wrote in message
oups.com...
On Oct 27, 10:53 am, Frugal Farmer
wrote:
On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:40:57 GMT, "Gini" wrote:

wrote
"Gini" wrote:
wrote in message
..................................

==
All your questions *of merit* have been answered here. See eBay "Help"
to
resolve any
further confusion you may have pertaining to eBay rules. Hey. I
know--ask on
alt.marketing.online.ebay. They are
real friendly folks over there who love helping newbies.
==

I don't want to step on anybody's toes, so just relax and don't bite
my head off, shoot my dog or electrocute my cat over nothing. This
information and clarification I provide is for future reference to
those who may need it. Not to inflame another war.

My basic goal was to get steel shingles and not get duped by an
unscrupulous seller. I found what I was looking for on eBay. Many
recommended I use credit card as I will be protected.

snip

Anyway, I found out from my visa cust. service dept. this morning that
my basic, no-fee visa, as a rule of thumb, does NOT protect me for
THIS kind of purchase and I am on my own since terms of the purchase
are clearly spelled out - protected up to $200 and on the hook for the
rest. The charge wont (will NOT) be reversed unless I can prove fraud
occurred.

That said, I was also told that if I provide documentation (sales
contract) prior to the transaction taking place, my visa will "clear
the path" for this purchase. I gather this purchase becomes C.O.D. if
the bank knows ahead of time who, what, when, how.. In that case YES,
I am protected and they WILL reverse the entire charge regardless
what paypal offers ($200).


[snip]

The only thing I can tell you is I had this exact problem with a
Paypal transaction through Citibank VISA. I bought a set of alloy
wheels on Ebay that was clearly and seriously misrepresented as being
like new. I used the VISA on Paypal. The picture of the item was of
different wheels, probably brand new ones, and definitely not the ones
being sold which were old, dirty, serious curb rash, dings, etc.
Instead of like new, they were worse than the ones I had on the
car. The answer I got from Citibank VISA was clear. They
considered Paypal the legitimate charger, the transaction was vailid
and they would not get involved.


[snip]

If you have a problem with a seller, pay by credit card and challenge a
fraudulent charge, E-Bay will block you from rating the frauduulent seller
or from further buying on E-Bay. IOW, use E-Bay onbly if you're willing to
give up on normal credit card protections. I guess it hurts their image
when a supplier gets a low grade.

E-Bay is trying to operate outside of the normal credit card business plan
with which consumers are familiar and it appears if you use a credit card
through Paypal you lose a significant amount of consumer protection. If you
charge directly to a credit card to get normal cc protection and have to
challenge a purchse (e.g,, for non-delivery, or faulty merchandise), E-Bay
will prevent you from rating the bad supplier. Because negative ratings may
be blocked, one must assume that reported ratings may be artificially
inflated.

Example:
-- Textbook purchased on an E-Bay site and charged it to a credit card;
-- the seller failed to deliver;
-- E-Bay wants the consumer to wait 45 days before making a decision on a
problem, but the credit card cycle is 30 days. Consumer protection dictates
a challenge within 30 days. E-Bay would like to eliminate this consumer
protection.
-- E-Bay said it is against their (!) policy for customers (!!) to challenge
credit card purchases.
-- The credit card company said E-Bay's policy is a violation of the credit
card agreement with e-bay.
-- After the credit card challenge, E-Bay blocked the buyer from contacting
or rating the seller, so the seller still carries an artificially good
rating even though he hasn't delivered the goods

There are too many other reliable sources of stuff to worry about
questionable sources on e-bay, questionable credit card policies and
unreliable supplier ratings.