"I'm a fucking idiot, what do I do now?", he said to his wife.

It happens, and Ebay is definitely skewed towards the buyer. But like CL, the vast majority of transactions are simple and effective. There wouldn't be so much selling going on still if getting fucked over was the most common result. It does happen with some regularity though, there's no doubt. But generally I trust it will go well. I had a deadbeat once but it basically just meant I sold the item a month and a half later after waiting out the time frames in Ebay's policy for trying to make him pay me. I wasn't dumb enough to send it out without a cleared payment.

My dad bought a receiver off Ebay and never got it. Left the guy negative feedback. Someone else who got scammed wrote my dad an email and said he was also scammed and gave him the number of the local PD where the guy lived. So my dad called and reported it to the police who said the guy has been under investigation by their "cyber crimes" division or some bullshit.

tl;dr my dad got a call two weeks later from the PD saying the dude committed suicide because he was so far in debt and knew he was going to get arrested.

Do you tell your dad he's got "the stare"? If my Dad did that and then was silly enough to tell me the story, I'd probably call him Killer and comment on his cold, dead eyes until he eventually punched me in the face.

Iannis_sl said:

Do you tell your dad he's got "the stare"? If my Dad did that and then was silly enough to tell me the story, I'd probably call him Killer and comment on his cold, dead eyes until he eventually punched me in the face.

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Hahaha, good thing I wasn't drinking coffee while reading this.

Eyashusa_sl said:

tl;dr my dad got a call two weeks later from the PD saying the dude committed suicide because he was so far in debt and knew he was going to get arrested.

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Good.

If this thread has run its course I'm now taking suggestions on how to get my deposit back from my shady fucking white trash slumlord in Detroit. I tried to get cash in hand before leaving, but he somehow knew he had 30 days to get it back to me under the law, and surprise surprise he's now ignoring my calls/voicemails/texts two months later.

(It was in Warren, Michigan actually, but who the fuck can tell the difference, place was a block away from 8 mile).

$500 is a lot of money for my broke ass, considering how I was only there for two months. I've considered sending him some scary legalese BS via certified mail, but I don't think he gives two shits considering he knows I've moved out of the state.

When that happened to me I had to take my landlord to small claims. Which... isn't really an option for you so, say bye bye to your money.

Just keep pestering him in any way possible. Eventually he might cave and give you half to get rid of you. That's basically it from what I've seen. Most landlords view the security deposit as theirs to keep by default. I can't even blame them, the cost of trying to rent shit seems to be against the landlord to me, and he probably deals with shithead tenants all the time. Take you for example, two months? Were you on a lease?

Harass the fuck out of him. Never underestimate the power of being obnoxious. Daily texts and phone calls.

Big Phoenix_sl said:

Lol Ebay;

My sister sold some lady a pair of shoes for $5 on ebay. After getting the shoes the lady complains and bitches to my sister about the shoes being messed up or something so my sister refunds the lady her money and just tells her to keep the shoes. Week later my sister sees the lady selling the pair of shoes for a lot more than $5 while using her description and pictures of the shoes.

You realize graphing and professional calculators retail for $100+, right?

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I remember buying a TI-84 in high school and it was like $40... maybe it was an old model or something. All I remember is playing pitfall during trig, and consequently nearly failing trig.

Rune_sl said:

If this thread has run its course I'm now taking suggestions on how to get my deposit back from my shady fucking white trash slumlord in Detroit. I tried to get cash in hand before leaving, but he somehow knew he had 30 days to get it back to me under the law, and surprise surprise he's now ignoring my calls/voicemails/texts two months later.

(It was in Warren, Michigan actually, but who the fuck can tell the difference, place was a block away from 8 mile).

$500 is a lot of money for my broke ass, considering how I was only there for two months. I've considered sending him some scary legalese BS via certified mail, but I don't think he gives two shits considering he knows I've moved out of the state.

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I suspect you'll have to fight harder for that money than the money is worth. I only know one landlord and she's a really nice woman in all things except for when it comes to money in her hands from her tenants. She gets real hard real fast. So if you've got a man who is good with being a sleazeball... you'll probably have to take him to court to get it back.

Never count deposits as money you have. Count them as a debt owed you when you leave and realize that it's probably going to be a debt reneged.

8 mile is pretty long and passes through nice neighborhoods too, it isn't just where Eminem got his start. The more you know.

Eight mile does pass through some nice neighborhoods, this wasn't one of them. My girlfriend came to visit once and discovered that the entire neighborhood was tagged on foursquare as whitetrashville.

I had a two month gig at one of the detroit medical centers and roomed with some friends. Short term furnished housing at non-corporate rates is fucking impossible, so I guess I still saved money over living in an extended stay hotel. But it was literally a crackhouse six months before my friends moved in.

They all managed to get their deposit back when they moved out the week before I did, but I had a bad feeling about the whole deal. I was on fairly good terms with him and his wife, even helped them fix up the house on my days off, but they were not too far removed socially from the award-winning vegas couple in this thread. They had bought the house for like $500 with visions of becoming the next Donald Trump and then immediately Warren started hitting them for all kinds of crazy bullshit fines and extortion to the tune of 20-30k total because the house wasn't up to code.

I try to do the right thing and let kharma/god sort it out, but it really chaps my ass when people get away with that kind of shit.

Those fucking coney island ruebens were worth it, though. Christ, I think I gained ten pounds during those two months. Detroit really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd rather live there than NY. You can drive 15 miles outside of Detroit and you're in neighborhoods nicer than anything I've ever seen. If you're in the tri-state area on the other hand, it's just infinite shit stained concrete jungle.

My next move is to draft up some legal jargon filled letter repeatedly referencing the perils of Michigan state housing court and shit like garnished wages. But it's a last ditch effort, I've lost hope in getting that money back. At least it wasn't $8,900!

Hoss_sl said:

I was taught never to expect the deposit back on an apartment.

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I don't know where you're from and can't pretend I know a lot about laws in other states but... I own a duplex in CT and the laws are severely in favor of the renter here. You have to royally fuck some shit up in my house for me to be able to legally take your security deposit. Not only that but you get free legal council in said matters from the state in case you have any questions as to the validity of my withholding said deposit.

I'm also required to pay interest (as dictated by prevailing rates) on your security deposit over the life of your lease.

I can't believe this many people have said the security deposit is as good as gone. I've always gotten my security deposit back - usually in the full amount I paid minus a cleaning fee.

Rune_sl said:

If this thread has run its course I'm now taking suggestions on how to get my deposit back from my shady fucking white trash slumlord in Detroit. I tried to get cash in hand before leaving, but he somehow knew he had 30 days to get it back to me under the law, and surprise surprise he's now ignoring my calls/voicemails/texts two months later.

(It was in Warren, Michigan actually, but who the fuck can tell the difference, place was a block away from 8 mile).

$500 is a lot of money for my broke ass, considering how I was only there for two months. I've considered sending him some scary legalese BS via certified mail, but I don't think he gives two shits considering he knows I've moved out of the state.

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How did you leave?
I assume no lease due to the short term, did you give 30 days notice? IE you would have had to give written notice on the 30th day of your tenancy or your pretty much on the hook for the 3rd month and he is keeping your deposit as payment for rent.