Package from China? Open It in Front of a Witness!

GordonD on 23/08/2024 - 19:43
Last edited 24/08/2024 - 15:03 by 1 other user

Decided to upgrade to a Ryzen 8600G.

But I'm into low power stuff. So when I saw an eBay seller offering 8600GEs - the 35W version of the 65W 8600G - for not that much more than the price of an 8600G, I though, hey, why not.

The seller was in China. But it wasn't the obvious scam that a lot of AliExpress stuff is that's way below what anyone would expect to pay for that item. It was about the right price. A bit more than an 8600G. USD250. With GST and expedited shipping, it was AUD460.

By good luck I was around at the supermarket when the package arrived, so I got a card to go round to the local post office to collect it. But I wasn't expecting it yet, so I was puzzled at what it was. So I opened it in front of the post office counter staff member, and in view of the post office's security cameras.

What was in it was a second hand Intel Xeon E3-1220V6 that you can get on eBay for $59.

Now I've got to convince the seller and eBay and PayPal that I have a witness that it was a fraud. That I'm not the scammer, the seller is.

As the old saying goes, a fool learns from his experience, an intelligent person learns from other people’s, and an idiot does not learn from anyone’s. Learn from my experience. If it's from China, open the package in front of a witness.

Computing Ryzen 8600GE

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Comments

  • Mikefr on 23/08/2024 - 19:57
    +1

    Given you have a witness, is there any recourse? Or given the value, not worth it?

  • Clear on 23/08/2024 - 20:02
    +10

    A good witness is your own phone or camera recording the opening of a package.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/08/2024 - 20:06
    +2

    Did the seller at least have a heap of positive feedback ? Price too good to be true is usually a huge red flag.

    • GordonD on 23/08/2024 - 20:08
      +1

      99.5%

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 23/08/2024 - 20:09

        Wow , wonder if it’s just a zombie/hacked account.

      • freefall101 on 23/08/2024 - 20:24
        +1

        How many reviews though? And what kind of reviews? These days ebay involves taking a deep dive into the review, they might have 99.5% but have sold a thousand 20c cleaning cloths. Takes way more digging than it's worth to use ebay unless it's a major retailer.

        Sucks though, basically can't trust ebay reviews as a good guide anymore.

    • GordonD on 23/08/2024 - 20:19

      Price too good to be true is usually a huge red flag.

      I knew that with the tablet I bought on AliExpress, and walked into that one with my eyes open, just to see what I'd actually get.

      I couldn't believe how dishonest they were. It wasn't the brand claimed. It wasn't the model claimed. It wasn't the screen size claimed. It wasn't the CPU claimed. It wasn't the amount of RAM claimed. It wasn't the storage capacity claimed. And far from being able to do 5G calls, it couldn't make any calls whatsoever. But it was apparently new. And it does mostly work. And it was cheap.

  • Ocker on 23/08/2024 - 20:17
    +5

    Buy anything from China at your own peril

  • xuqi on 23/08/2024 - 21:26
    +1

    Was this the seller?

    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/145919678288?

    • GordonD on 24/08/2024 - 07:39
      +2

      Yes. But the price was previously a bit lower.

  • plmko on 23/08/2024 - 21:40
    -1

    Witness? Convince? Wow making a mountain out of mole hill here.

    You can simply open your package with your phone recording the process.

    Or just think for a moment and take photos showing the difference between the product received and the product expected. It's not difficult.

    Ebay will always want you to make a free return before anyone makes judgement. There's no need to convincing anyone.

    If you think this is a scam, it's one of the dumbest scams. There's literally no way to scam someone so blatantly on Ebay unless someone is too inept to help themselves by clicking the report case button.

    • GordonD on 24/08/2024 - 07:45

      You can simply open your package with your phone recording the process.

      Except that when most sellers are honest you don't think you need to do that until you've opened the package and found that you should have.

      it's one of the dumbest scams

      Lots of scammers have gotten away with it by claiming you are the one trying to scam them.

  • JimmyF on 23/08/2024 - 22:00
    +1

    Videos can be faked…. Just lodge a not as described return, move on.

    • GordonD on 24/08/2024 - 07:51

      Packing error by one of staff, says the seller.

      Can I trust them to send a replacement? Should I?

      • Barbados Slim on 24/08/2024 - 08:35

        Can a man step into the same river twice?

        • GordonD on 28/08/2024 - 09:34
          +1

          Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

  • elgrande on 24/08/2024 - 07:04

    The reality is even if you had gotten the actual product you would be able to open a case and get your money back - all the protection is for the buyer.

  • gromit on 25/08/2024 - 09:47

    If it is from China then a witness doesn't do anything for you. Ebay and paypal provide incredibly poor protection for buyers as in the end they just claim you previously opened it and replaced the contents and as they are in China both Ebay and Paypal know they are better off siding with the seller as they have no chance of collecting funds back from them

  • GordonD on 28/08/2024 - 09:33

    I'm intrigued that we have posters here who think ebay and PayPal provide good protection and other who think they back the seller.

    In my case the seller actually had a long history back years and good ebay feedback rating of 99.5%. That said, he raised no objection to me calling him a fraud, and accepted that the contents were not as described without demanding to see evidence, so I haven't changed my opinion that he knew it was fraud. I suppose unless its a rogue employee helping themself, all he's got to do is count the number of that model CPU remain in stock to see if its the number he bought minus the number he's sold.

    I've rolled the dice and agreed to him replacing the item rather than refunding. The second package will arrive by FedEx next monday. The FedEx person's not going to hang around while I open the parcel, so I'll be taking it to the local police station to witness it being opened.

    • gromit on 29/08/2024 - 18:05

      Ebay and PayPal in the end are looking to protect themselves not the buyer or seller, where the sellers are easily accessible and they know they can claw back easily they happily back the buyer, when they seem to be aware they won't be getting the money back even though the fraud is blatantly obvious, then good luck getting them to back the buyer.

  • felicific on 26/09/2024 - 18:53

    Buddy, I think it might have been a mistake by the staff to send you the wrong item, rather than an intentional act.

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