10/24/2007 at 21:01 EDT: Macbook sold

10/24/2007 at 21:42 EDT: Invoice sent

10/25/2007 around 12:00 EDT I think (eBay doesn’t have a time): Message sent to buyer that invoice was previously sent

10/25 or 26/2007: I resent the invoice again on Friday, but it could have been Thursday night. I deleted the email so I’m not sure of the exact time.

10/26/2007 at 17:39 EDT: Payment finally received, over 40hrs after auction ended.

10/27/2007 at 13:07 EDT: Macbook dropped off at UPS store. Due to lower shipping costs I included $900 worth of insurance, up from the standard $100 insurance.

10/31/2007 at 14:54 EDT: Macbook is delivered

11/03/2007 at 11:49 EDT: Positive Feedback left for buyer; “Payment took almost 48hrs but everything else was good. Thanks!”

11/03/2007 at 23:01 EDT: Buyer sent the following email to me; “Hello, i received the macbook, but it was not as described. The superdrive does not work and theres only 120GB. Please fix this problem. Thank
you.”

11/03/2007 at 23:02 EDT: Buyer filed a dispute with Paypal with the following message; “Hello, I recently received the macbook I purchased on ebay. However, the macbook was not as described in the auction. The superdrive component of the macbook does not work. Every time I try to put a DVD or CD, it does not work. Also, the seller said in the auction that it had 120 GB hard drive, but the macbook indicates that theres only 100GB. I have tried contacting the seller, but have not received a response.”

11/03/2007 at 23:04 EDT: Buyer escalated the dispute to a claim with the following message; “I am escalating the claim because I have not received a response from the seller. Please help resolve this problem. I don’t want $951 to go to waste for a damaged item. Thank you.”

11/04/2007 at 01:34 EDT: I replied to the buyer; “Please reread the auction details, it clearly states twice that the hard drive is 120GB.
What about the super drive does not work? The last thing I did before putting the Macbook in the box was to reinstall the operating system via the restore DVD’s. So clearly the drive worked then. How is the drive not working now? “does not work” is not very descriptive and I’ll need more information before I can help you.”

11/04/2007 at 11:08 EST: The buyer responded with “When I put a DVD or CD in the drive it makes a weird noise and then doesn’t recognize the CD and DVD. How can I bring it to Apple to fix it? What is the warranty number? Etc?”

11/04/2007 at 11:35 EST: I replied to the buyer with “Usually when you put in a CD/DVD, it will make a noise (normal) and take about 10-15 seconds before it shows up on the desktop. Unlike Windows, the CD will not automatically open up. If you are not seeing the CD or DVD show up on the desktop (and are 100% sure the disc works; having tried it in another PC/Mac), then it could be an indication that something is not working right.

You can bring the laptop to any local Apple store and they will take a look at it. If there is a problem, they will fix it. You live in FL and they have several stores around. Check here for locations: http://www.apple.com/retail

You can also call 1-800-275-2273 to talk to Apple Care support. You should not need a warranty number, just the serial number. They will look up the serial number and see that it’s still under hardware warranty and should fix it without any problems. You may have to send it to them, but I’m not 100% sure on that since I’ve never had to call them.

Is this your first Mac? If so, do you know someone else who uses them? If you do know someone, have them check it out before going to the store or calling Apple Care. They may be able to give you a few points on how some things work differently on the Mac. Let me know if you need anything else, I’m happy to help. I can assure you the Macbook was in perfect working condition when it left my hands so I definitely want to make sure it works for you too.

Kevin”

11/6/2007 at 15:44 EST: I emailed the buyer again; “Hi,

Could you please update me on what’s going on? It’s been a few days and I haven’t heard anything.

Thank You.”

As I type this I have heard nothing from the buyer since his last email on 11/04/2007. Paypal is “reviewing” the claim by the buyer. My problem with all of this is that all the buyer has to do is click a few buttons and now my money is being held up by Paypal. I know for a fact when the item was shipped that both the Superdrive worked and the hard drive was 120GB. The last thing I did before putting the Macbook in the box was do an OS X restore via the DVDs. I never touched the inside of the Macbook and when shipped, the drive was 120GB. And even if, that’s a big if in my book, the SuperDrive does in fact have a problem, IT’S STILL UNDER WARRANTY! It would cost the buyer ZERO to get it fixed.

I believe there is a big red flag in all this, and that’s why I believe it’s a scam. What honest person waits until after receiving positive feedback (and having the item for 3 days), and in less than 5 minutes contacts the seller for the first time regarding an issue, ONE minute later files a dispute with Paypal stating “I have tried contacting the seller, but have not received a response”, then TWO minutes later escalates the dispute to a claim stating “I am escalating the claim because I have not received a response from the seller”. I’ll tell you who, Someone who is not honest.

Paypal says it takes up to 30 days to resolve a claim and until then I’m in a waiting position. Paypal’s resolution center is pretty flawed in my book by not allowing easy input of information. They allow you to upload pictures but getting text into the case is another story. I had to email them using a contact form to get them some of the facts and the form even had a character limit. To me that’s pretty lame. I should have as many characters as I want in order to give them the information that I think is important to the case.

All I know is this, I will NEVER buy anything from eBay member hrw102. I will tell everyone I know not to buy anything from this guy either. Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks this guy is up to no good too. Thanks to Husam Wahdon (the buyer’s name) for ruining my eBay experience.

Update1: Looks like my eBay buyer is actually alive. Here’s the latest communication.

11/18/2007 at 12:04 EST: I received the following from the buyer. “Apple is asking if I have apple warranty and is asking for the membership card or number. What is it?”

11/18/2007 at 14:41 EST: I replied to the buyer with “I spoke to Apple Care and found out that phone support is only in the first 90 days of owning the product unless you buy the extended warranty (http://www.apple.com/support/products/proplan.html). The Macbook is still under warranty, you just have to visit an Apple Store or an Apple authorized service provider. The closest Apple Store is in either Orlando or Jacksonville; I’m not sure which is closest to you. Check here for more info about the Apple Stores: http://www.apple.com/retail

Komputer Kingdom in Gainesville is an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Give them a call at 352-378-4874 and see how they can help you.

Let me know how I can help or if you need additional information.”

I’m writing update1 on 12/2/2007 and I haven’t heard back from the buyers after I replied to his question on 11/18/2007 (two weeks ago).

Update2 – Written on 12/13/2007

12/6/2007 at 00:05 EST: Paypal said; “This claim has been reviewed and it has been determined that a full refund of the PayPal transaction (including shipping and handling) should be awarded to the buyer once the item, in its original condition, is returned to you.”

12/6/2007 at 00:34 EST: I emailed the buyer and said “Thank you for my worst experience ever on eBay. I’ve already contacted Paypal, but DO NOT send the package to [address removed]. Send to: [address removed]”

12/6/2007 at 01:05 EST: For once the buyer responded in a timely fashion with this; “I’m not an idiot. You sent me a damaged item. Apple says that the warranty only covers technical problem not mechanical. They said that it would cost me $30 to fix the DVD drive. It would be wrong for me to have to pay for this. I am going to ship this item to the address that Paypal gave me not the one you provided. ”

12/6/2007 at 11:22 EST: I responded with; “You may not be an idiot, but how you handled this auction is in fact wrong. Wrong is emailing me at 11:01PM on a Saturday night saying you had a problem, and then 1 minute later opening a Paypal dispute claiming “I have tried contacting the seller, but have not received a response”. You expect a 1 minute response, are you kidding me? In my book that’s called LYING! Whether the item is damaged or not (I stake my word that it did in fact work when I put it in the box), because you lied to Paypal, I’ll always believe you are trying to scam me. You LIED to Paypal! Taking as much as two weeks to respond to an email while still selling items on eBay, doesn’t exactly make you the model of communication either. I just got off the phone with Paypal and they will be sending you an email to send the Macbook to the address below (as earlier requested). I will be going over the Macbook with a fine tooth comb, so every single thing I sent in the original package will need to be there in addition to the Macbook being in the same shape as it was sent. The original Macbook box, manuals, DVD’s, cables, etc will all need to be there an in their original condition. It was not a pleasure doing business with you and I hope our paths never cross again.

[address removed]”

As I type update2 the buyer has yet to respond to Paypal. Paypal even sent the buyer another email yesterday (he has until the 15th to respond). The buyer NEVER mentioned a $30 fee to fix the problem until the email you see above. In all honesty, if I could in fact verify that it would cost $30 to fix the item I would have paid it. At this point I’m out more than $30 so it makes sense to pay it. The buyer never mentioned it until after the Paypal case was decided so I had no chance to do such a thing. What doesn’t make sense is his claim that “Apple says that the warranty only covers technical problem not mechanical”. I’ve never had to deal with an Apple warranty, but doesn’t that claim seem backwards to you? It makes sense that they WOULD cover mechanical problems and not technical problems. But whatever…. I’ll be happy when this stuff is all over with. My gut tells me he’s just waiting until the last minute to piss me off.

Update3 – Written on 12/17/2007

As of 12:07 AM EST this morning, the case with Paypal has been closed.  The buyer did not respond to Paypal in the allotted time and the claim was denied.  What’s interesting here is that even though the deadline for his response was December 15th, Paypal told me he actually had until the 16th.  So much for a hard deadline I suppose.  At any rate, all this is over and I don’t have to worry about it anymore.  I learned a valuable lesson though.  At all cost, I’m going to avoid eBay and Paypal with anything worth over $100.  I’ll use craigslist first, and then and only then if I can’t sell it I’ll think about going to eBay/Paypal.  Done, over, glad I don’t have to think about this anymore.

I’ll also second Steven’s experience with downloading drivers. I spend my days working on IBM desktops and laptops so I know what he went though to get the drivers. To this day it baffles me that I have to click a thousand links to download drives which are wrapped in an IBM installer which serve no function other to unzip them to a randomly named directory. There simply has to be an easier way.

[Via Daring Fireball]

Browsing the site is pretty much like using Amazon to purchase any of their other products. You can perform a search or use the navigation bar on the left side of the page. I purchased a song on the Top Songs list so didn’t venture too much into the interface but it seems very easy to use from my limited experience.

Once you find a track you want, click the Buy MP3 button and you’ll be prompted to download the Amazon MP3 Downloader. The downloader is necessary for album purchases but not for song purchases. I went ahead and downloaded it anyways.

Once I went through the checkout process, a .amz file was downloaded to my laptop. Double clicking the file begins the song download in the Amazon downloader app. About 5 seconds later, the song was downloaded and it was automatically added to my iTunes library.

Be careful about clicking the Buy MP3 button. Once you are logged into Amazon, clicking the button will automatically purchase the song much like the 1 click buying. I clicked the button by accident and purchased a song i didn’t really want to buy. Good thing the track was only $.89.

iTunes may finally have some competition with Amazon MP3 Beta. Most tracks are only $.89 and most albums $8.99. The songs are all DRM free and encoded at 256kbps in mp3 format. Right now the selection is a little limited, but I expect that to improve over time.

Competition is good for consumers, but we’ll have to wait and see if Apple changes the iTunes store in response. If you purchase from iTunes, Amazon MP3 Beta is worth some of your time to check it out. The reviews are beginning to come in, and so far they are positive.

Though some networks have their panties in a wad with Apple, others are increasing their efforts to use iTunes as a promotional tool. Beginning this week, the season premier of seven Fox shows will be available for free on iTunes. Prison Break, Bones, American Dad, K-Ville, and three others will be available as a free download for one (CNN) or two (LA Times) weeks, depending on who you believe. I tried to search the Fox website but I could find no reference listing the names of the other three shows available.

I’m going to have a look at the available shows and download a few of them. I’ve never downloaded a show from iTunes so this is a good chance to test out the content quality. It’s a smart move for Fox to offer up the season premiers for free. At no other point of the TV season, except for maybe the season finale, is the hype for new shows greater. By promoting the shows on another distribution channel, Fox is giving the shows a greater chance to build an audience. iTunes makes it dead simple to download and watch a TV show if you missed it or just hadn’t heard about it. Since advertising rates are based on ratings, it’s obviously the networks best interest to increase viewership. I would image any money made on iTunes via the selling of TV shows is pure profit as well. This move by Fox sounds like a win-win for both Fox and Apple. These shows would be great to test out the new iPod nano.

If you’re reading this website, you’re probably wondering how the posts are all displayed in pirate speak. It’s pretty easy! Just download the Text Filter Suite from Dougal Campbell’s website. Once you upload it to your plugins directory, activate TFS Core and TFS Pirate. You’re done!

The only option that I’ve found to be missing is the ability to hide certain sets from displaying via FAlbum. For example, I would like to hide the “Blog images” set on my website if possible. While that functionality would be nice to have, it’s certainly not a deal breaker. Give FAlbum a try if you are looking to display your Flickr photos on your Wordpress based website.

The initial backup will take a number of hours and from then on it backups your changes as you are using your computer (or at a scheduled time if you choose that option). I haven’t noticed any performance hit since I installed Mozy. They also have bandwidth throttling if you are using a slow connection and don’t want your backups taking up too much of your bandwidth. Your files are backed up using 128-bit SSL encryption during transit and there is also encryption on their servers.

If disaster strikes you have a few ways to get your data back. 1) “Simply right-click on the file or folder that you want to restore (e.g.. you want to restore a previous version) and click on the Mozy restore selection).” 2) Use your web browser and select the files you want to restore from your Mozy account and download them to your computer. 3) Request a DVD of your files which will be shipped to you for a fee.

If you don’t mind your files living on someone else’s server, give Mozy a try. You get 2GB of storage space for free and can purchase unlimited space for only $4.95 per month. I use Mozy in combination with SuperDuper as my backup solutions. I now have ease of mind in that if something were to happen to my data, at a minimum I’ll get the important stuff back with no problems.