Import Anime Forums

I'm usually really careful about buying DVDs from Ebay, so as to avoid unknowingly getting low-quality bootlegs... and I -was- careful so far as this guy (here-to-for referred to as ebay user Hardworker007) had 100% positive feedback, including some resounding feedback for the same DVD sets that I bought from him.

His auctions looked professional, including pictures showing the DVD covers with the ADV, Pioneer/Geneon, and Bandai logos. I bought Heat Guy J 1-7, sCRYed 1-6, and Final Fantasy Unlimited 1-7 from him for $250 CDN, shipping included.

That was back on September 4th... he sent me an expedited shipping number on the 9th, which means I should have it in 2-7 days within Canada.

A couple weeks pass, nothing... so I email him. He claims to have "straightened out" the problem with Canada Post, and the package should be on its way. That's last week sometime...

Yesterday, someone leaves a feedback for him, saying that the DVDs are pirated... bloody great. I contact the guy, and he plays the, "D-d-d-duh... I just buy them from a licensed distributor... I dunno if they're bootlegs..." He says I should spend $30 to mail them back to him, sealed, if I think they're bootlegs, and then he'll refund me. That's if they even show up.

I snap at this point, and file a Buyer Claim on Paypal. What shows up at lunch? Well, I'll tell you... 20 crappily made, basement-brand pirated copies of Final Fantasy Unlimited, Heat Guy J, and sCRYed. I mean -crappily- made. Home-spun shrink-wrap, with shit-quality labels and covers. The compression on the DVD-r burns isn't even good.

At this point, I'm literally having kittens. So, I file a fraud-alert, and a buyer's claim through Ebay, and I send emails to Bandai, ADV, and Geneon/Pioneer, telling them about this facker, since he even now has auctions active on Ebay for these piece of shit DVDs.

Then, I contact all the buyers I can, and current bidders for his DVDs, and let them know what happened to me... telling them to retract their bids, and place Paypal claims appropriately, if they see fit. I also included the email addresses for ADV, Bandai, and Pioneer.

Meanwhile... two other buyers have contacted me about the mad, MAD feedback I left him on ebay. One saying they got screwed around, too, and asking if they should start a Paypal claim since they're just waiting on a late shipment of hack-bootlegs. The other, from an ebay member saying that his winning bids for a Final Fantasy Unlimited set were fraudulently placed... and that he didn't buy the set under his ID, or leave the feedback. This guy probably went so far as hacking accounts and leaving good feedback to draw in suckers like me.

Anyways... long story short... if you buy stuff through ebay, pay with Paypal so you at least have some protection (unless Paypal doesn't get me my money back, in which case, never buy anything from Ebay... ever).

EDIT:
Feel free to check out Hardworker007's ebay auctions, and send emails to ADV ([email protected]), Bandai ([email protected]), and Geneon ([email protected]) about said auctions, and help me bring the shit-storm down on this guy... as none of us need basement-brand bootleg hacks like this guy running loose.

DAMN That fuckin sucks

Yet another reason I never buy anything on EBAY.

Wow . . . what a really long drawn out explanation which could have easily been summed up as "I got scammed on Ebay and am pissed."

Redhare huh? Looks like you're really into heavy metal. I can't believe you bought this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...8120121458

Although, if you lived nearby, I might have to come over and beat you. Noone's beating male Ranma and my button mashing skills.

Vicious Wrote:Wow . . . what a really long drawn out explanation which could have easily been summed up as "I got scammed on Ebay and am pissed."

Redhare huh? Looks like you're really into heavy metal. I can't believe you bought this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...8120121458

Although, if you lived nearby, I might have to come over and beat you. Noone's beating male Ranma and my button mashing skills.

I don't have any memory of making that purchase.. it just showed up in the mail one day. Honest.

My mad-button-crushing Shampoo skillz might surprise you... though we -don't- live nearby, so we'll never know for sure.

r00ster Wrote:I don't have any memory of making that purchase.. it just showed up in the mail one day. Honest.

My mad-button-crushing Shampoo skillz might surprise you... though we -don't- live nearby, so we'll never know for sure.

lol..Im surprised you have a Super Nintendo..Hell im surprised ANYONE does

That really blows. EBAY can be good, though. I've gotten a lot of good deals. Just buy from people with pictures. But hey, I know what you mean. I just got burned, too. Waiting since May for X, got it last week. Half of disc 2 wouldn't let you fast foreward or rewind. Each time you tried, it would skip you to the next scene.

onizuka17711 Wrote:That really blows. EBAY can be good, though. I've gotten a lot of good deals. Just buy from people with pictures. But hey, I know what you mean. I just got burned, too. Waiting since May for X, got it last week. Half of disc 2 wouldn't let you fast foreward or rewind. Each time you tried, it would skip you to the next scene.

Honestly, I count myself lucky for having over 100 buying/selling transactions on ebay over the last couple of years... and this is my first bad break. For a primarily user-run system, it's pretty astounding how smoothly things -usually- go...

onizuka17711 Wrote:That really blows. EBAY can be good, though. I've gotten a lot of good deals. Just buy from people with pictures. But hey, I know what you mean. I just got burned, too. Waiting since May for X, got it last week. Half of disc 2 wouldn't let you fast foreward or rewind. Each time you tried, it would skip you to the next scene.

That sucks..Ive made six purchases on E-Bay and ive been pretty fortunate...

Yeah, you get burned every so often, but I don't mind too much considering how much I usually save. Bit off topic, but anyone know if Gluhen is any good? I loved WeiB and am thinking of buying Gluhen off EBAY since no English HK imports are out....

Puppet Master Wrote:lol..Im surprised you have a Super Nintendo..Hell im surprised ANYONE does

Well, I still have my NES with Tecmo, Super Tecmo, Punch Out, Rad Racer, Contra, Zelda, and whatever other games I still have.

My rating on Ebay is about to hit 200 and I've only gotten screwed once. And that was on something I bought from somewhere in Asia. I was new then adn didn't know better. That $30 taught me a lesson.

Although, I just bid on something from someone today that I'm a bit worried about. He's new but has all positives on similar items, so we'll see. Still worried about taking chances with $150 though.

Sucks that you got burned for so much cash.
I've been mostly lucky with Ebay so far and the two times I got burned I only had to suffer negative feedback and I was out less than $10.

As for the SNES, I've still got mine hooked up and my wife and I play it from time to time. There's nothing out there like Uniracers, Tetris Attack, or Tetris Battle Gaiden on any of the other systems I've played. I also use the multi-tap for Bomberman parties... number 4 is my fave in the series so far.

Yes, I still have mine hooked up, too. I have tons of games.

Zagatto Wrote:Sucks that you got burned for so much cash.
I've been mostly lucky with Ebay so far and the two times I got burned I only had to suffer negative feedback and I was out less than $10.

As for the SNES, I've still got mine hooked up and my wife and I play it from time to time. There's nothing out there like Uniracers, Tetris Attack, or Tetris Battle Gaiden on any of the other systems I've played. I also use the multi-tap for Bomberman parties... number 4 is my fave in the series so far.

Bomberman... knew there was something I was missing for my SNES collection. I mostly have it hooked up for the Mario series (long live Super Mario Land), and a couple of lame-o 2D fighters like Weapon Lord and MKII (and the not-lame SFII).

I know which seller you are referring to. Whenever a deal seems too good to be true, I will email the seller, asking him specifically whether the DVDs are original R1s, imports or DVD-Rs.
I did message him asking about the Final Fantasy Unlimited DVDs, he told me truthfully, they are imports.
*shrug*

Canada seller again huh? That's why 99% of the time, I will never buy from Canadian sellers on Ebay if they have really low feedbacks. Why? Coz, years ago, this freaking Canadian seller sold me couple of sets of anime dvds for almost $500. Assured me they were legitimate R1s. Bloody hell, when they came, all were dvd-rs. No way to contact her at all, fake address, fake phone number. Ebay and Paypal won't help COZ I DID RECEIVE THE FREAKING ANIME SETS! Had to file a dispute with my CC company to get my money back.

EDIT: He has a couple of Ebay seller ids. As long as it's a deal too good to be true, from Canada with low feedbacks (less than 100), just stay away.