Fufu's Chinese Antiques on eBay - paid for antique Chinese wedding bed not received

Fufu's Chinese Antiques on eBay - paid for antique Chinese wedding bed not received

From: Email User

Double Dragon Antiques/Fufu's Chinese Antiques/ eBAy

I purchased an antique Chinese wedding bed from Fufu's Chinese Antiques on eBay last June 2003. I never received the item and it now appears that I am among many who have sinilar stories. The company has changed its name to Double Dragon Antiques and is attempting to operate on Yahoo to sell their goods ( Email User ).

John Hughes

CAVEAT EMPTOR:

Enter "The World's Greatest Marketplace" At Your Own Risk Authored by:

Mirada Pildes and Kellie Ann Moore For sale-Antique Chinese Furniture! Bid with Confidence! Yeah, right.... Between March and September, at least 26 people, lured by the aura of Ebay's supposedly safe auction environment as well as the unique hand-carved Chinese antiques, purchased exquisite furniture for approximately $200,000 from Fufu's Chinese Antiques via their EBAY store. Not your average bargain shoppers, this group included five lawyers, a judge, an engineering professor, and a decorative arts historian who estimates the goods would fetch over a million dollars in the retail market. Buyers scrutinized Fufu's abundant and positive feedback on EBAY and felt comfortable engaging the transaction with the merchant. In fact, Fufu's maintained a brick and mortar showroom in China in addition to their EBAY, Yahoo and UBid websites.. Advertised on EBAY as "the largest antique furniture dealer in Southern China" Fufu's claimed they shipped a container of goods to the U.S. every 15 days. THE SELLER - FUFU However, all was not calm in the China Sea. Between March and November, Fufu claimed exigent delays beyond their control prevented shipments. First SARS, then heightened security threats and hurdles faced in the Long Beach Harbor. Excuses, excuses.... Most buyers paid via the on-line payment service provider, Paypal.com. Other buyers were instructed to send money orders to a Marina Del Rey mailbox. Records show that funds were cashed by Fufu's Los Angeles agent, a man called Rodney Fee. Unfortunately, Rodney Fee mysteriously disappeared with cash and original shipping documents in hand. His timing was terrible--the boat of goods arrived from China with nobody available to receive them. Currently, both US and Canadian authorities are looking for him. EBAY and PAYPAL Buyers, eager to either obtain their goods or a refund turned to Paypal and Ebay for help. Having received complaints from buyers anxiously awaiting their goods from China, Paypal initiated an investigation and froze Fufu's funds. However, Paypal neglected to notify the buyers of the account freeze. In fact, Paypal continued to accept buyers funds through November in payment for goods bought on Ebay, but would not allow Fufu to access or withdraw the money. Fufu, acting in good faith, shipped the goods hoping that Paypal would come to their senses and release their funds. Still hanging in the balance sheets was the issue of Fufu's need to pay the shipper so that the goods could be delivered to the buyers. The ship arrived in Long Beach Harbor, and the shipper (Guang Dong of China) "locked" on the container and refused to release the goods. Guang Dong wanted to be paid, but Fufu still could not access their funds tied up by Paypal's initiative. It remains unknown why Paypal has not released the funds or concluded their investigation for the past five months. Ebay did little, if anything, to assist the buyers. When Ebay buyers attempted to contact each other through Ebay's system, Ebay threatened to punish the buyers directly and cast them out of Ebay's marketplace. Finally, it took Ebay 7 months to act by restricting Fufu's sales ability from their website in December. WHAT CREDIT CARD PROTECTION? Buyers were left holding their plastic credit cards. Those who paid via Paypal allege that Paypal is responsible for their loss since Paypal fraudulently induced the buyers to forward their funds since the buyers lacked knowledge of Paypal's freeze or investigation. Since the buyers contracted with Paypal to provide the seller with funds via their payment provider service, they believe Paypal owes them a refund since their payment was never actually delivered to Fufu. Since goods were not delivered, buyers sought protection from their credit cards, including those managed by the reputable Citicorp and Chase banks. However, refunds were denied because the "payment service provider" had performed. ATTEMPTS TO INITIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT Jennifer E. in Illinois had a family friend in the local Oak Lawn police department. She called Detective Chris Parker and filed a grand theft report early November. Meanwhile, the buyers found Gary, an employee of Fufu's in China. Gary emailed the buyers a copy of the bill-of-lading indicating the boat's arrival date in Long Beach Harbor. Another buyer's cousin, an intern in the Shanghai Province of China, knocked on Fufu's showroom door. Speaking Chinese with Gary, she learned that Fufu is China's equivalent of Peyton Place. Turns out, Rodney Fee's (Fufu's agent in Los Angeles) wife had an affair with another Fufu employee, so Rodney took off with cash and original shipping documents in his hands. Gary also informs the group that Guang Dong (the Chinese shipping company) wants to sell the goods to anyone willing to take them (to recover their shipping costs not paid by Fufu). Such news sparked fear in the buyers - their precious furniture might disappear before their eyes on the shores of their own country. Realizing time to be of the essence, buyers encouraged Detective Parker to initiate a criminal investigation. Det. Parker contacted Sgt. Brad Johnson of the Long Beach Police Department. Finding probable cause to seize the container of goods, on Christmas eve LBPD seized the forty-foot shipping container and put it in their warehouse. The buyers performed exactly as the authorities asked. They filed official reports with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI. However, FBI's Los Angeles office admitted that the IFCC complaint was, in effect, useless in that it only generated paper tracking and would not initiate an actual investigation. It is Sgt. Johnson's opinion that the FBI won't handle the case because the known damages do not meet the FBI's minimum $500,000 threshold and are hesitant to interfere with any local investigation.

However, local agencies balked at the idea of investigating the claims due to the multiple jurisdictions, involvement of wire transfers and complex banking transactions, international parties and their internet involvement - which cumulatively carry federal implications. To date, no actual police agency has stepped forward to accept responsibility to investigate the victim's reports filed. If you ask the buyers what do they want-they'll tell you - just their old Chinese furniture please. You see, they love these antiques and have spent countless hours hunting and finding these unique Qing and Ming dynasty pieces which are as unusual as they are. Welcome to the "World's Greatest Marketplace."

The above message is Complaints.com Consumer Message # 19 January 12, 2004