Somebody is using semantics as a means to perpetrate fraud on buyers.
It takes some time, but this kind of thing can be stopped. Unscrupulous online sellers think that they are far enough removed from the buyer that they can do anything, and not pay a price.
If you're willing to do a little bit of work, they are wrong.
I made an online purchase a couple of years ago (not gun related) and did not get what I had purchased, instead getting a poor and obviously fraudulent replacement.. I contacted the seller and was polite, but let him know that I expected my money back or what I had actually bought. This was a phone call and he literally laughed.
Well, in many ways the Internet is a wonderful thing. I was able to track down where the seller was (note, this was not a legitimate business, but a guy selling out of his home. I got his home address). I contacted the local district attorney, where he lived, and explained the situation to one of the assistant DAs. Since this was in Colorado and I was in Georgia (where I could not vote in the district attorney's election each time he ran). I got the brushoff from the assistant DA. That's okay, it is sort of what I expected.
A little further research showed that the district attorney was up for reelection in 4 months. It also showed that he had strong opposition in his election. I contacted the DAs office again, pointed this out and told them that I would be more than happy to contact the fella running against the DA and hand him a campaign issue, that the DA did not care about people who committed fraud as long as the person getting screwed was not a voter locally. I got blown off again, which, again, was what I expected.
I contacted the other fellow who was running for district attorney and told him what had happened, which did not surprising. I sent documentation of what had been offered and what I actually got, along with voice recordings of the conversation with the seller, and both of the conversation with the DAs office. (I record every business phone call).
I also contacted the local Chamber of Commerce, since this was a tourist destination County. I explained to them that I had reservations 3 months in the future to spend a week at a local hotel, and offered to send them the reservation confirmation information so they would know I was not blowing smoke. I told them I intended to cancel those reservations and spend my money elsewhere, and that I was going to make sure everybody in that county knew the DA was costing that County money. I contacted the hotel, canceled my reservations, and made damn sure they knew why.
I contacted the local newspaper, and explained the entire situation to them, including that the local district attorney had just cost local businesses money because of my canceled vacation plans.
The bottom line is, the district attorney called me, apologized, and said it was just a "big misunderstanding", that he was indeed interested in the case. I told him he was a liar, and hung up on.
At the end of the day the fraudulent seller was charged with fraud, cut a plea deal, and got a two-year suspended sentence. Part of the plea deal was that he would return my money, which he did. From what I understand, he did not learn his lesson, did the same thing to another buyer who complained to the local authorities and the suspended sentence was revoked.
Incidentally, the district attorney got his butt kicked in the election. I understand that the new district attorney does a much better job...
