it's short for asshole:
the account of one dishonest ebay member that I just can't let go without an e-slap

Steve has been selling a bunch of video games lately so he can save up for a car.  We share an ebay account, because I've had one for years so he decided to just use mine whenever he wanted to buy or sell something.  I point out the account ownership because the jerk in question addressed his email to me (since my name is on the account), which would look a little odd out of context, considering that anyone who knows me knows I don't play video games.

One of Steve's recent auctions was for the Playstation game Castlevania.  The auction number is 190082487178 in case you want to look it up...if you're one of those video game types.  Which I am not (see above).

Anyway, the buyer, "itsshortforleo" came back after the sale and asked for a partial refund from Steve.  Follow the ridiculous story below.

Question from itsshortforleo

itsshortforleo( 116) Positive feedback: 99.2% Member since: Mar-21-99 Location: NJ, United States Registered on: www.ebay.com

Item: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night PS1 Black Label Orig (190082487178) This message was sent after the listing closed. itsshortforleo is the winner. Miss Palleria, I just received the items I paid for, and I have to admit, I am extremely disappointed at the fact that I did not receive what you advertised! More so Castlevania than VP. Castlevania is not in excellent condition at all! The discs are scratched, and its tray insert looks as though someone opened the tray folded it twice, and then put it back in. VP's CDs were described as excellent, but they were also badly scratched. Even if it was close to your description, I would have not minded, but this is just ridiculous. I now have to go through the hassle of having to pay for packing, gas for driving to the post office, and finally for postage. Would it be OK if I just received a partial refund of $20 being that the games were extremely inaccurate from orig description? Please help me.

Let's examine the many moods of Leo.  First Leo leaves Steve glowing feedback:

Super fast shipping. Works great with others. Highly recommend!

Yet in an ebay message, Leo is extremely disappointed and finds the situation ridiculous, claiming Steve's description of the item wasn't even close to realistic.  Then he asks for a partial refund (WTF??), which Steve actually gave him because he could tell the guy was a scam artist who would probably request a charge-back from Paypal and end up with both the game and his money back.  Had I sold the game instead of Steve, I wouldn't have been so generous.  I would have insisted he return the game for a full refund instead.

But, see, that probably wouldn't have worked out for Leo, because he wanted to relist the game right away.  And did he disclose its horrible scratched condition?  Did he tell the potential buyer that the game was not even close to Steve's description of "excellent"?  Nope, he didn't.  He listed it as:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Playstation) MINT

Hey, look at that!  When he bought it, it was scratched and crappy, and not worth the $59.99 he paid for it, but now it's magically MINT.  And worth $75.

More of Leo's glowing description on his auction:

This game is in MINT condition, LIKE NEW! Not a single scratch on the CD. Comes with instructions, also mint.

So, surely, it's not the same game.  Leo claims he's an honest person and that he buys these things all the time.  He buys and sells, see.  He's a mover and a shaker.  Interesting...  

The last copy of Castlevania Leo bought was on December 31st (paid $50), and it was listed as containing "light scratches," which would not, by Leo's own terminology, be considered MINT.  Leo reamed Steve up and down for not divulging the game's condition as "normal play wear."  Well, considering Steve never played the game, I doubt this was the case, but whatever.  This other copy he bought obviously does have normal play wear.  So whether he's listing Steve's game or the game he bought in December, he's being dishonest about the condition.

And I find it hard to believe that he buys copies upon copies of Castlevania everywhere he goes, because he's only sold one other copy in the last 2 months.  Probably 90% of his purchases have been Final Fantasy, which: lame.

But let's give old Leo the benefit of the doubt.  If, in fact, he is not turning around and reselling the exact game he just bought from Steve, but, rather, a completely different copy that he got somewhere else, isn't it curious that he's also selling the other game (Valkyrie Profile) he bought from Steve on the same day he bought Castlevania?  A little suspicious if you ask me.  If this truly is just a coincidence, Leo has some direct connections to tha freaky magic realms, yo.  He should probably buy a lottery ticket or something, because damn.

Unscrupulous scammers really piss me off.  Especially when they take that tone with [me] in an email.  This guy apparently thought he could intimidate me because I'm just a girl.  Little does he know that had he actually been dealing with me, he'd have come out of this transaction with one fewer bug eye than he currently enjoys.  (I say "bug eye" because he actually has a photo of himself in his ebay profile, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty.)

In conclusion, while people like Leo have every right to conduct "business" in whatever dishonest fashion they choose, consumers like me have every right to call them on it publicly on our little websites.

I suspect the truth of the matter lies in Leo's user name, which could undoubtedly be truncated to "it's short."

Whatever your damage, Leo, get over it already.  Greasy scalper types went out of style in the '80s.  Don't be passe.

 

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