Buyers claim Door County man stiffed them on eBay Shoppers are battling Rob Huber for their money back By Joe Knaapen For The News-Chronicle A handful of eBay shoppers allege a Door County man offered to sell collectibles on the Internet auction site but hasn't made good on the deal. The shoppers claim Rob Huber of Forestville offered to sell some collector shoes, took their money and failed to produce the goods. But Huber claims he was the victim of some con man who never delivered the promised items. Huber declined to comment on the situation, but copies of e-mailed messages between him and his customers show both sides of the dispute. From a buyer's perspective, Sergio Barron described how he and other eBay shoppers lost money to Huber. "I paid him $260 on May 14," wrote Barron, who lives in California. At least eight people - but possibly as many as 40 more of them - sent money to the seller. In exchange for the money - amounts ranging from $250 to $350 - each buyer got nothing. They still are waiting to get the shoes from Huber, who advertised online as [email protected]. Since the complaints surfaced, accounts directed to the address have been frozen. Huber said he simply stopped trading; his customers said eBay shut him down. The dispute began in May when Huber set up an eBay auction for a rare pair of new Michael Jordan IV (1989) sneakers. When the auction surfaced, Barron was interested. "The reason why these shoes are rare is because they are deadstock (no longer produced)," he explained in an e-mail to the Advocate. While many Jordan IVs offered for sale on Web sites can be fakes, the shoes offered by Huber were "considered the best looking pair in the whole collection," Barron continued. The brand was very popular in 1989, and Nike only released them for a brief time again in 2000. The Jordan IVs were not sold in Footlocker or any major athletic shoe store. Another victim saw the auction on eBay and thought the offer at $210 was a great deal because the shoes in brand new condition were worth at least $350 to $400. Like the others, he paid the money, but received no shoes. In most cases, bilked customers including Barron contacted the eBay customer support site and filed a fraud complaint. By the time Barron complained to eBay's moderators, he was informed that the Huber accounts had been closed for more than a week. According to eBay information, 99 percent of the transactions are carried out without a hitch on the Internet market place. But a sample of that 1 percent of complicated or suspicious transactions takes shape in copies of messages and bid documents linking Huber with Barron and other bidders. "He stole from me and several other people using the eBay auction site," one victim wrote in an e-mail to the Advocate. "I sent $235 by money order" but the seller "will not give me my shoes or my money back." "I sent the money the same day" (I saw the offer), wrote another victim, who paid $450 for the shoes. After a month, he has received no shoes, no response from the seller and no information from investigators from eBay or the FBI. Some victims received a message from Huber saying he was in debt and would try to work out a repayment plan. But the offer fell short of the demands made by Chris Cohn of Hollywood, who paid Huber $280 by electronic transfer for a pair of Jordan IVs. "We all have our own problems," Cohn wrote to Huber. "You made a poor business decision." To make things right, Cohn continued, Huber could either pay him back in full, pay three installments of $100 each or send the shoes. "Be smart," Cohn wrote in a June 10 message to Huber. "You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of." According to an explanation Huber mailed to Barron, Cohn and others, he was as much a victim as they were. As part of a group, Huber "made a major purchase agreement with a person from overseas to buy a big lot of the Air Jordans." While being skeptical, the message continued, the group ordered and received a sample of the shoes in early May. The condition convinced Huber that the shoes were legitimate and, he wrote, he was "pretty confident at that time with purchasing a large lot." After investing thousands of dollars with the overseas person, Huber wrote that he did not receive any shoes by either a May 15 or June 1 deadline. He told his customers that he was working with local law enforcement agencies to investigate the situation, and was working out repayment plans. "We are in big trouble because if we do not get these shoes or recover our money back we will be unable to refund everyone's money," Huber wrote, admitting that he owed eBay more than $3,000 as the network's fee for the sales. But Huber's customers don't agree. "This is the greatest injustice, and my next resort is to file a small claims suit," one victim wrote.