posted on October 17, 2000 05:08:53 PM
That's right - bidding and winning an item can kill either you or a loved one!
How many times as a Seller have I heard a Buyer who hasn't sent in their payment yet that someone close to them has died and that's why we haven't received their payment?
In fact, how many Sellers period learn the deadly results of having their items bid on?
It's an epidemic!
posted on October 17, 2000 05:17:29 PM
And you don't even have to actually *win* the auction in order for your loved ones to be in danger!
Take, for example, a bidder of mine from a few months ago who was bidding on 5 or 6 of my auctions (not to mention a couple hundred *other* auctions as well!). Suddenly she started retracting her bids. I was online when the first bid retraction notice came in. I went immediately to see see what her reason was, and said stated that her mother was in the hospital and that she wouldn't be able to honor her bids. Okay, no problem.
A few minutes later, here comes another bid retraction notice. My gut feeling tells me to go check it out. Her reason now says that her grandfather is in the hospital! Hmmm ....
She must have realized the discrepancy (???), because her next bid retraction said that both her mother and grandfather were in the hospital and that she wouldn't be able to honor her bids.
It's possible, I suppose, but still .... I did notice that she was NARU not long after that.
posted on October 17, 2000 05:20:18 PM
True... but -- people really do die, and if you deal with many people on a large scale, you're bound to run into the relatives of some of them.
I'm still not quite sure though, why the death of someone other than the buyer themself somehow absolves people from fulfilling their obligations...
posted on October 17, 2000 05:29:52 PM
People don't eevn have to die to crap out on paying you. In the last week I had a lady whose son poked his eye out with a stick or fell off a fence, and another guy who was in a car accident. These people are well enough to tell me that they cannot write a check.
posted on October 17, 2000 05:30:02 PM"How many times as a Seller have I heard a Buyer who hasn't sent in their payment yet that someone close to them has died and that's why we haven't received their payment?"
It isn't always fatal, many just slip into a coma. Myself I'd never tell the seller of a death as an excuse. I'm a person that believes in honesty and tradition. I'd simply explain the dog ate my computer.
posted on October 17, 2000 05:31:05 PM
Well, when my son called me at 2 a.m. and told me that my DIL was in premature labor, I rushed around packing and getting the car ready to leave. I had a 12 hour drive ahead of me. My ebay auctions were the last thing on my mind. After the 4lb baby was born and in intensive care, I remembered that I was both bidder and seller on several auctions. I used my son's computer and contacted everyone I could. Without exception, everyone was wonderful. I paypal'd those sellers who took paypal, the others agreed to wait until I got home. My bidders agreed to wait until I got home for me to send their items. I sent a small thankyou gift (besides their items)to all my bidders and a picture of the tiny infant in the incubator. I received less FB than usual, but no negs or neutrals.
Not my name on ebay.
posted on October 17, 2000 05:33:48 PM
Isnt it sad that when all these loved ones are dying,dead, or in awful AWFUL car wrecks and are on life support that the bidder cant fulfill the transaction because they have to be at the bedside/mortuary/gravesite/emergency room...but they have their laptops with them so they can make sure all us sellers know whats going on. And if one looks at the bidding history, said person has time to rebid on something else? Well, isnt that niiiiicccceeeee
posted on October 17, 2000 05:47:00 PM
It isn't always the bidders that have the death-bed excuses. Last year, a married couple who had a big business selling computer games suddenly stopped delivering them. As the negative feedback comments started rolling in, their response was that they had bought a new house and were in the process of moving in, when something went wrong with the construction and they had to move to a motel with no modem support for their computer till their house was finished. That sounded pretty good except for the fact that the negative feedbacks stretched over a 3 month period (mine included). Gee, confined to a motel for 3 months with no internet? Surely, that counts as a death bed The couple were banned from Ebay and they now can be found at Haggle Online, hopefully living in their new house.
posted on October 17, 2000 05:53:09 PM
My last one didn't have a death....he lost everything in a fire!! As I kept sending understanding replies and finally offered to let him off the hook by letting him just pay the fees he kept getting more desperate (all over a $10 bid.) He never sent me the dollar, but started bidding on $100+ items!!
posted on October 17, 2000 06:22:03 PM
I know that death/dying is one very over used excuse....Which is why I was terrified last week when, in fact, I had a death in my family which was going to delay my shipments & payments!....I could just imagine the "yeah, rights" I was gonna receive from my email msgs to my buyers & sellers who were effected....I was quite relieved (and consoled) by the warm, caring responses I did receive....I did send the messages in the middle of dealing with the tragedy, BEFORE I was late in shipping....&....I discounted every buyer & added $$ to every seller, as a small compensation for their inconvience.....I am very grateful to those I was dealing with.....Sometimes it does happen.....
posted on October 17, 2000 07:04:00 PM
Rancher: I certainly can relate. Last year, I was hit with a crash case of pneumonia that struck during the night. I can tell you, it wiped me off my feet. Of course, it just happen to be my birthday that day. Lovely day I had. Thank goodness all of my bidders were extremely kind when I informed them I would be a bit behind. I finally get everything out the door and on it's way and I get a phone call of a death in the family. Of course, I had to head out the door with a ton of auctions still active. I was gone for a little over a week. Had my trusty laptop but was unable to get to my email since I used a local server and I was far from home. Again, phew, good communication immediately saved the day again.<P>I do get my share of those with illness and I do try to be sympathetic since my pneumonia seems to be a yearly regular for me. (LOL, I got away this year so far). Lately I have been getting the "I am or will be out of town until next week. I will get back to you when I get back." Everyone may be at the same convention.
[ edited by yikesLOL on Oct 17, 2000 07:05 PM ]
posted on October 17, 2000 07:16:27 PM
I had the same situation when my infant daughter ended up hospitalized with Rotavirus. I could just picture the eyes of my customers rolling as they read "Forgive the delay, but..."
Luckily, they were all understanding. There was only the problem of the person who paid for insurance on a $40 item, I sent my husband to mail the packages, and he didn't get the insurance.
Of course, of the whole bunch, that's the one that didn't arrive. My only lost package, ever. While I trusted her and refunded in full, there's still that nagging doubt that she was just mad that I didn't buy the insurance she paid for...
posted on October 17, 2000 07:38:25 PM
I certainly hope your daughter is in good health now. I messed up too at that point with one person and the insurance. Luckily the package arrived safe and sound but he was a bit upset. He just used the phrase: If you can't say something good, don't....And he didn't. Never left feedback and I certainly apologized. That was when I decided to start shipping USPS instead of UPS since it was more convenient and closer to me. I was use to the UPS insurance being part of the fees and this package went USPS and I goofed it.
posted on October 17, 2000 07:46:25 PM
It really does happen. My dad passed away last month and I was extremely careful (or so I thought) to keep things going as usual--email, shipments, etc.. Two payments still managed to get misplaced (someone brought the mail in and left it lying in an unusual place, so I didn't know they were there) and were found about a week after they arrived. Both I and the bidders were frantically trying to figure out what happened. I just told them the part about the mail getting misplaced, 'cuz I didn't want to be another of those "death in the family" excuse givers.
posted on October 17, 2000 08:28:43 PM
A recent NPB has recently informed me that both of her parents died and she has to pay for the funeral expenses... could she wait until next week to pay? So... I ask myself. What kind of funeral is she having that she can't pay the same week but can the next? Cardboard boxes and string? Hefty handle-ties?
This thread reminds me of a M*A*S*H episode with Klinger...
posted on October 18, 2000 04:43:11 AM
Doesn't eBay have some kind of policy against bidding on auctions if you are going to die or be seriously injured? I think my new excuse will be that I have already died and was allowed back to send one more email, but I will not be able to pay because money isn't allowed in the afterlife.
posted on October 18, 2000 06:58:35 AM
Am I the only one here who keys in on trivial stuff when all around me is falling apart? When my dad went to the Cleveland clinic in August, I actually remembered to grab an envelope and stamp, and the sellers address, so I could send payment from there when he sent me my total.
My husband thinks I'm weird...but I think of details like that. Now, had I had items listed it would have been different, and harder to keep up. I actually held off listing from late spring until after my dad died, because we all knew it was coming.
posted on October 18, 2000 07:47:36 AM
No Meya you are not alone. My mom died in Feb. and I had to do something/anything to keep myself from falling apart. I fell apart anyway but not until I paid everyone that needed money. Gee I thought I was the only one who does that too.
