Michael Coslo wrote:


Chuck Harris wrote:


Two bad experiences are not enough to form a conclusion.

Let me put it this way, if a guy comes apon a crowded
city street, and runs headlong into the street, without
regard for the signals, and gets hit by a car, he might
conclude that it is very dangerous to cross that street.

Yet hundreds of thousands of others with, minimal schooling
in the ways of city traffic, can cross that same city street
without incident.



Hmmm, will the next analogy be about a woman who was assualted, but
it was her fault because she was pretty, or was wearing a nice skirt?
That's what you're doing here.

It was MY fault because I didn't check out the sellers feedback.

The unspoken statement that goes along with this is that since it was my
fault, it is acceptable for sellers to take advantage of the unaware.

No, that is not my unspoken statement. My unspoken statement is that if
you are going to live in this brave new world, you must develop enough
"street smarts" to protect yourself.


Chuck, Ebay is simply not a good neighborhood. From my personal
experience, and from what I have read and observed, and had related to
me over the years, it is still not a good neighborhood.

To the same extent that ebay is a bad neighborhood, the entire internet
is a bad neighborhood. If you don't develop some "street smarts", you
*will* be taken advantage of. You can be caught by simply believing what
appears to be valid email from a trusted source. (such as Microsoft)

It shouldn't be this way, but we live in a world where there is both good
and evil, and every shade inbetween. By allowing the internet into your
home, you are allowing the most smarmy of scum to take a try at preying
upon you.


That you come up with analogies such as me wearing a t-bone steak
suit (actually that was what my folks did to get the dog to play with
me) ;^) and now the running into the street thing, merely indicates that
it is not a good neighborhood.

Finally, there is an inconsistency in calling me naive after getting
screwed on Ebay twice. Seems as if stopping was the point at which I
lost the naivete

I said that your naivete was why you got screwed. You lost your cherry
on ebay. Now, if you are a smart guy, you will put on your learning cap,
and start to figure out what you did wrong, and avoid repeating the mistake.

It wasn't being on ebay that got your CC stolen. It was being too trusting,
and too ignorant of scams that have flourished on the internet.

The mistake you made on the internet, that got your CC stolen, works on the
telephone too!

The conclusion drawn by the ignorant one is improperly formed.
Given the tiniest bit of schooling, he too could use ebay safely.


I suppose that with the proper schooling, one could have daily
casual sex with total strangers and not get STD's. No thanks, I'll pass.

You seem to want to miss the point entirely. Too bad, it ultimately will
be your loss.

I have found ebay to be a most useful tool for acquiring things I could never
find within a 100 mile radius of my town. Without ebay, I would never even know
they were available for sale. From my exposure to ebay, I would venture that
the bad apples are less than 0.001%.

- Mike KB3EIA -

I will leave you with this one tip: by advertising your call sign, you are
advertising your name, birthday, age, and address to anyone who wants to know.
Up until very recently, your SSN was also in the mix, thanks to congress and
the FCC.

Do you think that is a wise idea?

If you think ebay is bad, welcome to the usenet. Here, there are *no* controls!

-Chuck