My wife watches Judge Judy. Yesterday she has a case involving a very dishonest seller on e-bay. A mother and daughter were suing this lady over two cell phones. They purchased two cell phones over e-bay. Two separate sales. Total cost for the two phones were $400. + . The buyer sent the money to seller. The buyer received two envelopes from seller. Inside each envelope was a photo of the cell phones. The buyer called the seller and was advised that the e-bay auction was for a "photo" of the phones and not actual working phones. Judge Judy awarded the plaintiffs $5,000.00. The morale of this is I guess we better read the ads very carefully. It's Case # 1 on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 http://www.judgejudy.com/Home/home.asp
I saw another case where someone bought a cell phone from e-bay, and after they received it, they found it could not be activated because of an unpaid bill of the previous owner. E-bay might not be the best place to buy a cell phone.
OMG, I saw that too!! LOVE Judge Judy!!! That piece of crap person got what she deserved! :evil: :evil: :evil:
If I had been the judge I woould have awarded the buyer the money they spent and nothing more if that. If people are too dumb to read the full auction description before bidding then they deserve what they get. You will find this quite often on car stereo auctions. Where someone is selling the picture or the box of an item, and not the actual item. And it is clearly stated in the description that you are buying a picture of box or what ever and not the actual item. Yet people will still bid these auctions up and then complain when they get screwed cause they didn't read. Craig
Are you serious? You are kidding. Right? This for sale item was in the cell phone auction area of e-bay. Not the photo or picture section.
Isn't that a little like saying that if a woman walks through the park at night, she deserves to get raped? Yes the buyer should have read the ad. However the seller was intentionally attempting to con the buyer, knowing that some don't read the fine print. Just because some people are naive doesn't mean that you can take advantage of them.
No I am not kidding. It used to be fairly common place in the car stereo section of e-bay to find brand new just released items listed for sale, and to read in the description that you were bidding on the picture of said item or perhaps an empty box that the item came in, not the item itself. And these items were listed in the car audio part of the consumer electronics section, not the picture section. Used to be popular as well with the car alarms as well, especially since some of the nicer highend alarms go for $600-$1000 installed and were selling for $250 or so, and people thought they were getting deals. Craig
Not anything at all like saying your comment above, and you really went out on a limb to even think about making that comparison. Craig
Actually it's quite the same. You were saying that the person put themselves in the position of being the victim, so they got what they deserved. Not sure what that has to do with anything. Perhaps you can clarify.
If they put themselves in the position of being the victim due their own stupidity then yes. Given the example you listed of a woman walking through a park at night. If said woman is dressed like a stripper at Dockside and has $100 dollar bills hanging out of her purse and pockets, and she is victimized while walking through the park at night then it is her own stupidity, that brought it about. Although it is still totally different as this is the physical violation of a person versus someone "feeling" as if they were cheated because they got a picture of a cell phone instead of the real thing, especially if that is what was being sold in the auction. As this actually aired on Judge Judy the auction listing has more than likely long since been removed, so there isn't a simple way short of having the auction listing printed out to actually go back to see what was actually being sold. And if you truely believe in your own little way that being "taken" over the internet for $ is the same and being victimized by a mugger in a park at night is the the same thing then I feel sorry for you. Craig
Usually, I would agree that stupid actions get what they deserve, but here we're talking about people actively conning others. I agree with Clif. Well said. If everybody felt this way, what a better world this would be.
I will graciously stand to the side while every woman on 4042 gives you the verbal beating you deserve.
I agree with both of you. Intentionally misleading is just as dishonest as outright lying, and there's no doubt that the sellers set out intentionally to mislead. Maybe it's naive to expect people to even remember what the golden rule is, but the world surely would be a better place if more of us tried to follow it.
Actually till there is a hard copy of the auction listing you can't say with certainty that they were conning others. If they posted the auction for the phone itself and sent the pictures then yes they are conning people. If however their auction listing distinctly said that you are bidding on a picture of said item and not the item itself then how are they conning someone? Craig
Seriously? Who would bid on a picture of a cell phone? Maybe if Andy Warhol painted one, but not a photo of a cell phone, really. The only reason for posting the item for sale was to trick someone. Was it P.T. Barnum who said no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people? At least he provided entertainment for the money.
Can I still sell my environmental responsible solar powered clothes driers? Well I guess I am going out of business :evil: On sale today for only $100 normally I would sell them for $250. Hey I have some clothes pins and laundry line to move folks!
