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mevale

May 14, 2011, 6:13 AM

Post #1 of 8 (2449 views)

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Question about Mercado Libre

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I'm thinking about making my first purchase on Mercado Libre. The seller is a private party and I'm concerned about protecting myself against fraud. The ML site says the following:

Si no recibes el producto:
Antes que nada, habla con el vendedor. Seguro estará dispuesto a escucharte y resolver el inconveniente.
Si no estás conforme con su respuesta, escríbenos y cuéntanos el problema. Desde que compraste, tienes 90 días para hacer el reclamo.
Si no conseguimos solucionarlo y cumples con los requisitos del programa, te devolveremos todo o parte del dinero, dependiendo del precio del producto y de la cobertura que aplique a tu caso. Ver coberturas.

OK, I understand all of that, but when I read about the "coberturas" it only covers the vendor I'm dealing with for up to 800p. based on his/her reputation. So if I pay the vendor directly, as I read it, I'm stuck if the deal goes south.

However, when I look at the coberturas, it says "Si pagaste con MercadoPago" it covers "El total de la compra (100%)". As I'm reading it, if I first deposit with Mercado Libre through the MercadoPago option, I'll be covered if regardless of the vendor reputation or if the item doesn't show or isn't as advertised. Would it cover fraud, as in the case of a counterfeited item? And how do you deposit to MercadoPago? Do they give you a bank acct # and you just make the deposit into the account?

Anybody who has use ML, please give me your ideas and the best way to approach this. If it was just a couple of hundred pesos, I wouldn't be concerned, but it is substantially more than that, so I want to be sure before I pull the trigger.

Thanks

(This post was edited by mevale on May 14, 2011, 6:23 AM)

Moisheh

May 14, 2011, 6:30 PM

Post #2 of 8 (2355 views)

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Re: [mevale] Question about Mercado Libre

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If Mercado Libre has a pay program similar to Paytpal you might never see your money!! Paypal protects the seller not the buyer. I would not trust Mecado Libre to have real customer service! Remember Mexico is the land of the Scam. Even Banks have been known to sc--w their customers.

Moisheh

Axixic

May 15, 2011, 12:47 PM

Post #3 of 8 (2275 views)

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Re: [Moisheh] Question about Mercado Libre

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Where did you get this idea, that Mexico is the land of Scam? I've dealt with Mercardolibre and haven't had a problem but I never had a problem with EBay or Amazon either. The vendors I've bought from on ML, I emailed or called and bought directly from them using a card. Most ML vendors have advertised there for a long time and they wouldn't still be there if they were scam artists.

I bet the U.S. has more and bigger scam artist than does Mexico.

Moisheh

May 15, 2011, 2:35 PM

Post #4 of 8 (2253 views)

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Re: [Axixic] Question about Mercado Libre

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Amazon is a legitimate business that is known for good customer service. If you ever have a problem with an ebay seller and have used Paypal to do the deal good luck if you have a claim. They protect the seller but offer empty words to the buyer. And yes Mexico is well known for scams and offer very little in consumer protection . There are plenty of laws that should protect you but I have never known anyone to get satisfaction from Profeco. Just look at the Pemex scams as a good example: pumps that are on average 9% off, attendants that do a change swap and even stations that water the fuel with waste products. Is that not a scam? What about all the real estate scams in Mexico? One usually bases their opinions on personal experience. Perhaps your experiences have been different. Buyer Beware!

RickS

May 15, 2011, 4:03 PM

Post #5 of 8 (2231 views)

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Re: [Moisheh] Question about Mercado Libre

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"If you ever have a problem with an ebay seller and have used Paypal to do the deal good luck if you have a claim."

My experience with PayPal in these matters has been just the opposite. I recently had a problem with two different sellers on eBay. I had paid both with PayPal. One seller never sent the item. The other sent an 'inferior' version of the product. I was having a problem with both of them about the purchases so I called PayPal and they stepped in on my behalf. It took a while but I got a credit to my PayPal account. Glad I did the deal with PayPal.

morgaine7

May 15, 2011, 4:35 PM

Post #6 of 8 (2225 views)

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Re: [mevale] Question about Mercado Libre

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I've only made one purchase on ML, but it was substantial (around 4,000 pesos). It was the seller's first offer, so there was no "reputation" yet, but I googled the contact info and came up with verification that he was a legitimate distributor of the product, so I went ahead and transferred the funds from my bank account to his (without using MercadoPago). Everything went fine.

My take is that ML is self-policing. If a seller scams someone, he won't get the opportunity to do it twice. Bad luck if you're the scammee, but I doubt it happens all that often compared to the number of successful transactions.

Kate

bournemouth

May 15, 2011, 4:43 PM

Post #7 of 8 (2222 views)

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Re: [morgaine7] Question about Mercado Libre

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The Chapala.com forum had a thread on Mercado Libre earlier this month - if you scroll down there is a post with details on who to contact if you have been defrauded on Mercado Libre:

http://www.chapala.com/...h=1&#entry216702

(This post was edited by Rolly on May 15, 2011, 6:09 PM)

Axixic

May 15, 2011, 6:11 PM

Post #8 of 8 (2193 views)

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Re: [Moisheh] Question about Mercado Libre

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You don't think Mercardolibre, which is operating in several countries, is a legitimate company? Have you ever been to the Mercardolibre website?

Mexico doesn't have the corner on scams. The U.S. has more than its share of con artists and the con artists in the U.S. can get billions and bankrupt governments before they are caught.

If your answer was just to bash Mexico, it wasn't helpful.

(This post was edited by Axixic on May 15, 2011, 6:14 PM)