Use Caution When Purchasing on Ebay and Amazon at this Time

[OhioChick]

I've been ordering medical supplies for my kids on both sites for some time with no issues.

I chose my sellers carefully, reviewing location and feedback.

Tonight, I spent hours on the phone because 3 of my orders didn't arrive, nor did I receive tracking information and they were ordered some time ago.

I looked at each seller's account before purchasing and they were all to be delivered within a few days from within the US.
Now, they've all changed their locations listed as China.

I tried calling eBay, Paypal and Amazon and none of these companies are currently offering customer service in which you can speak with someone.

I was able to open a case on eBay and on Paypal with a resolution date of April 12th.

As for my Amazon purchase, I contacted the seller and they have a plethora of 1 star ratings now, stating the same as myself. No items and refunds refused so I have to contact my credit card company to do a charge back.

I have thousands of dollars tied up now.

Just a "beware" to all of you out there that scammers are in full force now.

[AllyCat]

1. Rats! I'm sorry. That really sucks. Thank you for the warning

[OhioChick]

27. Thank you, be careful when purchasing out there n/t

[Lucid Dreamer]

2. Thank you OC. nt

[Initech]

3. I *ONLY* buy if it says "sold and verified by Amazon"

I've been burned a couple of times by scammers and if it doesn't bare the official "verified by Amazon" logo, do not buy.

[OhioChick]

4. I usually do the same but was in a rather desperate situation

I felt if things went awry, I could always call Amazon. Now, they have no live support available and sellers are taking advantage of this.

[napi21]

6. Do you mean Amazon has to live support? That wasn't the case just a week or so ago. n/t

[OhioChick]

8. Contact Amazon

1 [phone]

No live support, only a recording.

[tosh]

15. I've had success with chat support,

but that was pre-Covid, so may not be an option now.

I’m sorry you are having to deal with this on top of everything else.

[OhioChick]

16. Do they even have chat support?

I can't find it, just not thinking clearly now.

[herding cats]

43. They do.

If you go to your order it's the first option for an issue. I just used it two days ago. They refunded me on a transaction which was supposed to be 8 items but was shipped as only 1 for the same price.

I wish you luck.

Edit to add: They gave me all my money back and I kept the one item.

[OhioChick]

52. Thanks, I'll try to work on that later

I already reported "problem with order" and it took me to a page to contact the seller.
All that I could do was ask where my item was.


When I first purchased these, the feedback was good. As of today, a whole lot of 1 star reviews and people calling the seller a scammer. Keeps the money and never ships the item.

Thanks for your help.

[Cryptoad]

46. Me too,,,

they have always taken care of any problems i have with an order,,,,,quickly

[napi21]

69. FWIW, I had an item to return to :Amazon yesterday. I went thru the rreturn process onlin, got the

return code & too the item to Kohls this AM. PROBLEM! Kohls closed stores last night! Came back home & contacted Amazon. Wen thru the contact us link & got 2 options. 1. Wait for a phone call (noted it may take a LONG TIME. or 1. Start chat" now. I opted to try the chat. Believe it or not, even with the unusual case of Kohls being closed, the chat robot understood my problem & sent me a UPS label to print.

I must say I didn't expect chat to be able to figure it out, but it did.

Maybe you could try it with your problem.

[tblue37]

5. Is this for the masks you bought? That's terrible! nt

[OhioChick]

9. These were for surgical masks that hospitals are suggesting be worn (if staff can get them)

Over (or under, can't remember) their one 5-day N-95.

[tblue37]

48. I am sorry that your attempt to help your son and his colleagues ended up this way. nt

[OhioChick]

50. Yes, I'm quite let down

Sometimes, I feel like I try so hard...and for what?

[renate]

7. I'm so so sorry

This isn’t just sad, it’s absolutely maddening.

I mostly love people, but then there are some like these, who are absolute shits. I hate that this happened to you.

[OhioChick]

26. Thanks, just use caution when purchasing from there n/t

[customerserviceguy]

10. At this time

I would NEVER try to get medical supplies, especially those related to C-19 from eBay or Amazon. It's got to be scam-o-rama out there.

[OhioChick]

11. When you're desperate, what else do you do? n/t

[sheshe2]

24. Oh.

Hon. I understand.

Holding you tight.

[OhioChick]

29. Thank you

[customerserviceguy]

60. Try dealing with brick-and-mortar solutions

Scamsters are always out there looking for desperate people. The only thing worse than not having medical supplies is not having medical supplies AND not having the money you spent trying to obtain them from sources that cannot be verified.

[OhioChick]

61. I was doing fine before there was a run on them

Home Depot, Harbor Freight and local hardware stores were already sold out early on. (I do know that Harbor Freight was offering their stock to hospitals in need but they had nothing on their shelves for quite some time now) Thankfully, I was able to contact admin at several hospitals once Harbor Freight made the announcement.

I can't tell you how many places I contacted within an hour's radius of my home, sold out.

That's why I hit up eBay. I eventually was able to open up a Paypal case in their Resolution Center.

As soon as I did that, the seller (who listed their location as within the US) contacted me via eBay with shipping information, which I traced to be China Post. I immediately requested that I expected a refund by the close of business today for $1K. Paypal said I can escalate by tomorrow but I'm still without that money for now, as you stated.

Lesson learned.

[customerserviceguy]

62. $1K???

How much were you trying to buy?

I'd never, ever do a transaction for anything like that amount on eBay. About a hundred bucks might have been the most I've ever been willing to risk on a transaction, and that was when I had a laptop repair business, and needed parts.

[OhioChick]

63. 100 N-95's

Both my kids are ER Docs and have no masks or necessary equipment and are taking care of and diagnosing COVID patients.

One of my kids was exposed and in mandatory quarantine at the moment, the hospital ran out of masks and PPE and he had nothing to protect himself.

You do what you have to do when the government fails you and you need to protect your kids.

[customerserviceguy]

65. So

Ten dollars per mask? And they cost pennies to produce. Right there, that should have told you that it was a scam.

Maybe the administrators of the places where your kids work should have his or her ass chewed out in addition to PayPal.

[OhioChick]

66. Yep

Oh, I realize what they cost to produce.

Prior to the run on N-95's, there were a lot of US sellers selling them for $50 for about 50 masks. Still gouging but not as bad.

I figured if I were being scammed that I could easily go to eBay, Paypal or do a CC chargeback and eventually get my money back.

All administrator's hands are tied at every hospital. Read the news and pleas of help from doctors and nurses in every State. Most are going without. It's not only my State or kid's hospitals.

[CountAllVotes]

77. I got a pair for $12 w/free shipping

But it was a U.S. seller and this was before it became like it now is.

I felt it coming.

Fortunately I followed my instincts and do as I was being directed. So, I now have four of them that I got for abt. $25.00.

What a hell!

[OhioChick]

12. Please keep this K&R'd so that other members can see this and not get burned, please n/t

[Hekate]

13. I'm so sorry. I do have a number for Amazon Customer Service, live person....

...but it is a month and a half old, so who knows if it is operational at this point. 1 [phone]

Best of luck.

[OhioChick]

14. Thank you kindly, I'll give it a try

[OhioChick]

21. That number is now for Direct TV n/t

[Hekate]

22. Well crap. Things are moving fast.

[OhioChick]

25. I don't understand why Amazon doesn't have live customer support at this time

It's easily done at home.

I called my health insurance company today and she said they were all working remotely.

If many companies can do this, why not the almighty, powerful Amazon?

[sarcasmo]

17. Agreed. I've had several problems with Ebay and Amazon in the last few weeks.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

18. Thank you for that reminder to buy carefully.

I know there's tons of products on Amazon that are dressed up like domestic stuff but are really shipped direct from China, or there's a U.S. rep operating out of his garage or a storage space with minimal stock. Sometimes the brand name or seller's name is quite telling.

Almost all are opaque as hell when I've tried to determine legitimacy. One criteria I've used is to insure they have at least a professional-looking web site that shows real addresses and real phone numbers in the USA. That seems to be fairly foolproof.

Good luck and I hope you get your refunds........

[OhioChick]

19. I've done the same, being extremely cautious, but it didn't matter.

Thank you for the kind thoughts.

Do warn those you know to use extreme caution in these times purchasing from either site.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

28. Will do, I'll warn friends and family.

I think at least in the case of Amazon, when products showed "in stock", many of us got duped into thinking the products really would be coming from an Amazon warehouse in America.

Found that not to be true when several packages came in envelops directly from China and an obscure company name.

Particularly notorious are electronic and electrical parts and assemblies such as audio devices, cables, batteries, etc. That's some of their main rackets. I think clothing and jewelry are just as bad. In essence, China makes a cheap clone of everything.

Thanks again........

[dustyscamp]

20. A big benefit of shopping at real stores is you don't have to deal with things like this

Too bad online retailer stores have been taking away their business for many years and now this virus will probably put them in their graves for good

[OhioChick]

23. I do support my local mom and pop shops

But no one in the area has had any N-95 masks or surgical masks for months now.

[intrepidity]

30. That sucks so bad

I never know how to vet sellers on Amazon. I typically set the filter for "Prime only" but now that you're mentioning this, I don't even know what that actually screens.

[OhioChick]

33. Right now, I'd be hesitant on buying anything from over there n/t

[Bengus81]

73. Eh...just stay away from the HOT items which could be a scam

And you'll be ok. Hell,just received some print cartridges and a couple of 1/2 inch binders. No problems,work fine etc. Sold by Amazon mostly means that third party sellers have delivered their product to Amazon warehouses for them to ship out. That's when you see the "fulfilled by Amazon" tag. Doesn't mean Amazon owns the product,just means they will be on the hook to safely ship it to an address in a timely manner.

Do most people remember like a week or so ago when Amazon was asking sellers NOT to ship to a Amazon warehouse but just do the shipping themselves?

[pnwest]

31. Thank you for the heads up, I hope you

are able to get a positive resolution. I’m sorry this happened to you, thank you for warning others.

[OhioChick]

39. Thanks, I just don't want this to happen to anyone else n/t

[cstanleytech]

32. This is why when I do any orders on amazon I make sure the seller is amazon as I simply do not trust

the majority of other sellers and if on the off chance I do order from someone else than Amazon on their site I avoid like the plague any that have a ton of 5 star ratings but also have a significantly higher number of 1 star rating.
What I do look at is the 3 and 4 stars if they have a ton of those then they are usually reliable.

[OhioChick]

35. Use this

https://www.fakespot.com/

Copy and paste the link of what you wish to purchase.

[cstanleytech]

38. Thanks but the fakes are pretty easy to spot. I sort them by date and then skip any 5 stars

and scroll down and read the newest lowest ratings.
If they have a number of them below 3 then I skip them and search for another seller.

[OhioChick]

40. Agreed n/t

[Stonepounder]

34. I had a totally different bad experience with Amazon

They had locked down my account, which also froze my Prime (movies and TV) and my Kindle library. They were totally unresponsive except to tell me to send them $500 that I didn't owe. After almost 2 months of this nonsense I sent a snail mail addressing the issue to the primary contact Dave Clark with a CC to the other 2.

I would put in the letter exactly what you wrote here about your experience. Try it, it can't hurt. Be business like and professional. Within a week of sending the letters, my account was turned back on, with apologies. It can't hurt to try.

Primary Contact

Dave Clark
SVP, Worldwide Operations and Customer Service at Amazon
410 Terry Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
[e-mail]

Secondary Contact
Mike Roth
Vice President, North America Operations at Amazon.com
410 Terry Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
[e-mail]

Chief Executive
Jeff Bezos
President
410 Terry Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
[e-mail]


Good luck.

[OhioChick]

36. Thank you, I sincerely appreciate it n/t

[cstanleytech]

41. How can you owe them anything though unless it was a purchase with a Amazon CC or an item that was

purchased with a payment plan since all items purchased otherwise have to be paid beforehand?

[obamanut2012]

67. I was curious about that, too

A customer since 1997.

[Stonepounder]

68. Well, on 12/28/2019 we were at a family gathering and someone

managed to get into our home though an unlocked window, got onto my computer, and ordered about $5000 worth of Smart Phones, warranties, and over $500 worth of gift cards. Amazon's computers caught the fact that this was NOT a normal order from me, locked the account and canceled the order. We reported the theft to the police (the perp is now in jail) and called Amazon. Customer Service was helpful, agreed that the orders had been canceled, I get a new password and thought that was the end of that.

A couple of weeks later some division within Amazon decided that since they hadn't been able to cancel the gift cards I should pay for them and locked my account. There was no way to contact the group that was dunning me for the $500. Customer Service had no way to contact them and emails sent to them just got me a form letter that said, basically, "We got your letter, now send us the $500".

I posted my story in the Lounge and got the same suggestion I passed along here. I had already complained to the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, but it was sending snail mail to top management that suddenly got Amazon to agree that I wasn't liable for the $500 and reopen my account.

[Tess49]

37. I had an order that I thought was coming from an American company. I did receive the

items, but the invoice showed it originated in China. I just checked my credit card statement to be sure the charges were correct. They were. Thanks for alerting us to this. I will certainly be more careful in the future.

[OhioChick]

53. My order came from

广州飞速贸易有限公司 Guangzhou Feishu Trading Co., Ltd. in China.

Amazon should alert you where the product is coming from. You have to read the reviews closely. That's where you'll see people complaining that it took forever to receive and came from China.

[Totally Tunsie]

42. In early February, I placed an order for N95 masks.

Long story short, I was scammed - twice. I opened up disputes for both orders with Discover and Bank of America, having placed 2 orders for the same items (price reduction on second order) and wanted an easy way to tell them apart in case there was a problem.

Sure enough, the items received were nothing like what was ordered. A lot of us got taken, as there are now many complaints online exactly as mine.

Finally received word today that Discover is denying my claim and will recharge me. I phoned them today to find out how to appeal, and will get that in the works tomorrow. The Bank of America is requesting that I again send them about 10 pages of documentation that I first sent in Feb. Frustrating.

The scammers were out there early, long before the overwhelming demand for these masks. Now I wouldn't trust any of the online ads for these items. Be careful!

Without naming the company, its initials are MB.

[tblue37]

49. There are a lot of ads online for those masks now. I figured scams. nt

[OhioChick]

54. I'm sorry to hear that

Twice yet.

Did you buy these on Ebay, Amazon or elsewhere?

I'm really surprised that Discover is denying your claim, I understand they're usually on the side of their customers.

10 pages of documentation for BOA?

Wow, I feel for you. What a hassle.

Right now, I wouldn't trust anyone on eBay or Amazon for buying N-95's. Most selling them are from China.

I read an article the other day that said companies in China were making these essentially useless, non-authentic masks to sell to a panicked US market.

Good luck.

[Totally Tunsie]

70. Purchased these direct from an online website that looked

very legit at the time, so no eBay or Amazon involvement. They were shipped from Korea.

The Discover decision blew me away. By the time I filed the complaint, there were enough other complaints appearing online that it should have been an easy decision to not charge me. I've been a Discover customer for almost 30 years with only one other complaint ever being filed - it's not like I'm a nuisance customer about disputes.

So now I have a project for the next day or so. In total, my outlay was only about $100, but it's still $100 I could use elsewhere. It's the principle, dammit!

[ibegurpard]

44. Never bothered with Ebay and never will

But i was not aware that Amazon allowed independent sellers to use their site.

[OhioChick]

55. Independent sellers have been selling on Amazon for years n/t

[Duppers]

45. 😨 "When it rains, it seems to pour."

I'm so sorry, OC. Glad you got some good feedback above and sources to contact. Wishing you some much-needed luck.

[OhioChick]

56. It certainly does, Duppers

I can't seem to win for losing these days, although I did have one victory overnight.

I did get a refund from one Chinese company tonight, thankfully. They insisted they were from the US sending my masks via USPS Priority Mail yet their tracking information had shown it was coming from China.

I called them on it and got my refund, then reported them to eBay.

Thanks, one down.

[Wounded Bear]

47. All the call centers are overseas and many are on lockdown...

had one of my Credit Cards send out notice, "Sorry about inconvenience and please be patient..."

[OhioChick]

57. Yes, I got the same with one of mine n/t

[Totally Tunsie]

79. Gee, if only those same words could be used from customer to

credit card company, "Sorry about...and please..."
Don't think there'd be much understanding if the situation were flipped.

[Rorey]

51. Same thing happened to me

It said I'd get the product by a particular day, but for the last week tracking has said USPS is awaiting the item. I contacted the seller, and they said there was a delay in customs. With the short initially stated shipping time, I assumed it was coming from within the U.S. The seller did offer me a 20 percent discount, so I guess I'll take it. My full order was only $20, so it's not that big of a deal. In the meantime, I found someone who made the product (reusable masks) here in my town, and I'm sure what I got locally are of better quality.

I'm so sorry that you're going through such an ordeal, especially considering the purpose of your orders.

[OhioChick]

58. Thank you

I'm sorry that you're going through it, as well.

Don't buy any masks coming from China from here on in.

I read an article the other day that said companies in China were making these essentially useless, non-authentic masks to sell to a panicked US market that offered no protection.

I'll try to find the link to the article and post later.

[Rorey]

59. Thanks

I kinda figured they'd be of pretty low quality, so I was planning to see if I could augment them with filters.

[eShirl]

64. on ebay you can list search results by how close they are to you

This is how I found a kazoo for my brother's birthday, from a seller a few towns over.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

71. I wish every scammer would

Just die. Every.Last.One.

[FiveGoodMen]

72. They won't do it on their own.

They need our help.

[coti]

74. Yeah, I got scammed by a Chinese seller with their own website but managed to get my money

back. They even sent a fake UPS tracking number to my hometown- they really wanted to keep it.

Sites like these that can come up on Google Shopping seem to often be scammer sites:

https://www.picksof.com/

https://www.viartists.com/

Watch for the item you've searched for not being in the same category as what they're otherwise selling and "too good to be true" deals. Watch for similar layouts and "FAQ" policies, also.

[BComplex]

75. Damn! I just ordered several things today on Amazon.

I hope they arrive!

[CountAllVotes]

76. Two sets of 3M N95 Cool valve

I bought these early on fearing for the worst. They are legit. at were $12 a package.

I order a cheaper batch from a person it says is in Kentucky. Then I get a message after paying saying listing removed.

So I click on the seller to see more details re: this seller it says China right there.

So they are lying to get our business. I guess those left over there are desperate!

So far I have received some of the items I have bought this way, some not, but enough is enough.

I have nothing against China per se but when people intentionally lie during times like this, I really pisses me off!

[OhioChick]

78. Well, some good news

I was able to manage to get refunds on 2 of 3 purchases so far.

It feels good to have accomplished "something."

The last one is going to take some time and patience, it was costly at $1K.

Purchased from eBay seller that account said they were located in the US.
They were selling masks like crazy so a lot of people are going to soon realize they were screwed over.

I went straight over to Paypal and while you can't actually speak to anyone, you can open up a case in the Resolution Center and stated the facts.

As soon as I opened the case, the seller contacted me back with:

"I ship out to you now, please close case"

I responded with the fact that I wanted a refund, do not want their masks and will certainly not close the case.

Received an instant response saying:

"Tracking infromation, look up, from US of America."

The tracking is China Post, so I go over to Paypal and add in the tracking information I was given, citing a label was created from China, not USPS as originally stated in the listing. (The last I heard the US wasn't even accepting mail/packages from China, am I correct on this?)

I checked back this evening and see the Chinese seller took all of their items offline, unless eBay removed all of them due to complaints.

Went back to Paypal and see I can now escalate my case in one day (instead of April 12th) for the case to be closed and my refund returned to me.

So, tomorrow I'll escalate it. Paypal is usually quick with these matters.

I did hear from a friend that Paypal, Amazon and eBay are working around the clock to get all of their reps working from home instead of in a call center so they should be back up and running soon, to speak with live support.

Just thought I'd give an update and be safe shopping during this time.

[Catherine Vincent]

80. I was scammed but not by Amazon or Ebay

I kept searching on Twitter about N95 masks and this @Covid19Masks account was tweeting this website every 30 minutes or so. I clicked on it and it seemed legit, so I ordered a 20 pk if 3M N95 masks. They said it ships from the US. This was March 4th and still haven't received not as much as a tracking number. I finally contacted my cc company to investigate. Here's the fraud site:

https://www.coronavirusprotectionmasks.org/shop