Counterfeit items on EBay, and why you should care.

So, I just contacted a bunch of people who won the same auction as me, and sent this message:

Hi there. I am contacting you because you won an auction from nrbarish for Final Fantasy VI Advance.

I also bought this item from him, and I was sent a counterfeit game. I imagine that your copy was counterfeit also. You can read more of how to spot a counterfeit item on my blog at http://jaqenn.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-got-sold-counterfeit-copy-of-final.html

It is my opinion that nrbarish knew that this was a counterfeit game when he sold it to us. I find this unacceptable, and so should you.

Please consider contacting him and asking for your money back. If he fails to respond, please use the paypal resolution center to open a complaint and get your money back. Please also report him to EBay at the 'report unauthorized copies' page.

Why do I care? If he keeps making money selling counterfeits, he'll keep selling even if he gets caught sometimes. If he loses money selling counterfeits, maybe he'll stop, which will make EBay a better place.

Thank you.

Got a refund for Final Fantasy VI.

Dear Trevor Christman,

nicholas barish (nickbarish2000@yahoo.com) has issued you a full
or partial refund for your payment.

Message from merchant:

----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Payment Details
----------------------------------------------------------------

Date Payment Sent: May 29, 2008

Amount: $18.00 USD

Sincerely,
PayPal

Yaaaaaay.

I got sold a counterfeit copy of Final Fantasy VI

So, I just bought a copy of Final Fantasy VI on EBay. Or, I thought I did. What I really bought was a counterfeit copy of Final Fantasy VI. Grrrrr.

Here was the text for the auction:

This PRE-PLAYED game comes COMPLETE with box, & game cartridge.

Item is GUARANTEED to work.

Everything is in perfect condition.

How can I tell that it was counterfeit? Well, I'm glad you asked. I put together this handy writeup to accompany my campaign to get my money back. Lets go through this point by point:

First, this pre-played game comes COMPLETE with box, right? Lets look at a legitimate box, and compare it to my box:

Legitimate Box

Two problems with mine:

Everyone?

- The real game is not rated 'Everyone' by the ESRB. It's rated E10+.

Nintendo?

-The real box would have a Nintendo logo in the lower right corner, mine does not.

I can't find a picture of the back of a real box, but I can still pick apart the back of this one:

Do I know you?

- Who are these little misfits? They're not Final Fantasy VI characters, they are Edward, Rosa, and Rydia from Final Fantasy IV. A real box wouldn't have pictures from the wrong game on it.

2001?

- They claim a copyright on the game for 2001? The real game was released in North America on May 2nd, 2007.

Top all that off with the fact that he claimed that the game was pre-played, but the box is straight off of a printing press. It's never been folded at all, and was shipped to me disassembled.

Ok, so maybe he sent me a real cartridge, but went and got a fake box to try and increase the value of his auction? I don't really care if the box is fake, as long as the game is real.

No luck. Lets look at the cartridge:

Do I look real to you?

- Still labeled with the wrong ESRB rating.

- Still labeled with characters from the wrong game.

Nope, it's one big batch of fake.

I'm sending the guy a request for my money back, and I'm probably going to report him to EBay. Here is a copy of the email that I sent him:

Dear nbarish,

You have sold me a counterfeit copy of Final Fantasy VI. As you probably know, selling counterfeit video games is against the EBay terms of use, and is unfair to me as a customer.

I have put together a detailed summary of how I know that this is a counterfeit on my blog. You can read more at: http://jaqenn.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-got-sold-counterfeit-copy-of-final.html

I require that you send me a full refund for the purchase of this item. I will then destroy it. If you wish the item to be returned to you, please include an additional $5 shipping and handling.

Should you comply with this request, I will make note of your apology and refund in my report to EBay.

Thank you for your time.

-Trevor Christman
ebay Jaqenn

I'll let you guys know how it pans out.

Garfield, minus Garfield

I ran into an interesting comic strip today, named "Garfield, Minus Garfield". The guy has taken a bunch of Garfield comic strips, and edited away Garfield, leaving only Jon Arbuckle.

From the site:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

Imeem.com

In case you havn't heard yet, Imeem.com is pretty cool. It's kind of like a crossbreed between myspace and napster, where you can upload music from your personal collection and other people can listen to it and talk about it.

Last year it (as expected) got sued. Everyone expected that to be the end of it.

Early this year it emerged from oblivion with a statement that it had signed licensing deals with all five major record labels. They can play you any song in their library, and if you click on an ad while that song is playing, they send some money to the band. If the band doesn't like it they can individually opt out of having their music available.

So, for those of you that always ask what music I like, and I don't know what to tell you? This is a pretty good sample:

(today, I particularly recommend tracks #7, #19, and #44. #54 is great also)

Ask A Ninja!

In case you've forgotten about AskANinja.com, you should go check it out.

Some personal favorite quotes from the last two clips:

Q:As a ninja, what would you never say in a job interview?

A:Ninja's don't speak in job interviews. If I'm at a job interview, I'm either there to kill the interviewer, or the interviewee. I usually hide behind the stapler and strike during the 'Where do you see yourself in five years?' question, because I like the irony.

Q:How many ninjas does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A:None! It was ninjas that killed your old light bulb in the first place!

Q:I want to ask this girl out, but I don't know if she likes me. Do you have any ninja tips?

A: A lot of girls like men who are like their father. So, by that logic, ask her mom out. If she says yes, you've got a pretty good chance.

Wrong on so many levels.

I just read a press release about a guy offering to rent your soul from you for $10 a week.

Wow.

Pierre Ayotte, noted in his press release as a "friendly upcoming Internet opportunist"--i.e. not The Devil Himself, just to be clear--would like to rent your soul for ten bucks a week.

...

[Many people consider selling their souls]. Instead of skirting the fiery pit of eternal damnation, why not simply rent your soul for a good cause?

...

What's the risk? It's an asset almost all of us possess, and chances are, you're not using yours anyway.