posted on October 28, 2000 10:07:57 AM new
My auctions clearly state in BOLD letters that I do NOT accept personal checks. I also offer SEVERAL other different payment methods.
I just received an email from a customer:
I would appreciate it if you would make an exception and accept our check.Please check my feedback record.All items were paid by personal check.I take pride in my credit rating and my trusrtworthiness has never been questioned.Plus it is very inconvenient to get a money order and a cashiers' check will cost almost as much as the dress.I would not be able to get the money order till next Saturday.Thank you for your consideration.
Now, this email was in RESPONSE to an EOA email I had sent her after the auction ENDED. My EOA email also states NO CHECKS.
I responded to her:
My auction clearly states that I do not accept checks whatsoever. I have had way too many problems with personal checks - even from bidders with very high feedback ratings!
If you had a problem paying with one of my methods of payment stated in my auction, I feel you should have contacted me prior to bidding and asked if I would have taken a check so you could have decided wether or not to bid on the item.
I offer SEVERAL different payment methods, please use one of the methods stated in my auction or in my email to you. I cannot accept a check.
She just responded this:
Since you do not trust me I will send a money order on Sat.11/04/00.This is the last time I will bid on your items.My personal integrity should never be questioned by anyone,especially you.
I never attacked her personally - it is my POLICY not to accept checks and I have very good reason! My auction clearly stated it before she bid so I feel she has NO RIGHT to complain.
Should I respond? What should I say? Any help would be appreciated!
posted on October 28, 2000 10:27:42 AM new
Well no matter your policy is a sign of your miss trust of them.
I have removed all TOS from my auctions and now have a Rule all buyers are innocent untill proven guilty.
the key to being sucessfull in any bussiness where you deal with public directly through mail or face to face is to keep in mind the guy next in line is a different person from the last one and you must ajust the emotions the last person left you feeling and treat them like its there frist time .
Payment required in 10 days
NO personal checks
All sales final
I don't think that's a lot to ask for. I've been burnt several times in the past with bounced checks which has lead me to not accept personal checks anymore.
If my terms state NO CHECKS then they had no business asking me to take a check or getting mad if I say no.
posted on October 28, 2000 10:38:41 AM new
Forhope .. I think you handled the situation well. Her arrogance may well be defensiveness .. for NOT being trustworthy. Who knows! And that is the point, who knows!! She absolutely should have emailed you prior to bidding. If a check is going to clear, it does so fairly quickly. If it's going to bounce, it can take up to a month before the seller finds out. You set your TOS with what you are comfortable with and that's your right! Good luck!
Edited to add ...
If I were in this situation I would respond something like this: I'm sorry that this is an inconvenience for you and want you to know I do appreciate your bid. I apologize if I have offended you. However, my terms are set according to my experience and are not personal. (Maybe offer her a discount for paying by MO IF your profit margin allows?)
__
[ edited by tuition44years on Oct 28, 2000 10:46 AM ]
posted on October 28, 2000 10:51:20 AM new
forhope, you are correct. If your TOS state this, then she should have asked first. I have sent the same email to sellers after the auction asking if they would consider an exception since it does take me awhile to get to the post office. I also have 0 negs. BUT, unlike your buyer I can take no for an answer. I ask pleasantly, and if the response is no exceptions, I send a mo with no follow up chatter about integrity. If it's a really small amount and they want a mo, I ask first or just don't bid.
IMO, respond very pleasantly and tell her that this is your policy for all, you are not questioning her integrity and you are so sorry she did not ask first.
posted on October 28, 2000 10:52:09 AM new
Hi Forhope,
A seller has the right to set their own rules and a bidder should read the rules and abide by them if bidding. I personally never bid on an auction that requires MO only and wonder how many bidders those sellers are losing out on. But I have misread a couple of auctions that I have won and found out after the fact that I could not send a check, and have always got the MO as asked, would seem silly to quarrel about something I misread. As far as responding back to the customer, I would just drop it now and leave it at that. I would like to say also I have sold on ebay for 3 years with over 3000 transactions and have only had one bad check which was taken care of by the embarassed cusomer very quickly. I also never hold checks. But that is just me and I think you have every right to run your business the way you want.
gingersnapp
posted on October 28, 2000 11:01:02 AM new
Well it is sometimes a pain to get a M.O. to send out.
But your terms did state that, so this person shouldn't of bid, I know I wouldn't because of your last line.
Ain't Life Grand...
posted on October 28, 2000 11:10:05 AM new
forhope,
You did nothing wrong, and this person is being rude, because they couldn't take the time to read your TOS. I also do not take checks, unless you have bought from me before, and paid in a timely manner, not 6 weeks after the auction closes. My tos states that I take cashiers checks, M.O., visa, mastercard, and discover, this should give most buyers an easy way to complete the transaction.
The interesting question is: if you can't read (as in the TOS) how can you "write" a check?
posted on October 28, 2000 11:28:52 AM new
forhope:
I read your initial post 3 times. It seems to me that the bidder was not demanding at all in the first email to you. She merely said that she would appreciate it if you would make an exception to your no-checks policy. Your reply to her IMO was condescending and a bit rude, and she then responded likewise.
Regardless of what your TOS says, I see no harm in a bidder simply telling you that she would appreciate it if you would make an exception. You were perfectly within your rights to refuse her request, but I really believe that you could have handled the situation better.
posted on October 28, 2000 11:45:44 AM new
If she did not like your TOA why would she bid???
I also do not accept checks and have probably had aprox 10% of my auction winners send me personal checks. At least your winner asked prior to sending a check.
The reason I don't take checks is until recently I did not have a checking account and it was all but impossible to cash an out of state check. I would always email the high bidder and tell them the situation and give them a choice, either I can return their check and they can mail a money order or I can hang on to their check and attempt to find someone who can cash a personal check for me but I could not tell them how long it may take for that to happen but I will ship as soon as I find someone to cash a check and as soon as their check clears.
To date I have only had one person tell me to hang on to their check and ship "whenever" because they were in no hurry for their item.
posted on October 28, 2000 11:53:04 AM new
I can empathize with forhope. My ad plainly states I do not accept PayPal. Yet, a percentage of my bidders ask for PayPal at the close of auction. I had one bidder go 'round and 'round with me. Then later on, he says he lost all his e-mails, would I resend my address. I did, attached to the long string of e-mails we had discussing why I don't accept PayPal. Next e-mail from him, would I accept PayPal. He never even bothered to look at the e-mail I had just sent. I replied "No, we already discussed why I don't accept PayPal." He replied, "Well, I told you I lost all my e-mails". I restrained myself from asking why he didn't read the e-mail I had just sent.
I'm perfectly happy with the way I handle payment, I have no desire to cut PayPal in for a percentage.
posted on October 28, 2000 11:57:49 AM new
well it dont matter to me if the TOS was one word or 10,000 words.
if one word of it loses one sale or one buyers confidence and I havent dealt with this buyer or they havent proven to be a high risk then I would say it was one word of TOS to much I deal with all buyer on a one on one bases.
sometimes a money order will cost more then the overall bid price some buyer dont mind others do I just had a buyer in the UK pay bidpays $5 fee for a money order there winning bid was only a $1 another buyer might want to send cash that will take longer to get to me I have no problem if the out of US buyer send US dollars in cash or a check that pays in Amercian curency when its cashed what ever works as long as I get the sale.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on October 28, 2000 12:02:15 PM new
Since the Buyer asked (although after the auction ended), I would have accepted the check but let her know you would not be shipping the item until after the check cleared the bank...up to 30 days. Then it would be up to her if she wanted to wait that long to recieve the item.
***********************
That's Flunky Gerbiltush to you!
posted on October 28, 2000 12:20:23 PM newForhope-At least you got a reply to your EOA. I had a bidder not respond to my EOA or send money. When I contacted her with a "gentle reminder" she DID respond with: "I have no way of getting a MO and I don't have a credit card and since you don't take personal checks, I have no way to send you money-sorry". That was the last I heard from her.
posted on October 28, 2000 02:24:33 PM new
It's a hassle when a person tries to get you to change your terms of sale.
I take all three (pers. cks., MO's, and PayPal) and so far (knock on wood), I haven't had a problem. In fact, I've had two people email me to tell me that their check was going to bounce before the check did, and the weird thing was neither ever did!
I generally rebel against paying an extra 85c for a MO unless the item is a steal, so I've only paid for an auction once with a MO. On the other hand, I don't hassle sellers to change their TOS; if a seller only takes MO's, I just don't bid.
But as to your original question, should you reply, my vote would be no. She's sending the money, you've made your sale. Replying at this point turns this into a contest.
posted on October 28, 2000 03:02:53 PM new
Well, your reply did have a tone of personal attack.
I guess I can't relate to your policy because I have never had
a bad check. Don't take this personally, but I would not bid on
an item for which I had to send a money order (which has not much
more security than cash).
Tuition44years had an excellent reply. You should copy and paste it and grit your teeth and send it!!!
posted on October 28, 2000 03:11:03 PM new
I have re-read my response to her and do not feel it was attacking her at all. I simply stated the facts. The auction terms stated No checks.
As far as not accepting checks, my bids are not hurting at all because of it. I accept just about every type of payment other than personal checks. Billpoint, Paypal, X.com, Exchangepath, Paydirect, MO's, etc. Everything but personal checks. So she didn't *have* to send a MO, and MO's aren't the only payment method I accept - she had several other payment options.
It all comes down to this: She didn't read, or she DID, and just ignored my TOS. (The "no checks" was in black bold letters in my auction, by the way).
posted on October 28, 2000 03:26:01 PM new
While I think your not taking checks is very bad for business--something you need to analyze and rethink--your keeping to your terms is very admirable.
As to checks, by stating a very tough check policy: high bounced check fee and/or long shipping delay, you will get rid of the riffraff. It will discourage check use, but it would probably get you more biz. I don't have this problem and I just ship when the money comes in whatever form.
I'd reply that her integrity isn't the issue, never was an issue, and am sorry that she feels that way. You might also add that you regret asking for money orders from good customers because you do not have the resources to verify the account funds of every bidder and do not wish to delay shipments to do so.
posted on October 28, 2000 03:30:06 PM new
I guess what it comes down to is that some people expect the relationship of buyer to seller to be personal not like dealing with Sears. You can work that to your advantage or to your disadvantage. I don't think Sears would go into why they have a certain policy
so explaining if you want to keep it on a business level is probably a bad idea. If you accept the concept of making it personal and then still refuse the request that is what makes it insulting. if you are going to get chummy and explain your motivations better to accept the check.
posted on October 28, 2000 03:42:19 PM new
mballai: Not accepting personal checks has not been bad for my business at all. When I used to accept checks I was getting bounced checks ALL the time. I even stated in my auctions that I would hold ALL checks up to 14 BUSINESS days to clear before shipping, and that I would have to charge a $20 fee for all bounced checks (which is what my bank charges me). I *still* got bounced checks - the last one that bounced was in March - and I never received the repayment for that one. I was turning people into collection agencies all the time - but even that costs money - they charge you for that. Taking checks was time consuming, risky, and just not worth my while. I since then started accepting Paypal - which now MOST of my customers use to pay for their auctions. My auctions have actually sky-rocketed since I started taking CC payments, so my auctions have not hurt whatsoever.
I don't want checks, and I refuse to accept them. It's all clearly stated in my auction. They can agree to it, or not bid. I have no problem with that.
posted on October 28, 2000 03:51:44 PM new
I would like to know how you deal with those buyers who send a personal check without asking...When I first began selling, in the spring of '99, I stated Money Orders only. At least 50% of my buyers just sent personal checks without asking first. I thought about just sending the checks back to the buyers, but this was going to add up quickly, and probably cause me to lose the sale. So, how do you handle those who send one anyway?
Then, I found AW, and realized that asking all buyers to get a money order was going to hurt my sales. I list mostly household items, small ticket stuff. While I have a Rite Aid within walking distance of my home, I realized that not everyone has that convenience, so I changed to accept Personal Checks, with the notice that I may hold shipment until the check clears.
After about 250 sales, I've not had a bounced check yet. <knock on wood> I do request Postal Money Orders on higher ticket items, and I offer to take off .50 cents on those sales to help pay for the cost of the MO. That seems to work well too, and eases my mind on the higher priced sales (which are few and far between unfortunately).
When I receive a check in the mail I email them immediately and ask them to send me a money order or pay using one of the payment methods described in my auction. Once I receive the correct payment I send the check back to them in their package.
posted on October 28, 2000 04:41:49 PM new
forhope,
This is alittle different, but awhile ago before I took PayPal..I had someone email me and asked if I took PayPal...I emailed him back and said...I'm sorry, but I don't accept PayPal at this time.
I had no problems, he just mailed a check, which I do accept. I'm sure you will have more people asking you, because I get that all the time about checks, even though It says in my auctions that I take checks.
posted on October 28, 2000 06:01:55 PM newforhope: Here's my take on your response from a buyers prospective.
My auction clearly states that I do not accept checks whatsoever. I have had way too many problems with personal checks - even from bidders with very high feedback ratings!
First, you implied she could not read. Obviously she can read, because she is asking.
Second you implied since you have had problems with checks in the past, you expected to have problems with her check.
If you had a problem paying with one of my methods of payment stated in my auction, I feel you should have contacted me prior to bidding and asked if I would have taken a check so you could have decided wether or not to bid on the item.
Third, you impled she did not know how to handle a sale on Ebay, even though she indicated she had done many transactions and had good feedback. Not everyone handles transactions the same way.
Fourth, while she did not contact you before the EOA, she was kind enough to contact you before sending the check. She was being a good buyer as well trying to save herself some money and hassle.
As a buyer I have asked sellers if they take checks both before and after the auction has completed. I have never had a seller talk down to me the way you did to this buyer. I would have purchased the money order and then I would be sure never to bid on another one of you auctions.
Sorry, but as a buyer only, thats my take.
Greg
P.S. I have been writing checks for 25 years and have never bounced one. Implying I might really ticks me off.
I *never* implied her check would bounce. I simply tried to explain to her why I don't accept them anymore. I never told her I expected her check to bounce. My policies are my policies. It's the same for anyone - no matter how many feedback they have. I'm fair to EVERYONE.
SHE was the one who was rude with the "My personal integrity should never be questioned by anyone,especially you." comment. Especially me? She's the one who bid and then LATER tried to make me change my terms.
She was being a good buyer as well trying to save herself some money and hassle
If that was her intention, then she SHOULDN'T have bid! She was absolutely NOT being a good buyer.
This SHOULD be very simple.
Like the terms = bid
Don't like the terms = don't bid
Believe me, reading my auction CLEARLY states I don't accept checks - under ANY circumstances. So her asking me proves she CAN'T read. (or just ignores terms)
posted on October 28, 2000 07:49:40 PM newforhope: From reading you previous post where you stated your TOS, there is nothing about accepting personal checks "under ANY circumstances". Yes, you said "NO personal checks".
What is the big deal about being asked if you would make an exception based on feedback. You were asked? I don't see how it matters if you were asked before or after.
If it was me as the buyer and I got the email you quoted in your first message, then I would have been offended at the implication that you would not take my check because it might be bad. The wording in your email comes across like a third grade teacher explaining something to a slow student. I hate being talked down to and that is how I read your email.
Personally, I agree with the bidder, it is really inconvenient to get a money order (30 minute wait at the post office), cashiers's check cost to much and I don't give out my credit card on eBay (I don't trust pay pal). I would have emailed before the auction and given your response would not have bid.
From reading you previous post where you stated your TOS, there is nothing about accepting personal checks "under ANY circumstances". Yes, you said "NO personal checks".
Well my auction does say in other certain words "no checks under any circumstances".. of COURSE I'm not going to post my actual words - otherwise I could be identified! It's called being anonymous.
Personally, I agree with the bidder, it is really inconvenient to get a money order (30 minute wait at the post office), cashiers's check cost to much and I don't give out my credit card on eBay (I don't trust pay pal).
Well if that's how you - or the bidder - feels then the *perfect* answer to that would have been to JUST NOT BID! I didn't FORCE her to bid on my auction. My terms were spelled out in big black bold letters that I do not accept checks. If she insists on paying for her auctions with checks then she SHOULD HAVE PASSED ON THE AUCTION! Plain and simple.
I would have emailed before the auction and given your response would not have bid.
And that's what I would have preferred! This "begging after-the-fact, trying to change the seller's terms and not complying with the seller's terms after I bid" is a bunch of baloney. Agree and bid or don't agree and DON'T bid!
It's common sense! And you wonder why we have to explain everything as if we were talking to children.......
posted on October 28, 2000 09:32:45 PM new
I would not think of going to a store and asking them to take my check when there is a sign that says NO CHECKS! Most people would not ask, nor would the majority of these stores change their policy!
I use to accept checks, but I won't any more! People get upset when you hold their checks till they clear. To many headaches!
I only accept Money Orders. I state that in my auctions and in my email. I don't feel my auctions suffer because of it.
I had paypal and it didn't help with my auctions...and when I stopped using paypal..it did not hurt my business! There are sooo many places to get a money order too!
gjsi: Do you go to stores that have a CASH only policy then ask them to take your check when you are ready to pay? Would you be offended when they said no? Would you presume that they would not take your check because it might be bad?
Forhope: Your email was courteous! Her's was NOT!
It's to bad that some people feel they should be given special favors. There is nothing wrong with having a policy and sticking to it. Best wishes to you!
When I purchase on ebay, I read the terms. If I don't like them..I have a choice and can move on. When I bid I am agreeing to the sellers terms! If I have any questions, I email the seller....BEFORE I bid! I would not ask the seller to change their policy...at the "checkout"!!!
