Live data from Hacker News

A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

kleinbottle.com

101–110 of 628 posts

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#101
post #6

That sucks. Nice write-up of how this scam works, I wasn't aware of the details previously. Also, if anyone is unaware, this is this Clifford Stoll: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Stoll - who wrote this brilliant (and true) book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book) - which is a really good read and perfect for HN.

Thanks, DFlock. As you realize, writing up what happens is a necessary part of fixing a problem. That’s why I wrote Cuckoo’s Egg. I’m gratified that my own community has responded; perhaps someone at Amazon will pick up on this.

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stumbled upon an unusual policy when trying to order from B&H the first time. They are not open for business on Shabbat (NYC local time), and this includes their online checkout! I could fill up my cart, but had to come back later to do my purchase.

I respect people's religions but adherence to constraints like these -- to the extent that the automatons cannot even work -- are silly.

They used to do transactions on Shabbat, then they stopped, presumably the Satmar Hasidic rabbi must have issued a ruling that it wasn’t allowed.

Sure, it’s a minor annoyance, but compare that with the nontheistic amorality of Amazon and their everything-goes train wreck of a marketplace (worse than eBay at its worst) and you’ll understand why I only buy my computers, electronics and photo gear from B&H.

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#103
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon simply do not care Why though? How does this not hurt Amazon long term? What are they gaining from attracting dodgy sellers in the short term?

Revenue.

The answer to _almost_ every question that starts with “why don’t they” ultimately ends up being “money”.

The marginal edge cases boil down to “power” or “stupidity”.

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#105
post #100

This, and other instances of this scam make me not want to buy anything off Amazon ever again. Where is Amazon in this? Why is this even a thing ? Is there no oversight at all? Amazon has now become the Alibaba of the west and it makes me sick to think the once beloved marketplace is now just scamville. I typically buy from sellers websites now and rarely buy off of Amazon but now I feel I need to completely remove A…

Amazon simply is on the same level as eBay now. (No idea about Alibaba.) It’s really sad to see.

IMO eBay is less scammy.

I've been using it to buy car parts and it is SO MUCH better than dealing with junkyards (LKQ/Car-Parts websites suck!) and everything that I've got so far including parts from Latvia and Germany have been genuine.

eBay too is full of knock-off trash from China but you can easily tell those apart from a real listing most of the time with reviews being unique per listing/seller. And eBay allows for local pickups too!

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#106
post #100

This, and other instances of this scam make me not want to buy anything off Amazon ever again. Where is Amazon in this? Why is this even a thing ? Is there no oversight at all? Amazon has now become the Alibaba of the west and it makes me sick to think the once beloved marketplace is now just scamville. I typically buy from sellers websites now and rarely buy off of Amazon but now I feel I need to completely remove A…

Amazon simply is on the same level as eBay now. (No idea about Alibaba.) It’s really sad to see.

eBay is better as each seller gets a distinct listing Amazon letting sellers just kinda take over listings is a huge problem and has led to many scams like this and more commonly review scams where they sees the listing with positive reviews for a legit cheap product but swap it out for whatever their money grab is.

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I respect people's religions but adherence to constraints like these -- to the extent that the automatons cannot even work -- are silly.

Let's take this to extreme. Commandment "Thou shalt not kill", would it be ok to let automatons kill instead of you and this would not be considered sin? (playing devils advocate)

If the ONLY reason you're not killing people is the fifth of the Ten Commandments then we have bigger issues than "are sentry turrets OK".

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#108
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might be woefully ignorant but I thought it's not possible to make a Klein bottle in the real world...? I think Cliff Stoll sells 3D models of Klein bottles rather than the impossible 4D version.

The 4D version is not impossible in 4D space.

Now you've got me wondering if it'd be possible to build a 4D klein bottle by animating a 3D shape.

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#109
post #30
post #2

These days I avoid Amazon where possible since so often it's just cheap Chinese knockoffs or obviously returned products sold as new. B&H has been a godsend for tech, especially since there's no tax with their card. Crutchfield/Headphones.com has been great for speaker and audio gear. West Elm has a consistently premium quality for kitchen, home, and furniture items (though furniture is a story of its own, with even…

If you’re shopping for furniture I’ve found Room & Board to be head and shoulders above the rest, in both quality and customer care. No questions asked free returns are a godsend.

Nope. All my Room & Board furniture bought 10 years ago turned out to be duds, as I reviewed on Yelp 3 years ago:

Don't be fooled by the glitzy showrooms and "made in America" promises of quality, this chain sells essentially disposable furniture. When we were expecting our first child 7 years ago, we moved from an apartment to a single-family home. We wanted to also upgrade from IKEA and equivalent to proper furniture. I bought some heirloom pieces from Thos. Moser (a dining table, two end-chairs, a coffee table, a rocking chair and two foot stools) but they are quite expensive, and we got many other pieces from Room and Board: a queen bed, nightstands, two dressers, six Thatcher dining chairs, Pisa leaning bookshelves, side tables and a coffee table with rounded angles). Unfortunately after 7 years the furniture turned out to be much less durable than I expected. The finish on the coffee table is worn and ugly, the bed required extensive work even though we only use a mattress, no boxsprings, and the spokes on the Thatcher chairs are coming unglued. A proper Windsor chair like the Thatcher should have "through-holed and wedged" construction that ensures the spokes don't move. The Moser chairs have that, of course, and in retrospect I deeply regret cheaping out. I could have bought 2 buy-it-for-life Moser chairs for the price of the 6 Thatcher chairs that are now essentially kindling. To add insult to injury, Room and Board refuses to stand by their product and are refusing to repair them. In the Bay Area, we've had good luck with Hoot Judkins furniture, which are better quality for the price (not all though, they have a wide range that goes from meh to Amish-grade).

Re: A foreign seller has hijacked my Amazon Klein bottle listing

#110
post #6

That sucks. Nice write-up of how this scam works, I wasn't aware of the details previously. Also, if anyone is unaware, this is this Clifford Stoll: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Stoll - who wrote this brilliant (and true) book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book) - which is a really good read and perfect for HN.

Thanks, DFlock. As you realize, writing up what happens is a necessary part of fixing a problem. That’s why I wrote Cuckoo’s Egg. I’m gratified that my own community has responded; perhaps someone at Amazon will pick up on this.

A minute ago, I added a few more details to my website-writeup.
Post reply on HN