Shock, horror I've been scammed !

badlywornroy

badlywornroy

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Roy
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Didn't think it could happen to me, too careful, assume the worst, trust no one etc etc :cautious: (ashamed)

I share this for your delectation so you can smile and think 'serves you right' ;)

I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (for my lovely wife) on 16th may from a UK based Amazon market place seller.

I am an Amazon Prime member and felt reasonably secure knowing that Amazon's market place seller's are covered by Amazon's a-z guarantee.

Even so I did my 'due diligence' the price was competitive but the same item was for sale at similar prices from other seller(s)

Plenty of good 5* feedback.

So hit buy and waited.

All looks good item despatched next day, Royal Mail tracking ID supplied on Amazon 'My Orders', flagged for delivery between 21-24th may, a bit slow but I have to accept that now.

Yesterday 23rd postman delivers a large 1st class 'Signed for' envelope. (Couldn't be the Tablet, too light & flimsy)

Envelope contains a 'CrystalGuardMB' the thinnest and clearest keyboard protector.

Envelope correctly addressed to me, no paperwork included, no indication from where or whence it came. :coffee: WTF !

A mystery, must be a free gift earned from some other purchase I thought, still strange no one claiming what good guys they are etc etc.

Later that day I checked Amazon's My Orders to see if Samsung Tablet was 'Out for Delivery'

Yes, that's right you clever bas**rds, you guessed didn't you ? Samsung Tablet now flagged as Delivered :banghead:

How can this be ? 'Signed for' keyboard protector tracking ID and tablet tracking ID on 'My Orders' are totally different.

I have to admit (see 1st line of text) it took me very few minutes to think Scam :cautious: (ashamed again)

I fired off an email to the seller, (as per Amazon's 1st response instructions) then apparently I have to give them 2 days to respond.

Two f***ing days ? if they are scammers they are going to be 'over the hills and far away' in two days ?

Around the same time I looked again at the sellers feedback . . . . . disturbing reading now ? all feedback (loads) since approx 20th may mirrored my own experiences. i.e people receiving low cost items 'Signed For' crap after ordering high tech tablets & phones.

I surmised that maybe the seller had been 'hacked' hence the early good feedback ?

Anyway this missive has gone on far too long (actually I'm having fun) I have had productive discussions with Amazon's escalation team and they fully accept my account and of course are now aware of all the bad feedback.

The seller has disappeared off Amazon (surprise, surprise) and they assure me I will have no problem getting my money back (1 to 2 weeks)

I phoned Royal Mail this morning and all they could tell me was that the Tablet Tracking ID (displayed on Amazon's 'My Order') was delivered yesterday to an address in Port Talbot (I knew the Welsh didn't like us English) :LOL:

So in hindsight, I have (will have ?) escaped lightly and I appreciate many people are scammed and suffer great stress and financial hardship and they do have my sympathy.

In closing I return to my earlier question that is 'bugging' me. 'Signed for' keyboard protector tracking ID and tablet tracking ID on 'My Orders' are totally different and yet Amazon flag the item as delivered. How can this be ?

P.S Anyone want a free CrystalGuardMB the thinnest and clearest keyboard protector ?
 
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Edit. Pevious post ot relevant as I hadn't read the O's post properly.

Have you still got the packaging. It might have the weight recorded on the label.
 
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Al1944 said:
Edit. Pevious post ot relevant as I hadn't read the O's post properly.

Have you still got the packaging. It might have the weight recorded on the label.
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Yes, I still have the packaging. No weight on label but what are you thinking ?
 
If the weight was obviously a lot less than the weight of the tablet it would have been proof that you could share with Amazon.
 
badlywornroy said:
I surmised that maybe the seller had been 'hacked' hence the early good feedback ?
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No, they just pay people to leave them good feedback.

Reviews don't mean they ordered anything over a couple of quid, so they get a few hundred people to 'buy' low value items & upon getting a 5* review will send them their money back via paypal etc.

After getting a good seller rating they then start selling high value items at prices that are good but not too good.
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
No, they just pay people to leave them good feedback.

Reviews don't mean they ordered anything over a couple of quid, so they get a few hundred people to 'buy' low value items & upon getting a 5* review will send them their money back via paypal etc.

After getting a good seller rating they then start selling high value items at prices that are good but not too good.
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Yes, that is entirely possible, there is not a lot us buyers can do about that. I understand the same happens on eBay

Amazon tell me they don’t hand over our money immediately to the ‘market place’ sellers and that is good to hear. However in this case it seems the ‘bad guys’ are in receipt of scammed buyers phones/tablets etc which they will obviously convert to cash. Reading the negative feedback it seems the missing items are not all going to Port Talbot (sorry to all you lovely Welsh folk) many people asking Royal Mail where the tracking id was signed for and there are many different towns/counties. Seems like a pretty sophisticated scam ?
 
Thanks for the heads-up.
It does make me wonder if all this Internet shopping is going to go the same way as offshoring of jobs that was so popular a while back, when the bubble bursts and we are all fed-up with being scammed or having to post things back will we all return to real shops again where we can walk in see it, feel it, buy it and walk out with it?
 
MatBin said:
Thanks for the heads-up.
It does make me wonder if all this Internet shopping is going to go the same way as offshoring of jobs that was so popular a while back, when the bubble bursts and we are all fed-up with being scammed or having to post things back will we all return to real shops again where we can walk in see it, feel it, buy it and walk out with it?
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Yes, that was my intent Matt, a “heads up” I don’t think we can be reminded too often that the ‘Net’ can be a bit like the ‘Wild west’ survival of the fittest.
 
badlywornroy said:
Yes, that was my intent Matt, a “heads up” I don’t think we can be reminded too often that the ‘Net’ can be a bit like the ‘Wild west’ survival of the fittest.
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Bad luck Roy, unfortunately the scammers are getting ever more devious, and even those of us who think we are on the ball can be taken in. I totally agree with Matt on this, with regard to internet shopping. At least in the old days of the physical marketplace, there were tangible objects for sale.
 
MatBin said:
when the bubble bursts and we are all fed-up with being scammed or having to post things back will we all return to real shops again where we can walk in see it, feel it, buy it and walk out with it?
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If there are any real shops left to go to :(
Many high streets are like ghost towns loads of empty shops where they have gone out of business
 
Interesting, and sorry for your stress.

A few weeks back I was looking to buy a mobile phone, as per previous thread, when I came across an Amazon 'store' with a bunch of phones all at very, very favourable prices. In the end I heard warning bells along the line of "if it seems too good to be true..." and didn't purchase, and just a couple of days later the seller was no longer operating on Amazon. I wonder if, had I purchased anything, my experience would be mirroring yours.
 
badlywornroy said:
I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (for my lovely wife) on 16th may from a UK based Amazon market place seller.

I am an Amazon Prime member and felt reasonably secure knowing that Amazon's market place seller's are covered by Amazon's a-z guarantee.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. I'm sorry you've had all the stress and upset, but you relied on the Amazon guarantee and it seems they are standing by it. Their reputation is worth a fair bit more than a tablet to them.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Interesting, and sorry for your stress.

A few weeks back I was looking to buy a mobile phone, as per previous thread, when I came across an Amazon 'store' with a bunch of phones all at very, very favourable prices. In the end I heard warning bells along the line of "if it seems too good to be true..." and didn't purchase, and just a couple of days later the seller was no longer operating on Amazon. I wonder if, had I purchased anything, my experience would be mirroring yours.
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I certainly didn’t get ‘sucked in’ by a low price infact I purchased the same Samsung tablet yesterday and received it today (Amazon prime) from a 3rd party seller ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ this one was just £2.00 more than the one that never turned up.
Now I wait for my refund.
 
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MatBin said:
Thanks for the heads-up.
It does make me wonder if all this Internet shopping is going to go the same way as offshoring of jobs that was so popular a while back, when the bubble bursts and we are all fed-up with being scammed or having to post things back will we all return to real shops again where we can walk in see it, feel it, buy it and walk out with it?
Click to expand...
We are in the market for a TV and went to Tesco. Bestbeloved asked about prices on Tescodirect and we were told that Tesco have closed their online store and now only have bricks-and-mortar shops.
 
john.margetts said:
We are in the market for a TV and went to Tesco. Bestbeloved asked about prices on Tescodirect and we were told that Tesco have closed their online store and now only have bricks-and-mortar shops.
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I believe they are shutting 9th July.
 
I hadn't heard that Tesco direct were closing. Although we use Amazon a lot, the effect they are having on the high street and on other internet suppliers is very worrying. We need competition.
 
badlywornroy said:
Jonathan, if you saw the amount of feedback from Amazon buyers who purchased from the same seller and got scammed this is going to cost Amazon big bucks.
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Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

Amazon do take customer service seriously, to their credit. If experiences like this encourage them to police their Marketplace sellers more closely, that's a good result.
 
The refund for the missing Samsung tablet was issued yesterday under their a-z guarantee.

Well done Amazon for a quick resolution to this problem.

Some may say that Amazon should have never allowed this company access to their site ? but without knowing the full story (maybe hacked ?) I will reserve judgement.

Any seller can find themselves in this position but it is how they resolve it that I would judge them on and in this respect Amazon's fast response and customer relations have been excellent.
 
StewartR said:
Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

Amazon do take customer service seriously, to their credit. If experiences like this encourage them to police their Marketplace sellers more closely, that's a good result.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they spend so much on CS it's a wonder how they can afford to pay tax. Oh, wait.... :D
 
Amazon Marketplace......enough said.

A couple of years ago there were many complaints
 
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