GAME FOR ADVANCE?

[wiggy]

By the way, the suggestion to virtually shut down your PayPal account -

I say this because I've *heard* that PayPal has been known to re-charge users who file chargebacks.  I've never had this issue myself, but precautions are always nice.

And they still can.  Deleting that info from you account DOES NOT delete it from their records nor does it instantly remove their access to it.

[Velmeran]

In a situation like this --- given how eBay bends over backwards for buyers now, you should get everything you paid returned to you.
eBay will typically cover your "return shipping costs" as well (they just pass it on to the seller)

[Patrick]

I asked for a refund and they said ship it back, But I dont think I would trust that and offered for him to refund me first.  His message. due to the eBay policy I can't send a refund unless the item is returned so please return it and you'll receive your refund, thank you

[wiggy]

I asked for a refund and said ship it back, But I dont think I would trust that and offered for him to refund me first.  His message. due to the eBay policy I can't send a refund unless the item is returned so please return it and you'll receive your refund, thank you

That's actually true.  Send it with delivery confirmation, if you plan to return it.

If he refunds the money and the you don't send the item back, then he's pretty much screwed, whereas you have recourse if he doesn't refund you after having returned the item.  Again, with delivery confirmation to prove that you returned it.  They WILL ask for that if there's any issue with obtaining the refund.

[UncleBob]

Whoa whoa whoa, this seems a tad extreme for a 15 dollar game. 

Disagree.

1st we don't even know if the guy was aware that this is a bootleg.  Assuming that he knowingly sold a counterfeit game is just that, assuming.

Don't care.  If the guy was selling one game, then, perhaps.  But the guy is selling multiple counterfeit games.

Paypal will make you ship the game back, most likely at your own expense, and you nay not get your original shipping fees back either.

Possibly.  The problem is, though, that this would require you to BREAK FEDERAL LAW.  At no point can PayPal require you to BREAK FEDERAL LAW as part of any contract or agreement.  Period. 

"Deleting" your banking/CC info from paypal does absolutely nothing.  In fact, you're not even deleting it.  We all entered an agreement with paypal when we signed up.  Calling your bank or CC company and telling them you didn't authorize this transaction is incorrect.  The transaction WAS authorized.

I'm suggesting that you call them and tell them that any future debits from PayPal are not authorized.  Big difference.

But, because you received something other than what you thought you were getting you may indeed be entitled to a refund.  The thing is, it's very unlikely that anyone will grant you a refund without returning the merchandise.

Never had a problem myself.

A chargeback is something that you don't want use unless you're absolutely out of options and you need a resolution (i.e. you need your money back).  Keep in mind that your CC company isn't in the business of handing chargebacks out all the time.   If you do a chargeback for this 15 dollar transaction (if they'll even entertain the idea of doing one for such a small amount of money), then don't expect another for a while, like when you may actually NEED that money back because someone is seriously trying to scam you or rip you off.  Plus, chargebacks are a pain in the ass.  Way more headache than the 15 bucks.

Again, I've done this three times and have not had a single issue.

On top of all that, paypal may just shut your account down and charge the same fee all over again, leaving you back at square one.

Again, this is why you contact your bank/credit card companies and tell them that any future debits from PayPal are not authorized. 

File with paypal, if they find in your favor and it's not exactly what you want, then just eat it and know what to look for next time.  15 bucks is NOT worth what could potentially be HOURS of headache.

Aside from waiting for responses, I've probably spent a total of 15 minutes on this each time.
And it's not about the money.

And, as PayPal, additionally, your bank/credit card company cannot require you to BREAK FEDERAL LAW as a part of any kind of agreement or transaction.

[UncleBob]

And they still can.  Deleting that info from you account DOES NOT delete it from their records nor does it instantly remove their access to it.

You're correct - they may still have access to your accounts
However, If you've removed the info from your account *and* notified your financial institutions that further debits from PayPal are not authorized, then you will have grounds to dispute any additional charges from them.

I asked for a refund and said ship it back, But I dont think I would trust that and offered for him to refund me first.  His message. due to the eBay policy I can't send a refund unless the item is returned so please return it and you'll receive your refund, thank you

That's actually true.  Send it with delivery confirmation, if you plan to return it.

Except that it's not. eBay policy cannot override FEDERAL LAW.   Period.  That's not how the world works.

[FFXIK]

I don't think you can actually keep Paypal from charging your credit cards.  The only reason I say this is that when my FFXI account got hacked and the charge was reinstated on my account, I called my account holder and told them Square Enix was no longer authorized to charge this account.  They said tough.  They said that they cannot and will not block charges on the account the only thing that I could do was call them and contest the charge. 

So yea telling the CC that Paypal is no longer authorized is a waste of time.  Ebay and Paypal have a fraud report dept for just such a thing you need to work with that.  You will more than likely have to send the game back.  but you should get your money back sans return shipping.

Quite frankly if the USA was worried about mail fraud on bootlegs I know a great many anime and handheld game sites that should be non operational at this point but that's not the case. 

[UncleBob]

Telling the financial institution that PayPal is no longer authorized will not stop them from charging - but will lay the ground work for disputing any charges that PayPal makes against your account(s).

And, again, as for sending the game back - no one can make breaking FEDERAL LAW a part of any agreement.  Ever.  Period.  If they do, tell them you want it in writing.  See how quickly they back off.

I tell y'all what.  I've successfully filed against three different eBay sellers for counterfeit items using the above methods (though I've never had the PayPal problems with the chargeback).

Y'all tell me what YOUR experience is when dealing with these situations.  How many successful or unsuccessful chargebacks have you filed, what methods did you use, and what was the outcome?

Because I currently have a 100% record of getting 100% of my money back and keeping the counterfeit items - (although two of which I destroyed, one lot (three games) I UPS'd to Nintendo upon their request -  as I didn't want to keep them anyway).

If you return the item to the seller, they'll simply resell it to some other smuck on eBay.  eBay isn't going to stop them (after all, eBay makes money from sellers, not buyers), so the only way to effect them in any way (however small it is) is to make them lose the sale, lose the shipping and lose the product.

[FFXIK]

May have worked for you but I have 2 cards one through Capital One Bank the other through Bank of America.  Both told me the same thing.  That they will not stop a charge on my account as long as the funds are there to cover it.  The only thing I could do is catch the fraudulent charge on my statement and call to refute it.  The only thing I have had that work with is my debit card.

I never said it wasn't.  It's just poorly enforced.  

Good for you. I got burned at a used game store chain that didn't know what they were selling.  Game Exchange was the particular franchise in question.  Since then I have made it a point to know my games before I buy them.  Never have to return what you know to avoid.

3/3, I'm glad you got your money back and they were willing to work with you, really I am, but that number is awfully low.  I'm a skeptic and pessimist at heart, so I don't like to say things like that for fear of falling on my own sword when sometime in the future things don't go my way.

That is true they will just resell it to some other waiting sucker.  Even if they do get their account shut down, they will still just make a new one then business as usual.  Technically speaking I think Ebay needs to set some new rules concerning bootlegs.  Full refund at the sellers expense, with photo evidence that the item was destroyed.

[UncleBob]

May have worked for you but I have 2 cards one through Capital One Bank the other through Bank of America.  Both told me the same thing.  That they will not stop a charge on my account as long as the funds are there to cover it.  The only thing I could do is catch the fraudulent charge on my statement and call to refute it.  The only thing I have had that work with is my debit card.

Which is what I've been saying.  Call just so they have it on record that PayPal isn't authorized to debit the account.  Then, if they do, you have more ammo when you "catch the fraudulent charge on your statement and call to refute it."

Technically speaking I think Ebay needs to set some new rules concerning bootlegs.  Full refund at the sellers expense, with photo evidence that the item was destroyed.

This is where it gets tricky.  I don't know how it works for PayPal/eBay (same company, for anyone who doesn't know).  If you file a chargeback against them, do they eat it or do they deduct the funds from the seller?

If it's the former, then I could see large numbers of people getting their money back having some influence on policy.
If it's the second option, then I don't as there's nothing in it for them.

[UncleBob]

And you're right.  3-for-3 is rather low.  But when we're talking about one copy of Mario Kart in a single transaction, that's pretty good odds.

I wouldn't use my tips to go all vigilante on eBay bootleggers... I'm sure after the third time you call in on the same day, they'll likely shoot you down.

[FFXIK]

True that.  It may not "stop" the charge but the institution will launch an investigation into the matter.  It will help the push the investigation in your favor.

Which in my case with FFXI I actually had to lock the accounts, because if I didn't do something on the SE side of things.  I would have kept getting charged and had to have foot the bill.  Nevermind I didn't reactivate the account the hacker did.  Their argument was that even though I am denying access now I origianlly granted that access in the first place, and there was nothing they were going to do about it.  I got the charge taken off the card, subsequently my interest rate went up too.  

So I'll say it depends on the bank.  I can confirm that BoA and COB are douchebags

You're right about the odds as well.  For a single transaction like this, it should be fine.

You know I'm not sure.  I have done business on Ebay for years, but my guess would be that paypal initially eats it, then shifting the charge to the seller when everything is cleared up.

[Patrick]

Im going to send it back tomorrow and see if I get refund.  I bought real copy of Mario Kart with a close view of the game picture.  No box and such witch was the reason for buying the other,  But I'll just do the DS case and print the art. Thats why im on this site here.

I informed Nintendo about the bootleg and will see if they care or not as they have a email for just that.  I think it counts to used game places like ebay and amazon to.

I think its pointless to sell pirated/bootleg games,  One its a waste, two You have a large chance of getting cought, especially if its a collector.  I sort of am.  I like to have the entire game with box and manual.  And three this is why "atleast one of the reasons" PlayStation and XBOX are going to the nonphysical hard copy media and doing what Steam does.  For me I like having both, A digital and hard copy.  And if I did sell a game with a printed box I made I would have that in my discription.

[FFXIK]

This has to be done in person.

I'll give you a tip if you are ever unsure of a GBA cart you are buying, or own, fip it over and look inside the cartridge housing.  Right above the contacts you will see Nintendo in white.  If it's not there it's a bootleg.  More often than not you can tell just buy comparison of the ESRB logo, the Nintendo seal, or if it's really bad and they don't even use the cartridge art, but the outer box art.

Here's an example.  The game (one of two, the other being Dragon Quest I & II for GBC) that was bought from Game Exchange.  One retail, other bootleg

[FFXIK]

Im going to send it back tomorrow and see if I get refund.  I bought real copy of Mario Kart with a close view of the game picture.  No box and such witch was the reason for buying the other,  But I'll just do the DS case and print the art. Thats why im on this site here.

I informed Nintendo about the bootleg and will see if they care or not as they have a email for just that.  I think it counts to used game places like ebay and amazon to.

I think its pointless to sell pirated/bootleg games,  One its a waste, two You have a large chance of getting cought, especially if its a collector.  I sort of am.  I like to have the entire game with box and manual.  And three this is why "atleast one of the reasons" PlayStation and XBOX are going to the nonphysical hard copy media and doing what Steam does.  For me I like having both, A digital and hard copy.  And if I did sell a game with a printed box I made I would have that in my discription.

I wish you luck in this, and note that Microsoft already said that the rumors concerning the new Xbox were not true.