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posted Jun-11-2010
I have been buying and selling on eBay now since 2001 with a 100% satisfaction level. I recently met one seller who I would call at minimum, "scoundrels"; the eBay store is named "Electronics-Cafe" and has tons of items for sale at relatively economic prices. The advertising is well designed and shows photo ads of near-new looking items with the aura of a fresh, bright retail establishment.
Not long ago I found a group of 5 VOIP ATA devices up for sale as a “bulk item” offered by Electronics-Cafe. I missed the bid window and was frustrated. Strangely then about 2 weeks later my saved search showed up with the same 5 bulk items for sale again with the same description. I bid and won.
When they arrived I tested them and found all 5 of them defective. I contacted the seller Electronics-Cafe and they would not work with me at all. They said they were as-is. The write ups stated that each had flashing light when powered up, and the fancy advertising the store produced made these items look near new.
Per my credit card company, I issued a charge-back and returned the items. However, after the items arrived and before I could even get started with the charge-back, I noticed that Electronics-Cafe put the items up for sale again! They never offered to refund my money or contact me, they just proceeded with reselling them!
I had included a full test report with my return, identifying for Electronics-Cafe what was wrong with each of the devices and notified them they were only worth scrap-plastic value. With Electronics-Cafe knowing this, they refused to give me a refund, yet still put up the same advertisement as before without updating with my test results – stating the truth that all 5 were defective.
Further investigation via eBay “completed items” showed that these same items had been sold, returned and resold now 3 times, with Electronics Cafe knowing full well they are 100% defective and their M.O. to just keep re-listing until someone took the bait.
Further investigation shows that Electronics Cafe has another store front of http://www.ewaste.com and collects scrap items meant for the garbage dump (see the photos of piles of trash on that store front). Then they sell them with the bright, new retail-looking store front of "Electronics-Cafe" on eBay at the rate of about 2K active items at any given time.
From "eWASTE" to "Electronics Cafe" - I think this at least needs to be disclosed. Buyer beware!
eWaste: http://ewaste.com/
Electronics-Café: http://stores.ebay.com/Electronics-Cafe