Ask LH: Who Can I Complain To About This eBay Pokemon Scam?


I recently purchased a copy of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire off eBay so I would have a spare copy of each to play. When the games arrived, I was disappointed to find they were fake. I tried to negotiate a refund but became disgusted with the seller’s attitude. I told the seller they could keep my money and that I would much rather be out $25 and destroy the games myself than let them be onsold to someone else. I just want to try and stop them scamming people. Is there any service or body that I can report them to? Yours, Pickachued Off!

Dear PO,

Did the fake games still work? Were they promotional copies intended for the media? It’s difficult to offer advice without knowing what made the items ‘fake’ or the scale of the seller’s operation.

Naturally, your first move should be to contact eBay and explain the situation. The website has clear guidelines in place on what to do if an item does not match the seller’s description. Pay a visit to the eBay Resolution Center and follow the prompts from there.

If you want to take matters further, there are various consumer protection organisations that you can write to. These include the Australian School of Security and Investigation (ASSI), Crimestoppers (Ph: 1800 333 000) and the Counterfeit Alert Network (although that last one seems to be primarily concerned with sporting goods).

You can also contact the brand owner (in this instance, Nintendo) and report the discovery of a fake product. It will be in the company’s financial interest to take the seller down.

Cheers
Lifehacker

Got your own question you want to put to Lifehacker? Send it using our contact tab on the right.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


18 responses to “Ask LH: Who Can I Complain To About This eBay Pokemon Scam?”

Leave a Reply