Charles, I had a similar experience, have you contacted e-bay and paypal? They were very helpful and eventually, I got my payment back. Paypal has a process to use for issues.
What sort of rating did the seller have? My mistake was buying from someone that essentially had no (significant) history.
Rodney Kugizaki Oro Valley, AZ
>
>Sender: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org
>
>I recently bought a nice colnago super on ebay, and I paid with cash
>from my paypal account. No credit card payment on this one.
>
>Now, it seems very likely that the seller was a scammer, and the sale
>was a fraud. Since I won the auction, I have heard nothing at all from
>the seller, after payment, and after repeated e-mails asking for
>confirmation of payment
>
>This is just the second time this has happened to me. The first time
>involved a european seller. I had paid by credit card, though, so my
>credit card company got the money back for me.
>
>This time, I may be s-o-l. I'm posting for the collective wisdom of the
>list. What would be the best way for me to get my money back? I'm
>going to start with PayPal, but I'm not very confident they'll be much
>help. What are my other options?
>
>The seller invoice did include a street address, and I'll be sending
>snail mail there today. But, you see, I have no idea if the seller
>listed on the invoice is in fact the person who got the money, although
>everything looked on the up-and-up, both on ebay, and on paypal.
>
>any tips on what I might do next would be appreciated. Makes me feel,
>increasingly, that I'm not going to buy higher-priced items from anyone
>I don't know in some way, either personally or by reputation..
>
>Please mail any useful tips privately.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Charles Andrews
>Los Angeles