PaulyDragon wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.:
I completely ran out of time tonight, but I will just be really brief and elaborate on this stuff (though not too excessively) tomorrow:

(1.) After being repeatedly bugged by eBay via email to leave feedback on Cougie for the three items (the same ones that led Cougie to attempt torpedoing and sabotaging my 2nd Alpha Print DMG auction , through strategically timed maliciously-applied  Negative feedback that was removed in somewhat timely fashion by eBay) against my better judgment I left false-positive feedback for Cougie, on these same items. All three said (paraphrased) "Before doing any business here, do a Google search of "cougarrinard".  This was promptly removed by eBay.

(2.) Claiming all three items were counterfeit, Cougie opened return requests. If he hadn't made that false claim, I probably would have granted them provided he paid the return shipping, per my eBay policy (free returns for US shipping, buyer pays return shipping for international orders---a safeguard to protect against scammers abroad though I would certainly consider a full refund for legit reasons by reputable international buyers). Cougie had to do it the hard way, so I responded accordingly but within acceptable, civilized forms of disagreement, even as Cougie wrongly claimed he didn't have to provide photographic evidence of the items being "counterfeit." I will go into this in greater detail in the full post, but for now I will say I spent a lot of time on the phone with eBay about this stuff. (And I also found out I was not in trouble for the removed false-positive comments on the Feedback I left for Cougie.

3.) Out of the blue he decided to direct-mail with this lovely gem, to which I did not respond at all, though I did block his direct email, and told eBay all about it in the ongoing dispute. Have a wonderful Sunday as you read this, and wonder how and why a person who is presumably older than 12 years old, and presumably has this *huge* business to run, would find the time and professional bearing to write me THIS:

Attachment:

AcaeumCougie.png

Hmmm, I wonder if all of those "diaper coupons" that were mentioned in some of the really old Cougie posts here on the Acaeum, were for his kids or for himself? What would even possess a "reputable seller" to go on a rant like this, unless he's trying to imitate a certain, deeply divisive orange-colored world "leader"? Anyhow, it is extremely late so i will go into much detail in the next post, covering the following previously mentioned points:


6.) His claims all my items sold to him were counterfeit, though I had a mountain of evidence backing their authenticity.

(7.) eBay UK (possibly through the actions of an eBay UK employee bribed by Cougie) initially determining my items were counterfeit, even though Cougie had zero photographic evidence.

(8.) The short, severely compromising defects to my seller account, and the big fight I put up to restore the status of my seller account.

(9.) after many hours on the phone with eBay, the very quick appeal decision in my favor, and the not as quick removal of all of the falsely applied defects on my seller account (though they were gradually all removed).



---Pauly

All right, once again I am a bit short on time, which is why I have made the faux pas of quoting my own previous post in its entirety. Apologies if this is annoying. It is not my intention to follow the precedent set  in the post by "nn" demonstrates that Emily Post can shove it.

Anyhow, back to the issues.

In the aftermath of the failed, malicious Negative Feedback attacks by Cougie I began getting annoying little automated eBay reminders to leave Feedback for Cougie. Yes, I know False-positive feedback is not allowed. Yes, I believe eBay should allow sellers to leave buyers Negative or Neutral Feedback since there is no direct way of telling a buyer is a scammer or a repeat non-payer. But in trying to stay completely civil on my end, so as not to look like the bad person, I refrained from leaving Cougie any feedback until I got prompted by eBay again. Given the circumstances, I should NOT have been given automated pestering. But my desire for some kind of civilized revenge burned through me enough that I went ahead and left the false-positive feedback, not as a direct attack on Cougie but as a way to alert other eBayers---but allowing them to judge whether or not all of the stuff compiled on the Acaeum and Dragonsfoot affected their decision about doing business with Cougie.

He obviously complained to eBay about it, though I never heard from eBay regarding the comments' removal. I contacted them, apologizing for the false positives but also making a point that I was being pestered by automated prompts that, in that frame of mind I was in when I left the false-positives, was too tempting to resist. Was I in trouble for doing that? No, actually, because given the experience I was having with Cougie, my behavior was completely understandable and without anything truly demeaning. I also reminded eBay to do a google search of their own, and see all of the damning information that was revealed. Granted, it obviously did not directly affect his eBay standing, but it was a way of eBay realizing they were letting a scammer use eBay UK as a front to do his shameless, well documented scamming. That might not have dawned upon eBay at the time, but I think it just might have over the next few weeks when Cougie not only scammed me by duping eBay into initially believing my items were counterfeit---without photographic evidence---but wound up scamming eBay outright when my appeals very quickly overturned the outcome, and eBay UK was forced to refund me the money out of their pockets.

The kicker? Apparently Cougie would never be informed of the appeal and overturning of the decision, so would be free to not only to spread lies about me being a "counterfeiter", but also have free reign to do to unsuspecting eBayers, what he had done to me. I made this point very clear to eBay in the several more hours I spent on the phone with them. I decided then and there to make certain aspects---but not EVERY aspect---public here on the Acaeum , where I know so many people have been burned by Cougie over the years, and somehow Cougie got away with it every time. This makes me wonder if my unproven theory that Cougie got inside help from an eBay UK employee in the right position wasn't just a one time thing. Has there been some kind of bribery going on all along from Cougie, to the right people working at eBay UK? Again, this is really pure speculation on my part---but how in the hell has Cougie not been banned from eBay several times over, given the mountains of damning evidence so vividly described on the Acaeum and elsewhere?

I see I am out of time for the night. I also don't want to overwhelm people with walls of text, so I am purposely doing large bite-sized chunks rather than going for information overload.

More on the "counterfeiting" and appeal-overturning stuff tomorrow.

I do hope I haven't bored you good folks to tears with this stuff. It is meant to provide fresh new awareness of Cougie's ongoing misdeeds, not to put me on a pedestal or anything like that.


---Pauly

At the risk of sounding snarky (and I honestly don't mean to),  why do business with this character in the first place?

He has a long, well documented history of being difficult.  Why not just block him from the get go and avoid this whole, long saga?

That in mind, my sentiment about this story so far is "caveat emptor."  

Don't get me wrong, by all accounts here at the Acaeum this guy surely seems to be trouble and I'm glad you won out in the end.  But still....Frog, Scorpion...etc, etc.

To be fair (well, not fair - because cougie is a turd-burglar), I had one transaction with him years ago. Went smoothly. Was for a couple 1E Kalamar Quest pamphlets.

Wanker used 80 bajillion stamps on the package.

Getting to probably the most controversial part of this entire thread: speculative Inside-job wrong-doing between Cougie and a bribed eBay employee (or employees).

This, by the way, covers  "(7.) eBay UK (possibly through the actions of an eBay UK employee bribed by Cougie) initially determining my items were counterfeit, even though Cougie had zero photographic evidence."

The escalated cases for the three items (AC2, Master rules D&D Set + M2+ dice, and G1) were put on hold a couple time, then settled upon June 30th as the deadline for Cougie to not only provide sufficient photographic evidence of my supposed "counterfeit" items, but also to get written confirmation from wither the manufacturer or law enforcement, that the items were indeed counterfeit.

On June 28th to my GREAT shock, so much I had to sit down because I began shaking with rage (thankfully I had an empty bladder, or I might have lost that uncontrollably as well), I got these messages form eBay. Do note there were NO SUPPORTING PHOTOGRAPHS WHATSOEVER from his end, blatantly in violation of eBay's own rules for these kind of international rulings:

1.) Master Rules D&D Set, etc

"This case is now closed

Hi Paul,

We reviewed this case and decided to issue the buyer a full refund.

The buyer provided written confirmation from the manufacturer or law enforcement that the item was counterfeit.

A refund of US $83.26 was issued on Jun 28, 2018 to the buyer. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping.

This amount will be debited from the payment method on your account."



2.)  AC2 combat shield + Mini-Adventure

"Hi Paul,

We reviewed this case and decided to issue the buyer a full refund.

The buyer provided written confirmation from the manufacturer or law enforcement that the item was counterfeit.

A refund of US $27.44 was issued on Jun 28, 2018 to the buyer. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping.

This amount will be debited from the payment method on your account."


3.) "G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief."

"Hi Paul,

We reviewed this case and decided to issue the buyer a full refund.

The buyer provided written confirmation from the manufacturer or law enforcement that the item was counterfeit.

A refund of US $27.44 was issued on Jun 28, 2018 to the buyer. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping.

This amount will be debited from the payment method on your account."



Needless to say, after I could could get back to my feet I immediately began the appeal, both submitting the written appeals, and then getting the hell back on the phone with eBay again. The written appeals, were simply:


(Master rules D&D Set, etc)

Jun. 29 :
The appeal was closed
Jun. 28 :
You sent us an appeal
Comments
I never saw the buyer s photos of the item on his end, so it could be compared comprehensively with the photos at my end. He switched my good item with a counterfeit item. This is extremely unfair. Please help.


(AC2)
Here's what happened
Jun. 29 :
The appeal was closed
Jun. 28 :
You sent us an appeal
Comments
I never saw the buyer s photos of the item on his end, so it could be compared comprehensively with the photos at my end. He switched my good item with a counterfeit item. This is extremely unfair. Please help.


(G1)

Here's what happened
Jul. 1 :
The appeal was closed
Jun. 29 :
You sent us an appeal
Comments
I never saw the buyer s photos of the item on his end, so it could be compared comprehensively with the photos at my end. Once again, (just like in cases # 5173038142 and #5173038089 ) he switched my good item with a counterfeit item, with him never once providing the photos. This is extremely unfair. Please help.


I made sure I got on the phone right away, so I could actually take to someone with the proper qualifications to get on this appeal ASAP. The people I spoke with were genuinely startled when they saw the blatant breach of eBay's rules, wondering how something so obvious could be overlooked. I again reiterated everything else I had said and written about Cougie, including once again taking a good hard look at not only his account, but perhaps following the Google search for "cougarrinard" or "cougar_rinard" so they could see for themselves just how many people Cougie had screwed and scammed over the years. While they obviously had to take the Acaeum and Dragonsfoot posting with some detachment since the complaints were not lodged on eBay, I think this time my words did NOT go in one corporate ear and out another.

Best of all, over the next few days I got these messages:

(Master D&D Rules Set, etc)

Here's the appeal outcome
Good news, we reviewed your case again and have sent a refund for $ 83.26 to your original payment method.
Please allow up to 48 hours to receive the refund.
We changed the outcome because the buyer didn't provide valid proof that the item was not authentic. This case will not affect your seller level and any Feedback left for this transaction will be removed.
Case ID :
5173038089
Buyer ID :
cougar_rinard
Request reason :
Request for return
Case reason :
I don't agree with the buyer's reason for return
TSR BECMI Basic D&D 1985 Set 4 : Master Rules+M2+new dice set. Nice shape!!!!
TSR BECMI Basic D&D 1985 Set 4 : Master Rules+M2+new dice set. Nice shape!!!!
Quantity 1
Total $ 83.26



(AC2)


Here's the appeal outcome
Good news, we reviewed your case again and have sent a refund for $ 27.44 to your original payment method.
Please allow up to 48 hours to receive the refund.
After reviewing the case again, we changed the original outcome of the case. This case will not affect your seller level, and any Feedback left for this transaction will be removed.
Case ID :
5173038142
Buyer ID :
cougar_rinard
Request reason :
Request for return
Case reason :
I don't agree with the buyer's reason for return
TSR BECMI Basic D&D 1984 AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure, nice and complete
TSR BECMI Basic D&D 1984 AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure, nice and complete
Quantity 1
Total $ 27.44


(G1)


Here's the appeal outcome
Good news, we reviewed your case again and have sent a refund for $ 45.31 to your original payment method.
Please allow up to 48 hours to receive the refund.
After reviewing the case again, we changed the original outcome of the case. This case will not affect your seller level, and any Feedback left for this transaction will be removed.
Case ID :
5173038185
Buyer ID :
cougar_rinard
Request reason :
Request for return
Case reason :
I don't agree with the buyer's reason for return
TSR 1st Ed Advanced D&D 1978 G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. 4th Prt, nice
TSR 1st Ed Advanced D&D 1978 G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. 4th Prt, nice
Quantity 1
Total $ 45.31



While I felt relieved and vindicated (and utterly drained) I wasn't done yet, not by a long shot. The falsely applied black marks were still on my account. My sales nosedived as a result, and the standard "Top Rated Plus" award-logo next to all my items were no longer applicable for several of my new listings that were posted during the whole "counterfeit" false claims. Also, I wanted to make sure there was no way Cougie could re-appeal or do a chargeback through PayPal, or really get loony and claim wire-fraud.. (He couldn't , since this refund came straight from UK eBay acknowledging UK eBay's mistake of not following their own procedures for international disputes.)

So my thought was: So they're just going to let Cougie walk away with no notification the outcomes had been lawfully reversed in my favor? So we was free to go and scam someone else, while spreading stories to his cronies that I am a counterfeiter? and let cougie walk away even though he had SCAMMED EBAY POSSIBLY WITH THE HELP OF WORKERS AT EBAY UK????

No, no. there was no way this asshole was going to simply walk away, even though he had already lost his former Global Shipping Program privileges, the "Top Rated Plus" designations on HIS listings were dropping across the board with several non-RPG exceptions, suddenly his items could not be seen by me unless I viewed them on eBay UK, his prices were falling on a bunch of things, and his inventory---which had previously been around the 2500 mark, give or take a few with fluctuation, had now noticeably dropped below 2000. He frantically tried clearing out parts of his inventory----and one of the things I DID notice was how he was selling the supposedly "counterfeit" M2: Vengeance of Alphaks module that I had included in my also supposedly "counterfeit" Master Rules D&D Set. in the next post I will screenshot the ensuing hilarity of the ever-relisted, ever-reducing prices of the M2, since standard Acaeum settings block listings from Cougie. Yes, he wound up selling the thing in the end, but I let eBy know what was happening, that he he was reselling my supposedly "counterfeit" item as his own, with nothing but profit to get, minus his suddenly increased costs of selling on eBay.

More on that, and more entertaining stuff (entertaining if you you have a morbid sense of humor, I guess), with only a few posts remaining. It appears I have also covered in this post:

"(8.) The short, severely compromising defects to my seller account, and the big fight I put up to restore the status of my seller account.

(9.) after many hours on the phone with eBay, the very quick appeal decision in my favor, and the not as quick removal of all of the falsely applied defects on my seller account (though they were gradually all removed).

(10.) My refund from eBay UK (but not from Cougie!) and the likelihood Cougie would never know (and therefore keep on scamming people who are less informed and more gullible).

(11.) My partially successful efforts to not only make eBay UK realizedthey had been SCAMMED by Cougie (since eBay UK was forced to pay me out of their own pockets), but also to deeply scour his seller account for similar scamming and misdeeds to other eBay sellers."

Next topics covered are all that really remains, on second thought:


(12.) The entertainment factor of watching Cougie visibly lose some of his privileges resulting in fewer new items being posted, higher global shipping rates (no more GSP for YOU, Cougie!) and an almost universal loss of "Top Rated Plus" seals next to his items being sold in the UK/Ireland region.

(13.) Watching one of my supposedly "counterfeit" items (that was supposedly destroyed by UK law enforcement) up for sale on his page, but relisting it again and again and again, for ever lesser opening bid prices. Gee, I wonder why he isn't getting any bites on this one?

(14.) An appeal for people to blacklist this person (if they haven't done so already), and spread the word on similar reputable websites since much of the existing damning info on Cougie is getting sort of old. Again---step it up, UK and European sellers here on the Acaeum! Get sales from people who otherwise would have bought from Cougie, were they not fully aware of just how bad his business really is.



I realize this thread is really long and long-winded for such a recent thread. Rather than getting needlessly teary-eyed about my rehabbing seller account (which has now had all falsely-applied defects removed and expunged, and is starting to get some action again albeit at a fraction of what it was getting before), I really hope the fine folk of the Acaeum come forward with stories of their own they have had recently, feel motivated enough to Cougie-alert other people you know or interact with who are NOT on the Acaeum, and to be ready to escalate like bloody hell if eBay makes a suspiciously, historically wrong decision (comparatively speaking to other eBay decisions) like that which happened my three supposedly "counterfeit" auction items.


Thanks again for reading. I don't intend to be adding much more to this thread, besides responding to some of the comments you might have for me. I hope this helps educate and inform, emboldens reputable UK/EU sellers to stand the hell up and be noticed and seriously cut into Cougie's business, and encourages UK/EU buyers (and buyers from everywhere else) not to give David Whitfield AKA "cougar_rinard" a GODDAMN CENT OR PENNY of your spending money. Preemptively block this bastard, do your business with Cougie's reputable competitors in the UK/Ireland and EU regions, and SPREAD THE WORD if you can. The damage to my account was severe over the short term, but is quickly rebounding. Cougie has way further to fall as a "business" scammer, and only a truly informed collector community including other sites, can make this happen.

Thanks again.

---Pauly

gyg wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.: I have just given and received positive feedback from him because I have had a great transaction...

That will be my defense at my upcoming trial - what about all those days I didn't murder someone?!

gyg wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.:...for a bunch of early White Dwarfs.

Be careful how you capitalize terms relating to the human-trafficking business. I understand there's also a magazine with that title.

every time I've called ebay customer service it's been employees with in a country it's been outsourced to. Can't understand them.


You can tell they are reading pre-written prompts from a screen in reply to questions

sauromatian wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.:

gyg wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.: I have just given and received positive feedback from him because I have had a great transaction...

That will be my defense at my upcoming trial - what about all those days I didn't murder someone?!

gyg wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.:...for a bunch of early White Dwarfs.

Be careful how you capitalize terms relating to the human-trafficking business. I understand there's also a magazine with that title.

Both remarks, genius

ashmire13 wrote in "cougarrinard" scams himself into eBay trouble.:Pauly,  good informative thread.

I wonder about the bribery though. It's posdible. It's also possible that eBay are inept and always side with the buyer until they get kicked.
From my limited experience of refunds on eBay, buyer always wins, regardless unfortunately

Thanks :3

I wonder if the possible wrongdoing of  Cougie collusion is an ongoing thing at UK eBay? Given all of the stuff found here on the Acaeum along with Dragonsfoot and elsewhere, why in the heck would Cougie still be selling on eBay, never mind having the extremely questionable "100% positive feedback" with the 57 Feedback revisions?

The UK eBay people (higher up on the appeals and account-review teams) seemed genuinely shocked that eBay UK had failed to follow their own procedures. Since UK eBay wound up paying me from their own pockets, and presumably weren't too happy about that, could there be something shady and ongoing happening? To that end I wrote and spoke to them about taking a closer look at this highly irregular move on their part, not so much the corporation as a whole, but any particular employees who may have been involved. I have zero additional evidence, and am only depending on simple logic based on all of Cougie's well-documented past shadiness, plus nothing like this ever happening in the main eBay,  plus my own casino industry experience (where "inside jobs" DID happen every now and then, until all involved were arrested and imprisoned).

I will go more into detail about some of that in the next post, coming tomorrow night, which will probably be the second to last major post I make about my truly horrible, outrageous experience. But I don't want to play the victim card, either. People seem to give Cougie some slack because the most vivid past accounts were done 10+ years ago. But after what happened to me, be assured Cougie is still to be avoided at all costs, and reported when he caught you with your britches down, like he did with me. Just because I got my money back doesn't mean I am going to let it all go, not till I'm done stating my peace, while looking skeptically upon these scattered random people coming out of the woodwork to defend Cougie, on the very site that brought Cougie's wrongdoings to light in the first place


---Pauly

For the sake of anyone reading this in future, please could I reiterate that there is nothing illegal about marking books as "books".

Edit: to clarify, there's no requirement to pay import tax on D&D modules in the UK, because they're books, so there's no question of illegally avoiding proper import tax. I have tested this.