kritter
Mod Squad
When we lose sight of how we treat animals, we tend to lose sight of our humanity
Posts: 19,833
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Post by kritter on Oct 9, 2021 21:04:33 GMT
My neighbor paid $69 for one and got an additional one for half price.
She is in the midst of a transaction dispute with Paypal against the seller. The seller did offer her a 7% refund if that would make her happy. Alas, she didn't get a happy smile on her face with that offer.
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Post by staytuned on Oct 9, 2021 22:20:47 GMT
The sad thing about the ad on Amazon is if it's taken down, the seller will just come back with a new ID. The first thing I noticed is the extended shipping time, one month and beyond, which tells me it's coming from China. I actually hope that ad with the two 1 star reviews stands as a warning to avoid buying from that seller.
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Post by Pantlandia on Oct 10, 2021 4:23:30 GMT
I wonder about people who think they're going to get something like that first wreath for $18.99, shipped free. You mean like my mom who thought she was getting a full size mobility scooter for $30? Instead, she got a cheap watch from China that wasn't worth $10. She attempted to file a claim through PayPal and the seller offered her 10% back, she declined and PayPal said she had to return it. Unfortunately, returning it cost like $15.00 and there was little chance she would get refunded for everything. When she tried to find the website she bought it from, it was gone. The she paid $5.00 for a stuffed doggie doll that was supposed to be 12" tall. She got it and it was about 2" tall. And then there was the time at the beginning of summer where she was looking for an air conditioner. She found on on offer up for very cheap (too good to be true cheap) like $50 for a $200 AC. She followed a link and went to a site and paid through there. Yup, scam. Luckily, PayPal refunded her because there was no tracking and the seller didn't respond.
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Post by chapeaunoir on Oct 10, 2021 6:52:59 GMT
These scammers prey on older folks like your mom, which is really bad - I'm more thinking of people who are just cheap and delusional. As soon as the DH turned 65, the scammer old farts junk calls started, though - they really work that demographic.
Sunday is the U of Washington Dawg Dash - a big race/party which finally, for the first time since 2019, will be held in actuality. It's a huge event, but they've capped the entry (they field thousands) and are sending people off in waves. To pick up your race packet you need to show either a vaccination card or neg covid test, so I sent my running friend a pdf of my vax card as he said he'd pick up my packet (he lives a lot closer to the race start than I do). We plan to take the train to the race start, run the race - since it's a 5K and they're not doing the 10K this year, we'll also run the 4-5 miles back to the train station as we're more distance type people. This is handily near a favourite pub, where we will have pizza and some beers. Right now the rain is just pounding down and is set to continue for a while, but it so happens that according to Weather Underground, we will be running in the very few hours that are a break in the rain.
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Post by 57roses on Oct 10, 2021 14:14:57 GMT
My sons caregiver who is very tech & merchandise savvy bought a robo vac for about $50 and received a toy vacuum. These sellers appeal to the desire to get a good deal on something and it can throw all common sense out the door. It doesn't help that they flat out lie and mislead about what you will receive. Then you're stuck by not being able to return it without losing more $$$.
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kritter
Mod Squad
When we lose sight of how we treat animals, we tend to lose sight of our humanity
Posts: 19,833
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Post by kritter on Oct 10, 2021 15:50:34 GMT
I think that is the common denominator right there. Its a good deal so you don't want to miss out. My neighbor orders a lot online so it's not like she is a rookie at this. I think she saw the Etsy name and there was some degree of trust although she knows there are Chinese scammers there but what really got her was "Buy One, Get 1/2 Off a Second One" plus she really liked the wreath even at the $69 price which to me is not cheap.
I almost got caught earlier this year when I saw some flamingo wind spinners on etsy at a great price. Because the pics were all over the web from Chinese sellers, I asked her if she had these spinners or if she was drop shipping the crap ones from China. She immediately shut down the listing.
I think people at any age can get sucked in by such a good deal. Read some of the posts on the ebay Buyers Board. It is happening on all selling sites.
Paypal hasn't told my neighbor that she has to return the crap wreath yet but that is probably coming.
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Post by jesmelric on Oct 10, 2021 19:12:19 GMT
I think that is really deceptive to use the Etsy name because that does generate an automatic trust. But as for a really great deal, I was taught years ago if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Before the pandemic DH started a new hobby of making his own bullets (maybe it's called ammunition? I don't know lol) Since the pandemic started you can't find primers. He's found them once, at 3X the normal cost, and I put them on the credit card and they came just fine. But a few weeks later we find this place that is selling them for less than normal cost and a google search turned up immediate terrible reviews. It's always best to google something that sounds too good to be true. It's something that's readily available now that wasn't back in the day.
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Post by staytuned on Oct 10, 2021 19:40:38 GMT
I'm sure a lot of us have had "sucker" moments, and hopefully not expensive ones. Maybe that's the new tactic, put a higher price on something, like that wreath, to instill confidence it must be a good product if it's selling for a high price and the deal with a second at 1/2 price. That's one good thing about the internet is we can research and check reviews for a lot of these businesses.
Even television commercials advertise products and services that get horrible ratings or deceptive advertising, like the ones that offer a second (insert product) for free, just pay separate processing, which MIL found out was the amount of the product when she called to order something she saw on t.v.
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Post by somany on Oct 11, 2021 2:56:20 GMT
There are a lot of scammers on Facebook. They use pics of someone else's product. I bought an outdoor nativity scene for close to $200 a couple of years ago, and I started seeing it on Facebook for way less. They were getting tons of comments from people about how much they liked theirs, but I figure it was people like me who purchased from the original site. I added a comment that I really liked mine but that I purchased it from xxxxx. I doubt it did much good because too many people buy without reading the comments. Myself included as I got a cheap, ugly Halloween puzzle when I was purchasing a nice Christmas one. If I had read some of the comments, I would have steered clear of their questionable business practices. I was able to get my money back through paypal by fighting it since the puzzle wasn't even the right print. If it had just been a poorly done imitation, which I think they probably had and just messed up, I don't think I would have gotten the refund.
But if it happens to you, don't just write it off. Put up a big stink with paypal or your credit card company. The scammers rely on the fact that most people aren't going to do anything about it. If I don't think someone is scamming me, I often let things go. For instance, I just pitched some really bad vegetables that I got on my clicklist order. I could have fought it, but it wasn't worth my time and it's just a sign of the times right now. But if they had been scamming me, I'd go after them.
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kritter
Mod Squad
When we lose sight of how we treat animals, we tend to lose sight of our humanity
Posts: 19,833
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Post by kritter on Oct 13, 2021 15:56:10 GMT
Update on my neighbor's wreath debacle.
Paypal decided in my neighbor's favor and all money will be refunded.
She called Etsy to tell them about the crooks using Etsy's name and it turns out that Etsy Gardens is part of Etsy. The CS agent said they would make a note on that seller but we know how that goes.
Just like Ebay, they will keep the junk sellers around no matter what they do to rip off buyers.
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