buyers” section.

 Sincerely,
 PayPal
 Protection Services Department
  Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you
 will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account
 and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

 BC:PP-643-182-468:R2:USD950.00:02/26/2009:8LX24915PB015163L

 —————————————————————-

 PayPal Email ID PP805

What kind of buyer’s protection is this: “recovery of funds associated with a Buyer Complaint cannot be guaranteed.” (Yeah, I know that electronic goods fall under a different standard, but why?) Thanks a lot

“So… have you been ripped off by an unscrupulous seller? How did you get your money back?  

From ebay, today:

Feedback Changes

The eBay Feedback system was designed to provide a simple, honest, accurate record of member experiences. Focusing on customer service includes doing everything we can to grow customer confidence in our sellers.

• Buyers will only be able to receive positive Feedback.
• Positive repeat customer Feedback will count (up to 1 Feedback from the same buyer per week.)
• Feedback more than 12-months old won’t count towards your Feedback percentage.
• When a buyer doesn’t respond to the Unpaid Item (UPI) process the negative or neutral Feedback they have left for that transaction will be removed.
• When a member is suspended, all their negative and neutral Feedback will be removed.
• Buyers must wait 3 days before leaving negative or neutral Feedback for sellers with an established track record, to encourage communication.
• All Feedback must be left within 60 days (compared to 90 days today) of listing end to encourage timely Feedback and discourage abuse.
• Buyers will be held more accountable when sellers report an unpaid item or commit other policy violations.

I have been calling for eBay to take these actions for months and commend them for doing the right thing

Thank You, eBay.

Sent to eBay on 12/28/07

According to your TOS (as follows) an unregistered user can not leave feedback:

I bought something, but the seller is no longer registered
Question

The seller’s no longer registered. How does this affect my purchase?
Answer

We don’t recommend buying an item from a seller who is no longer registered - and you are no longer obligated to do so even though you won the item. Neither you nor the seller can leave Feedback for an item if the seller is not a registered member.

If the seller registers again in the future and files an Unpaid Item dispute against you, please let us know. We’ll remove any Unpaid Item strike for this item from your account.

You may still want to go ahead with the purchase, especially if it’s a hard-to-find item. In that case, we recommend that you check the seller’s recent Feedback and contact the seller before sending payment

Since a retaliatory f/b was left for item 120121556908 and this user is unable to withdraw the feedback, I believe that you should do the right thing & withdraw the feedback.

Please do not send me a stock templated reply. This scammer was exposed in my blog http://www.nnim.org and I am happy that I saved a number of unsuspecting buyers from this scammer. This is a unique situation that deserves special consideration.

Please send a personal reply that addresses the specific merits of this request or call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Thank You

So what are the odds that eBay does the right thing? I’ll follow up, once I receive their reply.

Update: December 29 2007

To eBay’s credit, a “customer support” rep named Reseda, followed up with a semi-personal email addressing my complaint:

Dear Chuck,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to the removal of negative Feedback
that you received from seller “hailitele” who is no longer a registered
user. You also mentioned that you wanted to be called back.

I would like to let you know that we can remove Feedback, but only if
the comment meets the requirements for removal under our Feedback Abuse,
Withdrawal & Removal policy. We’ve reviewed the Feedback that you asked
about and determined that it doesn’t meet the removal requirement as
outlined in the policy.

To learn more about the eBay Feedback Abuse, Withdrawal & Removal policy
and the requirements for removal, go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-abuse-withdrawal.html

At the same time, since your trading partner is no longer a registered
user, you may still enter mediation through SquareTrade, which is an
independent, third-party dispute resolution service available to eBay
members. SquareTrade offers a free web-based forum where users can
attempt to resolve their differences on their own. If necessary,
SquareTrade also offers the services of a professional mediator for a
fee.

If you can come to a agreement with the other member with the assistance
of a SquareTrade mediator, and eBay receives a copy of the agreement
directly from SquareTrade, we are able to withdraw either or both
comments, depending upon the member’s agreement. If you would like, you
can contact SquareTrade at:

http://www.squaretrade.com/spl/jsp/eby/eb_nf.jsp?marketplace_name=ebay

With regard to your second concern, eBay offers customer support
primarily through online content and by responding to members’ emails.
Due to the high volume of users on our site, we’ve found that our online
and email support allows us to respond to members more quickly than we
could with phone support. Another advantage of email communication is
that we’re able to document important information that you send us.

What other resources does eBay offer?

(Blah blah, blah, back to template blah, blah)

Sincerely,
Reseda

eBay Customer Support
______________________________

I still think that I have a pretty good argument here and even though I’m not thrilled about the process, I decided to check out SquareDeal.

Once on this website, one is directed thru a series of questions regarding the transaction. This includes an overview of the dispute:

My take:

hailitele is a big time eBay scammer that I exposed on my blog http://www.nnim.org. One of his scams was to bait & switch, then leave retaliatory feedback for those who exposed him. He would then ask for mutual withdrawal, essentially cleaning his slate. In short, he knew how to work the system. A simple search for “hailitele” in Google supports my claim.

hailitele can not be allowed to get away with this. It is ridiculous that it took the large amount of pressure from myself & others to finally get eBay to ban this clown. Since hailitele is no longer a registered user, it looks like it is up to you to do the right thing & recommend that the feedback be withdrawn.

Can I count on you to do the right thing?

Please advise

After hitting the submit button, I get this piece of good news:

We recommend mediation to resolve your case as it has multiple issues including feedback withdrawal. Mediation is successful in over 80% of cases - and as per eBay policy, it is the only way you can have feedback withdrawn through SquareTrade.

And this piece of BS:

Exclusive for eBay users: Low $29.95 fee for mediation. For standard cases, you are charged only when the other party agrees to mediate or feedback withdrawn for non-response.

That’s right - if you have been screwed & want any chance of clearing the feedback, pony up $30 Bucks. I wonder if eBay allows other “neutral” third party services to do this. Heck, I’ll do it for $15.

So, eBay, what do you day - do we have a deal?

 BRAND NEW (3RD GENERATION)8GB* 1.8” LCD MP3/MP4 PLAYER

Me: Hi There - got the unit, which is great, but the tech support url
http://www.home.netvigator.com/~hintlam does not work. Please advise

 Haili: Hi, you can try http://home.netvigator.com/~hintlam or http://www.mympxplayer.org, thanks.

Me: Hi There - Please explain how an item marketed as: MP3/MP4 PLAYER can’t play mp4’s. I am having quite a difficult time getting the avi converter to work (missing codecs) & am somewhat frustrated & disappointed as I already have an mp3 player & purchased this for the video capability :(.

Haili: Hello, a MP3 player refers to a music player, and a MP4 player refers to a video player. You need to convert all video formats to AMV format first as clearly stated in the video section of the eBay item description page.And if that’s not what you expect, please return your player to the following address for a refund:Heqi Sheng
155 Zhi Dan Lu
Hong Kong Ge 3/F B
Shanghai, 200065, CHINAPlease let me know again as soon as it’s shipped, thanks for understanding.

Me: Actually, MP4 refers to a file format and one would expect an mp4 player to play the mp4 format. Also, when one sees 8GB, one expects an 8GB drive, not a hacked drive: http://www.mympxplayer.org/image-vp29234.html This is misleading, at best - fraudulent at worst. I don’t think that I should have to pick up the shipping expense. What do you propose?

Haili: No problem, please return your player to the following address by using the cheapest (no more than $10) available airmail from your local post office for a full refund plus a reimbursement of the return shipping fee:Heqi Sheng
155 Zhi Dan Lu
Hong Kong Ge 3/F B
Shanghai, 200065, CHINAPlease let me know again as soon as it’s shipped, thanks.

Me: As you know, it is not possible to ship this back for $10. Is was returned the exact same way that it was sent - the cost was $28.00. I expect a full refund of $72.38, which includes shipping. Both of us could have saved time money & hassle if you had simply listed the item correctly & not deceptively.

Haili: Nope, that’s not true at all, how much do the post office charge per oz for the cheapest airmail? 100% of my US customers return the package at no more than $10, unless you use the Global Priority Mail, or Global Express Mail that I never recommend you to use.

Me: Not true according to the post office. You created this problem. If you had not run a deceptive ad, there wouldn’t be a problem. I will not let this go. Failure to reimburse in full means that I will press eBay and Paypal both to shut you down - no kidding. You should not be allowed to continue to cheat buyers.

Haili: Have you returned your player yet? I’ll issue you a full refund (every single penny that you directly paid to me) as soon as your return package comes back.

Me: It’s on its way - USPS ED762196479US. I have not contacted eBay yet, nor responded to their cancelled transaction inquiry, in the hopes that we could resolve this. If the full $72.38 which includes shipping is refunded, I am a happy customer & will go away - no fear of Neg

Haili: Hello, our record indicates that we had already issued you a full refund, that’s every single penney that you paid to us, thanks for understanding.

Me: This is your last chance - I am done playing games. You have not issues a refund for the freight. Either I see a $28 credit for the shipping, as agreed to in the last email, or I go nuts with eBay & Paypal. My neg feedback will be very clear and precise pointing out your scheming ways. You have until Sat eve to send a $28 payment to paypal address: XXXX@XXXXXXX.com. You have tested my patience enough. I will not accept being ripped off by your deceptive advertising. If you think I’m kidding, you have a rude awakening ahead. This is my last email to you. From here on in its eBay, Paypal & the US Postal service. Postal Fraud is a federal crime in the US - thanks for using the USPS.

Haili: Haha, this is so funny, I’ve already issued you a full refund through PayPal, so there’s really no way for you to open any PayPal disputes, because I’ve already returned every single penny that you paid to me through PayPal. And for eBay, I’ve already issued you a full refund too, all you can do is to leave me a negative feedback, and I don’t care, I’ll leave you a very negative feedback in return for sure, because I’m a very MEAN guy. This is a eBay approved listing, everything is clearly listed, including the capacity, the warrany and return policies, so I’m fully protected. Postal Fraud? hahahahahaa!!! Ok, ask them to come arrest me in China, lol

——————————————————————————————————

Ha Ha Ha - yeah, real funny Sheng. I guess you showed me. I wonder if eBay & Paypal see the humor in this?

The Problem with eBay feedback

Many scammers get away with selling on eBay due to their ability to post retaliatory negative feedback against the buyer.
Next, they attempt to get the legitimate negative against them withdrawn. I have never understood eBay’s reasoning for allowing this, and I’ve never let this lousy policy get in my way in exposing scammers.

Here’s the latest email from hailitele - the self described “Mean Guy”

Haili: Hello, I had issued you a full refund already through PayPal, you can log in to your PayPal account to verify the refund, so please withdraw the negative feedbacks that we left to each other.

He completely ignores the issue that I am out $28 in shipping due to his misleading ad. True to his word he left negative feedback. Take a look at all of hailitele”s “neutral” feedback. This would likely be all NEGATIVE feedback, if only these poor buyers didn’t have to be worried about being screwed a SECOND time by this clown - in the form of him leaving THEM negative feedback.

 His negative feedback against me is actually quite humorous, as follows:

Very unreasonable buyer, with no response to email, not willing to communicate!!

Hmm… based upon the above emails, how much more communication does this guy need?

You can read about more eBay Sellers Selling Hacked Players at: http://www.mympxplayer.org/146-ebay-traders-reported-as-selling-hacked-players-vt3556.html

Update- June 25, 2007 I continue to get daily emails from this guy looking to remove the negative feedback, so I sent this email in response:Me: I’m just waiting for the $28 credit. I’ve been trying to resolve this since day 1. By the way - how many people do you suppose read a blog, without ever bothering to comment?
Haili: Go head and remove the feedback, and I’ll pay $28, if not, just ignore this email. I mean what I said. Yeah right - based upon his behavior up to this point, why wouldn’t I believe that?Then I got a couple more interesting follow ups:

Haili: By the way, I really don’t know how many people have read your blog, but I only know that I have 6 eBay accounts and I’m selling over 1300 units just on eBay everyday, plus 400-500 units from my other websites such as http://www.hailitele.com, hope you will get real.

and…

Haili: I have a team of over 50 pple working here (full time) day & nite for me, and if you think that you can affect my sales for just creating a blog, well, I’m sorry to tell you that your idea is too silly, that won’t work. It will really lucky if you can get 20 pple reading the stupid thing daily, lol, but the thing is, I’m selling over 1200 units just on eBay every single day! So what’s the point? I hope you understand what I mean.

So…

It looks like Haili is a LARGE SCALE SCAMMER and proud of it. Funny how someone who doesn’t care about this blog or negative feedback is so anxious to get the feedback removed. It is clear that negative feedback hits this guy in the pocket book. If you have been scammed by him PLEASE take one for the team.

Leave negative feedback, reference this blog post: http://www.nnim.org/?p=1 and DO NOT REMOVE IT!

If you have been saved by this blog, please LINK to this page, so others can find it.

It also looks like this guy has thrown down the gauntlet and says that this blog alone won’t have any affect on his sales. So… I ask you my dear readers, just what can we do to get this guy’s attention? More importantly, what can bedone to get eBay’s attention, to ban these products and end retaliatory negative feedback?

Update: June 29

The requests to withdraw the negative feedback continues:

Hali: Hello, please withdraw the
negative feedbacks that we left to each other, so I can process you the $28
refund.

Me: Hmmm… this would really be out of
character. Here’s what I think will happen: I withdraw the neg & you laugh at
what a gullible dumbass I am for doing so. Tell you what - I’m the one that has
actually followed thru with my promises. Just do the refund THEN I will deal
with the neg F/B.

Hali: I mean what I say, if you don’t
believe my word, it means you don’t trust me at all, that’s no point to continue
the conversation, I’m really mad this time.

ROTFLOL - Now why would I have a reason
to distrust this guy? The level of Hubris that this guy operates with is
breathtaking! Now im making HIM mad - WTF?

Update 7/12/07

After I exposed the standard retaliatory feedback:

"Very unreasonable buyer, with no response to email, not willing to
communicate!!"

Haili has now come up with
a new tack:

• There are 2 drives, 1 is 0.98MB and another 1 is 7.99GB, please double
  check!

I have to commend this scammed buyer, who actually understands the hack &
replies:

"A compressed 8GB of files on 1GB flash is still only 1GB of memory. I feel
duped"

I also wish this buyer had NOT withdrawn his negative feedback. He really
should have taken one for the team to bring this clown down.

Partitioning & compressing a 1 Gig drive to appear as 8 Gig is MISLEADING and
in my opinion fraudulent!!! This guy counts on you to remove the negative
feedback & is relentless in his requests - PLEASE DON’T DO IT! Until his
feedback suffers he will continue to ripoff buyers.