Complaint Review: Duty Free Digital - Steven A Levi

I purchased an Olympus 5050C digital camera from Duty Free Digital on August 5, 2004 and paid for the product via PayPal the same day. The seller stated that the product would take at least 15 days to deliver so I did not worry when it did not arrive right away.

I contacted the seller shortly after the predicted delivery time but did not receive a reply. I continued to try and contact the seller with no success.

When I contacted Ebay they said the seller had closed his store so they could not help me. When I contacted PayPal I was told that because the payment was older than 30 days it was no longer protected.

I thought I was safe because Duty Free was a power seller with a high pos rating. Was I ever wrong. I finally recieved the following email from the seller. I am so frustrated. I don't know what to do next. I am out $368.00 and have lost faith in Ebay and Paypal.

Subject: Re: Item #3831649975 - Notification of an Instant Payment Received from pator...

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Duty Free Digital is forced to close its business and is declaring bankruptcy.

If you paid with PayPal, please contact them @ 888-204-4481, or contact your credit card provider.

I want to sincerely apologize to you. I also want you to know some facts.

I've owned an eBay store for more than 5 years and until this year did OK. However, competition kept increasing and my profits kept decreasing, a combination that has forced me out of business.

I put everything I had into my eBay business. I have lost my entire life's savings and I am now in the most dire straits of my life. I have a wife and two teenage children. This is the single worst event in my life other than my father's death years ago. I'm not some corporation filing bankruptcy; I'm a guy who worked 120 hours a week and 52 weeks a year to earn a living. I am not uncaring or oblivious to the pain that I have caused you.

I'm telling you all this because I want you to know that this is all about a failed business. Sometimes, despite one's best efforts and despite one investing everything they own into a business, the business fails and cannot go on. That is what has happened to me.

I am very, very sorry that my business failing has hurt you too. If there was a way to stay in business I would have done it, but the reality is that I must close my eBay store. My life and my family's life will be affected by this personal failure for years to come.

Please know that I do not take any of this lightly, and that I never wanted to hurt you.

Take care.
Steven A. Levi

Victoria
Fremont, California
U.S.A.