I Was Scammed Buying Tickets on Ebay: Case Study

Ebay has become an internet phenomenon. The auction website wherebypeople can buy and sell goods is hugely popular. Users simply create aprofile and then post the goods they want to sell on the site. Theycan include photos and descriptions and set a minimum price. Thismeans if potential buyers do not bid high enough the item won’t besold.

For many people Ebay has been a great site to use. But not foreveryone. Alison Taylor had used the site a handful of times when shedecided to buy some concert tickets from the site. Unfortunately,things didn’t go to plan.

Birthday Surprise

“I’d bought a couple of things from Ebay and never had a problem withit,” says Alison. “I wanted to buy my boyfriend tickets to a gig. Itwas one of his favourite bands but the gig was sold out so a friend ofmine suggested I looked on Ebay.

“I had a look that evening and was delighted to find that there wereseveral pairs of tickets available. I looked at the prices and optedfor the cheapest pair. However, this was still 120 pounds so hardlysmall change.

“I didn’t have to bid as there was the option of buying outright, aslong as you were willing to meet the asking price. I knew I couldmaybe have got them for cheaper but I was so desperate to secure themthat I just wanted to get it sorted.

“Once I’d selected the tickets I was asked for my payment details,which I gave. I then made the silly mistake of telling my boyfriendI’d bought the tickets. I should have waited until they had arrivedbut I couldn’t help myself.

“He was over the moon. I was so happy to see him so excited. I waitedfor the tickets to arrive but they didn’t. Days went by and the dateof the gig was fast approaching. I started to panic.

“I’d emailed the seller several times to ask what was one going on buthad no response. I emailed Ebay but the response I got just said Ishould continue to email the seller until I get a response.

Gig Day

“Finally the day of the gig arrived and the tickets hadn’t come.What’s more the money had already been taken out of my account. I wasdevastated. My boyfriend was very sweet about it and told me not toworry but I could see he was upset.

“In hindsight I realise I should have checked the rating and reviewsof the seller. His profile was removed shortly after I bought thetickets so I didn’t get a chance to see how others rated him.

“I would say that Ebay can be good but I will never use it again aftermy last experience. I was cheated out of a lot of money and but whatwas harder to deal with was the emotional side of it. I was very upsetas was my boyfriend. I would urge anyone using the site to be verycareful and always check the venders ratings.