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Griff: Do we have listeners in Timbuktu?
Lee: Of course we do, we have listeners all over the place.
Griff: They don’t have electricity.
Lee: Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur.
Griff: Do you know where Timbuktu is?
Lee: It’s…um…near China.
Griff: (Laughter) No sorry, you lose.
Lee: India, near India (laughter).
Griff: No, it’s in Africa.
Lee: Okay.
Griff: Call us with your amazing eBay perspectives at 877-474-3302 or internationally you can dial us at 858-678-8958. Richard from Dallas, Texas, welcome to eBay Radio. What’s your question?
Caller: I’ve had the misfortune of having my PayPal account hacked into and I found out that they’ve been taking transactions out of it.
Griff: Oh no.
Caller: So I did call last night and cancelled the card, but to get out of this now, do I have to open a whole new PayPal account and am I going to lose everything and start from square one again?
Griff: Are you talking about PayPal, not eBay?
Caller: Right, PayPal.
Griff: Yeah. All you’ve done is cancel your card?
Caller: Yes, because when I went to use it somewhere it was declined and I started looking and saw these transactions have been going on.
Griff: Are you able to log into your PayPal account?
Caller: Yes I am.
Griff: You need to change the password immediately. Get off the phone right now and change your password.
Caller: Okay.
Griff: Because the crook who owns this account gets to it first, you won’t be able to get in and then I’ll have to send you on to PayPal and they’ll have to straighten it out for you. Whenever you suspect anywhere online, PayPal, eBay, your bank, anything, the minute you suspect that something is amiss, change the password while you still can. Because if the crook has your password they’ll change it and then you’re locked out. You won’t need to change your PayPal account, you can keep the same PayPal account, you’re just going to change the password so that you only have access to it. And then, when you get your new card or whatever it is they give you, you can add that to your PayPal account.
Caller: Okay.
Griff: And don’t click on any spoof emails.
Caller: I thought I’ve been really good about that. Some of them are blatantly obvious.
Griff: Here’s what I tell people now: operate under the assumption that every single email you get is false. And if you need to check something go directly to a web browser, open it up, type in www.PayPal.com, and now you know you’re on PayPal and you can check your account from there. But I’m telling everyone now, assume every email you get that purports to be from some company, assume it’s false. That’s the safest way to proceed. You know, you don’t have to answer email. A lot of people feel like it came, it’s my email, I’ve got to do something. No you don’t, you can delete it. It’s a free country, you don’t have to answer it.
Caller: And so as far as disputing these charges, they sent me the form for the transactions and I’ve got to send it off to Omaha, Nebraska and I just have to sit tight and wait and see if that’s going to come back to me and charge it off or whatever.
Griff: That I can’t tell you, it’s too specific. Whatever instructions you receive from the folks in Omaha at PayPal, just make sure you follow them to the letter.
Caller: Okay.
Griff: Good luck Richard. Let us know how it turns out.
Lee: So before people think I’m a complete hick, because they do sometimes anyway because I’m from the south, I am very well traveled. I’ve just never been to Mali, which is where Timbuktu is, and people are emailing me like crazy.
Griff: (Laughter).
Lee: And you know, I’ve been to Egypt three times. I’ve been to places like Dubai.
Griff: The thing about Timbuktu is it’s not easy to get to. It’s not on a tourist route. You actually have to make this trek through the desert to get to it and then it’s kind of like this big oasis and it’s a little community.
Lee: Were you there?
Griff: No, but I had friends who went and I watched the slideshow. I’m one of these perverse people who actually enjoys viewing people’s vacations.
Lee: I do too, believe it or not.
Griff: So if you’ve got slides of your vacation, I love to look at them. Let’s go to Deb from Wake Forest, North Carolina, welcome to eBay Radio. What’s your question?
Caller: Well Griff, I really didn’t have a question, I was calling to offer some assistance to you.
Griff: Oh, what’s the assistance?
Caller: Well, I heard your talk at the keynote and one of the things I sell is Hummels.
Lee: (Laughter).
Griff: Okay, let me go get my hammer, hold on.
Caller: I thought perhaps that you needed a little bit of assistance in how to care for them and I just wanted to let you know that they don’t retain their value when you smash them.
Lee: (Laughter).
Griff: That’s right. Mine don’t retain their value. Yours go up in value.
Caller: Well that’s correct. I think eBay’s been real good for things going up in value because of all the poor shippers out there.
Griff: I have one vice that I’m proud of most and that’s the destruction of Hummels. I will not come to your house and destroy them, I only destroy them once they belong to me. So once I buy them I turn them into compost. Oh, they look so good at the bottom of the flowerpot all broken up.
Caller: Oh Griff.
Griff: What?
Caller: I just had to give you a hard time about that. I didn’t have a chance at eBay Live to catch up with you. I’ve enjoyed all of your posts on the eBay Live discussion boards, for anybody that’s not there looking out for Boston, you’ve been a wealth of information.
Griff: Well thanks. We usually don’t announce things so early because in the past there hasn’t been as many queries, but I think so many people had so much fun in Las Vegas they want to start planning their trips now. My advice to anyone who’s going to eBay Live, don’t book a hotel room now. Wait, because I know that eBay works deals with blocks of hotel rooms so that they’re cheaper in price. If you go now they’re expensive, like $200-$300. I think they’ll be cheaper then. Thanks for calling, Deb. Bart from Brooklyn, New York, welcome to eBay Radio. What’s your question?
Caller: Hi. I have a problem with the dispute console. I was sent an email for reporting and tracking disputes. Apparently there appears to be like two separate ones. There’s something and you can see and then there’s something where you need numbers. Because basically what happened was I got an email for seller nonperformance. So apparently the complaints are split up. I was on live help for thirty minutes and the person from eBay couldn’t really find it. And then I was just basically sent another email and I’m back in the dispute console to the things that I could see. But again, there’s some kind of link that I don’t have to find this dispute.
Griff: It should be in the dispute console, but do me a favor Bart, forward the email that you received to me at griff@ebay.com and let me take a look at it to make sure it’s legit.
Caller: Oh, it’s definitely legit.
Griff: Then I can help facilitate to get you some response.
Caller: Okay.
Griff: Thanks Bart. We’ll have another two Open Phones segments at the end of our third hour. This segment has been brought to you by UnwiredBuyer.com, where you’ll never miss another auction. In our upcoming hour we’ll discuss the new blogs and wikis on eBay and how they can help your eBay experience. Stay tuned, this is going to be fun. EBay Radio is produced by BrainFood Radio Syndication, global food for thought.
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