Ads on Facebook

[TractorGuy]

Don't trust ANY of them. Facebook has allowed the scammers to infiltrate both the marketplace AND the news feed. Most of the marketplace ads are the obvious low price tractors and such. The ones being allowed on the news feed are a little less obvious sometimes. I also noticed the marketplace ads are usually defined as dealers rather than a person.

I messed up and let my guard down at the end of the year and fell for a rivet nut tool ad. I thought I was safe by paying through PayPal. A couple days after I placed the order the link to it didn't not return as found so I tried to contact them to cancel. That attempt came back as undeliverable so I entered a dispute through PayPal. 36 days later I received a little pack of 1/8" pop rivets from China in the mail. I could have bought those from the local hardware store for $5. The following day PayPal informed me they decided in favor of the seller since the tracking showed product delivered. These people have figured out if they actually send something of lesser value that they can avoid a charge back from PayPal. I tried to respond to PayPal and they had closed the case and gave me no option to dispute their ruling. I entered a dispute through my credit card and canceled my PayPal account.

This ad said the product was made in and shipped from the USA. That should have told me right there it was a scam since NOTHING is made in the USA tool wise.

I also reported the incident to Facebook and they said they reviewed it and it didn't violate any of their posting guidelines.

I knew better as do most of you but just thought I would vent and remind us all that the scammers were out there.

I happened to have a need for the rivet nut tool and inserts so I ordered a similar set off Amazon a week after I ordered the set off Facebook. Got it in 3 days and put it to use.

From now on I will stick to KNOWN merchants. Even if they allow third parties to sell on their sites like Amazon and eBay at least I will be dealing through a company that has my back. Another precaution I am taking on eBay is looking at the sellers info to see where they are based. eBay tells you if they are based in a foreign country so from now on I will avoid those sellers.

 

[MoKelly]

Good reminder. Facebook, I believe, has become more than useless.

MoKelky

 

[TractorGuy]

Good reminder. Facebook, I believe, has become more than useless.

MoKelky

I enjoy keeping up with friends and family on it but that's about the end of it.

They actually have SOME legitimate ads. I started looking at tool boxes at Home Depot because of one of their ads on my news feed and ended up buying 3 of them. Obviously if the ad says it's from a reputable company and the link goes to that company's web site it's a different story. The scammers will ruin it for other sellers wishing to use the platform for legitimate sales.

I think my biggest disappointment in the whole thing is learning that PayPal would side against me without giving me a chance to follow up on their ruling. That and the fact they ruled against me as soon as the tracking number indicated a delivery.

I have used PayPal for years and they had my back on a couple of cases but in those the seller never responded so they really didn't have a choice.

 

[caver]

You can try FB Purity browser extension. I see no ads on FB. When searching on Marketplace make sure and select Local Pickup in the Delivery Method drop down menu. It defaults back to the original setting every time you search. It weeds out the paypal folks.

 

[cdaigle430]

I got rid of Facebook, twitter and Instagram last year-very happy

 

[RalphVa]

I got scammed by a couple ads on FB.

 

[Jstpssng]

I dropped them 4 years ago and haven't looked back. Now they're in a big controversy with Apple, who has developed some way to keep them from tracking your browser activity. That stalking alone is enough to keep me away from them.

 

[Citydude]

I dropped them 4 years ago and haven't looked back. Now they're in a big controversy with Apple, who has developed some way to keep them from tracking your browser activity. That stalking alone is enough to keep me away from them.

Good to hear Apple is taking up the privacy issue with them. I deleted my Facebook account a few months ago.

 

[RjCorazza]

A timely topic...
Over the past month I have taken an interest in reporting scam ads on FB, as well as scam listings. Man it doesn't take long to pick them out!
I was reporting literally hundreds a day when bored, and noted that FB does practically nothing to prevent these scams. Heck, even Craigslist has SIGNIFICANTLY less scam ads than FB.
My first exposure to Marketplace was somewhat more positive in selling a ZD mower. The scams go both ways, as I fielded a lot of scam messages about the mower. The guy who ended up buying it was a stand-up guy.

 

[mcfarmall]

After watching The Social Dilemma on Netflix I have deleted all social media apps and accounts. Read the book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier.