What to do in this eBay situation?

[quote name='kodave']Final decision:
Neither you or the seller were found at the fault.
eBay Customer Support comments:
"You will be issued a refund."

...

I'm tempted to leave the seller a negative too, just for being such a jack off and not responding like a mature human being, but I probably won't.[/QUOTE]

1) You know it's a rampant problem when ebay itself lets crap like this slide. You should dispute this ruling with eBay. Clearly the seller was at fault here, and it needs to go on his record that he does not list items accurately. This is why I don't buy on ebay except in the most extreme (and most disposable) of circumstances. The other day I was going to buy a few guides, but ended up spending the extra few dollars at amazon instead. It was worth it, not having any business to go ebay.

2) Definitely should leave that negative. All too often people are just relieved to get their money back or whatever but if there is no lasting accountability there is no impetus for the sellers to change their shady behavior. If they started getting (rightly) hit with negs for the crap they pull, other buyers will start to avoid them.

Ruahrc
 
[quote name='kodave']I think I mentioned it in this thread, or perhaps another thread, but last time I negged someone after I had to file and win a PayPal dispute they sent an off-Ebay email threatening to stop by my house one day and break the item over my head. Immature, he lived across the country, he likely won't do it, and I have the guy's real identity - but I seriously don't know how fucking crazy some people are on the internet.

The seller on this game is across the country too, so the odds of him being a psychopath and reaching me are low, but I'm still scarred by the potential of the last guy I had to neg after a PayPal dispute.[/QUOTE]
In these situations, it's a good idea to call the police (NOT 911) and/or get a restraining order, even if you're not genuinely scared. People need to learn that they can't say whatever the hell they want without consequence. They also need to get dog shit in their mailbox. Personally, I have no problem with taunting the crazies. If one of them actually grows some balls and shows up to my house, I keep a .44 magnum by the front door. Just holding that thing is intimidating, so I can only imagine how it feels to be on the other end. Heh.
 
[quote name='kodave']Seller replied to the case with this:

Seller's message:
"you need to get a life. the black markings are initials. and you can find a case. what do you expect from a 7 dollar game. you will not get a refund. so shut up. the game was $25.00 when i bought it. SO DONT GIVE ME CRAP YOU BUTTWIPE."[/QUOTE]
Well, maybe in the future you just shouldn't be such a buttwipe.

;)
 
[quote name='ZombieToast']In these situations, it's a good idea to call the police (NOT 911) and/or get a restraining order, even if you're not genuinely scared. People need to learn that they can't say whatever the hell they want without consequence. They also need to get dog shit in their mailbox. Personally, I have no problem with taunting the crazies. If one of them actually grows some balls and shows up to my house, I keep a .44 magnum by the front door. Just holding that thing is intimidating, so I can only imagine how it feels to be on the other end. Heh.[/QUOTE]

The problem is, the police aren't going to do shit. I don't even want to imagine how complicated a cross-country restraining order would be, not to mention the likelihood of a judge issuing one is next to nothing since restraining orders are serious shit and judges don't issue them unless the parties leave the judge with no other choice.

And because this is crossing all sorts of state lines, I think it becomes a matter for the FBI. The FBI actually recommends reporting internet harassment to your local field office: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.htm

But let's be real - the FBI isn't going to do shit about one immaturely written email with a threat in it.

My concern is, judging by the number of insane assholes on the internet, that I might rock the boat with the craziest of the crazies and they're already in the car making the cross country trip to come shoot me. But I've never seen anything about any actual physical crime committed by a disgruntled party over an eBay transaction, so the likelihood of that has to be so very very low. That aside, I'm still concerned that these people have have retained my name and address and there's a million ways to use that for no good on the internet.
 
[quote name='kodave']That aside, I'm still concerned that these people have have retained my name and address and there's a million ways to use that for no good on the internet.[/QUOTE]

There's nothing wrong with assigning value to your personal information and privacy- sometimes literally (in the case of paying a few extra dollars to buy something from a reputable retailer vs. some random ebayer). In the long run it might be money well spent.
 
[quote name='kodave']The problem is, the police aren't going to do shit. I don't even want to imagine how complicated a cross-country restraining order would be, not to mention the likelihood of a judge issuing one is next to nothing since restraining orders are serious shit and judges don't issue them unless the parties leave the judge with no other choice.

And because this is crossing all sorts of state lines, I think it becomes a matter for the FBI. The FBI actually recommends reporting internet harassment to your local field office: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.htm

But let's be real - the FBI isn't going to do shit about one immaturely written email with a threat in it.

My concern is, judging by the number of insane assholes on the internet, that I might rock the boat with the craziest of the crazies and they're already in the car making the cross country trip to come shoot me. But I've never seen anything about any actual physical crime committed by a disgruntled party over an eBay transaction, so the likelihood of that has to be so very very low. That aside, I'm still concerned that these people have have retained my name and address and there's a million ways to use that for no good on the internet.[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure where you live, but over here in California, it's pretty easy to get a restraining order, even in a situation like this. It's not considered a last resort and is often used as a preventative measure. Obviously, it doesn't physically stop anyone from doing anything, but it will certainly work against if anything happens and/or the matter goes to court. These days, cyber threats are taken very seriously and anything you say online can get you in just as much trouble as saying it in person. But every state is different, of course.

And just to clarify: I don't think the threat is so serious that you actually need a restraining order. There's an incredibly small chance that the person will ever come after you. The point of the restraining order would mostly be to just stick it to 'em and let them know that they shouldn't screw with you. It's not a completely serious suggestion, although I would like to see how things would turn out if you did it. Heh.
 
[quote name='ZombieToast']I'm not sure where you live, but over here in California, it's pretty easy to get a restraining order, even in a situation like this. It's not considered a last resort and is often used as a preventative measure. Obviously, it doesn't physically stop anyone from doing anything, but it will certainly work against if anything happens and/or the matter goes to court. These days, cyber threats are taken very seriously and anything you say online can get you in just as much trouble as saying it in person. But every state is different, of course.

And just to clarify: I don't think the threat is so serious that you actually need a restraining order. There's an incredibly small chance that the person will ever come after you. The point of the restraining order would mostly be to just stick it to 'em and let them know that they shouldn't screw with you. It's not a completely serious suggestion, although I would like to see how things would turn out if you did it. Heh.[/QUOTE]

I live in California and I have some familiarity with the court process for restraining orders. A TRO might be easy to get if there is a true serious threat, but a formal restraining order isn't going to be handed out without both parties appearing before the judge, and the judge is going to send the parties to mediation anyway because its a waste of the court's resources to have to spend time dishing out all of the restraining order filings it has. Even if no agreement is reached in mediation, the judge might very well send the parties home for a couple of weeks and see if there is a still problem on the new court date.

In CA they don't hand out restraining orders easily because they're serious shit. There is no distinction between someone who gets a restraining order because they shouted obscenities at their neighbor across the street and one who gets a restraining order for beating their wife. On background check they appear as the exact same thing even though the acts leading to them are vastly different levels of seriousness and harm. Restraining orders effect one's ability to own firearms and work with children. That's why judges only hand them out when they feel its absolutely warranted.

IF I could even drag someone to a CA court from another state and procedurally everything was proper, the judge would in no way hand out a restraining order over one single threatening email. There would need to be continuing and ongoing harassment or threats for this to even be entertained seriously.
 
It has been a relatively simple process in my slightly limited experience. In fact, I just helped out a friend and her kids with a restraining order last week. Filled out the form, saw the judge, had someone serve the temporary to the offending woman, yadda yadda. The woman never showed up to the hearing to defend herself, so the judge went ahead and ordered a three-year restraining order against her. But I guess it's probably a lot easier when kids are involved.

Admittedly, I don't have any experience with civil orders; just domestic and dependent abuse (never for myself thankfully). Those instances went rather smoothly, so I figured it was the norm. Until just a few minutes ago, I didn't even realize that civil orders aren't free.
 
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