Now, because we have a lot of new members I think a safety reminder needs to be mentioned. Please remember that you are dealing in most cases, with a complete stranger. I think those who are going to use the classified sections should use some type of reference listing so a prospective buyer can be sure he is dealing with someone who is on the up and up. One thing I recommend...if someone cannot provide you refs and a phone number DO NOT do business with them. If I am dealing with someone who has little to no refs, I see if they have an Ebay username. If so, I have them list it on Ebay with a buy it now that will cover the cost of the auction and product. That way, you have Ebay and PayPal to back you up.
Only buy from Ebay members who are verified/confirmed. It will say so in the auction listing. If Ebay/PayPal will not back them up then I would not do it. Also, use your Credit Card via PayPal, not your bank accounts.
This way, you can file chargeback with CC company as they tend to take care of you better than PP.
When doing trades, product for product you are on your own. I typically avoid trades because there is no protection. Unless I have an existing relationship with that person, I do purchases and sales only. I have also bought things from people who have had NO refs. But, I required them to send the product first. After I received it, I then paid. Not many people are willing to do that, but if you have strong references and can become a strong reference for a new seller, they will do it. It only helps them.
We will not tolerate any members here ripping people off. If you get ripped off, DO NOT flame them in the forums. We dont mind if you mention getting bad quality items from vendors, but when it comes to members we will not tolerate flaming. There are two sides to every story so we do not want someone defamed just because of one opinion.
What you can do though is configure a signature and in the sig you can mention who you have had good deals with and bad deals with. As far as bad deals, this is limited to you buying something and they did not send it to you. NO OPINIONS, only facts. Do not put in your sig, Bad Deals - hqusername's mods suck. If I see any of that stuff, action will be taken.
Also, you can make one post in the forum where they were advertising the product. The post must not attactk the seller, but instead just inform other members that you did not receive the product, or the product was grossly misrepresented. By grossly misrepresented, I mean something like they advertised a Premod with X3 and 200GB HD and you got a softmod with stock HD. Or, they advertised a working mod and you got a machine wth error code 06. If the seller responds to your post, you can reply back, but no flaming. Please work things out via email and PMs. Do not bring personal problems to the forums.
I have recently have had a few people contact me stating that they got ripped off by members so that is what made me post this. It was only inevitable that eventually we would get a bad apple....or two.
If you sent something to someone, at least you have their name and physical address. You can always look up their local magistrate and file a civil suit. In most cases you can work something out with the magistrate and not have to phyiscally go there yourself. I have done this before from getting ripped on Ebay. They will also have to pay your filing fees. If they do not pay, in most cases you can then pay a small fee and impose a sheriff sale. That usually gets them to either pay you back or get you your product. I dont know how it is in most states, but in PA when you get a judgement against someone after a civil suit and they do not pay in the alotted time frame it costs $90.00 to file for sheriff sale and they do not mess around. I have ALWAYS got my money after that move, plus they have to pay for the 90.00 fee too
I hope this information helps make our classified section a bit more safe for everyone. Just remember, you are buying and selling at your own risk. Xbox-HQ will not be responsible for anyone who loses money or product as a result of a classified listed on this site.
Please do not abuse these services.
TheModGod
-------------------------
http://www.themodgod.com _________________ Good Deals: Death@Hand, funkydopenloven, StaticMind, Slamscaper, PorscheXboxter
Bad Deals: None Yet
Pending Deals: Vanguard
Last edited by TheModGod on Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
DJB Administrator
Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 4031 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:55 pm Post subject:
Very good advice there MG.
After doing a few online purshaes via ebay and other places you tend to know what to look for, on ebay feedback is definately important, but here it's definately more of the honor system, which I'm sure is being upheld as much as possible.
However, in my 4 years of online purchasing I've only ever been ripped off once, so all I'm saying it can happen no matter how careful you are.
TheModGod Xbox-Hq Legendary
Joined: Apr 18, 2004 Posts: 5303 Location: Greensburg PA
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:57 pm Post subject:
I have had a few more emails/PMs in regard to how people are getting ripped off. This usually happens more with trades than anything. But, here is something to consider for those doing the ripping off and those getting ripped off:
If you have proof of delivery, whether it's via the DC number or better yet a signature card and the other party is claiming they never received you have a lot of tools to sue this person. Also, this person used the US Postal Service to Defraud you out of property. That is called Mail Fraud. That is a Federal Offense and the USPS can point you in the right direction to file charges. More than likely they will forward you to your closes Consumer Protection Agency. They helped me greatly. I once purchased an Xbox from someone on Amazon. He gave me a DC number and after about six days it said it was delivered. But, I never got it. Confused I went to my local post office and they checked the scan weight of the shimpent. It was only 1.3lbs. Far under what an Xbox would weight. What this lame ass did was send a magazine to an address in my home town so that the DC information just said, "Delivered to Greensburg, PA" making it look like I got it.
I contacted the Consumer Protection Agency and with in five minutes after they contacted the seller he refunded me everything plus $20.00 for my troubles. Mail Fraud is a serious offense. Before any lamers on this site or any other site think about ripping someone off, you better be sure if it's worth a few days in court! I personally will do all I can to help anyone who has been ripped off. I have a lot of avenues that I have taken to get my money and/or good back from dishonest people.
I will also offer anyone here Escrow service. No, I didnt say Escort service calm down funkydopeloven!! What this means is, if two people want to do business together someone can send me the money and I'll hold it in escrow. When the product gets safely delivered to the buyer, I will release the money to the seller. I will not charge any fees other than what I lose in PayPal fees so this will cost you a couple bucks to do.
There will be serious rules though. The seller must submit serial numbers if applicable, not if product has been opened. If opened, even write down serials of the HD, DVD Drive, and mobo. This will all be done on an individual basis. This will NOT work for trades, but we can make some special arrangements. Basically, if there is a trade involved the two people trading can submit a payment based on what they feel their products are worth. This must be an agreed upon amount between all parties. Me, and the two traders. I will hold all monies. When both parties have their products, I will release the funds back to each individual less PayPal fees incurred.
Yes, I realize this can cost a few bucks, but you always pay for insurance. I am going to kick this around and see how fool proof I can make it, but I would be more than happy to assist any members who are tired of getting ripped off and want to make sure their products get to them safely.
Now, this service is also only as good as the person holding the money. I am a trustworth person who I think everyone by now should know and have come to understand I am only here to make this site a better place for Xbox modders to be. I run two very successful businesses and am not one to walk off with someone elses money.
Also, there are other professional escrow services out there, so by all means look into these when you are buying something from someone who you dont know. As for trading, well, lets all try to come up with a way to make this a better place to trade too. Please post any and all ideas how we can make trading even safer on Xbox-HQ.
Even though we will not be held responsible for those who do get ripped, that doesn't mean we want to sit back and watch it happen.
For those who think they can just come on this site and rip its members off, you have another thing coming. I will see that everyone who rips someone off gets prosecuted (US Only), or at least has to visit their local magistrate to settle in civil court.
A lot of magistrates now are getting used to these types of frauds and do not require the filing party to be there physically. They do teleconferences and allow the plantif to speak their mind via speaker phone. If you have incredible proof that your product was delivered and someone is saying it wasn't.... you have all you need.
TheModGod
-----------------------
http://www.themodgod.com _________________ Good Deals: Death@Hand, funkydopenloven, StaticMind, Slamscaper, PorscheXboxter
Bad Deals: None Yet
Pending Deals: Vanguard
TheModGod Xbox-Hq Legendary
Joined: Apr 18, 2004 Posts: 5303 Location: Greensburg PA
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 7:23 pm Post subject:
In lieu of recent events, I must warn all modders out there. If you are selling product to fellow modding companies regardless of how much you trust this person you need to really be careful. Let's face it... none of us are brothers, none of us are blood relatives...when it comes to money you never know what someone is going to do to swindle you out of yours.
As much as I like to say this is one big happy family here, there's always the black sheep of the family...
When selling a product to another modder or member, you should onl use PayPal. You should make sure you have a Premier or Business account. You need to make sure you ship with tracking or Delivery Conrfirmation if using USPS.
You need to have rules in place and posted on your website in regard to what you warranty and do not warranty. That's not a mandatory thing with PayPal but it does help with other avenues.
You need to only take ONE payment for each product. What I mean is lets say someone pays you to mod an Xbox but half way through wants you to add a larger HD.
So the first payment they make is 300.00 and the second payment is 100.00.
You need to refund the first payment and have the buyer submit a payment of 400.00, or, you have to ship the HD separately.
Because, if the buyer wants to be a jackoff, they can just say they never received the 100.00 hard drive. If you only have one tracking number for two sales...that will not fly.
Also, the product MUST be shipped to the address on the paypal account that you get in the verification email. If someone says, I used my dads paypal account or my buddies paypal acount and wants you to ship it to them DO NOT. Ship it to the address on the account. Otherwise, you're screwed. All the lamer has to do is call up his CC company and say I never authorized these charges to my account. Even though they physically logged into their PayPal account and paid you...they can get away with it if you do not follow certain guidelines.
If you do not have a website and/or shopping cart then use PayPal's invoice creator. That is good as gold. Take these words of advice...trust me. You never know when you will fall victim to con-man. _________________ Good Deals: Death@Hand, funkydopenloven, StaticMind, Slamscaper, PorscheXboxter
Bad Deals: None Yet
Pending Deals: Vanguard
|
All times are GMT |Page 1 of 1
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
HQ Network: 8,483 | 
Guests: 1267 | 
Members: 3 
Forums 
