Nathan Exposed » Is this vindictive?

Is this vindictive?

I bought a set of 9 used DVD’s on eBay for the bargain price of $64.00. They arrived today and they are ALL pirated copies! They probably cost like 50 cents to make.

I wrote the seller a scathing e-mail telling him that he had 24 hours to send me a full refund via Paypal, otherwise I was having him shut down on eBay, and also having his account suspended on Paypal. They have very strict policies on pirated DVD’s and if they caught wind of this, he would be in deep shit.

The more I think about it, the more it makes me angry that this guy thought he could rip me off. I’m thinking about reporting him anyway, even if he does provide the refund. Is that vindictive? It feels kind of cruel, but what he’s doing just seems shitty and I don’t want it to happen to other honest, paying customers.

The odd thing about it is that he’s never had one negative comment left on his profile. I wonder how he’s kept so many people happy? Well the joyride ends here.

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for the advice. One friend actually advised me to report him to the FBI. I guess that would be valid. DVD’s do have an FBI warning at the beginning, and this is a classic case of bootlegging.

I decided the FBI idea was a bit extreme, even though it would be fair. So I reviewed eBay’s guidelines and found out he’d violated three of them. I took the proper procedure and reported each violation, so now it’s in eBay’s hands.

Even though he had it coming, I still hated being the one to do it. I don’t know how strict eBay is or what they will do about it, but that’s their problem now.

Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 1:30 pm | Filed in Technology | Permalink

5 Comments

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE report him to ebay and paypal. As someone who makes a living selling DVDs, what he is doing is theft. It is your responsibility to do what you can to stop it!

(Stepping off soapbox now)

Posted by AdamMaleJames on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 2:21 pm

Do whatever makes you feel good, eBaby.

Posted by Howard on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 2:34 pm

I just realized that could be read as call you a big baby. It was supposed to be pick-up-line cheesy.

Posted by Howard on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 2:35 pm

You should do what your conscious says is the right thing to do. I’d turn him in because he’s going do the same thing to someone else.

Posted by martini-dan on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 8:57 pm

Part of me says turn him in, part of me says don’t. It is your decision. As for being vindictive, a little, but I like it.

Posted by Daniel on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 @ 9:53 pm