A lot of Consumerist readers use Skype. (I mostly use it to call my cell phone when I can’t find it, but I also use SkypeIn for my business line.) Many of said readers, such as George, have technical or billing problems with Skype, but can’t get a response out of the Web-based customer support system. What should they do?
ebay
"New" Phone Bought Off EBay Turns Out To Be Used, Porny
By 4.22.09
Lillian bought what she thought was a new phone from an eBay seller with a lot of great feedback. The longer she has it, though, the more evidence she finds that it’s probably not new. Sometimes buying electronics off of eBay is like slowly peeling an onion.
Worst Company In America: eBay Vs Chrysler
By 4.17.09
An internet auction giant, payment processor and ticket broker? Or a troubled car company that used your bailout money to buy an ad thanking you for your bailout money? Which do you hate more?
Free iPhone App Improves Paypal And EBay Security
By 4.16.09
We’ve posted before about security keys—those little digital keyfobs that generate expiring security codes over and over and make it incredibly hard for someone to gain unauthorized access to your account. They’re a great idea, and now if you own an iPhone you can install a Verisign app that will work with Paypal and eBay, as well as about two dozen lesser known sites. It’s probably the easiest step you can take to vastly improve security on those accounts.
Worst Company In America: eBay VS GE
By 4.3.09
An internet auction giant, payment processor and ticket broker? Or the parent company of CNBC, retail store card giant, maker of light bulbs and appliances… No, we don’t mean the Sheinhardt Wig Company…
Google Checkout Just As Bad As PayPal
By 3.27.09
Web brokers Google and PayPal don’t believe in human-to-human communication, and one place where you really need that is when you’re troubleshooting financial transactions. An interface designer/developer who used Google Checkout to sell an ebook has just been given a huge serving of suck by the “don’t be evil” company—they closed her account on her without warning and refuse to tell her why the closed it. The $200 in earnings that hadn’t been paid out yet are unretrievable, and she can’t open a new one.
How To Delete Your Online Accounts
By 3.10.09
PC Mag has assembled a list of instructions on how to wipe your account from a long list of websites, including Classmates.com (you’ll have to call), Windows Live ID (it’s complicated), and Friendster (ha ha ha). In many cases, canceling is as straightforward as clicking a link and authorizing the cancellation, but it’s nice to see all the phone numbers and tips collected in one spot.
eBay Scammer Says PC "Destroyed" In Mail, Takes $500, Sends Back "Destroyed" PC Minus Parts
By 2.24.09
By exploiting loopholes in their policies, scammers are using eBay, Paypal and UPS to rip unsuspecting sellers off, like reader Chad. The buyer reported the item as “destroyed” and demanded and got a refund from Paypal. When the buyer shipped it back to Chad and he opened it, he found there was nothing wrong with it – except that the scammer had removed the memory, processor and hard drive. Now Chad is out $500 and left with a shell of a computer, and since the item was “received” Paypal won’t do anything. His sad tale, inside…
DVD Planet Uses 'Ebay' For Password, Sends It To You Via Email If You Ask
By 2.13.09
Dear DVD Planet, you might want to sit down with the person who designed your customer account system and have a long talk. You know, about things like data security. After we posted this story yesterday about an Amazon shopper who was surprised to find you’d automatically created a barely secure account in his name with his data, another reader—this time a former eBay customer from nearly two years ago—decided to check whether you’d done the same thing to her. Yep! And the password was “Ebay.”
eBay Opportunists Already Trying To Sell Their Kindle 2 Pre-Orders For $$$
By 2.9.09
Amazon announced the Kindle 2 today and there are already people on eBay trying to sell their “place in line” for a huge markup. The new Kindle will retail for $359.00 (you can pre-order them now) but if you are really impatient can pay some person on eBay $599.99 for their presumably better pre-order spot.. ugh.
Texas Family Sad That The Buyer Of All Their Possessions On eBay Will Pay But Not Take Their Stuff
By 2.1.09
Meet Gregg and Brittiny Peters. They’ve had a pretty terrible year. Two of their children were diagnosed with costly medical disorders, and as the bills began to mount, they decided to start over by selling all their worldly possessions on eBay. Enter Donnia and Keith Blair, who upon learning of the Peters’ plight, bid $20,000 and won the auction. Here’s the catch: the Blair’s are willing to pay, but they don’t want to take any of the Peters’ things. This has apparently infuriated the Peters.
By 1.21.09
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EBay today announced that their net earnings fell 31% last quarter. You’d think in this economy, shoppers would be drawn to the potentially lower prices of eBay—after all, Amazon apparently did just fine. Are the headaches of dealing with eBay/PayPal outweighing the potential savings? [WSJ]
If Your Rep Is Good Enough, Shoppers Accept Additional Surcharges
By 12.4.08
Fees may be a way for sellers to offer a low “landing price” to attract buyers in, but then make it up by the time of final sale by tacking on extra charges, but not all surcharges are created equal. The seller’s reputation impacts whether buyers will pull the trigger or not, according to a new study.
Secret Phone Numbers And Email Addresses To Reach Executives At 101+ Companies
By 11.7.08
Inside, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses for over 100 different companies to inject your customer service complaints into their corporate executive offices, and get it well on the way to success.
I Literally Placed My PS3 In A Scammer's Hands
By 11.3.08
Herman’s tale of eBay/Paypal buyer fraud is unusual because he not only met the scammer in person, he placed his item right in the guy’s hands. Here’s what happened:
Consumerist Neighborhood eBay Garage Sale
By 11.3.08
- Giant Set Of Pro Quality Cables: XLR, Guitar, RCA etc
- Broke Screen Verizon LG VX8100 For Parts Used
- NXE Tactical Vest S-Type Used w/4 Paintball Tubes
Want to make some cash and get rid of some old stuff? We’ve got room on the virtual folding table for you to add your eBay auctions. Just list them in the comments on this post- a great way to clean out the closets and make some extra cash to pay down bills or build up savings. We’ll get this started with a few items of our own (all start at $.01). Add your in the comments.
By 10.24.08
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A man in the UK has been sued by an eBay seller for leaving negative feedback. [Daily Mail] (Thanks, Everyone!)
TSA Screener Helped Himself To $200,000 Worth Of Your Stuff
By 10.14.08
Meet Pythias Brown. Until recently, he was a TSA screener at Newark airport, and if you’re missing any pricey electronics, you might have Mr. Brown to thank for it. He’s accused of stealing more than $200,000 worth of electronics, including a $47,000 camera from HBO. Oddly, it was CNN that helped bust the “one man crimewave” when an employee noticed some of their equipment being sold on eBay.
