Scammed on eBay

[Jeff D]

Is there any kind of protection on eBay for those scammed out of their money? I had a cousin who was getting into airbrushing and I was giving her advice (but I didn't recommend online shopping). She decided to look for a deal on eBay and saw a supposedly new airbrush/compressor kit, for something like 150.00. A nice photo was shown and stated as new. Probably cut and pasted from the manufacturer's website.Today it came and was used and banged up and covered in paint, and didn't contain everything. Is she essentially screwed? Stories like this make me leary of eBay. I'm not sure, but I get a feeling Amazon.ca is safer, but not sure. I'm more aware of fine print and policies, but she's still young and trusted the site. So is she pretty much out of the money or is there some avenue to look toward for help, or at the least file a complaint. I'm aware of the BBB and Consumer Protection Agency, but I know they can't really do much.

Thanks in advance.

[MillieH]

If she paid using paypal, she should open a dispute through paypal, Tell her to open the dispute immediately so the money gets frozen in the sellers account.. she stands a really good shot of getting her $$ back.. if that fails and she had her paypal backed with a credit card.. she can contact her cc company to get her money back that.

[Jeff D]

Thanks for the quick reply! I passed along this info, and will remember this for myself should it happen to me. I'm fairly new to eBay and Amazon.ca and refuse to pay a lot of money for something online anyway.

[Bronwen]

PayPal ALWAYS protects the buyer in my experience so tell her to open a dispute

[mulock]

Yes, PayPal disputes are the way to go and often resolved very quickly.

[Jeff D]

Thanks. She said she will contact PayPal and try to get it resolved.

[Aime]

Most of the time, online shopping's not really safe. But it does make you take less time on buying things. Anyway, were she able to contact Paypal?

[SharonMe]

She should first contact the seller. They may be able to work out a resolution.
Ebay works on the feedback system so the seller usually tries to resolve a situation before they get a negative review that will impact on future sales.

[Jeff D]

I had passed on the info to her. I haven't heard of anything further. If she has any trouble she'll let me know. If any problems occur with her dispute I'll keep you posted.

[GoJays]

for future purchases, it is imperative that you read through the seller's ratings and comments.. read and find all unsatisfied comments, find out why the buyer was unhappy with the purchase.. was there a reply from the seller? was the dispute settled? you can tell a lot about the seller just from reading the comments... that's why they're published... don't just find the first pretty picture and go with that... i've never once had a problem with ebay purchases