So, lets pretend here for just a moment that one of the members here has a wife that is simply wonderful and wanted to surprise her husband with a birthday gift of a Lego Technic Unimog to have for himself. Let us also pretend that this item arrived from Lego with a different person's payment info on the invoice and that, upon inquiry, said wife purchased the item for cheap from ebay. Not that any of this has nor will ever happen to one of the members here, but just roll with me ok? Now, in that unfortunate event, what exactly would one say to the offending seller? Yeah, the person would want to send a well worded message saying you %$#@*@% pig! How could you do this?! @$%@*$@ !!^ you! However, if said person actually wanted to get his refund from this seller, (as they would be returning the item to Lego by now with the return slip they emailed), they probably wouldn't want to be so confrontational and offensive, so I am curious, what would they say? Dear Shyster.... (message here)

Happy Birthday?

I'd deal with it through paypal not the seller stating its an illegal activity...they should refund you easily. If you confront the seller, they will probably realise the jig is up and do a runner. You really shouldn't have anymore contact/assosiation with the said seller/criminal. Also, on a side note, most local police forces have an email or non emergency contact service that I would suggest using to potentially help others.

You would recommend this person going straight to paypal/ebay even though we are supposed to go to the seller first to resolve issues?

In the past here is what I have done. I have called the seller out on illegally drop shipping the item. I just simply told them that the item arrived directly from LEGO and has someone else

Ok, good to know, if that ever happens to someone here, I hope they do that.

This is a really descriptive question for a "theoretical" situation. I wouldn't be ashamed to admit if this was truly something that happened to you personally. Many here have been duped by the good ol' illegal drop shipping scam before including myself. The important thing is that you learn what to look out for so it doesn't happen again. There are many helpful and understanding people here who won't judge if this is the case ;)

This is a really descriptive question for a "theoretical" situation. I wouldn't be ashamed to admit if this was truly something that happened to you personally. Many here have been duped by the good ol' illegal drop shipping scam before including myself. The important thing is that you learn what to look out for so it doesn't happen again. There are many helpful and understanding people here who won't judge if this is the case

The way I read it someone was trying to protect his awesome wife's image Can't fault a guy for doing that :)

This is a really descriptive question for a "theoretical" situation. I wouldn't be ashamed to admit if this was truly something that happened to you personally. Many here have been duped by the good ol' illegal drop shipping scam before including myself. The important thing is that you learn what to look out for so it doesn't happen again. There are many helpful and understanding people here who won't judge if this is the case

What can I say, I have a great imagination

This site has a lot of helpful and understanding people, and some that aren't unlike a pitbull straining on a leash to go after a whisper of drop shipping.

In all seriousness though, I am sure no one would really get mad at me, I know my post isn't fooling anyone, I just think the world of my wife and I thought this would be a decent enough way to put some humor on the situation as well.

The first, and only time, this happened to me I decided to contact Ebay first. At first they kept insisting that I should contact the buyer directly, meaning calling him at his registered phone number. Knowing at that point that I was probably dealing with a shady character I refused to call him myself. Ebay basically told me that they were going to investigate and that they would contact me a week later to update on what to do. That call never came. I guess is one of those things that happen to you once, you learn about it and do your best to not fall for it again. I wouldn't worry too much at this point.

Why were you supposed to call him? Why not just send an ebay message? I have never heard of people calling eachother for ebay purchases, that just seems shady, no matter who you are dealing with.

A quick update, I typed up a message to send to the seller in accordance to the ebay rules, I hit "send" and I found out that he had blocked me and would not take any messages from me. Now I have a dispute opened but I guess all that means is that ebay sends him my message and even now they still won't get involved.

Hi, I used to deal a lot with ebay in my last job. If you open a dispute and the seller doesn't resolve it within a set period of time, they will automatically close the case in your favour and fully refund you. Worst case scenario is you may have to wait something like 30 days to get your money back. Hope this helps settle your nerves a bit!

Seller refunded the purchase after I opened a case (I guess he had no way to block THAT) I just sent an email to ebay's fraud department, we will see if he gets shut down.

Wohoo! Bet your relieved! I feel sorry for the poor sod who had is card stolen to pay for this scam though...

Why were you supposed to call him? Why not just send an ebay message? I have never heard of people calling eachother for ebay purchases, that just seems shady, no matter who you are dealing with.

Kind of late response, but I had told the eBay people that I had sent several messages and he had not responded. At that point they gave me his personal information and told me to call him and try to resolve the issue. Weird, I know.

Wow, I am glad that didn't happen to me, I don't know WHAT I would have have done in your shoes, I don't think I have could have spoken to the scammer either. However, I probably would have at least called since I would be 90% sure the number would be phony and I could still pursue paypal for the refund if he didn't want to talk. I am beginning to see how much ebay does to stay out of the transaction. It seems that their position is "even if you want us to get involved, we won't, if you guys don't play nice we will lock you in a room together until you do" Honestly, we should get WAY better service than that from them for the insane fees that they charge. All those UCS falcon's we see selling for $3k or more, ebay pads their pockets with $500 for each one, they didn't have to go out and buy the set, store it, list it, ship it and everything, they just provide web hosting.