Daddy Dee Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Jul 16, 9:27 PM EDT Man Sued Over Mailing of Feces, Garbage ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A man is being sued by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon for allegedly sending garbage and even feces to eBay customers who thought they were bidding for new or slightly used clothing. Nixon filed the fraud suit against Michael D. Pickens of Bethany. His wife, Tamera Pickens, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he is disabled with a rare blood disease, is unemployed and has never sold anything over the Internet. The suit claims Internet ads promised top-quality clothes, including ads from Victoria Secret, Banana Republic and other well-known brands. When customers placed their orders through the online auction site eBay, the suit says, Pickens arranged for the shipment to come from companies that sell industrial rags, unwanted clothing or household items meant for poor countries. In one case, a customer received feces. Nixon said Pickens either ignored or refused requests for refunds. The lawsuit, filed in Harrison County Circuit Court, seeks a permanent injunction and fines of $1,000 per violation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardhead Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Considering some of the stories I've heard, I'm shocked that the authorities are actually doing something about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 To be honest that is really kinda funny...of course I'd be upset if poo showed up at my door, but I would be laughing about it the next day, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 ---------------- On 7/18/2005 1:31:51 PM DrWho wrote: To be honest that is really kinda funny...of course I'd be upset if poo showed up at my door, but I would be laughing about it the next day, lol. ---------------- What's your address? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 This gets curiouser and curiouser. The seller is not the agent who sent the 'feces', but rather another contracted third party firm. A lawyer should be able to address this in short order. And an attorney general is chasing this around when rampant cases of mega-fraud occur far too often and PayPal , attorney generals, and others, et.al. stand around with their proverbial thumbs up their...well, this might explain the feces! As I have preached seemingly forever: www.escrow.com would have protected everyone in these circumstances! Gee, I rather like the lime green! It almost crawls across the screen on its own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Well, this is one icky-poo-poo situation. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardhead Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 The "poo thing" is a bit funny. If I ever did something like that, I'd just say the horse must have escaped through the hole in the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Talk about dumping on people. The homeless should file a class action suit (pun intended.) I wonder what Victoria's Secret was or was that a load of c**p? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Since the seller refused to refund the money, the AG should have little trouble with proof of intent to defraud (scienter.) The fact that an agent was used to ship the goods does not excuse the seller from meeting his responsibilities. There are also problems with consumer protection laws. I doubt that this fellow can afford attorney's fees, so the AG should have little trouble with a civil case of fraud. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 a different kind of caca Stray mouse click means big hunk of trouble By Michael Klein Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer If Jason Shepard seems all shook up, here's why: He was sitting, he said, at his computer with his 2-year-old daughter, Morgan, on his lap. She clicked the mouse on his touch pad - once, he insists - and suddenly the word Congratulations! flashed on the screen. He had just purchased a silver 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 limo once owned by Elvis Presley. The buy-it-now price on eBay: $245,000. Shepard, 40, a sales representative from Ballston Lake, N.Y., said he was flabbergasted, especially because he said he did not have that kind of money and was not interested in buying that car. Now, nearly a year and a half later, he wishes he could simply write "return to sender" on the federal lawsuit filed against him by the seller, Gene Epstein, a retired auto dealer from Newtown, Bucks County. Epstein, who alleges breach of contract, said the car auction on Feb. 29, 2004, had started at $50,000 and had reached $175,000, when Shepard's buy-it-now click ended the online auction. EBay declined to provide specific information on the auction. The company did say that the procedure in place at the time of the auction required two clicks to complete a transaction. Epstein, 66, said he e-mailed Shepard immediately after the auction ended. When Shepard didn't reply, Epstein said, he got Shepard's address from eBay, found his phone number, and called him. "I didn't know if this guy was playing games or if he intentionally did it," Epstein said. "He said he bid on it by accident." Shepard said he was scared when he got the message from Epstein. "It was not a prank, not a joke," Shepard said by phone Tuesday. Epstein's lawyer, Mark C. Reilly of Yardley, wrote a letter four days later, demanding payment. Shepard said he called Reilly instantly and told him he was not a man of means. He sent copies of his tax return and pay stubs indicating that he makes $49,000 a year. By mid-March, Epstein had put the car back on eBay and had gotten no takers. The relisting, which noted that the first sale ended in nonpayment, created suspicious minds, Epstein said. "I told my lawyer I would take $10,000 to settle it," he said. Epstein, an antique-car collector and philanthropist active in organ donation, Republican causes, and on local zoning matters, said Shepard could give the money to charity. Shepard, a volunteer fireman who was president of the Round Lake Fire Co. for 15 years, said he couldn't scrape together $10,000. He offered $2,500 and Epstein rejected it. That ended talks. "If this guy's explanation had made sense, we wouldn't be here," said Reilly, who filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on June 29. Epstein, he said, "will not tolerate somebody pushing him around or stepping on him." Presley paid $15,000 for the Benz in 1970 and owned it at his death in 1977. Epstein, who said he bought it in 2002 for more than $100,000, still drives the car, which has 59,000 miles on it. People familiar with eBay auctions might wonder how someone could buy an item - much less a $245,000 car - with one mouse click. Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman, said that when an auction is under way, bidders sign in and enter a bid. Some auctions can be set with a "buy-it-now" feature, which allows a user to buy the item at a fixed price, which is usually much higher than the minimum bid. To use the buy-it-now feature, the participant clicks on a button and is sent to another screen, which asks for confirmation. When the buyer clicks on this screen - which includes information stating that the transaction is a contract - there is a notification that the sale is complete. Shepard said his computer was configured to log him in to eBay automatically and complete certain forms, a process called single sign-on. "It just went zappo," Shepard said. "Right through. If clicked it more than once, I don't know." Buy-it-now transactions do not permit a bid retraction. Any backing out is resolved by the buyer and seller. Disputes are rare and seldom end up in court, Durzy said. EBay users rate buyers and sellers, and their feedback is posted on the site. Shepard's rating is 100 percent positive, but does not show any information related to the Elvis car transaction. Shepard said he couldn't afford a lawyer to represent him in federal court, but he is getting advice from a lawyer near his home. The lawyer suggested that one option for Shepard might be filing for bankruptcy, Shepard said. "I apologized then and I apologize now," said Shepard. A week after the disputed auction, Shepard bought a 1999 Oldsmobile 88 for $4,700. On eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 ---------------- On 7/18/2005 1:08:46 PM Hardhead wrote: Considering some of the stories I've heard, I'm shocked that the authorities are actually doing something about it. ---------------- The authorities aren't doing anything. One of the buyers filed a lawsuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 ...EvilBay ... at it's best.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Two clicks makes a meeting of the minds? I do not think so! The purported buyer should plead the Statue of Frauds. No signed writing means that the "contract" is unenforceable. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 ---------------- On 7/18/2005 1:36:02 PM ben. wrote: What's your address? ---------------- LOL ha ha ha ha ha ha Good one Ben! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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