proebayer

According to the Texas County Sheriff's Department, the man, whose name could not be released, bought a guitar from Mitchell Levy of Baldwin, N.Y. Levy's Ebay ID is “mitchmaxx.”

The seller specializes in vintage guitars but in this case, the guitar never came.

According to a deputy of the Sheriff's Department, Levy said he sent the guitars in late March and blamed the shipper, UPS, for the delay.

Levy told the Sheriff's Department that he had a tracking number to prove that he had sent it but the tracking number just says the merchandise described as a guitar was shipped to an address in Lakewood, Calif.

The deputy, who did not want to be identified, said he wasn't sure if there was any legal ramifications that could come of this.

“I'm checking whether we can file criminal charges here,” the deputy said.

He said he has contacted the Nassau, N.Y. Police Department's detective division to see if anything could be done about the case.

Sheriff Arnold Peoples said he has had about three or four cases of e-fraud over the last couple of years.

“It's not Ebay,” Peoples said. “I'm sure they try to scrutinize their customers.”

Ebay has a ratings system for each of its sellers and buyers. People who buy something from a seller can leave positive feedback for the seller if they recommend him or leave negative feedback if they don't.

Sellers can do the same thing for buyers.

According to the Ebay review ratings, “mitchmaxx” has had zero positive ratings in the past month, five positive ratings in the past six months though and 11 in the past 12 months.

“Mitchmaxx” has had zero negative ratings over the past month, two negative ratings over the past six months and two for the past 12 months.

Also, according to Ebay's web site, “mitchmaxx” is not a registered user.

All of those negative comments indicate that he has had trouble getting items shipped to people in the past.

One negative comment from buyer “artvogue” wrote “Never paid. Full of wild excuses.” Another buyer, ID “ahorros savings,” wrote “Stay away from this one. Never gets back lost sale. Waste of money for me.”

The sheriff's deputy said “mitchmaxx” has received the check from the Texas County resident and the Sheriff's Department has copies of the cashed check.

The deputy said if people do get stiffed on Ebay, they may possibly be able file criminal charges however it is still uncertain as of this time.

Peoples warned that people should be careful when buying items online.

“I'm sure Ebay is probably a good deal,” Peoples said. “But they have outlaws just like everybody else does.”