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ebay motorcycle scam

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brian456

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Alabama

I purchased a motorcycle off ebay last month that was listed as clear title. After paying for the bike and going to pick it up the guy had no title for it. He told me he had just recently payed the bike off with the finance company and he gave me a bill of sale that stated he would have the title to me in a few days. Anyways, its been over a month and I still have no title. I tried calling the guy and emailing him and I got no response so I reported it to ebay(paypal). After paypal decided in my favor he responds to my email stating he needs another 3 weeks to get it. Ebay only gave me $175 dollars back and told me it was my duty to collect the rest. Ebay lists on their site that there is $20,000 worth of insurance so I expected the full amount, over 2000, to be refunded. I know I will never see the money out of this guy even if I take him to small claims court. Everything he has said has been a lie. My only hope is that I can hold ebay liable for this and get the money from them? Im sending a fax to the company he has the bike financed through tomorrow to see if what he says is true, I know it isnt, that he has payed the bike off and is just waiting for the title. What other actions can I take agaisnt this guy. He has cost me a lot of time and money and I would like to pursue any actions I can take agaisnt him to the full extent.

If he listed the bike as clear title and it was not this is fraud, correct? I cant even get a tag for the bike without the title. Ive tried reporting the situation to the police in my state and they say file a report with the police in his state, which the police in his state say file a report with the police in mine. Besides reporting the amount I paid on my credit card company what else can I do? Im very frustrated and tired of this crap. Please help!
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
Another eBay story: Okay, here's the deal. You go on eBay, you take your chances. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

If you really want to pursue it, file a small claims against him in his home county.
 

brian456

Junior Member
From what I heard even if I do take him to small claims and win I still might never see my money. A lien agaisnt his house is no good to me especially if it never gets sold until his kids get it. This was only my fourth transaction on ebay and I had no Idea ebay was so corrupt until I saw this board. I thought I was protected by there supposed $20,000 insurance.

If Im not mistaken this is fraud? Cant I just have the police throw his ass in jail? I would like to try as many possible angles as I can on this problem because I dont think small claims is going to do me much good. I took a look on ebay and it seems they havent even taken away his account. I guess they condone this kind of behavior. You would think with all the people who got ripped off on ebay on this board that some lawyer would get them all together and file a class action lawsuit against ebay.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
brian456 said:
. Besides reporting the amount I paid on my credit card company what else can I do? Im very frustrated and tired of this crap. Please help!
Did you purchase with your credit card? If so, dispute the charges with them.
 

xylene

Senior Member
brian456 said:
You would think with all the people who got ripped off on ebay on this board that some lawyer would get them all together and file a class action lawsuit against ebay.
OR

You would think like a grown up, and not buy a motor vehicle without PHYSICALLY seeing the title AND/OR doing a title search on the VIN number.

That and not buying merchandise on the internet.
 

brian456

Junior Member
xylene said:
OR

You would think like a grown up, and not buy a motor vehicle without PHYSICALLY seeing the title AND/OR doing a title search on the VIN number.
(sigh) Xylene you and seniorjudge come off as if Im the con artist here. Im the victim remember. Im a honest guy and expect others around me to be honest.

Not that its any of your business but the transmission went out in my car and I had it replaced and it still wasnt right. I needed transportation to get me to school this fall, which was only a couple of weeks away when I purchased the bike. I know buying a vehicle unseen is stupid but like I said I needed transportation right away and I didnt have any extra cash laying around after having the trans in my car rebuilt so I bought a bike off ebay with my card. I didnt bother doing a title search because he listed the vin and I figured no one in there right mind would list the vin on a stolen vehicle. I just had the police run the vin today, I tried 3 times before and they wouldnt, and nothing came back for it. From what they said it sounds like the vin has been tampered with.

Anyways, please dont judge when you dont know the whole situation. All my other transactions went really well on ebay. Its sad that a few dishonest people have to ruin things for everyone.
 

K'Ta

Member
brian456 said:
You would think with all the people who got ripped off on ebay on this board that some lawyer would get them all together and file a class action lawsuit against ebay.
On what grounds? eBay is a venue. They rent 'space' to sellers. Do you seriously expect them to be able to police every seller on every transaction?

Besides, when you signed up with eBay you agreed with their terms which includes the fact that eBay isn't responsible if you make poor purchasing decisions.
 

brian456

Junior Member
Maybe you didnt read up above where I said ebay hasnt even taken his account away. They know this guy committed fraud yet theyve done nothing to keep him from defrauding more customers. How long do you think it will be before this guy decides to do this again since he knows he wont suffer any consequences from ebay? Im not gonna pretend like I know anything about the law but this sounds like aiding and abetting to me. I bet 90% of the people on here who got ripped off on ebay will tell you that the con artists who ripped them off still have an account on ebay.
 

K'Ta

Member
brian456 said:
Maybe you didnt read up above where I said ebay hasnt even taken his account away. They know this guy committed fraud yet theyve done nothing to keep him from defrauding more customers. How long do you think it will be before this guy decides to do this again since he knows he wont suffer any consequences from ebay? Im not gonna pretend like I know anything about the law but this sounds like aiding and abetting to me. I bet 90% of the people on here who got ripped off on ebay will tell you that the con artists who ripped them off still have an account on ebay.
I did read, you're not listening. eBay, as a business, is allowed to decide who they will and won't sell services to. For whatever reason they've decided to continue allowing this person to sell on their site. Regardless, eBay is not responsible here and eBay's business decisions and how you feel about them have no bearing on what the law states regarding this type of transaction. What you think is legal or should or should not be done is irrelevent to the reality of the situation.

If you purchased this with a credit card dispute the charges. But don't blame eBay because you made a bad decision.
 

Country Living

Senior Member
There are variations of the motorcycle scam. Everyone of them offer deals "too good to be true".

This is not eBay's problem. You had the responsibility to perform due diligence, which would have saved you time and money.
 
Country Living said:
There are variations of the motorcycle scam. Everyone of them offer deals "too good to be true".

This is not eBay's problem. You had the responsibility to perform due diligence, which would have saved you time and money.
ebay advertises that they cover 20000 on fraud insurance, why wont they do anything for you. did they give you a reason. Not having a title to a bike, but selling it and listing that it has a clear title. is fraud.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Ebay lists on their site that there is $20,000 worth of insurance so I expected the full amount, over 2000, to be refunded
Could you post a link to this fact. All I could find was this:

eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program
For most items, eBay covers you up to $200 (minus a $25 processing fee) in the event that you don't receive your item or it is significantly not as described.
and this:

PayPal Buyer Protection
PayPal Buyer Protection offers free coverage up to $1,000 when you buy from qualified sellers.
 

kayak99

Member
I have bought and sold a lot on ebay, including motorcycles.

To check the VIN number, find somone who has a carfax account and run the number. Your local car dealer, for example, would have an account and there are many online who will run it for free.

Second, maybe what he is telling you is true and you're getting impatient. You have the bike and a bill of sale, correct? Then you have grounds to pursue the guy if he doesn't deliver. Give the guy some time!

I have had to wait a couple of weeks for titles to arrive but I did my homework on the seller, and checked on the title, before I turned over the cash. You did not do your homework on this one.

My suggestion is to relax, for the time being!
 

Country Living

Senior Member
Beating a dead horse

There are two choices here.
1. He's already been told what to do - he could take the initiative and follow those instructions.
2. He could continue to complain about the situation he got himself into.
 

brian456

Junior Member
I appreciate the advice everyone. Kayak99 thanks for suggesting the dealer. They were the only ones who could confirm that this guy actually did buy the bike and its not stolen(carfax and police couldnt tell me anything). Ok so HSBC the bank they had it financed through wont tell me anything but the collection agency they turned the bike over to told me they payed for the bike. Its been 57 days and supposedly he said he sent the title on the 15th and his wife said the 18th of this month. From what the post office tells me it shouldnt take more then 2 to 3 days for it to get here from where there at. I asked for the number off the certified letter that they sent and the post office has no record of it, I think she just took the number off the certified letter I sent. Anyways from what hsbc told me if they did pay the bike off it should be 30 to 60 days for them to get the title. Im not sure if I should just turn them over to ebay now, I found out ebay and paypals insurance are diff so I can still turn it over to them, or If I should just wait for the title, maybe it would be less trouble. I really dont want them to have my money just on principle, theyve said nasty things and question my character when theyve done all the lying. Im also curious if Im responsible to return the vehicle when they failed to produce the title. I sure as hell dont want to spend any more of my money or time on this situation? Any advice would be appreciated.
 

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