Could it actually be true? Do I no longer have a claim against Vic's late 2003 shipping and handling scam, when he charged me $16.65 for shipping nine chips at an actual postage cost of $1.29? I'm sort of on the fence about this one.

After Vic screwed me on shipping and handling, I appealed to eBay Safe Harbor for an arbitration, which Vic ran away from. Can't say as I blame him, because what he was doing - "Final Value Fee Avoidance" - was against eBay rules. Then, I applied to PayPal for a chargeback on the excessive S&H fees paid to Vic. Whether it was a legitimate, refundable claim, or otherwise not qualified for a refund, I do not know - because PayPal never followed up on my claim. That was one of many, many mistakes PayPal made over a few years of early online transactional business, and a Class Action lawsuit was brought against PayPal. After reading the qualifications for joining the lawsuit, there was nothing I saw that disqualified my claim, so I signed the affirmation. The investigators could not afford the time to sort out the details of each individual transaction, but as is the norm in Class Action lawsuits, all plaintiffs can expect the same amount divided equally. The lawsuit registration said it would probably not be more than $50 per person, would be smaller if more people joined, after admin fees, etc. Months later, I received a settlement check for - get this - $13.59. The difference between Vic's $16.65 and the settlement check is a reasonable amount to expect to pay to ship nine chips.

So, after a year-plus of constant reminders, it appears that Vic has been bailed out by a class action lawsuit against PayPal for a variety of their problems, in my case, not addressing my claim in a prompt manner.

But Vic has still grossly overcharged for shipping and handling costs he never incurred, refuses to acknowledge or make good on overcharging, and continues to use this board to solicit trades, many of which have undesirable results for the other trader.

So, for a while at least, I'll continue to remind the new posters on the board that Vic is an accident waiting to happen.

Best,
WMD