eBay Seller Sold Me Fake Chanel No 5, Then Tried Blackmailing Me, Then Removed My Negative Feedback w/o Consent

Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:13
Last edited 23/05/2019 - 22:07

Bear with me but this is crazy.

I bought some Chanel No. 5 100ml off a seller on Ebay with 100% positive feedback. Was a good price ($115) and the seller noted a money back policy if it was not legit.

So obviously I got the perfume and it was fake. I had this verified by the Chanel staff at DJs and Myer. Not a massive surprise really, it's eBay.

I left negative feedback and requested a refund. The seller refused to process the refund until I changed the negative feedback. I refused to. I contacted Ebay support via live chat and they said he is blackmailing and extorting in an attempt to change the feedback I left.eBay support said to just wait until the seller refused the refund and then they would intervene. So basically, they would do nothing despite the seller having sold me fake perfume and refusing to process the refund until I changed the feedback.

Then the seller contacted me and said 'here is the Ebay request to change feedback form' I ignored it. The seller then sent another message that said:

"Hello, we have provided you with a refund. There is no need to return the item. As we have discussed, ebay will now remove the feedback."

I did not change my feedback or consent to this. But, as he/she noted my negative feedback has been removed and the seller continues to sell fake perfumes.

I reported all this to Ebay via the live chat and they said that because his account was created using eBay US there is nothing they can do about it. They said on their system they can see that I did leave negative feedback, as too have others, but they have somehow been removed.

I'm not sure of Australian Consumer Law falls into this realm of sales, but it is unbelievable that in the space of 4 hours I have reported being sold fake perfume, attempts of extortion/blackmail, removal of Ebay feedback and a seller who continues to sell fake perfume… all without any action against the seller.

What a joke.

For reference, here is the eBay seller's store https://www.ebay.com.au/str/belletresor09
https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/littlebeautystore

TLDR; A seller on eBay is above the law; sold me fake perfume, refused my refund, tried to blackmail me and then removed my negative feedback. Now I feel like Sandra Bulloch in 'The Net' completely taken advantage of at the hands of some tech savvy turbo scammer.

Poll Options

  • 235
    Pursue this with eBay, Dept of Fair Trading or someone...
  • 32
    Cut my losses, move on and let the scammer continue scamming
General Discussion

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Comments

  • mbck on 23/05/2019 - 21:17
    +23

    22 feedback….yeh I'll pass

    • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:18

      Haha yeah well I was feedback 21 with a big fat negative in capital letters. Removed. Honestly a really frustrating feeling.

      • mbck on 23/05/2019 - 21:19
        +7

        I know it's frustrating and unfair, but at least you got your money back and you've learnt. Don't stress about these things. There will always be scum.

        • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:28
          +1

          True True. For every one person that cottons onto his/her scam I reckon there are 100 who don't. Then the one who does reports to Ebay and they do nothing…

          • Stingyboi on 24/05/2019 - 12:26
            +2

            @Bellpop: Could those feedbacks be fake though? They do seem fishy, some are repeated and similar names by the looks of it, I have seen other sus sellers like this before very similar to this. But obvious scammers.
            I try to avoid ebay these days, So much fake stuff on it even by sellers that look legit.

            • Kamsi on 25/05/2019 - 10:33

              @Stingyboi: That's why I will NOT spend more than $100 on ebay unless they're in Australia and I'll be very vigilant.

              • Bellpop on 25/05/2019 - 11:05

                @Kamsi: Good advice. The item was listed as being in Melbourne.

              • Stingyboi on 25/05/2019 - 16:14
                +1

                @Kamsi: Some stores say 'Based in Australia' but the seller is actually in china and the shipping address says Australia but sometimes the items are shipped from China(or where ever), so gotta watch out for that too.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 21:18
    +10

    I had this verified by the Chanel staff at DJs and Myer.

    how did they verify it? With their nose? or they did put a sample of both perfumes in a test tube and send it off to a lab to be tested?

    why did you think you'd get "legit" perfume from a seller with less than 50+ feedback while they are selling all different ones.

    • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:21
      +4

      Hey, they cap and stickers were different. So they’re the tangible differences. The smell was noticing different too but I guess that’s subjective.

      Yeah i saw the 100% positive and thought I’d give it a crack.

      To be honest if I had just received a timely refund I’d cut my lost time and move on. But being able to blackmail a customer (eBay confirmed they could read the messages and they they violated their policy) and remove my negative feedback and continue selling his crappy products, that is crazy.

      In no time he will have 50+ positive feedbacks. There’s nothing to stop him…

      • resubaehtgnolhcs on 23/05/2019 - 21:29
        +10

        100% positive feedback is meaningless for an account with only 22 ratings!

        • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:32
          +1

          You're right. but before long this guy will have 100+…

          • resubaehtgnolhcs on 23/05/2019 - 21:55

            @Bellpop: Only if people ignore the red flags with his account (sort of like you did)!

            • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 22:05

              @resubaehtgnolhcs: What are the red flags? It wasn’t until I tried to get a refund that it noted the return address was somewhere in NYC

              • resubaehtgnolhcs on 23/05/2019 - 22:22
                +10

                @Bellpop: the two most obvious red flags:

                1. unbelievable price
                2. ultra low (in number) user rating on ebay
      • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 21:31
        +4

        there's a reason why i goto myer or DJs to buy perfumes.

        • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:33
          +2

          Yeah, moving forward, me too

          • DangerNoodle on 25/05/2019 - 09:15
            +1

            @Bellpop: Chemist warehouse occasionally stock chanel no 5. They get the genuine product from an overseas supplier, so usually it will have US packaging. Usually they sell it cheaper than Myer and DJ ($200 ish, sometimes on sale), usually because they have a better price because they buy for 400+ stores.

            • greatlamp on 25/05/2019 - 10:22
              +4

              @DangerNoodle: They have a better price because they sell grey import product, in addition to their volume. They won't accept being price gouged by the 'official distributor for Australia'.

              Mr Harvey Norman could learn something from this instead of complaining about overseas competition.

              • Maxxjet on 25/05/2019 - 13:53

                @greatlamp: I don’t normally agree with HN however what you suggested is troubling…, he followed the right way to get law changed ( like it or not) but you are encouraging business to take this into their own hands, that is what any third world countries business does, ignoring the law or trying to bypass the law instead of lobbying to change the law.

                • greatlamp on 25/05/2019 - 14:14
                  +4

                  @Maxxjet: This has nothing to do with laws.

                  Australians pay more for imported goods purchased locally compared to when they buy it themselves from overseas.

                  There are always excuses, higher rents, higher labor costs, but the real reason is that the distributor is charging more for the product for our market.

                  Often Retailers in Australia pay wholesale prices that are higher than what a consumer can buy the same goods in the USA at a retail store. Even if they decide to sell products with no profit, they still cannot compete with overseas online stores.

                  Australian retail is dying, middlemen distributors are making a fortune. The Australian retailer passes on higher costs to the customer and hopes for the best, because otherwise the manufacturer will call them unofficial and not support their warranty claims. Because of the ACL, the retailer is responsible for warranty of their customers. There is no protection for the business from overseas manufacturers.

                  It is not illegal to source your goods from the cheapest supplier, the small population, high costs of international shipping, and the fact that we are an island makes it easy for distributors to abuse the relationships they have with local retailers.

                  There is no warranty or long term support required for perfume, so CWH negotiates - give a fair price or we will buy the goods from someone else. They don't need to buy grey import goods all the time, they just need it to be an option.

                  We are getting taken advantage of, and by we I include all Australian businesses, including Harvey Norman.

        • Zachary on 24/05/2019 - 12:08
          +1

          Wait, you're a girl?! I thought you were a guy……

          • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2019 - 12:09

            @Zachary: did you just assume my gender?

            • Zachary on 27/05/2019 - 11:58

              @[Deactivated]: Yes, is it not appropriate to assume all users (unless said user specifies otherwise of course) on the internet a guy? Girl = Guy in real life…. This acronym has never failed me ever since I swore by it, yet….

              Perhaps you would like to correct me on your gender?

          • Ughhh on 24/05/2019 - 13:24
            +1

            @Zachary: Guys buy fragrances too?…

            • Forfiet on 27/05/2019 - 02:22

              @Ughhh: Lynx Africa isn't a fragrance :P j/k

            • Zachary on 27/05/2019 - 12:06

              @Ughhh: …usually for their girls, but yes I guess that is correct when you look it that way…..but would be kinda weird though….like walking into a full on girl's bra shop looking at various bras and panties, female models(ranges from teens to middle age women - as I haven't seen a model of a grandma yet…or women that looks like they are grandma age…) on those large posters and pictures of girls wearing only just bra or and panties, maybe checking out the female mannequins and how those bras and panties fit on them, all whilst the store clerk(s) giving you that confused stare at you…

              • Ughhh on 27/05/2019 - 12:42

                @Zachary: Im guessing you're either very young or don't go out to stores much.

      • apsilon on 24/05/2019 - 08:33
        +4

        FWIW I used to work in contract packaging and it wasn't unusual to have differing packing between markets so what you might've received was simply not Australian stock ie a parallel import. Obviously I can't say for sure but thought it worth mentioning.

        • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 11:13

          Interesting. This one had a plastic cap and the stickers were wonky.

          • apsilon on 24/05/2019 - 11:21

            @Bellpop: On a product like that I'd expect the sticker (actually I'd be expecting printing direct on the bottle for the price) to be straight but plastic cap wouldn't be a surprise even on high end goods. Never bought it before so can't really say.

            • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 11:24

              @apsilon: Cool. Thanks for the heads up. Chanel staff were v confident it was fake anyway

      • wkd on 25/05/2019 - 10:47

        you said it was a US seller. maybe their stock was from the US. sometimes different countries have different packaging

      • aussieolfaction on 26/05/2019 - 17:33

        In no time he will have 50+ positive feedbacks. There’s nothing to stop him…

        I've seen scammers fall to their demise on ebay, because there's a limit to how many negative feedbacks can a seller receive before ebay will give them the boot.

        • Bellpop on 26/05/2019 - 17:40

          But this guy removes the feedbacks somehow…

          • aussieolfaction on 26/05/2019 - 18:01

            @Bellpop: It doesn't matter what shows up on the profile, ebay has a record of how many people have raised a dispute stating that the item was not as described, or counterfeit, etc.

            • Bellpop on 26/05/2019 - 18:05

              @aussieolfaction: Oh ok. That makes sense. The CS rep said they could see the negative feedback ‘on the system’ but it wasn’t visible to the public and didn’t impact their 100% feedback.

              Maybe because they’re registered as a business they get super powers 🤔

  • kerfuffle on 23/05/2019 - 21:18
    +1

    You seriously think you were going to get legitimate Chanel perfume for half the price of what it cost in department stores ($234)?

    • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:22

      Haha I’m my mind I thought maybe it’s a gray import of legit stock or something haha

    • idonotknowwhy on 24/05/2019 - 22:39
      +3

      I have in the past, sold legit perfume for 1/3 the RRP on ebay.
      Unwanted gifts, happy to provide bargains for people.

    • Dingus on 25/05/2019 - 00:44

      There are plenty of great deals on eBay for fragrances. Just have to know what to look for.

    • gromit on 25/05/2019 - 10:30

      Department stores have huge markup on top of overpriced distributer prices. So yes it is not unreasonable to get legitimate perfumes for upto half price. Having said that, expecting them from a seller on ebay with no history is a bit of a stretch. plenty of trustworthy online stores with good discounts or even chemist warehouse sometimes with far more reasonable prices than department stores.

    • arkie0 on 25/05/2019 - 10:35

      My brother used to work for a distributor/warehouse for perfumes, he could get testers (same bottle, plain packaging) for about 10% RRP.

      So considering the extreme markup on perfume, it is believable.

  • CalmLemons on 23/05/2019 - 21:24
    +4

    Move on.

    • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:27

      Noted.

      • CalmLemons on 23/05/2019 - 21:29
        +13

        There are zillion guys like this across the net. You spend 2 weeks shutting down one, another 200 will pop up. Hail Hydra.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 21:37
    +4

    Yeah, you should try for the refund before leaving negative feedback, even if it's fake.

    • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:38

      do u mean ethically or so I don't get caught out by this sort of blackmail?

      • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 21:40
        +5

        Just to get your money back. Once they get the feedback they often take the FU approach.

        • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 21:41
          +1

          Haha you’re 100% right. What is the point of feedback is a seller can just delete it. Crazy.

      • TheCutter on 25/05/2019 - 10:26

        Everyone gets burned on ebay eventually

        And ebay don't care - they just count their money.

  • crashloaded on 23/05/2019 - 21:38

    Sometimes you can get a good fake, but you'd only wanna be paying $40 not over $100.

    • Bellpop on 23/05/2019 - 22:05

      I read an article about this in Time mag years ago. Apparently some fakes use the same equipment and materials

      • crashloaded on 24/05/2019 - 06:00

        Yeah I found a Tommy fake years ago that was very close to the real thing. It just didn't last as long on the skin.

  • spackbace on 23/05/2019 - 22:22
    +2

    Member since: 08 Mar, 2019|United States

    Under 50 feedback, price is 50% off retail

    sigh

    Nek minnit you'll be sending money to a very nice Nigerian prince

    • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 22:29
      +3

      BUT he was so nice and i couldn't let the prince be poor

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 11:14
      +1

      Haha I’m a fool 😭😭😭 haha

  • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 23:03

    Can you make a claim via PayPal?

    • jelko on 23/05/2019 - 23:12
      +3

      Did you read the OP's post? They already have a refund.

  • ibuy on 24/05/2019 - 00:16
    +13

    If you want to go to the trouble there are a few things you can do and a few things to note for next time.

    1) it is no use complaining to eBay Australia as they have no jurisdiction over eBay USA sellers. This means you need to have eBay Australia call you by phone and then ask to be put through to the trust and safety people in the USA eBay where you can report them. They are the ones who can take action.

    2) You can log onto eBay Australia and go to any one of their listings. You can then report the listing to eBay as they’re actually evading Australian tax laws. It says that the goods are located in Australia however you received them from USA. This means no GST is being paid and they are falsely reporting the location of their goods. Again, you may not have much success with eBay Australia and may need to be transferred to eBay USA.

    3) For future reference if you buy multiple items from a suspect seller only leave one negative feedback first. If it gets knocked out for whatever reason you know they are doing something dodgy with eBay. The only remaining way to let others know is to leave neutral feedback with the issue. 99 times out of 100 a seller can’t get neutral feedback removed and your comments will be there. Check the seller’s feedback as someone has done just that and there is not much the seller can do.

    4) Be careful how you leave feedback for a seller. Depending on how you worded the feedback there are several grounds for removing negative feedback no matter how bad the experience was. Some examples of removeable feedback include derogatory comments, referring to reporting to eBay a case, profanities, and even saying the seller is a liar and a cheat (no matter how bad you think they are). In most cases buyers rule, however in some cases like this there are sellers who manipulate eBay and its feedback system and there is not a lot you can do. For example there is a seller called fxtoys! on eBay - just beware. I purchased lots of items from them and then one day had one bad item. If anything goes wrong even if not your fault they just ban you and remove any negative feedback. They built up so much negative feedback they should have been shut down by now but have changed the name to toyscout1. Here is an example of some of the scamming that they have done. https://forum.rebelscum.com/showthread.php?t=1104405&s=0b686… There are lots of complaints about them all over the net. If you feel upset enough you can join one of these forums and post your grievances there. That way anyone doing a search on them will eventually see the issue and if enough complaints are on the net they will find their sales become less.

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 07:37

      Thanks for the heads up. It’s crazy how these sellers can manipulate Ebay

      • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2019 - 09:02
        +1

        Ebay won't care as long as there's money to be made from them easily manipulating buyers.

        • Bellpop on 25/05/2019 - 08:30

          Seems that way

    • Bid Sniper on 24/05/2019 - 08:14

      This,
      also report item as counterfit to Ebay oz

      • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 11:14

        I mentioned it in the chat and they said they report it to ‘safety and security’ I wonder if that’s all I can do?

        • ibuy on 24/05/2019 - 12:02

          That’s about all that is within eBay’s system. And they won’t even tell you whether they take action. EBay leaves it up to the original manufacturer or owner to take action.

          For example did you know that posting images of a product or listing descriptions which are made by someone else is a breach of copyright? Many people don’t realise that if you copy an image of a product and put it on your listing you have broken copyright laws. However it is up to the owner of the image or description to file a complaint with eBay. Chinese sellers are notorious for stealing images. (And most of the time they’re copies/fakes. )

          • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 12:04

            @ibuy: Had no idea. eBay really is an (worse) alternate reality

  • Seraphin7 on 24/05/2019 - 09:15

    I bought some Chanel No. 5 100ml off a seller on Ebay with 100% positive feedback. Was a good price ($115) and the seller noted a money back policy if it was not legit.

    So obviously I got the perfume and it was fake. I had this verified by the Chanel staff at DJs and Myer. Not a massive surprise really, it's eBay.

    So why you buy on eBay?

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 09:39

      Haha yeah, thought I might find the diamond in the rough. Oh well.

  • furys12 on 24/05/2019 - 09:42

    it's no secret ebay will just about anything to make their platform look decent including letting things like this "slip under the radar", it's just as bad when you are selling too, i "sold" an item, buyer never paid, waited and waited, multiple messages, nothing just ghosted, finally got sick of it enough to use the raise unpaid dispute, an actual option in the seller menu next to each item, it just lets the "buyer" off the hook, they refund you the listing fees and what not and that's it, doesn't auto relist the item, doesn't let you leave feedback on the "buyer", maybe they have some sort of behind the scenes strike system but as far as i can tell that "buyer" is still free to click buy on item and decide later whether he wants to pay or not meanwhile i wasted about a month with a item i couldnt sell and nothing to show for it

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 10:23

      Yeah there’s definitely a lack of transparency compared to traditional retail.

    • Ughhh on 24/05/2019 - 13:26

      Buyer gets a strike on his name. You and others can filter and prevent buyers with certain amount of strikes from buying from you.

      "sold" an item, buyer never paid, waited and waited, multiple

      You can request immediate payment when making a listing.

  • minklet on 24/05/2019 - 09:57
    +10

    I often wonder what someone will have to post on this board for people to NOT immediately blame OP. Every thread is always, "Well you shouldn't do that, what were you expecting". Never helpful, always just people being smug and condescending.

    Regardless of the price of the item, this is still not OPs fault and the failing in ebays system especially not so.

    • spackbace on 24/05/2019 - 10:12
      -8

      For me, it's not a case of being smug, it's a case of people should know better in this day and age. OP could see the red flags, they admit they saw some (the feedback), yet took the punt anyway. There were more red flags than they saw.

      By pointing out the issues, the idea is that OP learns next time to avoid it.

      The neg feedback was after the fact, after the item had been paid for and received, yet many people on this forum wouldn't have bought in the first place because of the red flags.

      The signs were there, yet OP bought anyway. Can't pretend to be innocent in that situation

      • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 11:15
        -1

        The guy sells like $1000 worth of stock a day. He is scamming all over the place.

    • Ughhh on 24/05/2019 - 10:17
      -5

      If you see a turd on the floor on your path infront of you and you proceed to step on it, who's fault is it?

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 10:26

      Haha thanks for the vote of support.

      Regarding the seller’s feedback it’s up a few more today, so won’t be long before the ‘low feedback’ red flag disappears.

      I just wanted to share here because Ozbargainers are savvy shoppers and I can hands taking the blame if they feel like it.

      But yeah, I don’t feel like buying someonething from a seller with 100% feedback, claiming to be 100% genuine perfume with a satisfaction or money back policy.

    • ibuy on 24/05/2019 - 12:20
      +1

      Agree. Not everyone is tech or net savvy. And the reason why sites like this exist is for members to share experiences and solutions in a world that is vastly different from even as short a period as 10 years ago. Robbing someone blind is no longer from bricks and mortar. If everyone keeps knocking OPs for posting a “dumb or silly” thing they did then no one wins. For every person that posts a “dumb or silly” question there are probably at least 10 people out there who have done the same thing. Unfortunately this is part of life and learning. No different to when you’re in school or a teenager growing up. We all make mistakes and choices that are not quite right. However if someone is kind enough to post some helpful and constructive comment then we are all better off for it.

      Imagine if you told your Grandma 20 years ago that in the future you’d be doing banking on your mobile phone or the cost of buying your home in 20 years would be out of reach of most people. Apart from not knowing how to handle this she’d probably laugh at you and wouldn’t believe it!

      • Bellpop on 25/05/2019 - 08:33

        Haha so true. A great perspective.

        eBay advertises itself as almost a department store selling brand name stuff. Buying what is claimed to be authentic doesn’t feel like a massively foolish move on my behalf. Would I do it again? No. But will others? Absolutely.

    • gromit on 25/05/2019 - 10:41
      +2

      The OP DOES need to take some responsibility, it isn't victim blaming to tell people they need to stop and think about their actions. The real world is not full of nice people, fairies and fluffy bunnies. If you walk down a dark alley with money hanging out your pocket, expect to be mugged etc etc. If something is priced at an amazing discount by a seller with no rep then expect to be conned. It isn't about fault, it is about personal awareness and a realisation that the world has a lot of people looking to take an advantage of you.

      • minklet on 25/05/2019 - 22:00

        Buying a product from ebay with it's various warranties and such should be enough. It's not a flea market, it's a multi billion $ market place that is legally obligated to abide by the laws of this country, and the ACCC. There was not 'no rep'.

        • gromit on 26/05/2019 - 08:34

          It is wore than a flea market with the sellers never having to show their faces or addresses or even be in the same country as you. They have virtual immunity as such it will attract some of the worst scumbags looking to con, steal and take advantage of you. Even if ebay was more ethical and tried to actually stop it they couldn't completely. Just like muggers, murders, rapists etc you try to avoid being done over by them, yes you should not have to but this is the real world. FYI new account with a store selling good at fantastic prices and rep for only a month is "NO REP".

  • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2019 - 10:26
    +5

    Inform Chanel and leave it to them.
    https://www.chanel.com/#contact

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 11:12
      +3

      Thanks for the heads up. I just sent them a message. Let’s see how it goes.

    • wyrmy on 25/05/2019 - 07:20
      +1

      Definitely this if stopping the scammer is your main concern.

    • Bellpop on 24/05/2019 - 17:29
      +4

      I did. Btw love your support of selling fake goods ❤️

      • HeWhoKnows on 25/05/2019 - 11:22
        -4

        Thats not how your story goes

    • stringbean402 on 24/05/2019 - 21:58
      +1

      Nope… selling counterfeit goods is illegal. Technically so is purchasing them. Absolutely nothing to work out.

      I have also reported the listing to ebay and emailed Chanel… hopefully they take legal action against this clown.

      • Bellpop on 25/05/2019 - 08:34

        Thanks

  • GJT on 24/05/2019 - 21:57

    I think the best thing for the OP to do is trying getting a refund for now. If you succeed and still feel generous try reporting the store to ebay US

    • Herbse on 24/05/2019 - 23:38

      He's got a refund

    • Bellpop on 25/05/2019 - 08:34

      Thanks mate, got the refund. But somehow this resulted in my negative feedback being removed, so he keeps doing his dodgy stuff

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