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in a sticky situation

Discussion in 'SteamRep General Discussion' started by splinteryourjaw, Jul 9, 2013.

  1. splinteryourjaw

    splinteryourjaw New User

    Messages:
    2
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:15686422
    original owner of hat says he was scammed;
    1. he agreed to paypal and traded hat first
    2. said he did this because he was offered almost twice what the hat was worth and his greed prevented him from fully checking out the other guy because he wanted to trade before the guy changed his mind.
    3. wants hat back from me (I'm the 4th trader in this foolishness.)

    guy he traded with (scammer)
    1. says it was a gift...yea right
    2. traded to another trader (trader #3)

    Trader #3 put it up for trade and as luck would have it I happen along

    I traded an item (I was asking 22 keys/robokeys for) for the hat which is (low end) worth about 25 keys. I checked to see if duped and stuff and I think I checked for scammers (can't remember but I usually try to.) Nothing jumped out at me.

    Now my problem is I feel really bad about the guy being scammed but;
    1. It was his own stupidity and greed that led him to try to, I guess you can say, "shark" the guy scamming him as well as ignoring all the rules of safe trading.
    2. I paid a fair price for the hat and enjoy it, I have no intentions of selling anytime soon, and would miss it if I did.
    3. If we are made to return an item, we didn't know was scammed, to the original owner how is it fair that we are made to pay for his very own black heart...I mean his intentions weren't the best and if he gets the hat back he gets off scott free for his mistakes/greed and I'm the one that suffers for his foolishness (to the tune of 22 keys.)

    What is the accepted path??? Thx
  2. VenGanZa

    VenGanZa User

    Messages:
    1,663
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:0:32312479
    If all aspects of what you relate are true and correct, then you purchased the item in good faith and had no knowledge of the item's history. You cannot be held to account for anything untoward.
  3. Nathan Cash

    Nathan Cash New User

    Messages:
    109
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:45077164
    In this situation you did nothing wrong. It is normal to feel bad for the guy but as you said, its his fault for not checking out the buyer of his hat more closely. To my knowledge, if you did not directly buy the hat from a scammer you will not be accountable.
  4. splinteryourjaw

    splinteryourjaw New User

    Messages:
    2
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:15686422
    Thanks for the response. I'm certain that I did nothing wrong in the trade: my concern is the proper disposition of the item...i.e. his claim vs. my claim to ownership. Technically it wasn't stolen as he gave it willingly for a promise of payment. So imho what he owns is an IOU from the scammer; since he did willingly transfer the item for that promise of future payment. I don't think it would be fair if I was out 22 keys because he got greedy............but he never got paid.........and if it was me I'd do everything I could to get it back, but I don't think I would have taken the risk in the first place (especially with some randomer seriously OVERPAYING with paypal.)

    It is a real shame so many of us become collateral victims to this crap when a previous trader doesn't take the suggested care in trading.

    I guess the my question is; in this case does valve consider the hat mine or his? TIA
  5. Panda :3

    Panda :3 New User

    Messages:
    18
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:0:42160393
    I can't speak on behalf of Valve, but from what I've seen, and my own experiences with them, they would only remove the hat from your backpack if you were the original scammer.
  6. McCreW

    McCreW New User

    Messages:
    510
    You should be fine Valve in the past won't take the hat away from you someone who paid a realistic price.
    Plus it's normal to feel bad for the guy it doesn't mean you should just give him the hat back for free because then you will be in a hole.
  7. You Are The One

    You Are The One SteamRep Admin

    Messages:
    111
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:41038663
    It was stolen, simple.
    w/o looking into your specific situation, if what information you provided is accurate, you would not be liable or obligated to return the item to the victim.
    Yours.

    Note; my replies are only based on if what you say is the truth.
    DataStorm likes this.