IceForce said:
Why has this guy sparked so much burning vitriol and hatred? Is it jealousy?
I can't speak for everyone, but I know for some Americans the anger stems from the fact that we have TONS of stories like this in our local and national news and it enrages those with common sense that people are essentially get "rewarded" for being stupid. When stupid people get rewarded for being stupid, it makes life harder on the rest of us because it gives companies an excuse to makes things difficult for the consumer on the grounds that "we have to protect ourselves in case someone stupid hurts themselves again."
In addition, some believe the UK is a country superior to ours because it doesn't reward stupidity but demands that its citizens be responsible for themselves and their actions. So when we hear of American level stupidity occurring and being "rewarded" in the UK, some people go off the deep end.
This kid read the eBay post and admitted it said the auction was for a photo, but that he bid anyway because he thought the description was wrong in someway and the he would actually get an Xbox One. That is stupid. If you aren't sure, ask the seller. If you question the auction, don't bid. Is it rage inducing stupid? No, but it was stupid, and the fact that the owner of the auction put it in the wrong category negates some of the stupidity on the buyer's part.
Had eBay simply refunded the buyer's money, I would have had no problem with the story. But they didn't. They returned his money AND banned the seller. Why? There was nothing to suggest he was as scam artist (as far as the articles have said) and NO ONE has tried to get his side of the story. Heck, the auction has been erased from eBay's site entirely so there is no way to verify if it was a scam or a poorly worded auction. All we have is the "victim's" word that it was a scam.
That is really my only issue with it. I have questions that are not being answered. I am not angry at the kid, I'm angry at eBay and Paypal. Once again, because they got "bad representation" in the news, they ruin someone's life over what was probably a mistake. But we will never know, because everything associated with this action has been deleted.
