eBay Theft
eBay continues to receive comissions for advertising hundreds of counterfeit items. In particular, slightly outdated versions of Adobe Photoshop are advertised as brand new and unopened, at prices that roughly correspond to reasonable market value. However, the vast majority of these items are counterfeit.
eBay's Trust and Safety Team fails
If you think Adobe deserves an apology, think again.
A man by the name of [Seller], AKA ebay user silhouette007 sold me a counterfeit Adobe Photoshop CS2 for $200.
It was listed as “brand new” and “unopened”.
I contacted Adobe because I couldn’t register my copy of Photoshop with the serial number provided on the CD case. I strongly suspected the serial number was fake, but the CD looked professionally made and legitimate.
When I called Adobe, the representative initially thought I was computer illiterate and talked me through the registration process. When it was clear I couldn’t register, I was transferred to technical support somewhere in India. I was asked for the serial number and minutes later told that they couldn’t talk to me because I didn’t have a valid serial number.
Adobe didn’t care where the CD came from, or how I got it. I asked for suggestions on how to proceed, but they just wanted me off the phone.
I contacted the seller, [Seller], privately so I could get a replacement or my money back. I got no response. At that point PayPal’s 45-day warranty had already expired, so I couldn’t file a dispute or get my money back.
Instead, I filed a dispute with eBay. [Seller] finally responded through the dispute console and politely offered a refund if I sent the counterfeit item back. I shipped the item back via priority mail and got a tracking number. I waited a couple of days, but received no response or refund from [Seller].
I sent a complaint to eBay’s Trust and Safety Team. They responded with canned emails telling me to contact IC3.
I filed a claim with the IC3 and proceeded to gather information on [Seller], the seller. I submitted the information to eBay, but again, I received generic responses presumably because [Seller] had a perfect seller record.
At this point, I knew where [Seller] lived, his former addresses, his main router’s IP address and MAC address, his other internet handles for Amazon, Barnes and Noble, other counterfeit software he had probably sold, etc. I sent this information to eBay’s Trust and Safety Team. They simply said they couldn’t provide me with any details about their investigation due to privacy reasons; despite the fact that I had done far more research than they had.
Six months later, I still haven’t received a refund from PayPal or from eBay. And the seller? He allegedly died from a heart attack on [Date Removed]. I forwarded the information to eBay and PayPal, and guess what? They want email headers proving that [Seller] died.
In other words, eBay’s Trust and Safety Team never initiated an investigation on the counterfeit software.
eBay’s Trust and Safety Team idiotically assumed that if I learned that [Seller] had died, I would have an email from [Seller] saying that he had died. And if I didn’t that they couldn’t do anything about it.
Thank you for writing eBay in regard to problems about a refund you’re
requesting for item number [XXXXXXXXXXXXX] (Adobe Photoshop CS2 [OLD
VERSION] – - CD-ROM). Also, I understand that you’ve found out that the
seller passed away. I’m sorry to hear this news.I understand the difficulty of being in this situation. Every eBay
transaction is expected to be done smoothly and it’s frustrating when
transactions don’t turn out as expected. Allow me to give you more
information to resolve this concern. I’m glad to help.[Buyer], how did you find out about this information? If you have a copy
of the email that was sent to you to inform you of this news, we’ll need
a copy of that email you received, along with the full header
information. Without this information, eBay can’t take any action on
your report.Please reply to this message, and include the complete text of the
email, along with its full header, in your response.[...]
If you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reply to this
email and let us know.Sincerely,
[Name Omitted]eBay Customer Support
So eBay wanted an email from a dead person, so I could prove that the person had died.
Bottom line:
1) eBay ignores claims of counterfeit software
A sample of counterfeit products sold on eBay
2) eBay earns thousands of dollars in commissions from counterfeit software
3) Adobe doesn’t care
If eBay had as much as paid attention to the claim, they could have nabbed [Seller] before he died, and they could have determined [Seller]’s source of counterfeit Adobe Photoshop software.
As for [Seller], [information removed]. I don’t know what [Seller]’s intentions were regarding the counterfeit product or whether he had more, but it is clear that eBay failed at customer service and honesty.
However, I must add that [Seller] was very polite, and never gave the impression that he had any malicious intent.
I am posting the following information for two reasons:
1) It might help [Seller]’s former customers [information removed].
2) eBay/[Seller] still owe me $200; and counterfeit software is still being sold. Maybe eBay will finally follow up on this.
[Extensive personal information removed]
I understand eBay receives many claims. But with this much information, it would have taken them 10 minutes to investigate and confirm. I gave them USPS tracking numbers, and they have a record of the dispute.
eBay is not entirely responsible for the outcome, but they were and still are in a position to solve the problem. If they won’t follow up on counterfeit products when the research is done for them, then why do they even have a trust and safety team?
Comment by Kone zi | June 11th, 2011
eBay has not improved at all in this aspect. The selling of counterfeit fashion items is rampant and many are good imitation tout as “authentic” at near retail price. Most buyers will never find out unless they send the product to the manufacturer for authentication. Unfortunately, eBay does not act on the information gathered by its own report counterfeit form. eBay continues to tolerate and make commission from the counterfeit sellers. Unsuspecting consumers get hurt in the end.
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Comment by Jona Mader | January 9th, 2012
Don’t like excusesif photo is bad, don’t send it! If you readily admit you tried to lighten it up’ it’s the same as photoshopping’what’s real? Nose looks like it’s about to fall off. No doubt much time and effort was put into this project, but if your defense is bad photo’, and brag about a no rust’ carhave to agree with other commentsif rust-free, why new trunk pan?
Also bad choice of words describing it as straight as an arrow’put a 4 level on it ANYWHERE and nothing is straightthat was the whole point of the design!! You should be happy that your efforts were rewarded by having the car featured.
Your ridiculous comments have only lowered your final selling price. Should have let well enough alone and taken legitimate comments in stride. Car should speak for itself, and my personal feeling is that you did none of the work yourself, but had a restorer’ do all the work and now you’re trying to justify all the money you spent.
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