I think I got scammed for 10194 Emerald Night

[jabz10]

Well, here is my story, pasted from my Bricklink post

Hi, I am just getting into Lego trains, after seeing that 10194 Emerald Night set on Youtube I was determined for it to be my first Lego train set.

After searching around for it I settled on trying to obtain it through Brick link, I noticed a seller in Spain, and I asked what their shipping price was. I did notice they were a relatively new seller and only has 1 other sale.

All in all I thought it was reasonable and so I went ahead and ordered it, and made payment via Moneybookers as that is all the seller accepted and/or bank transfer. As everyone knows this set is now quite rare and it cost me 200EURO excl shipping, however I was willing to pay the amount for this being my first Lego Train set.

The seller was quite responsive via email, and a few emails were exchanged on Dec 22 to Dec 23. Establishing shipping method and price etc. The last email exchange I had from the Seller was on Dec 23 where they acknowledged receiving the Moneybookers payment and that they will email me when the item has shipped, and it should take 5 working days to get here, I am in New Zealand.

After a week or so I noticed the status hadn't changed on Bricklink, and I hadn't received a shipping email. However seeing it was Christmas I thought I'd wait it out, as I myself was busy with family during this period.

By Jan 4 I still hadn't received anything or any further correspondence from the Seller. I had assumed they shipped it and neglected to change status through their Bricklink store etc, being a new seller I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. On Jan 4 -6 I emailed them twice, and sent messages through BL. I haven't had any responses yet.

I looked up their Bricklink Store, and noticed it was empty, however I don't think they had much inventory anyway, but they do have 2 feedback. I assumed it may be due to holiday season. I can see they haven't logged into BL since Jan 1, so I am still assuming they haven't seen my messages. However I would think they'd check their email as I have directly emailed them several times. I am still hoping they are on holiday and just haven't attended to their email.

I have now issued a NSS on BL for the seller. I am at a loss at what further I can do, I am unable to contact the seller. I am gutted that I may potentially be out 220 EURO which is a significant amount in New Zealand dollars.

I am not sure if I have any recourse through Moneybookers, I will try and check.

I have pasted the screenshot of the order details, I am trying to find ways to contact the seller, I am still hopeful they just haven't cleared emails.. I am highly disappointed.

[AlmightyArjen]

I get your concerns. Also the fact that the BL store is empty doesn't sound promissing

But a shipment of 5 working days is BS: I'm living in the Netherlands and when I have to ship something to New Zealand, it takes an average of 4 weeks to arrive. So I guess that's your only hope...

Does anyone know how Bricklink handles these cases? Do they have a "fund" when an item isn't shipped? Never heard of it though...

[snowvictim]

I don't think they have a "fund". Best bet is to inform Moneybookers. If the person hasn't cashed out the payment there's a possibility they can return it. Had a situation like this with one purchase on eBay (not for 200 EUR though). Waited 3 weeks, decided to contact PayPal. They contacted eBay. eBay contacted me. They said that the seller isn't responding so they asked PayPal to give me the money back (it was only around 25 Euro though).

Your parcel could also be stuck at customs. I don't know what's the threshold for New Zealand, but if it's below 200 Euro then you might have to go to clearance, pay the tax and get it. But they usually inform you it's there... Could also be the holiday you mentioned. It's only 2 weeks in really and Christmas time is a nightmare for shipping. Alternatively, stuff gets screwed up sometimes. My sister ordered some clothes (women...) from the States, she waited 5 weeks for delivery.

[kibosh]

The fact that they are unresponsive is a hugs red flag. I'd look to stop payment ASAP.

[peterab]

I've never heard of moneybookers but if it is a money transfer service like Western Union, they are designed for transfer to trusted recipients, not payment to unknown sellers. That should have been a huge warning to you, most people use paypal which offers some buyer protection. Try to stop the payment if you are worried, but it is likely to be too late.

Unfortunately apart from banning the seller there is not much that Bricklink can do, since they don't control the payment.

[jabz10]

I've never heard of moneybookers but if it is a money transfer service like Western Union, they are designed for transfer to trusted recipients, not payment to unknown sellers. That should have been a huge warning to you, most people use paypal which offers some buyer protection. Try to stop the payment if you are worried, but it is likely to be too late.

Unfortunately apart from banning the seller there is not much that Bricklink can do, since they don't control the payment.

Moneybookers now called Skrill is like Western Union but online etc. Yes I realise the risk was on me. I have learnt my lesson here.

In over 15 years of buying online this is the first time I've been scammed, I guess my naivety with Bricklink stores came into play.

[Lazarus]

Just think bricklink is the same as trademe 99% of the people on there are honest and just trying to make some money. But the 1% are there to rip you off, and lego at a really good price and low cost shipping for a Heavy set is normaly to good to be true.

Dont let this scare u away from bricklink I have been using it for years and not had a single issue, the ones i have had where normaly shipping related and where resolved with a refund or packege was found by NZ post.

Its just like trademe check the sellers feedback and go from that, I only pay via Paypal as they can recover the money for you if you get ripped off.

And normally the sellers with the highest feedback norally have the best prices and shipping prices, but my only advise of brick like is keep an eye on the shipping costs. I have lego from the UK and CHZ are the best for shipping cost, but the USA is the best for rare parts but shipping is very heavy. There are some local NZ store but parts are high priced and only good if you need something fast and they have it. Buying from Oz is not really worth while, keen an eye out at some of the stores in Hong Kong and that they have good shipping prices to but not much parts.

[Pizzareno]

I'd back up everything Lazarus has said about buying from Bricklink for us here in NZ. I have also found good success with German stores too and there are some that have set shipping rates which are great when buying large quantities.

I was a big eBay user even with TradeMe being the big thing here but I had problems with eBay sellers on occasion. However eBay and Paypal always came to the party to sort out any issue and I was never left out of pocket and have since used Paypal for so much stuff and am very loathe to use any other system now when buying from overseas private or non-commercial sellers.

When I buy from stores I usually take out insurance on shipping if it is just a couple of dollars more and tracking and all that as I'd rather spend a few extra bucks to make sure I get what I need than loose a couple hundred. If a BL site doesn't have shipping listed I always ask before buying cos I don't want to get caught out with that either and asking questions of sellers beforehand you can find out if they are good communicators too. I'm sure I have saved myself hassles when people won't answer in store queries. That means I won't be buying from them. Customer service goes a long way in my book.

I suppose advice after the fact isn't the most helpful but don't be too discouraged and if you have questions about anything ask here before you buy.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Pizzareno