TJohannsen

Last updated 00:00, Tuesday, 11 December 2007

A BARROW dad, new to auction site Ebay, says his experience with the internet giant has caused him a Wii bit of bother in the run up to Christmas.

Lee Goude, of Piel View Grove, snapped up a Nintendo Wii games console for his son Joshua’s Christmas present.

Being one of the hottest Christmas presents this year, major stockists are scrapping to get their hands on limited supplies.

So Mr Goude, 45, was pleased when he found one on Ebay and bought it for his 11-year-old boy.

That was on November 12, and some four weeks later the item has still not been delivered although the £229.99 he paid has been debited from the payment card he used. Mr Goude fears he has been the victim of a con artist who infiltrated Ebay.

The purchase was made from a seller in London under the “buy it now” method.

The dad paid using Paypal, a secure online transaction service tied to the site. When he tried to contact Paypal for a refund, he claims he was met with obstacle after obstacle.

He claims the firm sent him an email to open a payment dispute, but he could not save it on his computer as the company had instructed.

An anguished Mr Goude contacted Action Desk to see if we could help.

So we called Ebay and Paypal to ask if they take the issue of payment security seriously.

No Ebay spokesman was available but a Paypal spokesman said: “PayPal is actively engaged in the fight against fraud and online scams. We recognise the threat which faces both our existing customers and the wider online community and are tackling online fraud in a number of ways.

“One of the critical elements is consumer education – forewarned is forearmed. This takes many forms, from regular newsletters to simple hints and tips and online videos on YouTube.

“PayPal is also working closely with ISPs, portals and industry figures as well as continuing to develop our own technology.”

As yet Paypal has not said if it will refund the money. It is looking into Mr Goude’s case.

Mr Goude said: “I won’t be using Ebay again.

“I looked at the seller’s feedback rating and 97.4 per cent positive comments seems like a good score.”