Suspect hacked seller: disubs

[Lordcatbert]

Hey all,

First off, this is my first post. General greetings to everyone.

I purchased this mpx player, last week from seller disubs

eBay Item Number: 230170968934

After reviewing this site I'm expecting this player to be either 0.125 - 2GB.

What course of action should I take? Or should I simply just wait and confirm it is hacked before doing anything hasty?

Thanks
cat

[makd511]

hi

check black list

this is the bad sellers black list - your seller is on it
and also - £24 for 4GB player!!!!! - TOO CHEAP

it does not look good I'm afraid but wait and see, you may be lucky

[Lordcatbert]

Sure enough,

2GB

I wasnt too sure if the MP3 Tool Kit fix was limited at formatting to 2 gigs or if that is all it detected that there was to format. So I stripped her down to find the memory chip label

K9LAGXXXXX

The X's were covered by a sticker that nearly took the label off the chip with it when removed. But judging from alex2pb's Glacier Repair Guide the samsung chip would = 16 Gigabit or 2GB

Which is not too bad but still not what I ordered.

So now what to do? Is there a process that works well to get a refund/partial?

[Lordcatbert]

So after nearly 2 months of email, I finally go my refund.

My main argument was that if I bought a 4GB player for roughly $50, and recieved a 2GB, I should get half my money back. If I send anything back it will cost me at least $25. If i send it back and get a 100% refund I get only 50% of my money back and no player (working or otherwise). So I have been trying to get what was owed 50% from the seller. I didnt want to risk sending it back for $25 and never getting a replacement since they would lose all profit after incurring the cost of sending 2 players.

Below is what happened, and the final quote is the wall I hit involving paypal.

Sept 22

Disubs,

I received the MP4 player today, auction # 230170968934, Free Ship 4GB 2.0" TFT FM Aluminum MP3 Player SAA4. Upon investigating who the manufacturer is I came across a few site describing hacked memory, and how people are unknowingly buying them off ebay from merchants trying to scam the unknowing public. It told of people putting more music than allowable on their hacked players causing memory corruption and in some cases fatally damaged the player. Fearing this, I checked the player you sent me to see if it is truly 4GB using the tools included in the package that came with the player, and I found it to be 2GB. To verify, I checked the chipset label of the samsung memory and found it to be in a class of chips that can only support 2GB. This isnt a fluke or fault of the player, the chipset is not designed to ever support that much memory, this has been done this deliberatly to mislead the consumer.

I also noticed the package came from Hong Kong?!? The auction specifically said the item location was in London! What are you trying to pull here?

I am not happy with the product you supplied me, I bought a 4GB player and discovered that a veil was dropped to keep me from finding out it's a 2GB. I would like to know what you plan to do about this situation.

Sincerely

Cody Terry

Sept 23

Dear Cody,

I do apologize for the inconvenience that may cause.

As our warehouse in UK was out of stock at that time, we had no alternative but to ship the item from our warehouse in UK.
We just hope that the delivery will not be delayed .
Excuse me if any inconvenience...

Regarding the problem you come accross, we need to double checked the item before shipping.
All the items are 4GB when we shipped out.
I can not imagine what is the problem is..

If you really feel unsatisfied with the item, will you please kindly ship the item back to us ?
We shall be pleased to replace it for you.

Feel free to contact us if you need further assistance.

Disubs/

Sept 23

Disubs,

I've opened a dispute with paypal to further moderate our transaction. I think it'd be best to continue our communication through them.

Cody

Sept 24

Hello
Dear friend
I am so sorry to hear that .
I think we can resolve the problem amicably .
But so sad to see your dispute , you never trust me ``` ```
Waiting for your response
Have a nice day
Disubs #

Sept 27

I do feel we can come to an agreement, I would just like paypal to moderate the situation for the security of both of our interests

I've left messages for you through paypal, please respond.

Thanks,
Cody

Sept 28

Dear Cody,

Actually, I wish to resolve the problem for you in confidence, as soon as possible.
If you really feel unsatisfied withe item, we are pleased to replace it for you.

I shall check the message you left in paypal.
Hope we can meet an agreement to resolve the matter soon.

Disubs/

Oct 13

Disubs,

Would you agree to a 50% refund to save both of our time an money? I'll cancel the complaint, and you'll never hear from me again

Thanks

Oct 14

Dear Cody

I'm sorry I cannot refund 50% to you !
Hope u can understand the situation .

For your protection,I can send 10% to you !
Let me know your minds ?

Sincerely / disubs.

Oct 16

Dear Disubs,

My biggest complaint here is that I was never sent the correct item. I was sent an item that is 50% of what I payed for. Just to do a replacement, it will cost me $25 US, and cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of the same plus the cost of the player. To do a full refund it will cost me $25 US, and cost you $50. Which in turn will accomplish absolutely nothing. I'll spend 25 to get 25 which will cover the shipping but I'll only recieve 50% of the refund due to the costs of shipping, which is what I was asking for to begin with, just without the hassle.

With the player not even functioning anymore, I dont see why I should spend more money only to get a portion of what is owed to me to begin with. I'm standing at 50% unless you can think of a reasonable compromise.

Cody

Oct 17

Dear Cody,

Do you mean that the item doesn't work anymore ?
If so, will you please kindly show me the detail problem for this shipment ??
If the item really doesn't work anymore, we are pleased to replace it for you.
And will you please kindly ship the item back to us for check ??

Waiting for your response.

Disubs/

Oct 19

Disubs

Yes, the item does not work. My girlfriend tried to turn it on one day and it never came on. Just a black screen. I dont care about the item as far as having it replaced. I'm not even sure I'd want another one. I just want a 50% refund, that's all. Anything else is not cost-efficient for either of us.

Cody

Oct 19

Dear Cody,

Hope you can understand, as I am also just a little employee in this company, I don't have the right to refund 50% to you...
To the top of my ability, I shall refund 10% of your payment, hope you can understand this and accept my sincere apologies.

Disubs/

Oct 20

Disubs,

If you're just a "little employee" get your manager in to resolve this situation. I feel like I have been cheated, and my feedback will reflect that unless this gets resolved. If you can not refund me 50% find someone who can. I have been tricked since the very beginning and you or your employer have been caught. You sold me a 4GB player, i received a 2GB. 50% is what is owed to me!

Cody

Oct 24

Dear Cody,

After thinking over this case, I decide to refund 10% to you from my salary.
That is to say, we shall refund 20% of your payment in total....
I know this is not enough, but my salary only can afford such...

Comparing this job, I would rather repay some to you on the top of my ability...

I do apologize for all the inconvenience caused.

Oct 25

Dear Disubs,

You shouldn't have to fork out anything from your salary. Your company is sending out devices that are do not meet up to the description given to the customer. They owe me a 50% refund. Not you personally. If your company wishes to remain in business with happy customers, they should deliver what is promised. I have contact with many ebay store review sites, and wish to give everyone I do business with a good review. But, unless this situtation is resolved i see no point in blindly giving a positive reviews to a company to which commits fraud without resolution.

If you can't, have your manager step in to rectify this.

Sincerely

Cody

Oct 25

Dear Cody,

Hope you can understand, I hope we can resolve this problem in person.
Otherwise, our manager will consider that you feel unsatisfied with my service and I am not competent for this job...

In addition, I shall send a gift to you if you accept my advice of 20% ....
Extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused.
I do apologize for all the trouble caused. I do hope to resolve this problem soon.

Disubs/

Oct 26

Dear Disubs,

If the gift was a 2GB player (2+2=4GB what i payed for) or the other 30%, I'd be happy to take it. But I still owe my girlfriend a 4GB player and as it stands, you have my entire budget for that. I wish only to receive half to help fund buying another player.

I also need to buy a MP4 player for my mother for Christmas, and given that we can resolve this problem I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you again as long as the specs meet the product. But currently, I just want what's owed to me, then I'll let this whole thing slide.

And currently I do feel unsatisfied, I would just like to have this resolved.

Cody

Oct 27

Dear Cody,

Comparing 50% refund, I prefer you to shipping this item back for a refund ....
Hope you can understand this. ..

I do sincerely wish to help you resolve this problem soonest as well.
Kindly let me know if this solution is acceptable for you or not.

Disubs/

Oct 27

Disubs,

If i were to ship the item back i would have to ask for 100% refund as well as the cost of shipping, which cheapest it came was $25 US...that would result in you refunding about 150% the purchase price. And i dont think that would be fair to you.

If i were to send it back that would be as if I just never made a transaction at all and be out the cost of this whole ordeal, that was not my fault to begin with. I was never shipped the right item in the first place. The item I was sent was fraudulently masked to look like something else.

I do not think returning the item for only half the cost, or even the full cost is acceptable as i would still be paying for shipping the item back.

I hope we can come to some sort of an agreement on this issue.

Cody

Oct 28

Dear Cody,

I feel sorry to tell you that I don't have the right to do the extra refund.

We need to pay for the postage cost for the first shipment, but I am afraid you need to pay for the postage cost for the return shipping.

Hope you can understand this.

Disubs

Oct 28

Disubs,

I do understand that, but I dont find it cost-efficient for me to pay postage to only receive half of the refund. Even if it were a full refund with return, the extra cost would only mean in the end that I would receive half of the purchase price. Which is what you owe me.

I feel like I have been scammed. And if this has to drag out any longer, I'll find the only course of action left is to alert the proper authorities. I'm only asking what is is owed to me, 50%.

Regards,
Cody

Oct 30

Dear Cody,

So sorry for the inconvenience caused.

I shall report this case to our manager to check whether we can resend another one to you, okay ??
Sincerely wish you can get it at an early date.

Disubs/

Nov 2

Disubs,

That will be fine. I just want this resolved.

Cody

Nov 4

Dear Cody,

I've consulted this case with our manager.
He agreed to half refund your payment...

And could you please kindly leave me a positive feedback for me ?
The refund will go to your paypal account once your feedback is done.

Disubs/

Nov 5

Disubs,

As soon as I receive the refund I will leave feedback, until then, I don't see our transaction as resolved to merit leaving feedback.

I hope you can understand.

Cody

Nov 6

Dear Cody,

As it is ruled in our company, if the negative feedback is received after the refund is issued, the refund would be credited from our salary....

I swear, we shall refund your payment as soon as receiving your feedback.

Trust me please.

Disubs/

Nov 6

Disubs,

It is not recommended by eBay to falsely give feedback without a resolution. My transaction will not be resolved till I'm refunded. Once resolved, I will give you your feedback.

This is my position. I have done my part, and have been patient with you, thus far. Once I receive payment this matter will be over and life will be peachy again for the both of us.


Cody

Nov 7

Dear Cody,

I understand your request quite clearly..
I do know that you just want to protect yourself...

If I eat my words and don't do the refund as promised, you can open dispute on ebay, right ??
Do you know why I request you to leave me positive feedback before refund??
As some buyers told me that they will leave positive, I trust them and do the refund.
After the refund, they left me a very negative feedback. ..
That is to say, the refund I did has been credited from my own salary...
I was very upset on this but I can do nothing to resolve this..
I am always sincere to help all the buyers, but not all the buyers can be faithful...

I do trust you are a faithful person, but hope you can understand my point of view as well...

Nov 8

Disubs,

I see your point of view as well, but also understand that even if i
did a dispute with ebay the conversations we've had thus far would not
be taken into account since it was not moderated from the beginning by
them. That is to say I could open the dispute, but they wouldn't be
able to use our emails due to ebay not being able to determine if they
had been tampered with or not. This is why i opened the dispute with
paypal, for both of our securities, but we did not resolve the matter
in time.

I trusted you in the beginning, i sent payment immediatly after the
auction only to receive half of what I payed for. I'm sure you wouldnt
have sent me the item if i didnt pay up front, right? It goes both
ways, I will have to see payment before i leave feedback.

Cody

Nov 8

Dear Cody,

I trust you are a faithful person and I've submitted the refund request to our manager.
Once it is done, I shall let you know the transaction ID. for check... okay ?

Disubs/

Nov 8

Dear Cody,

The refund is done now.
This is the transaction ID. for your reference : 7W170042VM466010E

Kindly remind me when the positive feedback is done please.
We shall do the same for you.

Disubs/

The non-action I got out of the seller through paypal. Paypal resolved that i should send back the item at my expense...HA!...and have only half my money back (due to shipping) and no product to show for.

From PayPal: PayPal on 10/11/2007 17:13 PDT
Buyer escalated this dispute to a Claim.

From Buyer: Cody Terry on 10/11/2007 17:13 PDT
I'm escalating this dispute due to lack of time to resolve the matter with the seller. The seller only responds every few days. To summarize: I bought a 4 GB MP4 Player from Disubs. I received a player that after testing with the tools that were included with the player, turned out to be only 2GB. I immediately requested that I either be sent a new player or that I received a refund of half of the purchase price (12 English pounds). The seller only responded with short emails of like "I cant imagine how that could have happened! Please ship back." A week into the dispute the player stopped working entirely. I asked for a full refund since now i have a player i didnt even order that doesn't even work now. The seller responded with "Please ship it back for a refund. After investigating the shipping costs I found that it will cost me $81 US to ship it back via UPS. $25 dollars to ship it USPS, and then the seller would have to pay about the same to have a new one shipped back to me. I think it would be in the best interest of both parties if we agree to at least a %50 refund ($24 US). Since it will in the end cost the seller at least that much just to ship a new on to me. Thanks, Cody Terry

From Buyer: Cody Terry on 10/10/2007 13:24 PDT
Disubs, After checking with UPS, they tell me the lowest cost of shipping to china with them is $81.00 US. That's 1.5 times the amount I originaly paid! They also said though that I could ship it through USPS, I'm not sure how well their tracking is, for $24.00 US. Would you agree just to refund half and we both forget this ever happened? Thanks, Cody

From Seller: Chan Lai Man on 10/4/2007 04:06 PDT
Dear Cody, We shall refund your payment for sure. Disubs/

From Buyer: Cody Terry on 10/1/2007 16:10 PDT
Correction: I will be able to send it back. The person I gave it to returned it to me because she said it stopped working today, the screen froze and now it doesn't even turn on. I swear this issue has become a nightmare, not only is it not what I payed for but after giving it to my girlfriend for her birthday, I have to deal with the humiliation of my gift not even lasting 2 weeks. I'll return it as long as you agree on a full refund of the purchase price. Regards, Cody

From Buyer: Cody Terry on 9/30/2007 11:07 PDT
Hey, I've explained in detail what has happened. You sold me a mp4 player with hacked memory. I am not going to be able to send the item back since it was a gift and there's no way of telling where the item came from originally since you falsely stated that the item was going to be coming from london and it actually came from Hong Kong. If i were to send it back I would be eating the shipping costs and the duty costs from customs to send you the player back. Then assuming you find a "true" 4GB player in your stock, you'll have to pay the same rate to get it shiped back to America. I will accept a refund of half the purchase price and just leave this dispute alone. It'd save us both the trouble and the money in the long run. Sincerely, Cody
From Seller: Chan Lai Man on 9/30/2007 05:46 PDT
Hi friend, Although I don't know what has happened to the item in detail, but I sincerely want to correct this situation for you. could you please kindly ship the item back to us ? Waiting for your response. Disubs

From Buyer: Cody Terry on 9/25/2007 08:55 PDT
Disubs, The item may have been double checked but it was checked both times wrong, the player's memory is simply not capable of storing 4 gigs and the firmware has been tweaked to make it look as though it can. Also another check was that it was formatted using the FAT file system, not FAT32, FAT. FAT only supports up to 2GB. Sending it back is not a suitable solution as the original shipping location is in Hong Kong somewhere, not in London as described. This coupled with the item not being described is why I'm not sure if I can trust I'll get a new player back at all. I would like this dispute to end peacefully though, my first thoughts would be send another (faux 4GB) 2GB player, to make up for the missing 2GBs, or simply a refund of half of the purchase price(£12.00 GBP) seems reasonable. Cody

From Buyer: Cody Terry on 9/22/2007 11:39 PDT
This message has also been sent to your email. Disubs, I received the MP4 player today, auction # 230170968934, Free Ship 4GB 2.0" TFT FM Aluminum MP3 Player SAA4. Upon investigating who the manufacturer is I came across a few site describing hacked memory, and how people are unknowingly buying them off ebay from merchants trying to scam the unknowing public. It told of people putting more music than allowable on their hacked players causing memory corruption and in some cases fatally damaged the player. Fearing this, I checked the player you sent me to see if it is truly 4GB using the tools included in the package that came with the player, and I found it to be 2GB. To verify, I checked the chipset label of the samsung memory and found it to be in a class of chips that can only support 2GB. This isnt a fluke or fault of the player, the chipset is not designed to ever support that much memory, this has been done this deliberatly to mislead the consumer. I also noticed the package came from Hong Kong?!? The auction specifically said the item location was in London! What are you trying to pull here? I am not happy with the product you supplied me, I bought a 4GB player and discovered that a veil was dropped to keep me from finding out it's a 2GB. I would like to know what you plan to do about this situation. Sincerely, Codt Terry

Now despite all this, the player sadly still does not work upon updating firmware it sticks on "Displying the Communications Screen" I've reinstalled new tools and still nothing....any ideas anyone?

...at least I got my refund though...took long enough