Item was supposed to be sent to address 'A'. Was accepted at address 'B'. This billboard-size neon-glowing discrepancy takes so little time/effort to spot that I'm incredulous that multiple customer "service" people in mentioned in the blog post didn't see it. It has to be impossible to miss this bloody obvious gap. Just how?
I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
411–420 of 447 posts
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally, I would never buy anything on Amazon with a price tag more than a couple hundred dollars. They can't even confirm what carrier they will ship through; I'm not about to trust them for high-value items.
I think buying from Amazon itself is relatively OK, I'd have hard time believing Amazon would run any scams. But third party sellers, given no customer service beyond robots and robot-like script readers... yep, better to steer clear.
Buying from Amazon isn't enough to avoid scams. Amazon mixes their stock with 3rd parties stock.
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#413In my opinion this makes amazon an accomplice of the theft, especially that they earned a commission from this operation.
Hope that buyer will get help and get his money back.
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#414For those wondering how this scam happens, here is a live example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002JCSV8U/ref=dp_ol...
Notice how the first item is listed at 1/4th price of other listings, and that seller is a 'just launched' third party. If you text or email asking them to confirm item is genuine and not stolen, you will not hear from them.
If Amazon wanted they can detect and remove such listings (also good candidate for ML based fraud detection)
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#415Earlier quoted context omitted.
This 100 times. I never buy from third-party sellers in Amazon, but I am having such a hard time explaining to friends and family how to do the same. They keep buying from third-party sellers and keep wondering how it is not "Amazon". I wish there was an option to set it once and never see third-party seller items again.
> I never buy from third-party sellers in Amazon, but I am having such a hard time explaining to friends and family how to do the same. They keep buying from third-party sellers and keep wondering how it is not "Amazon". 3rd party sellers are usually fine. There are things I check for: 1. A "critical" mass of 4-5 star reviews 2. Prime Shipping 3. History of selling the types of items I want to buy. If I am going to b…
I feel pretty comfortable if the seller's name is the manufacturer, and their inventory is full of stuff they manufacture, with a long history of positive feedback.
I get scared off by seller names that sound like alphabet soup, small numbers of sales and reviews (for a $5 item I'll chance it, though), and recent reviews suddenly changing for the negative.
And I'm really skittish about clothing, unless I know the brand. Too many times, I've gotten what was listed, technically, and it really isn't what I was thinking. T-shirts that look glorious but are really crappy iron-ons, shirts that look great but are really, really thin... that sort of thing. I don't want to go to a store, but I order brands I like and trust directly from them instead.
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#416For those wondering how this scam happens, here is a live example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002JCSV8U/ref=dp_ol... Notice how the first item is listed at 1/4th price of other listings, and that seller is a 'just launched' third party. If you text or email asking them to confirm item is genuine and not stolen, you will not hear from them. If Amazon wanted they can detect and remove such listings (also…
if Amazon could at least drop third party individual sellers or thoroughly vet them I'd assume it will reduce such scams considerably.
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#417For $1500 it's worth taking Amazon to small claims court. Not for the fraud -- that was the fraudster -- but for their refusal to to honor the terms of their guarantee.
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I never buy from third-party sellers in Amazon Does it actually make any sense now? Wasn't it confirmed many times that Amazon just ship it to you from closest warehouse even if it's item by 3rd party seller?
AFAIK there are three kind of items: 1. Sold and shipped by Amazon 2. Sold by third-party, fulfilled by Amazon 3. Sold and shipped by third-party I never buy (3) and generally avoid (2) when there is a possibility of counterfeit, but otherwise I agree with you (2) is fine.
Depending on the item and seller "sold and shipped by third party" may actually be better - no mingled inventory, might even be direct from manufacturer.
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#419test
Re: I Fell Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon
#420Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry, I never meant to imply the offender was male or female. On the contrary, due to the value of using a female name, it should not be regarded as evidence of the offender's actual sex or gender at all.
It's all good. It just seemed a bit odd as we're usually pretty good about not assuming gender at HN. I'm not sure why someone would vote me down, but what good is karma if you don't spend it? ;-)
Perhaps because talking about "assuming gender" is nonsense and a complete waste of time? I'm sure you have other things to do aside from looking for ways to be offended.