I just got spammed into buying a Saga XL jacket from Hallamt (hotmail: hallamtresthorn@hotmail.com).
I thought he was legit because 1) he posted pics of the jacket 2) Gave enough information which gave me reason to believe he was legit 3) had good feedback (which in doing further investigation found out those who gave feedback were actually him making alias accounts...tricky) and 4) followed up three days after shipping saying he lost the tracking number but said the jacket should arrive on saturday.
2 weeks rolled around, I searchbarred his name and up came threads saying kids had been scammed into buying the same Saga jacket. However, PayPal is great and this is why:
1) when you transfer money to someone via PayPal and you mark the reason 'services' rather than "gift" (I got lucky in checking the services box, I didnt think twice about it), you are able to go to the 'Resolution Center' and file a Dispute for the transaction if you think it is fraudulent. This is an official 'Seller needs to tell me why my product hasnt arrived.' Once you do that, you can (and should) immediately escalate this to a claim. A claim gives the seller 10 days to respond, and if he does not give a reasonable explanation, the transaction will be deemed fraudulent and PayPal will immediately pull money out of his bank account/PayPal account, which may or may not make his account negative. Its a good deal, and I just got my money back today actually.
Sparknotes:
1) Buyer beware on NS, it is easy to scam people on here. Trust factor is high on NS and pricks will oftentimes take advantage of it.
2) DO YOUR RESEARCH. Read into the transaction. Look at Seller's feedback, threads, community involvement on NS, karma, and even look for interaction elsewhere. the email hallamtresthorn@hotmail.com was seen nowhere else on the internet except for Hallamt's NS account. that is a pretty big giveaway in retrospect
3) Anytime you use PayPal, always transfer the money checking the box 'Goods and Services' rather than 'Gift'. Im pretty sure, as stated above and through research, that you cant file a claim if the transaction was for a gift.
4) If the transaction goes south, immediately File a Claim. I think after 30 days, you cant file a claim so get after it.
5) Call PayPal about the Claim you filed. This is optional, but PayPal has great customer service. I told some lady about my situation and she was super apologetic. It may or may not expedite the process, but it cleared the air and she spelled out exactly the process. 10 days was exact, and I received my money back on the 11th day
6) Let NS know of the user who scammed you. Thanks!
Sparknotes cont'd: PayPal is legit. Biased to the buyer
