Avoid Pamnbillcollectibles on Ebay

[sablebrush52]

Just be happy you have eBay's buyer protection policies. That didn't always exist.
eBay isn't a professional auction house. They don't perform anything like the vetting that a high end auction house does. ebay is just a worldwide garage sale/swap meet. Anybody can sell anything on it, except tobacco. They finally got around to enforcing that rule earlier this year.

When I go slumming searching through eBay I'm aware that by and large I'm not dealing with pros, just an assortment of laypeople getting rid of junk or making some extra money on the side. Most of them have little to no knowledge about the various kinds of crap merchandise they're selling.

Caveat emptor is the name of the game on eBay and if you're not thinking that way, you're an imbecile a sucker.

The only reason I buy off of eBay is that I can find things there that I don't find elsewhere, and generally at fair prices, with the occasional bargain. eBay doesn't exist to give buyers outstanding bargains, though they occasionally happen. That's an eBay myth. 'twere that the case, no one would sell there.

When I'm looking to buy a pipe there are some rules I abide by. I don't bid on pipes that lack pictures of the nomenclature, rim and chamber, or the bit and slot. If those details are lacking in the presentation, I'll contact the seller to request them. I I have questions about the item up for sale I'll contact the seller. If the seller is non responsive I move on and don't look back.

I don't put any stock into whatever palaver sales pitch a seller has written. It's a sales pitch. Why would I believe it uncritically?

I don't bid on "no return" auctions. Photographs are NEVER an adequate substitute for handling the pipe in person. Any seller who states and/or believes otherwise is someone who's a few cards short of a full deck.

For the most part my dealings on eBay have been straightforward, smooth and sometimes enjoyable. The few problems I've had with crooks (all of whom were 100% approval rated sellers, hence why I know those ratings are meaningless) were resolved in my favor.

 

[DAR]

Ebay is so easy to deal with as a buyer that it's really rare to actually get ripped off. Angry about the ripoff and the hassle of having to spend time dealing with the whole thing? Yes. There is no escaping that anger of getting ripped off but they will take the side of the buyer no matter what has happened.
No returns? No problem. Just ask the seller for a refund and if they don't want to or state that they don't have a return or refund policy or that they take a 10% restocking fee, just tell eBay that you want a refund and you don't pay restocking fees and they refund your money without even dealing with the seller.

It's happened to me as a seller. I sold a $5000 saxophone and the buyer, without even contacting me or letting me know, returned it to me. It just showed up at my front door. I tried contacting the buyer with no response. I contacted eBay and they had refunded the money to the buyer because he claimed it was "not as described". I asked for an explanation of what was "not as described" since it was a new saxophone and eBay actually said, "contact the buyer. We don't know". So they never even asked the buyer what the problem was. The buyer had disappeared of course. I ended up with a dented sax that has obviously been played and dropped and they ended up with their refund.
I would much rather be the buyer on eBay than the seller. And then there are the fees you pay as a seller.........

 

[Kottan]

I was tricked once by an ebay seller who got my money (€ 15) but didn't send the pipe I won (as only bidder). No reaction when I and then ebay mailed him. ebay didn't a refund because I sold the pipe via banktransfer. (The seller didn't use paypal), But they closed his account and adviced me to press a charge against him, what I however did not. The loss of money didn't hurt me that much as did the bad feeling of being cheated by a person I trusted. My fault! But a cheap education how to deal with ebay.

 

[ashdigger]

I was tricked once by an ebay seller who got my money (€ 15) but didn't send the pipe I won (as only bidder). No reaction when I and then ebay mailed him. ebay didn't a refund because I sold the pipe via banktransfer. (The seller didn't use paypal), But they closed his account and adviced me to press a charge against him, what I however did not. The loss of money didn't hurt me that much as did the bad feeling of being cheated by a person I trusted. My fault! But a cheap education how to deal with ebay.

I purchased (kinda) a drone from eBay last year and the seller offered a discount if I paid outside of PayPal. I replied no thank you and paid in full through PayPal. Good thing. After two weeks of going back and forth with seller inquiring about shipping I filed a grievance with eBay. They did their investigation and a week later the money was refunded in full. The buyers protection matters.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yeh, having a vender start off your relationship by trying to get around the rules, is a sure sign that they aren't trustworthy. If they'll try to screw the platform, they'll screw you too.

 

[anotherbob]

The worst thing that happened to me on ebay I ordered an out of print rare record that disappeared and never showed up got a refund instantly and to this day I still think the person was selling off their collection out of desperation solved their money problem never sent it and just waited to send the refund. Worst thing that happened then again I am wary of ebay. Lucky note about a year later that album got reissued and I got it new for a lot less. You know something is special when you think they pulled that trick and your reaction is to go yeah I would be very tempted to do the same thing.

 

[HitchensDog]

Purchased a meerschaum pipe they advertised as fitted for 9mm filter. Nope. Non filtered pipe. Pictures weren't that good, but they did say 9mm. I love the shape so I figured I'd keep it. And it really turned out to be a nice pipe luckily enough. Paid them using Paypal as that was a payment option. They then reported me for not paying. I had already received the pipe. I messaged them by email and through ebay explaining their money was sitting in Paypal unclaimed. Two or three weeks went by, with me emailing multiple times. I realized they didn't have a Paypal account. I sent them detailed instructions on how to log on to Paypal and create an account. I also offered to send a check or whatever. They finally got into Paypal and claimed their money, but left the incident open with eBay. I really had to work hard just to get them their money.