Small Ads Rip-Off

garlanj

Active member
Hi.
Just as a warning to fellow collectors, I found this on the German Ebay small ads app and agreed a price with the seller
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/pickelhaube-preussen-sammlerstueck/1977304392-234-5605
Capture.JPG
I paid via PayPal but stupidly trusted him and used Friends and Family - I know, you'd think at my age I'd know better!!
Needless to say it never arrived. I've contacted Ebay and PayPal but no joy.
They say a fool and his money are soon parted - how true
Cheers
Jeremy
 
That' really too bad. I bought my last Bavarian Pickelhaube through Kleinanzeigen and paid via bank transfer. No issues. It took well over a month to arrive though as it came DHL and by sea. Maybe yours is still en route?
 
Maybe some of our German members might have some advice on other possible steps to take? Report it to the Polizei etc.?

Good luck.

Peter
 
Hi Peter
I suspect it’s not been sent as everything went silent after I paid despite numerous reminders. Unfortunately my German is limited to Google translate so all rather difficult to follow up. I bought a 74th haube off small ads a while back, no problems, went like a dream.
All the best
Jeremy
 
Hi Jeremy, did you get any kind of tracking on this? I see you only bought it on the 3rd January and I have been hearing of disastrous delays/lost items in the Royal Mail system since Christmas. Maybe still in some packed depot somewhere?
Wish you luck with this,
Steve
 
Hi Steve
No, it was after he had the money that everything went quiet. Before that he’d said he’d give me tracking info but despite numerous reminders he hasn’t replied to anything.
Cheers
Jeremy
 
Hi Steve
No, it was after he had the money that everything went quiet. Before that he’d said he’d give me tracking info but despite numerous reminders he hasn’t replied to anything.
Cheers
Jeremy
Jeremy,
I have had several good buy's at Kleinanzeigen, but there are also fraudulent folks there. I once placed a bid on a nice pioneer haube, but got a message from kleinanzeigen, that the guy was a fraud, and they had removed the advertisement, and blocked the seller.
Kleinanzeigen.de is also part of eBay, so maybe you can contact them, and let them help you? They prevented me from getting in a situation like you are in right now. Then again, maybe nobody reported the seller who you are dealing with right now.
I hope you can get your money back.

Regards, Coert.
 
Hi Coert
I contacted Kleinanzeigen but had no reply. I’ll give it another go and see if I get anywhere with them. I must not be too trusting in the future.
All the best
Jeremy
 
I´am sorry to tell you, you will never get your money back....

I did the same stupid thing 2 years ago on this site (paying with Paypal for friends = absolutely no refunds). I never got my item. I did not hear from the seller as soon as payment was made. I then went to my local german police, they can do absolutely nothing....Take care when the price is (to) good to be true.. 480 EUR for an officer helmet was in this case to good...On this site, you must have the feeling before you pay. However, I could buy 4-5 beautiful things after this one problem on this site. You have to take your time and discuss with the seller and ask all kinds of things. It´s a psychologic approach. Never buy something there too quickly. Never get stressed by seller!

Philippe
;)
 
Philippe you are so right. I rushed into it and the language was definitely an issue for me. What do they say? If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!
All the best
Jeremy
 
Sorry to read about this, Jeremy.
Unfortunately I don‘t know what you should do. Go to the police is one option, but it's probably a long and nerve-wracking way with no guarantee to get your money back. However, if you have legal protection insurance, I would check that. The other possibility is to accept the loss as a lesson and never pay outside of the PayPal buyer protection guidelines again. Another trick used by scammers is to take some payment information from others. Then an undefended must atone for the deceit of another. Always check the payment informations twice and never accept a Paypal payment outside of the PayPal buyer protection guidelines or a Paypal payment and that the buyer picks up the goods personally.
 
All good advice. This is the last time I’ll use friends and family unless it’s a friend or family. Tough lesson but I really should have known better.
Cheers
Jeremy
 
It even happened with a "well know" forum member (on a other forum), to me....
The guy was removed, but I never got my money or my stuff....
 
I think I’ll just put it down to “experience” and move on.
Thanks all for your comments.
All the best
Jeremy
 
Jeremy, sorry to hear about your experience.

I am not sure how good is my advice, but I would give it a last go. Contact your bank which is linked to your PayPal account.

Amy Bellars
 
I would NEVER use to a friend unless I 100 % know and trust the person
I will offer to pay the extra Pay Pal fees to cover the fees that the seller has to pay .
Steve
 
This happened to me a year ago on German eBay concerning a Prussian pioneer officer's helmet . The seller had a 98% rating with 260 comments on sales and purchases .There was also a photo of the presumed seller and his little son. How could this go wrong!?! So I bid and won, there were a couple other bids( I wish I had lost) I used Xoom to bank wire transfer him the money. About 3 hours after I paid, eBay notified me of fraudulent use of the seller's site . Too late! When I wrote him, the "seller " expressed amazement and said he would mail the helmet the next day. Silence after that. I am still waiting . Great advice from KAGGR#1.
 
This happened to me a year ago on German eBay concerning a Prussian pioneer officer's helmet . The seller had a 98% rating with 260 comments on sales and purchases .There was also a photo of the presumed seller and his little son. How could this go wrong!?! So I bid and won, there were a couple other bids( I wish I had lost) I used Xoom to bank wire transfer him the money. About 3 hours after I paid, eBay notified me of fraudulent use of the seller's site . Too late! When I wrote him, the "seller " expressed amazement and said he would mail the helmet the next day. Silence after that. I am still waiting . Great advice from KAGGR#1.
When I buy a helmet on e-Bay, I also never use the friends and family option. I only use that with people I trust, like forum members.
All others are paid using full protection. I fortunately never had a deal go wrong that way.
e-Bay can, unfortunately, be quite a minefield.
 
In future I’ll only use friends and family to pay friends and family - blindingly obvious really.
Amy, thanks but I spoke to the bank and they weren’t interested as I’d used friends and family.
Cheers all
Jeremy
 
Back
Top