If you are not familiar with Yahoo Auctions, you can join and get a PayPal account to pay for auctions that require it, or use Yahoo PayDirect, where others can pay you through an e-mail compose screen with a bank account.
The letdown: Yahoo does not make any attempt to resolve a dispute should you have a dispute with a seller. The buyer protection agreement does not cover a total that includes two or more items sold by one seller and shipped in a single package. Yahoo also does nothing to stop a seller from claiming harassment because a buyer asked questions, or from making legal threats. In my case the seller claimed harassment and gave copies of my e-mails to Yahoo as supposed proof.
The truth is that the seller gets priority. Before the buyer who received the item had even filed a damage report with UPS or the other shipper (who state clearly that either the shipper or the recipient can file one), Yahoo removed points the buyer had earned on auctions, and then refused to reverse that decision based solely on the seller's opinion.
So be wise and get your goods elsewhere. Yahoo could change its operations so that it does not release money to a seller before the buyer has said they are satisfied with the item, provide links so damage reports can be filed with the member's information added automatically, and require that the seller not create a problem until the buyer has agreed to the items shipped.
Too many people are being lied to by sellers, and Yahoo does nothing to stop it. When a buyer has been ripped off, Yahoo should not ask that buyer to collect e-mail headers by pressing an additional button on e-mails received. Yahoo's servers already have enough header information from sellers. Yahoo has committed fraud. A buyer also needs earned points to be able to bid on items.
Attitudes affect points only if you have points, so a harassment claim by someone who has already collected your money is not affected at all. He continues selling until sold out, then can stop using Yahoo entirely, preventing any further communication from you or from the shipper he used.
A buyer can file a consumer complaint against people who take advantage of them, and even against a business like Yahoo Auctions.
My case: On 06/07 I paid through PayDirect for two items from one seller: a Sony 17-inch color Trinitron Multiscan monitor ($45.00) and a USB card reader ($8.54), for a total of $53.54, shipped in one UPS Ground package weighing 51 lbs. The seller described the monitor as refurbished and working great, and the card reader as brand new and unused. On 04 Jul 04 I sent a damaged-package report to UPS customer service.
On 07/01 Yahoo sent me a notice that the seller had rated me bad, with the comment that all my e-mails and harassment had been reported and that I was making false statements.
My reply to Yahoo: The seller packaged the monitor poorly. It had one sheet of bubble wrap around it, a piece of cardboard taped onto the screen, and there was a loaf-bread-size amount of white foam loose in the carton. He told me he gave the package to UPS and that they were supposed to provide him a new package service, and that I was to check it on receipt to see how they did. He lied to you and to me. He has no right to demand that I take a polygraph test for his monitor and USB card reader, whose total was over the slim amount that Yahoo's protection program required me to pay before I could file a complaint. I filed a complaint by e-mail with Yahoo Auctions, and I have also filed charges against the seller and might file against Yahoo Auctions because of the protection program and fraud. I do not want anything broken, and as the buyer I have the right to return the items. I do not appreciate you degrading my account for the reason the seller presented without reading his e-mails and his Yahoo Messenger messages to me, which threatened me; it is illegal for you to side with him. I am also a seller on Yahoo Auctions and have better merchandise than he does and could sell everything elsewhere. I want an automatic reversal of your decision immediately, or I will report your e-mail and my reply to the consumer protection agency.
I have not harassed a seller for a poorly packaged product that arrived broken. You owe me double the amount now. I do not lie. Add this to the failure of delivery reported to your auctions abuse department, because it means Yahoo has taken money from my credit card twice. On 07-01-04 at 8:12 PM I e-mailed my complaint to Yahoo's auctions abuse department, attaching five photos showing the broken main circuit board and the broken monitor cabinet cover. Regarding UPS, without pictures there will be no refund. I also filed a complaint at ifccfbi.gov (complaint number I04070110144085) over the seller's fraudulent statement.
Additional complaint against Yahoo: I won an auction for an NX9010U Pentium4 2.8Ghz 15TFT 40G with a winning bid of $211.50. The seller requested a total of $252.00 plus a $40.00 Western Union fee, so the total cost to me was $292.00. The item was never received, it was charged on my credit card, and Yahoo has done nothing to recover either the computer I won or the cash I sent by Western Union.
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