Internet Purchase Horror Stories

I'm not sure if this counts as "horror" but the one time I had a bad experience with online shopping was about two years ago. I decided to buy my mum a rare science book she wanted. I tracked down a copy in England and ordered the book via the bookseller's website. I paid about $40 extra for a speedy delivery and was informed that it would take the book about 10 days to arrive in Canada. That was great because the book was to be a Christmas gift. The charge appeared on my credit card, but...no book. I waited 15 days and contacted the seller via email. He said he had sent the book, and was none too pleasant about it. In the end, it took well over 2 months for the book to arrive. It arrived in a ripped and dirty envelope. I had to pay extra duty on the purchase at the post office, and of course the seller refused to refund the extra shipping charges for the "fast" delivery. I ended up paying more than $100 for the book in shipping and duty/taxes, but at least my mum was happy.

This was just a couple of months ago. I was looking for a digital camera and found just what I wanted on Ebay. it was listed as "Brand new, in original packaging, etc." I ordered it, paid thru Paypal, and it came really fast. So far so good. I opened the box and the first thing I noticed was that it had been opened and re-taped. Well, maybe someone was just checking. When I opened it I could tell that the styrofoam packing was not the original, but I figured, "I'm paying a low price, as long as it works, who cares." Well, it didn't work. First, I got a low battery indicator. When I replaced the battery I saw signs of leakage or corrosion on the terminals, but the new batteries registered ok. Turned it on again and the screen came on, but none of the buttons worked. The screen said memory full, but no pix would display. I plugged it into my pc and found video and pix of a daschund, but no way I could delete them. The seller advertised full refund on defective merchandise returned within 7 days, so I packed it up and put it in the mail (with delivery confirmation) and emailed the seller. No response. Waited a week and checked delivery. Had been delivered. Emailed the seller again. No response. Filed a complaint with Paypal. Waited 3 weeks. no response from the seller. Filed a claim for refund, no response from seller. 2 weeks later got my refund from Paypal and a negative feedback from the seller. Claimed I broke his stupid camera! AS IF!

I don't know if this is the kind of thing you're interested in, but I'll chip in with my story. About three years ago now I posted to a thread in a forum I used to frequent about my hobby of spinning (wool into yarn, that is). I ended up PMing back and forth with a guy who did custom handiwork, mostly carpentry, but when I asked he said he could make me a small stone spindlewhorl for only $25. I looked over his website and everything checked out as legit, and his work was just gorgeous. I Paypaled him the money and he said he'd get to work on the whorl as soon as he finished up with his current projects. I said no hurry.

At first he'd PM/email me occasionally with updates and let me know he'd get to my project soon. Then...nothing. No answers to my PMs or emails, and since Paypal has a time limit for complaints, no luck there either. It wasn't a lot of money, but I was excited about the whorl and really disappointed in the guy. That's definitely the last time I pay upfront for anything online.

Kathie Freeman said:

This was just a couple of months ago. I was looking for a digital camera and found just what I wanted on Ebay. it was listed as "Brand new, in original packaging, etc." I ordered it, paid thru Paypal, and it came really fast. So far so good. I opened the box and the first thing I noticed was that it had been opened and re-taped. Well, maybe someone was just checking. When I opened it I could tell that the styrofoam packing was not the original, but I figured, "I'm paying a low price, as long as it works, who cares." Well, it didn't work. First, I got a low battery indicator. When I replaced the battery I saw signs of leakage or corrosion on the terminals, but the new batteries registered ok. Turned it on again and the screen came on, but none of the buttons worked. The screen said memory full, but no pix would display. I plugged it into my pc and found video and pix of a daschund, but no way I could delete them. The seller advertised full refund on defective merchandise returned within 7 days, so I packed it up and put it in the mail (with delivery confirmation) and emailed the seller. No response. Waited a week and checked delivery. Had been delivered. Emailed the seller again. No response. Filed a complaint with Paypal. Waited 3 weeks. no response from the seller. Filed a claim for refund, no response from seller. 2 weeks later got my refund from Paypal and a negative feedback from the seller. Claimed I broke his stupid camera! AS IF!

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That sounds like something I read about in the Washington Post. There was a eBay vendor who spent several years selling small, inexpensive items to build up good feedback. Then he started selling cameras, which were more expensive, and of course people checked the great feedback and purchased from him. That's when he started scamming people. They didn't get what they ordered or get it at all, etc.