You know what gets old fast? The sick family member excuse on EBay. I'm not saying that the possability of a member of one's family suddenly getting sick doesn't exist, but it sure seems to happen a lot to people who don't pay for, or ship their items out.
So where am I going with this? Well, it's simple really. I purchased not one, but two posters from bitsandbobs321029 AKA Darren Greenhaf on January 25, 2009. While I knew that the items were shipping from the U.K., by week three with no items arriving in the mail, I felt it was definitly time to follow up.
I was happy to see that within 24 hours of my e-mail to the seller going out that I had received a response. Granted it wasn't a very gratifying response as it informed me that the item had shipped, but that Mr. Greenhaf didn't know when, nor did he have a tracking number.
Since Mr. Greenhaf responded so quickly, I informed him that I would wait another 48 hours for the item.
Forty-eight hours came and went, and it was time to make my request for a refund. Which I did. Any time I make a request for a refund, I do it officially through PayPal. This not only saves me a step should I have to then file a comlpaint, but it also makes PayPal aware that this process is begining.
Suddenly, Mr. Greenhaf disappeared off the face of the Earth. No longer was he quick to respond to my e-mails. In fact, he didn't respond at all. A few days after requesting my e-mail, I sent another e-mail saying something to the tune of, "Please stop ignoring my request, and refund my money."
After a few more days, I decided that I would spell it out for Mr. Greenhalf. I wrote him informing that should my claim go from start to finish with no response that I was leaving negative feedback for this transaction. I told him that should he refund my money, I would consider leaving neutral instead.
Miraculously, Mr. Greenhaf suddenly responded. He was all too happy to refund my money without any further delay, and indeed did do so.
However, he couldn't do so before supplying me with the usual, poor excuse of the "family incident". Mr. Greenhaf wrote (direct cut and paste);
"I would like to tell you that i haven`t bothered with my computer and ebay myself has something has happened in the family and is totally out of my control.Somebody else have been doing it for me and haven`t told me about this so very sorry.And as for your items they were definately sent the next working day after we receive payment.So if you haven`t received them now its obviously lost in the post again.Getting fed up with shipping abroad things keep getting lost too often.We have no problem in refunded your monies so the money will be back in your account within the next hour."
You know what? I'm sorry, but your problems are not mine. If you are running a business, then you have an obligation. Regardless of your reasons for not contacting someone, you have an obligation to your customers to either remove all your auctions until you can maintain them, OR contacting all your customers and infroming them up front of the problem. Is this a lot of work? Of course it is. But, it comes with running your own business.
Furthermore, I found it odd how he responded right away to my first e-mail, ignored two others, then when I threatened negative feedback was suddenly available to respond. Kind of fishy if you ask me.
I was happy for the refund, but still felt the need to respond with;
"And yet you immediately respond to my e-mail after I threaten negative feedback. You'll forgive me if I don't believe your excuse. I've heard it all before from other sellers. Thanks for the refund."
I'm just so tired of the excuses people throw around for not paying, not shipping items, or whatever other reason they can come up with for not doing their part on EBay. I'm especially tired of these people thinking I'm stupid that they can use excuse after excuse. Just do your part, and we'd have no problems.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Learn To Manage Your Auctions
On January 24, 2009 I made a purchase from the EBay user plm171, AKA Paul Richard. I immediately paid via PayPal, and then followed up with my usual e-mail informing the buyer that I had purchased and paid for the item.
After two weeks of waiting, I decided it was time to send a follow up e-mail to Mr. Richard. I informed him simply that it had been about two weeks, and I had not received my item, and was wondering if he (plm171) could provide a tracking number.
Naturally days went by with no response.
On February 9, 2009 I went to PayPal and filed an offical claim to get my money back. I never did hear back from the seller directly, but I was issued a refund by him on the 12th.
While I was happy to have my money back, I still felt it appropriate to leave negative feedback for obviously never sending me the item, and for never responding to my initial e-mail. Fortunately for me, EBay no longer allows sellers to leave buyers anything more than a positive, and therefore I was "safe" to leave my comments without threat of retaliation.
Here's where everything went down hill though. Literally the next day, Mr. Richard sent me an invoice requesting payment for the item. Huh? I was prompt in sending him an e-mail via "contact the seller" saying, "Why are you sending me an invoice for this item when I have already filed a claim for non-delivery and been refunded by you?
Again I never heard back from the seller, so I figured, "Okay, he got his head out of his butt, and realized he made a mistake."
Wrong.
On February 16, 2009 I get a non-paying bidder notification from EBay informing me that Mr. Richard had filed a claim for non-payment. For those of you who don't know, a non-paying bidder notification could possibly lead to a non-paying bidder strike, which in turn could lead to my account being suspended.
Now I was angry.
I immediately signed into EBay and responded to the claim. I wrote;
"I paid for this auction immediately on January 24, 2009. I then waited weeks to receive the item. Upon filing a PayPal claim on 2/9/09 (insert claim number here) the seller REFUNDED my money and the case was closed. Since a claim was filed, and the seller refunded, I am no longer obligated to complete this transaction. Furthermore, I find the sellers action towards me of filing a complaint to be a form of harassment. This seller clearly is unable to maintain his auctions & should be banned from EBay."
I then sent plm171 yet another message via "Contact the Seller" saying;
"Are you stupid? When you lose a PayPal claim, you don't have the right to then turn around and file a non paying bidder alert against someone. You know, when you do stupid things like this, you only back up the theory I have that you have ZERO clue on how to run a business on EBay. Maybe you should practice managing your auctions and actually SENDING out items people win as opposed to harassing them for YOUR mistakes. If you harass me further, I will contact EBay and inform them of your selling practices."
Despite my warning, I was so angry that I still contacted EBay to inform them of the situation. Mainly because I have no reason to believe that Mr. Richard will respond to my e-mail. He hasn't done so yet, and is clearly a moron anyway.
This is definitly an "interesting", rare seller. I've come across tons of deadbeat sellers who don't deliver their items as promised, but I must admit, this is the first time I've ever had someone refund my money, then turn around and ask for it again, and not only that, but file a non-paying bidder alert when I don't pay.
This is clearly a case of someone who's head is so far up his ass that he shouldn't be on EBay. Paul Richard is clearly not capable of handling his auctions by sending out what people buy, and even worse, can't get his business straight when he screws up and has to refund people, so in turn harasses honest buyers who are pretty much tired of dealing with him already.
Mr. Richard, you are an idiot. Plain and simple. Please accept this as my personal request for you to close up shop on EBay and spare everyone your poor service and idiotic ways. I would think that your 200+ negative feedbacks in a 12 month period would be more than enough to tell you that you have no clue how to run a business.
***UPDATE***
So, get this. Despite my responding to the non-paying bidder alert, apparently EBay still allowed this seller to leave me a non paying bidder strike. Seriously, what's the point of all of these steps EBay takes if they're not going to monitor them? Once I provided my initial response, someone at EBay should have read it, and then put two and two together and canceled the claim. But, of course, this would mean that EBay would actually have to give a damn.
I was so angry that I wrote a really nasty e-mail to EBay. I provided the claim number, and the e-mail showing the refund, and then went on to tell them that I basically blamed them for allowing this to happen, and how I was tired of EBay allowing things like this to happen on their site while they continually turn a bling eye.
The final outcome was that EBay removed the non-paying bidder strike, but I never got so much as an apology, or even an e-mail response from a live person. Fuck EBay. They're the major contributors to everyone's problems on their site.
After two weeks of waiting, I decided it was time to send a follow up e-mail to Mr. Richard. I informed him simply that it had been about two weeks, and I had not received my item, and was wondering if he (plm171) could provide a tracking number.
Naturally days went by with no response.
On February 9, 2009 I went to PayPal and filed an offical claim to get my money back. I never did hear back from the seller directly, but I was issued a refund by him on the 12th.
While I was happy to have my money back, I still felt it appropriate to leave negative feedback for obviously never sending me the item, and for never responding to my initial e-mail. Fortunately for me, EBay no longer allows sellers to leave buyers anything more than a positive, and therefore I was "safe" to leave my comments without threat of retaliation.
Here's where everything went down hill though. Literally the next day, Mr. Richard sent me an invoice requesting payment for the item. Huh? I was prompt in sending him an e-mail via "contact the seller" saying, "Why are you sending me an invoice for this item when I have already filed a claim for non-delivery and been refunded by you?
Again I never heard back from the seller, so I figured, "Okay, he got his head out of his butt, and realized he made a mistake."
Wrong.
On February 16, 2009 I get a non-paying bidder notification from EBay informing me that Mr. Richard had filed a claim for non-payment. For those of you who don't know, a non-paying bidder notification could possibly lead to a non-paying bidder strike, which in turn could lead to my account being suspended.
Now I was angry.
I immediately signed into EBay and responded to the claim. I wrote;
"I paid for this auction immediately on January 24, 2009. I then waited weeks to receive the item. Upon filing a PayPal claim on 2/9/09 (insert claim number here) the seller REFUNDED my money and the case was closed. Since a claim was filed, and the seller refunded, I am no longer obligated to complete this transaction. Furthermore, I find the sellers action towards me of filing a complaint to be a form of harassment. This seller clearly is unable to maintain his auctions & should be banned from EBay."
I then sent plm171 yet another message via "Contact the Seller" saying;
"Are you stupid? When you lose a PayPal claim, you don't have the right to then turn around and file a non paying bidder alert against someone. You know, when you do stupid things like this, you only back up the theory I have that you have ZERO clue on how to run a business on EBay. Maybe you should practice managing your auctions and actually SENDING out items people win as opposed to harassing them for YOUR mistakes. If you harass me further, I will contact EBay and inform them of your selling practices."
Despite my warning, I was so angry that I still contacted EBay to inform them of the situation. Mainly because I have no reason to believe that Mr. Richard will respond to my e-mail. He hasn't done so yet, and is clearly a moron anyway.
This is definitly an "interesting", rare seller. I've come across tons of deadbeat sellers who don't deliver their items as promised, but I must admit, this is the first time I've ever had someone refund my money, then turn around and ask for it again, and not only that, but file a non-paying bidder alert when I don't pay.
This is clearly a case of someone who's head is so far up his ass that he shouldn't be on EBay. Paul Richard is clearly not capable of handling his auctions by sending out what people buy, and even worse, can't get his business straight when he screws up and has to refund people, so in turn harasses honest buyers who are pretty much tired of dealing with him already.
Mr. Richard, you are an idiot. Plain and simple. Please accept this as my personal request for you to close up shop on EBay and spare everyone your poor service and idiotic ways. I would think that your 200+ negative feedbacks in a 12 month period would be more than enough to tell you that you have no clue how to run a business.
***UPDATE***
So, get this. Despite my responding to the non-paying bidder alert, apparently EBay still allowed this seller to leave me a non paying bidder strike. Seriously, what's the point of all of these steps EBay takes if they're not going to monitor them? Once I provided my initial response, someone at EBay should have read it, and then put two and two together and canceled the claim. But, of course, this would mean that EBay would actually have to give a damn.
I was so angry that I wrote a really nasty e-mail to EBay. I provided the claim number, and the e-mail showing the refund, and then went on to tell them that I basically blamed them for allowing this to happen, and how I was tired of EBay allowing things like this to happen on their site while they continually turn a bling eye.
The final outcome was that EBay removed the non-paying bidder strike, but I never got so much as an apology, or even an e-mail response from a live person. Fuck EBay. They're the major contributors to everyone's problems on their site.
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Blame Game
We've all had to deal with a seller who blames the post office for not delivering your item to you. Sometimes it's legitament, most of the time it's due to a lazy seller who is more than happy to take your money, but not so eager to ship you your merchandise (either at all or in a timely manner).
I don't know what these sellers are thinking. Do they honestly think that enough time will pass by that the buyer will say, "Oh well. I guess I'm not going to get that item. Guess I'll take the loss of X amount of dollars and buy it from someone else." I've never seen a buyer like that. Most of the buyers I've ever spoken to will go to great lengths to either get their item or their money back.
Kittens1977 is one of those sellers out there as described above. Colleen Hopkins, as she also goes by, was more than happy to take my payment for an item I bought from her on the fifth of January, but then never bothered to ship the item. I followed up with an inquiry on January 15, 2008 asking what the status of my shipment was. After two days with no reply, I filed a PayPal claim.
It wasn't until two days after my claim that I finally saw some form of response. This was from PayPal informing me that my item was marked as being shipped. This e-mail also provided a tracking number link. Upon clicking on the link, I received a message that said the post office had been notified that my package was ready for shipping, but that didn't mean that the buyer had physically turned it over to them for processing. I couldn't help but be upset that it took me filing a PayPal claim just to get to this point.
Sadly, that wasn't the end of it though. I also finally received a direct response from kittens1977 informing me of the following (I have not corrected any punctuation or spelling. This is a direct cut and paste.);
"hi,your item has been shipped out,how many more people do i have to tell this to,it is not me,it is the post office's job to get to you,i do not hand deliver things,thanks,colleen"
I thought, "Are you kidding me?" This woman either thinks that; A) I don't know how to read, or B) Don't read my e-mails. How was she going to blame the post office for not delivering something they were never given? I mean, come on. I got an e-mail stating that the post office was notified on the 17th to expect the item. Does this woman think I'm a moron?
Not only that, her e-mail was plain rude. She made it sound like I was out of line to dare request either a shipping status or refund. I couldn't believe the nerve of this woman. I responded back to her with;
"According to the response I got from PayPal, you didn't ship this item until yesterday. So as far as I see it, it's not the post office's fault. They can't deliver what they are not given. So, I don't know who you're trying to fool here.
The fact of the matter is I purchased and paid for this item over two weeks ago, and you are just now getting around to shipping it, and most likely only because I have filed a claim. Not only is that not fair to me as a buyer, but that is just plain inconsiderate and unprofessional as a seller.
As a buyer, I shouldn't have to file a PayPal claim to get a response from the seller. This is the first I have heard from you since my initial request for a status and my eventual filing of a complaint, so please don't send me e-mails professing to be incocent when the fact is, until yesterday, you didn't ship the item. Plain and simple."
I'm just so tired of lazy sellers on EBay. These people will gladly take your money, but then don't bother to send your item. This is why I will ONLY deal with people who accept PayPal because if I had to deal with settling issues like this on a monthly basis with Western Union (or some other money order company), I'd stop using EBay all together.
If you check this seller's feedback, you'll see that I am not the first person to complain that she doesn't ship her items out. But, what makes Colleen worse is that when she's called out on it, she tries to shift the blame to the post office instead of just admiting that she's lazy.
Kitten1977, in my opinion you are a Cancer to EBay for a few reasons. First off, you're a deadbeat seller who doesn't deliver items as promised. Second, you're lazy and don't accept responsability for your mistakes. Third, you don't respond until PayPal claims are filed.
The item finally arrived on January 23. Almost three weeks after I won and paid for this auction. The item was packed very well, but was an obvious repackage of the items inside. Since I purchased this item mainly for the book inside and it was in great condition, I felt that I would just leave it alone as I was really tired of dealing with this seller.
On the bright side, kitten1977 leaves feedback for her buyers after they pay. This is a good thing, but only because I don't have to deal with yet another retalitory negative feedback.
Still not willing to admit her own mistake, kittens 1977 left a reply to the negative I left her that again stated, "Do not have control over the post office and how fast they deliver." This woman is sad, people. She just can't stop blaming other people for her lazyness. I'll say this again, "The post office CAN'T deliver what they never receive." I don't know why this woman insists on trying to shift the blame for her own faults.
On a final note, other than the one e-mail from Ms. Hopkins which I replied to above, I never heard back from her.
I don't know what these sellers are thinking. Do they honestly think that enough time will pass by that the buyer will say, "Oh well. I guess I'm not going to get that item. Guess I'll take the loss of X amount of dollars and buy it from someone else." I've never seen a buyer like that. Most of the buyers I've ever spoken to will go to great lengths to either get their item or their money back.
Kittens1977 is one of those sellers out there as described above. Colleen Hopkins, as she also goes by, was more than happy to take my payment for an item I bought from her on the fifth of January, but then never bothered to ship the item. I followed up with an inquiry on January 15, 2008 asking what the status of my shipment was. After two days with no reply, I filed a PayPal claim.
It wasn't until two days after my claim that I finally saw some form of response. This was from PayPal informing me that my item was marked as being shipped. This e-mail also provided a tracking number link. Upon clicking on the link, I received a message that said the post office had been notified that my package was ready for shipping, but that didn't mean that the buyer had physically turned it over to them for processing. I couldn't help but be upset that it took me filing a PayPal claim just to get to this point.
Sadly, that wasn't the end of it though. I also finally received a direct response from kittens1977 informing me of the following (I have not corrected any punctuation or spelling. This is a direct cut and paste.);
"hi,your item has been shipped out,how many more people do i have to tell this to,it is not me,it is the post office's job to get to you,i do not hand deliver things,thanks,colleen"
I thought, "Are you kidding me?" This woman either thinks that; A) I don't know how to read, or B) Don't read my e-mails. How was she going to blame the post office for not delivering something they were never given? I mean, come on. I got an e-mail stating that the post office was notified on the 17th to expect the item. Does this woman think I'm a moron?
Not only that, her e-mail was plain rude. She made it sound like I was out of line to dare request either a shipping status or refund. I couldn't believe the nerve of this woman. I responded back to her with;
"According to the response I got from PayPal, you didn't ship this item until yesterday. So as far as I see it, it's not the post office's fault. They can't deliver what they are not given. So, I don't know who you're trying to fool here.
The fact of the matter is I purchased and paid for this item over two weeks ago, and you are just now getting around to shipping it, and most likely only because I have filed a claim. Not only is that not fair to me as a buyer, but that is just plain inconsiderate and unprofessional as a seller.
As a buyer, I shouldn't have to file a PayPal claim to get a response from the seller. This is the first I have heard from you since my initial request for a status and my eventual filing of a complaint, so please don't send me e-mails professing to be incocent when the fact is, until yesterday, you didn't ship the item. Plain and simple."
I'm just so tired of lazy sellers on EBay. These people will gladly take your money, but then don't bother to send your item. This is why I will ONLY deal with people who accept PayPal because if I had to deal with settling issues like this on a monthly basis with Western Union (or some other money order company), I'd stop using EBay all together.
If you check this seller's feedback, you'll see that I am not the first person to complain that she doesn't ship her items out. But, what makes Colleen worse is that when she's called out on it, she tries to shift the blame to the post office instead of just admiting that she's lazy.
Kitten1977, in my opinion you are a Cancer to EBay for a few reasons. First off, you're a deadbeat seller who doesn't deliver items as promised. Second, you're lazy and don't accept responsability for your mistakes. Third, you don't respond until PayPal claims are filed.
The item finally arrived on January 23. Almost three weeks after I won and paid for this auction. The item was packed very well, but was an obvious repackage of the items inside. Since I purchased this item mainly for the book inside and it was in great condition, I felt that I would just leave it alone as I was really tired of dealing with this seller.
On the bright side, kitten1977 leaves feedback for her buyers after they pay. This is a good thing, but only because I don't have to deal with yet another retalitory negative feedback.
Still not willing to admit her own mistake, kittens 1977 left a reply to the negative I left her that again stated, "Do not have control over the post office and how fast they deliver." This woman is sad, people. She just can't stop blaming other people for her lazyness. I'll say this again, "The post office CAN'T deliver what they never receive." I don't know why this woman insists on trying to shift the blame for her own faults.
On a final note, other than the one e-mail from Ms. Hopkins which I replied to above, I never heard back from her.
Some People Just Like To Complain
I sold a CD set to the buyer spicesmuggler71 for what he admits was a great deal. After a few days, I received an e-mail from the buyer informing me that he had received the item, but that he was unhappy with my choice of shipping supplies which was a manila envelope. The buyer then proceeded to tell me that, "It's a miracle that the set wasn't destroyed." Spicesmuggler71 then proceeded to lecture me on his shipping methods, or rather how great they were as compared to mine.
I was a little taken aback. In all my years of EBay, I've never had anyone complain to me about my shipping methods. Especially not when the item arrived fine. So, I was confused. I responded to the buyer;
"I'm a little confused here. You're telling me the item arrived. You're telling me the item was not damaged in shipping. So why exactly are you lecturing me? I don't mean to come off sounding rude. I really just don't understand the purpose of your e-mail. If you're truely not happy with your purchase, please return it and I will refund your payment upon receiving the item back."
I quickly corrected my mistake in my response and followed up with a request that if the item was being returned that it needed to remain unopened.
Spicesmuggler71 responded to my e-mail informing me that he was going to keep the item, but then proceeded to lecture me further about my shipping methods. He then went on to throw hints out as to what he wanted by mentioning that some sellers offer partial refunds when a buyer isn't happy.
I wasn't going to take the bait. In fact, I was getting a little tired of this buyer lecturing me. I responded back;
"If you're going to keep it, then I don't know what more you're looking for. However, please stop lecturing me. I don't know what more I can say on this matter other than again, if you're not happy with the item, please return the unopened merchandise for a full refund."
This is your typical case of a buyer trying to scam the seller out of money by finding something to complain about. I am always happy to give a buyer a full refund for returning an item I have sold them, however, I will not pay a buyer to keep an item. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. You either keep the item, or you get your money back. You don't get both.
While I was happy to see that spicesmuggler71 is not an EBayer who leaves unwarrented negative feedback, I will admit that I was sorry to see that he left a neutral that referanced poor shipping when the item in his words, "wasn't destroyed." I can't help but think that spicesmuggler71 was simply looking for something to complain about. Either that, or a pat on the back for his shipping methods.
I was a little taken aback. In all my years of EBay, I've never had anyone complain to me about my shipping methods. Especially not when the item arrived fine. So, I was confused. I responded to the buyer;
"I'm a little confused here. You're telling me the item arrived. You're telling me the item was not damaged in shipping. So why exactly are you lecturing me? I don't mean to come off sounding rude. I really just don't understand the purpose of your e-mail. If you're truely not happy with your purchase, please return it and I will refund your payment upon receiving the item back."
I quickly corrected my mistake in my response and followed up with a request that if the item was being returned that it needed to remain unopened.
Spicesmuggler71 responded to my e-mail informing me that he was going to keep the item, but then proceeded to lecture me further about my shipping methods. He then went on to throw hints out as to what he wanted by mentioning that some sellers offer partial refunds when a buyer isn't happy.
I wasn't going to take the bait. In fact, I was getting a little tired of this buyer lecturing me. I responded back;
"If you're going to keep it, then I don't know what more you're looking for. However, please stop lecturing me. I don't know what more I can say on this matter other than again, if you're not happy with the item, please return the unopened merchandise for a full refund."
This is your typical case of a buyer trying to scam the seller out of money by finding something to complain about. I am always happy to give a buyer a full refund for returning an item I have sold them, however, I will not pay a buyer to keep an item. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. You either keep the item, or you get your money back. You don't get both.
While I was happy to see that spicesmuggler71 is not an EBayer who leaves unwarrented negative feedback, I will admit that I was sorry to see that he left a neutral that referanced poor shipping when the item in his words, "wasn't destroyed." I can't help but think that spicesmuggler71 was simply looking for something to complain about. Either that, or a pat on the back for his shipping methods.
Friday, January 11, 2008
You Should Read Your Own Auction!
There are few people on EBay that make me mad. Sure, I get upset with folks who screw me over, but I usually end up getting my money back from PayPal, or my final value fee credit back. However, the seller 1236carola really made me angry.
As you can see from the photo to the left, the seller 1236carola, aka Carol Anderson listed this item (as well as several others - check her feedback for listed items) as free shipping to the United States. She also listed the book at a very reasonable starting bid price. So I bid. In fact, I was the only person who bid.
Upon finding out that I won the item, I paid immediately. My EBay invoice for the item also reflected that shipping was free. Shortly after making my payment I received a notice from PayPal as well as the seller. The notice from PayPal informed me that the seller had refunded my money for the transaction. The e-mail from the seller stated;
"Please could you send me the £4.50 towards postage and packing for this item. Something strange is happening but we cant get the invoice to accept the postage. We've only received 50p. Look forward to hearing from you."
I responded back promptly;
"When I bid on your item, it said free shipping to the U.S. When I recieved the EBay invoice, it said "Free Shipping". So, no. I will not pay for the shipping. That was not a part of the agreement when I bid."
I then contacted EBay to inform them that the seller was trying to get fees out of me that were not stated in the item description. I also copied and pasted the e-mail with the headers that I received from Carol. EBay sent me their standard automated e-mail letting me know that they would investigate, and told me to inform them if the situation changed.
I thought I would attempt one more time to complete this transaction and sent payment again. After sending payment I sent Carol another e-mail letting her know that I had remade my payment and to please send the item. Again my payment was refunded.
Whatever. This was getting old fast. I contacted EBay again informing them that the situation had indeed changed and that now the seller was refunding my money and basically refusing to sell me the item. EBay sent me an immediate response, this time from an actual customer service representative telling me that they agreed with my complaint and that appropriate action had been taken. After that, I headed over to EBay and left feedback.
As far as I'm concerned, I've done nothing wrong. I bid on an item that was listed as having free shipping. When I won, I paid immediately. 1236carola showed that she is an unprofessional seller by not complying with the terms and conditions that she herself set upon listing her item for sale. It's not right for her to then hold the buyer's at fault for her mistakes.
1236carola is another one of those cancers to EBay. She doesn't accept responsability for her own mistakes, and therefore ends up breaching the legally binding agreement between buyer and seller. Rest assured had I not completed my end of the deal she would have been up in arms, so why is it she doesn't seem to understand my complaint?
I fully expect that Carol is also one of those sellers who leaves retaliation negative feedback. I will certainly update this post if she does. Beware of this dishonest seller. She'll hold you responsible for her mistakes.
***UPDATE*** January 12, 2008. Wow, what a bitch. I'm sorry for my language, but that's the only way I can put it. Carol Anderson sent me a really nasty e-mail after leaving me retalitory negative feedback. She called me names and acted very immature and then threatened me. Check out this e-mail (this is a direct cut and paste)...
"you silly little boy your the thief you can see its collect in person and your try to worm your way to free postage is all i can say dont deal with dirty scum like you i shall also report you to ebay for swearing and trying to con me and we will blog you watch your ffeed back idiot."
Can you feel the unprofessionalism just oozing off of it? For the record, my e-mail to her that resaulted in this outburst from her was (another cut and paste);
"Well, thanks for nothing. I've went ahead and reported you to EBay for breaching your own contract as well as left appropriate feedback. I will also be following up on my own personal site referancing this transaction and your unprofessional conduct. You can take this however you like, but the truth of the matter is, you f**ked up. It's not my fault that you messed up your listing, and therefore, not my probelm that you were going to be out shipping cost. If you want to be a dishonest seller, that's fine. But rest assured I will take every step available to me to let other buyers on EBay know. Sellers like you are a cancer, and should not be allowed to conduct business on EBay. I fully expect that you'll retaliate with feedback. You seem like that kind of person. I'll note that too if it occurs."
So I guess me staring out the word "fucked" in my e-mail is what she's referancing to me as cursing. I really wish Carol would slow down for two minutes and read her item description. I simply cannot understand why she doesn't see the mistake SHE made! I think your money is going to be better spent elsewhere than on this seller.
On that note, I've added her to my Spam e-mail list because I simply will not deal with this unprofessional, rude and immature woman anymore.
As you can see from the photo to the left, the seller 1236carola, aka Carol Anderson listed this item (as well as several others - check her feedback for listed items) as free shipping to the United States. She also listed the book at a very reasonable starting bid price. So I bid. In fact, I was the only person who bid.
Upon finding out that I won the item, I paid immediately. My EBay invoice for the item also reflected that shipping was free. Shortly after making my payment I received a notice from PayPal as well as the seller. The notice from PayPal informed me that the seller had refunded my money for the transaction. The e-mail from the seller stated;
"Please could you send me the £4.50 towards postage and packing for this item. Something strange is happening but we cant get the invoice to accept the postage. We've only received 50p. Look forward to hearing from you."
I responded back promptly;
"When I bid on your item, it said free shipping to the U.S. When I recieved the EBay invoice, it said "Free Shipping". So, no. I will not pay for the shipping. That was not a part of the agreement when I bid."
I then contacted EBay to inform them that the seller was trying to get fees out of me that were not stated in the item description. I also copied and pasted the e-mail with the headers that I received from Carol. EBay sent me their standard automated e-mail letting me know that they would investigate, and told me to inform them if the situation changed.
I thought I would attempt one more time to complete this transaction and sent payment again. After sending payment I sent Carol another e-mail letting her know that I had remade my payment and to please send the item. Again my payment was refunded.
Whatever. This was getting old fast. I contacted EBay again informing them that the situation had indeed changed and that now the seller was refunding my money and basically refusing to sell me the item. EBay sent me an immediate response, this time from an actual customer service representative telling me that they agreed with my complaint and that appropriate action had been taken. After that, I headed over to EBay and left feedback.
As far as I'm concerned, I've done nothing wrong. I bid on an item that was listed as having free shipping. When I won, I paid immediately. 1236carola showed that she is an unprofessional seller by not complying with the terms and conditions that she herself set upon listing her item for sale. It's not right for her to then hold the buyer's at fault for her mistakes.
1236carola is another one of those cancers to EBay. She doesn't accept responsability for her own mistakes, and therefore ends up breaching the legally binding agreement between buyer and seller. Rest assured had I not completed my end of the deal she would have been up in arms, so why is it she doesn't seem to understand my complaint?
I fully expect that Carol is also one of those sellers who leaves retaliation negative feedback. I will certainly update this post if she does. Beware of this dishonest seller. She'll hold you responsible for her mistakes.
***UPDATE*** January 12, 2008. Wow, what a bitch. I'm sorry for my language, but that's the only way I can put it. Carol Anderson sent me a really nasty e-mail after leaving me retalitory negative feedback. She called me names and acted very immature and then threatened me. Check out this e-mail (this is a direct cut and paste)...
"you silly little boy your the thief you can see its collect in person and your try to worm your way to free postage is all i can say dont deal with dirty scum like you i shall also report you to ebay for swearing and trying to con me and we will blog you watch your ffeed back idiot."
Can you feel the unprofessionalism just oozing off of it? For the record, my e-mail to her that resaulted in this outburst from her was (another cut and paste);
"Well, thanks for nothing. I've went ahead and reported you to EBay for breaching your own contract as well as left appropriate feedback. I will also be following up on my own personal site referancing this transaction and your unprofessional conduct. You can take this however you like, but the truth of the matter is, you f**ked up. It's not my fault that you messed up your listing, and therefore, not my probelm that you were going to be out shipping cost. If you want to be a dishonest seller, that's fine. But rest assured I will take every step available to me to let other buyers on EBay know. Sellers like you are a cancer, and should not be allowed to conduct business on EBay. I fully expect that you'll retaliate with feedback. You seem like that kind of person. I'll note that too if it occurs."
So I guess me staring out the word "fucked" in my e-mail is what she's referancing to me as cursing. I really wish Carol would slow down for two minutes and read her item description. I simply cannot understand why she doesn't see the mistake SHE made! I think your money is going to be better spent elsewhere than on this seller.
On that note, I've added her to my Spam e-mail list because I simply will not deal with this unprofessional, rude and immature woman anymore.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Read The Item Description!
It was a simple auction for a brand new Halo 3 Legendary Edition. The description was very clear on what the buyer would get as well as what my shipping terms were (see picture below). The item was listed around December 27, 2007 and buy December 29, 2007 I had received and accepted an offer from the buyer steel_man24.
I did my usual routine of sending an invoice to the buyer which stated $60.00 for the item plus $14.99 for shipping with an optional $1.95 for insurance. As you can see from my item description, it clearly stated that shipping was only free for purchasing with a "Buy It Now". As steel_man24 bought it with a "Best Offer", this negated the free shipping.
A couple days later I received an e-mail from the buyer which said;
"In the message it says shipping is free, when I try to pay it charges me $14.99. When I made the offer I was expecting free shipping."
Steel_man24 then continues on to say;
"I want it, but I was expecting to pay $60 including shipping. I think there must have been a miss print or misunderstanding."
So far the only misunderstanding I could see was that steel_man24 clearly didn't read the item description. I responded promptly to his e-mail with the following;
"The auction states, "free shipping with Buy It Now". You won this auction with a best offer which negates the free shipping."
A few days went by and no payment was received. I also never heard back from the buyer. Out of courtesy, I sent the buyer a second e-mail informing them that if I didn't receive payment within the next 48 hours I would have no choice but to file a non paying bidder alert and leave appropriate feedback. It was no surprise that this e-mail too went unresponded to, and no payment was received.
Making one final attempt within the last 24 hours to give steel_man24 the opportunity to pay, I requested his contact information and called him. After I left a message for him at his house, I sent another e-mail to him. It appeared that after speaking to his wife, he had misunderstood my prior e-mail and thought that I was telling him that the item was no longer available for him to buy. I also followed up with an e-mail.
The response I got back from steel_man24 was a little annoying. The interprutation I got was that he was admitting that he never actually read the item description but rather simply made an offer. He also had no clue what a final value fee credit was or that it would cause a non paying bidder strike on his account. His e-mail finished by him basically telling me that he wasn't going to pay for this item if he had to pay shipping. That's fine. If that's your answer, then that's your answer.
I replied one final time explaining to him what a final value fee credit was and exlplained that it would go hand and hand with a non paying bidder strike. I also explained what the feedback rating system was just in case he had no clue what that was either. I finished my e-mail by telling him that I felt he didn't even read the "Terms and Conditions" and "Rules and Regulations" pages that EBay posts upon setting up your account. I mean, he didn't read the item description, so why should he read those? I let him know that if he changed his mind within a set time frame (AKA 24 hours) to let me know by making his payment via PayPal for the proper amount.
Of course, he didn't.
Steel_man24 is a new member to EBay. Being only a member since December 27, 2007 it's unfortunate that he has already put himself in a position to receive a negative feedback and a non paying bidder strike. It's even more unfortunate that this now puts his feedback at a negative one as he has had no prior transactions and most likely will be blocked from having any future ones.
This is a clear case of someone who didn't read the item description. While it's a shame to have to label steel_man24 as a "Cancer To EBay", He has show that he is because he doesn't read the information that is clearly posted and availalbe to him. This is certainly no way to start off on EBay.
Steel_man24 if you ever have the opportunity to bid on another item on EBay I would recommend that you take a moment to read the item description. You'll be amazed at the things you'll learn about a particular transaction that won't catch you off guard later.
I did my usual routine of sending an invoice to the buyer which stated $60.00 for the item plus $14.99 for shipping with an optional $1.95 for insurance. As you can see from my item description, it clearly stated that shipping was only free for purchasing with a "Buy It Now". As steel_man24 bought it with a "Best Offer", this negated the free shipping.
A couple days later I received an e-mail from the buyer which said;
"In the message it says shipping is free, when I try to pay it charges me $14.99. When I made the offer I was expecting free shipping."
Steel_man24 then continues on to say;
"I want it, but I was expecting to pay $60 including shipping. I think there must have been a miss print or misunderstanding."
So far the only misunderstanding I could see was that steel_man24 clearly didn't read the item description. I responded promptly to his e-mail with the following;
"The auction states, "free shipping with Buy It Now". You won this auction with a best offer which negates the free shipping."
A few days went by and no payment was received. I also never heard back from the buyer. Out of courtesy, I sent the buyer a second e-mail informing them that if I didn't receive payment within the next 48 hours I would have no choice but to file a non paying bidder alert and leave appropriate feedback. It was no surprise that this e-mail too went unresponded to, and no payment was received.
Making one final attempt within the last 24 hours to give steel_man24 the opportunity to pay, I requested his contact information and called him. After I left a message for him at his house, I sent another e-mail to him. It appeared that after speaking to his wife, he had misunderstood my prior e-mail and thought that I was telling him that the item was no longer available for him to buy. I also followed up with an e-mail.
The response I got back from steel_man24 was a little annoying. The interprutation I got was that he was admitting that he never actually read the item description but rather simply made an offer. He also had no clue what a final value fee credit was or that it would cause a non paying bidder strike on his account. His e-mail finished by him basically telling me that he wasn't going to pay for this item if he had to pay shipping. That's fine. If that's your answer, then that's your answer.
I replied one final time explaining to him what a final value fee credit was and exlplained that it would go hand and hand with a non paying bidder strike. I also explained what the feedback rating system was just in case he had no clue what that was either. I finished my e-mail by telling him that I felt he didn't even read the "Terms and Conditions" and "Rules and Regulations" pages that EBay posts upon setting up your account. I mean, he didn't read the item description, so why should he read those? I let him know that if he changed his mind within a set time frame (AKA 24 hours) to let me know by making his payment via PayPal for the proper amount.
Of course, he didn't.
Steel_man24 is a new member to EBay. Being only a member since December 27, 2007 it's unfortunate that he has already put himself in a position to receive a negative feedback and a non paying bidder strike. It's even more unfortunate that this now puts his feedback at a negative one as he has had no prior transactions and most likely will be blocked from having any future ones.
This is a clear case of someone who didn't read the item description. While it's a shame to have to label steel_man24 as a "Cancer To EBay", He has show that he is because he doesn't read the information that is clearly posted and availalbe to him. This is certainly no way to start off on EBay.
Steel_man24 if you ever have the opportunity to bid on another item on EBay I would recommend that you take a moment to read the item description. You'll be amazed at the things you'll learn about a particular transaction that won't catch you off guard later.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Bob Borkoski And The Great Misrepresentation
I purchased a Spanish version of Star Wars Episoed I on VHS from Mr. Borkoski on December 8, 2007. The item (which you can see below stated simply that the tape was in great condition and included the case. As you can see from the item description, the picture shown is of a pristine condition, non blemished cover.
While I will give Bob a thumbs up for the tape arriving fast, I have to give him two middle fingers up for what happened next.
The cover to the case was beaten all to hell. There were holes in it, a large strip of packing tape covering these holes, "Blockbuster Video" stickers all over the front and back as well as a hand made, "Spanish" label on the cover.
That was just the cover. The tape itself wasn't even an original. It was a standard VHS cassette tape with a white adhesive label on it that said "Star Wars I" in pen. Underneath that it had typed up that while the tape had the movie on it, the cassette needed to be replaced. See all pictures below.
When I took my concerns to Mr. Borkoski, he sent me an e-mail that stated, and this is a quote, "Item arrived fast, you should be happy with what you got for the price you paid." Excuse me? I don't think so.
I sent a second e-mail to Mr. Borkoski telling him that when anyone lists an item on EBay and does not mention any such deficiencies that this is just as good as stating that the item is in perfect condition. Furthermore, I told him that I felt personally that he had omitted these details on purpose because he knew that there was know way his item would sell in the condition it was in.
Mr. Borkoski was quick to respond back. To quote him directly, he said, "I list 100's of tapes per month and don't have time to include specifics on every tape. If you had questions you should have e-mailed me prior to purchase and I would have answered you questions (yes, he wrote you questions) as I do many of my customers."
So let me get this straight. Mr. Borkoski has time to list 100's of tapes per month, but only if he's misrepresenting them by ommitting what most buyers would consider important details? We're all supposed to do your job as the seller by contacting you to get every detail of what condition the item is going to be in?
If Mr. Borkoski doesn't have time to list all the details, why should we believe he has time to answer e-mails? No, simply put, what we have here is your classic case of misrepresentation of an item. Mr. Borkoski is your typical scammer. By that I mean he purposfully leaves out pertanent information of the items he is selling in an attempt to make a quick sale.
This item set me back $2.99 plus shipping. While this is no huge loss to me financially, the principal remains that I did not receive what I was lead to beleive I was buying. To add insult to injury, Mr. Borkoski shows his morals as a seller by not only blowing off my concerns, but by also stooping to the retalitory feedback path. He knows that he delivered poor quality goods, but yet can't accept the responsability for that. He has to blemish the reputation of buyers who purchase and pay immediately with good faith that he will deliver a quality product to their doorstep. Not the case here.
Bob Borkoski, in my personal opinion, you are one of many cancers to EBay.
***UPDATE*** January 11, 2008. Bob Borkoski also resorts to name calling upon responding/following up to feedback. How very unprofessional. Grow up!
While I will give Bob a thumbs up for the tape arriving fast, I have to give him two middle fingers up for what happened next.
The cover to the case was beaten all to hell. There were holes in it, a large strip of packing tape covering these holes, "Blockbuster Video" stickers all over the front and back as well as a hand made, "Spanish" label on the cover.
That was just the cover. The tape itself wasn't even an original. It was a standard VHS cassette tape with a white adhesive label on it that said "Star Wars I" in pen. Underneath that it had typed up that while the tape had the movie on it, the cassette needed to be replaced. See all pictures below.
When I took my concerns to Mr. Borkoski, he sent me an e-mail that stated, and this is a quote, "Item arrived fast, you should be happy with what you got for the price you paid." Excuse me? I don't think so.
I sent a second e-mail to Mr. Borkoski telling him that when anyone lists an item on EBay and does not mention any such deficiencies that this is just as good as stating that the item is in perfect condition. Furthermore, I told him that I felt personally that he had omitted these details on purpose because he knew that there was know way his item would sell in the condition it was in.
Mr. Borkoski was quick to respond back. To quote him directly, he said, "I list 100's of tapes per month and don't have time to include specifics on every tape. If you had questions you should have e-mailed me prior to purchase and I would have answered you questions (yes, he wrote you questions) as I do many of my customers."
So let me get this straight. Mr. Borkoski has time to list 100's of tapes per month, but only if he's misrepresenting them by ommitting what most buyers would consider important details? We're all supposed to do your job as the seller by contacting you to get every detail of what condition the item is going to be in?
If Mr. Borkoski doesn't have time to list all the details, why should we believe he has time to answer e-mails? No, simply put, what we have here is your classic case of misrepresentation of an item. Mr. Borkoski is your typical scammer. By that I mean he purposfully leaves out pertanent information of the items he is selling in an attempt to make a quick sale.
This item set me back $2.99 plus shipping. While this is no huge loss to me financially, the principal remains that I did not receive what I was lead to beleive I was buying. To add insult to injury, Mr. Borkoski shows his morals as a seller by not only blowing off my concerns, but by also stooping to the retalitory feedback path. He knows that he delivered poor quality goods, but yet can't accept the responsability for that. He has to blemish the reputation of buyers who purchase and pay immediately with good faith that he will deliver a quality product to their doorstep. Not the case here.
Bob Borkoski, in my personal opinion, you are one of many cancers to EBay.
***UPDATE*** January 11, 2008. Bob Borkoski also resorts to name calling upon responding/following up to feedback. How very unprofessional. Grow up!
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