(The below correspondence is partially redacted and will be sent as original to eBay (corporate) along with 40 enclosures)

October 29, 2018

eBay Headquarters
2025 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, California 95125
USA

SELLER ACTUAL ADDRESS:
First MI Last
UNIT 15XXX BX XXX
APO AP 96XXX-5XXX

SELLER SALES REFERENCE: Intel Core i7-8700K Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 4.7GHz Turbo Unlocked LGA115, Item ID: 192665026530

SELLER RETURN ADDRESS (at time of sale):
XXX DESIDERIO CT
UNIT XXX
WAHIAWA, HI 96786-6383

SELLER USER Info:
Member since Sep 17-03 (see Enclosure 01)
User Name: xxxxxxxxxx
E-mail Address: xxxxx@gmail.com
SELLER eBay MONEY BACK GUARANTEE CASE SR#: 1-181058612380
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUYER DELIVERY ADDRESS:
QiGe Ming
325 w Washington street, unit2947
san diego, CA 92103
United States
(Address as spelled on eBay)

BUYER USER Info:
Effective Date: Sep-21-18
User Name: dizq9979_qn0g5zya24 (Not a registered user) (see Enclosure 02)
E-mail address: dlzsespp@ecdnd.com

BUYER RETURN CASE ID: 5181065892

eBay Customer Service,

In late September 2018, my youngest son, using my eBay account, while residing with my middle son at Schofield U.S. Army Barracks, Wahiawa, Hawaii (Oahu), made a sale of a CPU to a buyer, listed above, whose mail delivery address was listed as being located in San Diego, California. Having researched the address used by the buyer, it was discovered to be a rented mailbox in the Mission Hills area from, rented from an establishment named, “mailStation” (see Enclosures 03 & 04).

Briefly stating, the buyer immediately requested a refund claiming that the CPU received, which was recently purchased, brand new, sealed in original plastic, contained in original box and never used, was unserviceable. My son immediately accommodated the buyer’s wishes and followed up by asking him several questions regarding how he used the CPU, which the buyer never responded by answering the questions. To make a long story short, the buyer ended up getting a refund without mailing the CPU back to my son. See below for details.

Although the ad for the CPU stated “no returns,” (see Enclosure 05) my son felt obligated to accept the return, not wanting to possibly jeopardize my 100% eBay rating.

The CPU was never delivered and numerous searches, without avail, of my son’s Schofield U.S. Army Barracks neighborhood mailbox were made in addition to inquiring at his unit’s mailroom.

Below is a timeline of events involving the transaction from sale to return of funds to buyer:

On or about Sep-28-18, seller received a notice from eBay that buyer requested return (see Enclosure 06).

On or about Sep-28-18, my son accepted the return (see Enclosures 07).

On or about Sep-28-18, my son responded to buyer with, “I am sorry that the CPU does not work. I bought it brand new from Rakuten.com and did not use it at all, so I could not check if it worked or not. I will have to talk to Rakuten now. I accepted the return” (see Enclosure 08).

On or about Oct-04-18, eBay notified seller that the buyer started shipping processes and to refund the buyer when the item was delivered (see Enclosure 09).

On or about Oct-04-18, my son sent the following inquiry to buyer, “I see that you shipped out the CPU. May I ask a couple questions to ensure the condition and quality of the CPU? What motherboard did you use? How did you install the CPU? Is the CPU still in good, new condition? And why did it take 6 days to ship it back? Thank you” (see Enclosure 10).

On or about Oct-04-18, my son sent a follow-on inquiry to buyer asking, “May you please respond back to my questions ASAP?” (see Enclosure 11)

On or about Oct-05-18, my son sent another follow-on message to buyer, “If you cannot write back to me, I will have to contact eBay” (see Enclosure 12).

On or about Oct-06-18, my son informed buyer that the (first of two) tracking numbers that buyer provided did not work, that he did not reply to his messages of inquiry, that it took 6 days for buyer to return the CPU, that buyer’s account was very new (zero ratings) and that he would have to contact eBay about the situation (see Enclosure 13).

On or about Oct-06-18, buyer responded by saying, “hi, sorry I was out of town last week” (sic) (see Enclosure 14).

On or about Oct-06-18, buyer responded by saying, “hi, sorry I was out of town last week without stable internet connection, but i had already send back the item last week, let me contact the post office and see what happen. i will get back to you as soon as possible. thank you” (sic)
(see Enclosure 14).

The buyer’s claim on Oct-06-18 of sending the CPU “last week” is not true. According to the last tracking number that the buyer provided, the date of send is Oct-03-18 (from a location in the State of New York - Islandia, to be exact) (see below, page 04 of 07, “Tracking status”).

On or about Oct-06-18, my son responded to buyer, “Seems to be a very convenient time to go out of town without internet connection. May you answer my other questions I’ve sent?” (see Enclosure 15)

On or about Oct-10-18, buyer opened a case, asking eBay to step in, hastening the flow of his return approval (see Enclosure 16). It appears that buyer may have been worried, now, that my son’s language had turned accusatory, thus, the reason for his asking eBay to, “step in.”

On or about Oct-10-18, eBay sent a message stating the case had been closed with a refund to the buyer (see Enclosure 17).

On or about Oct-10-18, from Korea, where I work for the U.S. Army, I made a telephonic inquiry to eBay (using my MagicJack state-based telephone number: 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX) to report a likely fraud. At the time, I spoke with three separate eBay representatives over the course of about an hour to an hour and a half explaining that the CPU never had arrived in addition to suspicions that the buyer had carried out fraud.

On or about Oct-10-18, eBay responded with a, “Your eBay Money Back Guarantee case,” resulting from my telephonic inquiry in which time, I explained how it appeared that the buyer enacted a scam regarding the “return” of the CPU, not having been delivered to my son’s address in Hawaii (see Enclosure 18).

On or about Oct-13-18, eBay replied with a message informing that they had received seller’s appeal and that it would be reviewed and a reply would be made to seller within 48 hours (see Enclosure 19).

On or about Oct-17-18, my son sent eBay an inquiry asking for more time to gather information. At the time he made the sale, he was staying with my middle son on Schofield U.S. Army Barracks, an Army post on Oahu, Hawaii. While there, he had no means of transportation. My middle son, who is in the Army, due to Army duties, was not able to help my son visit the Military Police (MP) Station to ask to file a report or to, at least, obtain minimal information as requested by eBay (see Enclosure 20).

On or about Oct-17-18, eBay sent another, “Your eBay Money Back Guarantee case,” message informing seller that the case was put on hold for 10 days and would expire on October 20th. An extension was not granted resulting from my son’s request (see Enclosure 20).

On or about Oct-20-18, eBay sent a message saying that the case had been closed and that a refund is not going to be issued (see Enclosure 21).

On or about Oct-20-18, eBay sent messages saying, “We kept the original outcome of case” and “We weren’t able to give you a refund” (see Enclosure 22) and “After reviewing your appeal, we won’t be able to change the outcome of the case, unfortunately” and “We kept the original outcome because we received valid proof that the item was returned to you” (see Enclosure 23).

If “valid proof” is a tracking number originating from a destination slightly under three thousand miles from where the buyer received the CPU that lists only the town, state and zip code, not the specific “mail to” return address of, “XXX DESIDERIO CT, UNIT XXX, WAHIAWA, HI 96786-6383,” I would ask that eBay seriously review their standard operating procedures to refine how a tracking number is determined, “valid.”

See the following USPS tracking status: (see Enclosure 24)

USPS Tracking – Sep 20 > 420921039400109699937907835329: seller’s tracking number for delivery of CPU to California (see Enclosure 25)

USPS Tracking – Oct 04 > 927489021032451511093: buyer’s first tracking number, which proved defunct (see Enclosure 26)

USPS Tracking – Oct 06 > 940011089953306728400: buyer’s second tracking number, which also proved defunct. For matters of clarity, it is pointed out that the last digit may have been overlooked, since it is obvious the same number as below minus the last digit (see Enclosure 27)

USPS Tracking – Oct 10 > 9400110899533067284003: buyer’s third tracking number (see Enclosure 28)

What makes the third tracking number peculiar is that the “send from” mailing address is based in ISLANDIA, NY 11749, when the CPU was mailed to buyer in SAN DIEGO, CA 92103. In the scope of geographical city locations in the continental United States, very few locations are further away from San Diego, California than Islandia, New York. To mail an item out of New York, the buyer would have had to travel approximately 2,900 miles from San Diego and had the wherewithal to carry with him the CPU at the time (see Enclosure 29). That is, unless the buyer had a predetermined method of obtaining a tracking number from New York without actually having to physically travel to New York. In having said that, the question that comes to mind is, “What would be the buyer’s reason and purpose for mailing something out of New York if there was no felonious intent involved?”

In the event that the buyer actually mailed something from the New York location, what prevented him from mailing “anything” to a generic based address in Wahiawa, Hawaii just so his objective was met in producing a USPS tracking number showing that “something” arrived in Wahiawa, Hawaii, showing the same zip code as my son’s mailing address in Hawaii?

I have heard, and from research on the Internet, that eBay favors buyers in this type of situation, leaving the burden upon the sellers to prove a return was not made. Although, my son was not able to visit the Military Police Station, what is laid out herein is ample enough evidence to exhibit the highly suspect nature of the transaction that took place resulting in a CPU being stolen, nothing physically returned, and the buyer absconding with the CPU at no monetary cost of his own.

Supporting facts/justification/red flags:

• buyer member since Sep-21-18 (no longer a registered user) (see Enclosures 30 & 31)
• buyer has (0) rating
• buyer User Name of dizq9979_qn0g5zya24 appears to have no logical purpose other than to be used, one-time-only, for the act of deception
• buyer used a rental box to receive the CPU in California
• buyer supposedly returned CPU by mailing it from an address based in the State of New York, when seller mailed CPU to buyer in California
• buyer replied in Oct-06-18 message, stating that he sent back the item, “last week,” when item was actually sent on Oct-03-18, not “last week,” and, once again, from a location in the State of New York - Islandia, to be exact (see Enclosures 28 and 29)
• buyer provided two different return tracking numbers of which the first was defunct and the second, highly suspect, having been initiated from the State of New York although buyer received CPU in California
• A Google search produced no such name as QiGe Ming

I have been a reputable customer of eBay for over 15 years, both in buyer and seller roles. In fact, as a buyer, myself, who requested to return an item in the past, I was refused by the seller and because of it, I lost out. I also learned a lesson, that as a buyer, I have some rights, which, if I ever run into a similar situation, I will exercise.

As like most eBay sellers, I put a great deal of trust in eBay, that, as a seller, I will be protected. Although what I have read about eBay favoring buyers over sellers in return cases, I realize sellers are the ones that provide revenue for eBay. Favoring the buyer over the seller does not make financial sense when it is the sellers that provide business.

It is obvious that my son was the victim of a “bait and switch” tactic used by an unscrupulous individual to dupe him into losing all-around. It is presumed, persons who engage in this type of criminal activity take the items that they “win” to local retailers in exchange for refunds and then return mail unserviceable items or pseudo items to the seller for the purposes of obtaining “bogus” tracking numbers. In my son’s case, nothing was received - not even a rock.

I understand that eBay’s customer service representatives that work return appeals may not dive deep into seller cases because of any number of reasons, such as time, procedures won’t allow it and other corporate rules, etc., but in saying that, I state that it did not take long for me to figure out that this particular buyer clearly swindled my son out of a CPU and out of roughly four hundred dollars.

eBay provides a way for people to create their own businesses, but, sadly, because eBay exists, it also provides a way for people to scheme and take advantage of others by dishonest practices such as the one that I have outlined herein. In saying that, I am not inferring that eBay is complicit in what happened. What I am saying is, eBay should honor honest sellers when it is clearly apparent that they have been scammed. My son is nineteen. He does not sell many things on eBay, but from time to time he has something to sell. For the most part, he and I have had good experiences using eBay to both buy and sell. Four hundred dollars is a huge amount of money to my son, who is currently unemployed.

Having gone to lengths to present eBay the above, enclosed, and below, I respectfully request a refund in full, which is the amount awarded to the buyer.

Of note:

01) It appears, on the eBay site, that seller made two deliveries. This is an erroneous capture due to the seller tracking number having been listed twice, once by inputting, “9400109699937907835329” and the other, “420921039400109699937907835329.” In actuality, 22 numbers are the same - only, the second series of numbers includes an additional 7-digit prefix. This point is made to dispel any semblance that there might be impropriety on the side of the seller (see Enclosure 32).

02) The address shown on the top of the second page of Enclosure 24 was a former address of mine when residing in California from 2014 to 2016. Since, then, the mailing address has been updated to my present mailing address, in Korea, as: First, MI, Last, UNIT 15XXX, BX XXX, APO AP 96XXX-5XXX (see Enclosure 24).

I have yet to rate this transaction. Please accept this request for redress as our, “Letting you know how it went” (see Enclosure 34).

I know that the person who orchestrated stealing the CPU from my son abruptly unregistered, but the financial account used to “buy” the CPU must be known. If it is possible, I request, in the name of justice, that eBay go after this perpetrator to recover the funds that he was erroneously reimbursed. Additionally, in this time and age of internet and computer technology, I recommend that you put a flag on any and all accounts that this user has used currently and in the past. It appears that this “buyer” is well-versed in this type of ploy, however, it remains questionable why he chose New York to “return” the CPU from.

The perpetrator’s claim of, “this intel core is not working from the min i receive it. i tried to boot up the machine and nothing happens, not even any beeps that indicate a POST test is running,” is faulty logic (see Enclosure 23, comments made on Sep. 28). One does not know in the first minute that a CPU is not working. It takes well over one minute to install a CPU correctly. There are intricate steps that are required in order to properly affix a CPU to a motherboard. It takes that time or more to free the CPU from the sealed plastic. The buyer’s refusal to answer my son’s technical questions is telling, also.

When I first heard about the buyer’s request to return the CPU, I was disappointed. To off-set some of my son’s costs associated with the return transaction, which at the time seemed legitimate, I offered to buy it off him, anticipating that the CPU really had nothing wrong with it in the first place. Unfortunately, without a CPU having been mailed, I am not able to do so.

Amendment:

I asked my son to send me a copy of any PayPal transactions resulting from interaction with the buyer. He sent me the transaction details where eBay refunded the buyer monies (see Enclosure 34). As I was screening the information of the PayPal transaction details, I noticed an e-mail address (dlzsespp@ecdnd.com) provided by the buyer. I “Googled” it and received no matches. I then Googled only the suffix part of the provided e-mail address and it turned up two links at the very top of my screen, which led to the documents listed as Enclosures 35 thru 38 (see Enclosures 35 thru 38).

Both “bad buyers” referenced in the “BadbuyerList.Org” website (see Enclosures 35 & 37) used the same mail facility, mailStation of Mission Hills, San Diego, California, that my son’s buyer did, but with slight variations in the “apt” and “aprt” numbers. The numbers are four-digits long and begin with “2”, same as the number provided by the person who scammed my son, albeit, he used “unit” instead of the aforementioned “apartment” descriptors. I clicked on both “buyer’s usernames” provided by BadbuyerList.Org. Each time, a hyperlink directed me to eBay, where I found what is displayed in Enclosures 36 and 38 (see Enclosures 36 & 38). As you see, both “buyers” were short-lived eBay customer buyers, have 2 and 1 rating/s respectively and are both, “Not a registered user.” It can be safely assumed that the feedback they received was the results from sales of items scammed from honest sellers. Having, now, seen three like instances as explained above, I am led to believe that there may be a group of people in that area who partake in this criminal activity for a living.

I filed a report on buyer on BadbuyerList.Org (see Enclosures 39 & 40).

What I have researched and documented has taken the majority of the week-end, quite a bit of time and effort put towards attempting to recoup an amount slightly under four hundred dollars. To eBay, that is a drop in the bucket, but to my son and I, it is more than crumbs. I do not take lightly any human being stealing from my family. I am a man of principle, a retired U.S. Army Soldier and presently, a U.S. Department of the Army civilian employee. I know when to fight and when not to fight. This particular incidence is one of those times to fight for what is right.

One last thing: What is eBay doing in order to prevent what is described herein from happening, something that most certainly continues to happen every day?

If this request is not suffice to grant a refund, I request another 10-day period in which a Military Police report or, if refused, a point of contact can be obtained. This time, I will ensure that, between both sons, one or both of the above will be secured.

Sincerely,

First MI Last
eBay Member, since 2003