inigopete - August 11th, 2006

... but sadly I have met (online) a few of the more unpleasant ambassadors of that nation.

Aside from the infrequent and humorously bait-able 419 emails, I've had the misfortune to encounter some foolishly felonious individuals recently. I'm currently trying to sell my Orange SPV M5000 on't E Bay. I've had no success so far, due to the efforts of "Mrs Laura Kate" and "Gallus Chris", who used Buy It Now and promptly sent me emails along the lines of:

Hello seller,
         i will like you to mail me the total cost of the
item and shipment via DHL/UPS to Nigeria.And also your
paypal email address so that i can proceed with the
payment.
Thanks.

I reply along the lines of "it's going to be about £55 p&p to Nigeria" and send a PayPal invoice. The next day I receive:

Hello seller,
       how are you today i hope you are kool i just want to inform you that i
have made the payment through paypal so i want you to shipout the item through
DHL to the address below

(etc)

Of course, upon checking the PayPal account, I've received no payment. I reply with "I haven't received payment to my PayPal account. When payment arrives, I'll ship the item".

I've had a couple of emails so far along the lines of:

Hello,

How are you doing, hope thing is doing great with you, I just want you to know
that I have just called the paypal company now and the good news is that they
told me that they are only waiting for you to send them the shipping
information, so that they can have your money fully credited into your personal
paypal account, contact there customer service care
at:pay.pal.cashstatus@consultant.com or call there customer service care
at:+44-704-011-2868 okay. 

Thanks

...o rly?

PayPal, for some reason, want me to send _them_ the shipping information. To an email address that has nothing to do with PayPal, and to verify "there customer service care" I can call some mobile phone in the UK? I'm almost tempted to phone, just to see what sort of answer I'd get.

So, I'm still baiting the idiot, he's no longer registered with eBay so I get my fees refunded and I will re-list my phone. And try and be a bit more careful where I'll allow it to be shipped this time...



* this is probably only vaguely humorous if you're also showing your age in recognising the B-side to Spitting Image's 1986 single, "The Chicken Song"...