Bought pirated game on eBay, what to do?

[redrumloa]

alenppc wrote:
Ebay should force sellers to leave feedback first. That would be way more honest. In fact, every time I sell something I leave the feedback as soon as I receive my payment.

Nice thought, but a prior Power Seller I can say buyers can be just as bad.  :-x

[Vulture]

Go ahead and open a paypal dispute AND contact ebay about piracy. That#s what I'd do anyway....

[sdyates]

Lodging a complaint is likely the best answer. I always favour talking to the vendor, but selling pirated software is very wrong.

While I am sure we have all made the odd copy of software before, none of us would ever think of selling it.

Bringing it to their attention would help prevent others from being scammed.

[Trev]

Isn't eBay on the verge of doing away with buyer feedback, i.e. only sellers will receive feedback? Given eBay's gradual move towards large, electronic storefronts, it gives them more time to focus on fraudulent sellers, which I gather is where most of the fraud occurs. It also puts eBay more in line with online retailer like and traditional brick and morters. And finally, it pushes more sellers towards requiring immediate payment with PayPal, thereby increasing eBay's cut of the sale.

Trev

[rkauer]

 And what to make to a seller who simply not ship a good? The guy postpone messages, shipping information and so long...

 I've buy an accelerator and never receive it. And I realize that was too late to send a complain to Paypal when was too late anyway. After the time the guy know I can't make anything, he simply stop to repply...

 Sigh...

 US$200 through the gutter...

[terminator4]

considering its for only $9 i'd wait few days before 90 days and leave neutral feedback.  (it'd be different if it was $40 cause then you're paying for it big time) negative if you're really ticked...  

[Gaiyan]

evilBay

[alexh]

You bought this game from a WELL KNOWN group of pirates operating out of Swindon.

Going under countless alias's they are most widely known as vDirect, Butterfly Media, Epic, Forematt lots of names.

http://www.butterfly-media.co.uk/

They are a drop-ship company who sell via third parties who then sell on ebay. The third party ebay seller never sees the games (they are shipped direct from the pirates) and so don't know they are selling pirate stuff.

It's not just Amiga, it's Sega, early PC, big names such as Disney, CodeMasters, Atari all "abandonware" stuff they think that no one will come looking for.

In order to shut them down you should REALLY call Trading Standards that cover Swindon. Make sure you keep all the packaging including the envelope.

The leader is almost certainly Vinson John Pike.

You can find out all about this SOB on google. The guys even made a multi-million £ sh!te film on the proceeds of their piracy.

21 Cheddar Road
Swindon
SN25 3HE

http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=butterfly-media.co.uk

Do the country a favour, call Trading standards, call Watchdog, call Crimewatch.

Mention to them "Organised Crime" and "Potential Terrorist links" and perhaps someone will listen :-)

[arnljot]

The seller (from the paypal receipt) is Gerald Longman.

And from the butterfly media direct page:

Code: [Select]

[b]Do you also sell your products on ebay or other auction-sites yourself?[/b]

We only sell our products through our members at our trade prices, Guaranteed! Unlike other Dropshippers or Wholesalers, we never list any of our items on ebay at discount prices. Guaranteed!.

Also from the swindon trading standards site:

Code: [Select]

If you are a consumer and need consumer advice please contact Consumer Direct SouthWest on  08454 040506

So from reading their site, it seems that I'll only be forwarded to someone not caring about piracy or foreign consumers.

About dropshit, erhm ship: So Butter fly media stocks the items, and the sellers are really just agents for the dropshipper?

It seems like a bogus way to place distance between the seller and the shipper.

[Tripitaka]

I said earlier in this thread That dodgy people ruin it for all, ebay is a great idea, not 'evilbay' etc... that's balls!!! It's people who screw it up for others that are the evil ones, I know how this makes people feel but be careful out there and keep your wits and don't label all ebay sellers the same, I take that as offensive!!! :madashell:

[SamOS39]

I bought software off of that guy recently.
The game studio thing.
It was basically a compilation disk of lots of different game making software.
Though i didnt really see it as a rip off because i found alot of the stuff on the disk was hard to find elsewhere and it saved me alot of time.
Im unsure if this was a compilation of free software or not..?

[CLS2086]

it's 2nd account :
http://cgi.ebay.com/SIMON-THE-SORCERER-AMIGA-CD-rom-NEW_W0QQitemZ290203372631QQihZ019QQcategoryZ98929QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem


I got it for 2 euros  in France  1 year ago... :roll:

[amigean]

You can go ahead a leave negative feedback - read this:

"Ebay to ban negative seller views"

[alenppc]

amigean wrote:
You can go ahead a leave negative feedback - read this:

"Ebay to ban negative seller views"

Yep - but not yet. According to the article, that's only going to happen starting in May. Well, the last two sellers that screwed me didn't get any feedback (neither positive nor negative) from me because I did not want a bad one either. At least from now on, the things will change...

IMHO, it is a great idea and I welcome it.

[jj]

me too never left neg feedback even if deserved, cause u know u would get it back. and i dont want to ruin my 100% ive had for 6 years

[Trev]

@all

Don't forget that in the US, mail fraud is a federal crime. You can always file a complaint with the US Postal Inspection Service. If a US seller won't respond to an inquiry, that should get their attention.

Trev