posted on October 27, 2000 05:28:07 PM new
Just wanted to share this story and get some opinions.
August 25 I ended a Dutch auction for 3 poster frames. Guy bids on the last day and wins all three. I e-mail him asking for his address to calculate shipping. His response:
"did I win all 3? I tried to retract my bid; I only need 2. I can't pay for all 3 right now. If this is a problem, let me know."
I said it was fine if he wanted only two. I sent him payment info. Two weeks pass, and I don't receive payment. I ask if he sent it. His response:
"I sent you that money order. I've assumed you have received it by now"
I ask him what day he sent it. No response.
At the time, I only asked for a money order as payment since I was planning a move. After four weeks pass, no payment, so I send eBay the non-paying bidder warning. Almost immediately, he responds:
"What the hell are you doing? You steal my money order (real convenient not letting me pay a check) and then have the audacity to report me to EBAY. I should get you thrown off, not the other way around."
I send him a stern reply:
"First of all, I did NOT steal your money order. I did not even receive your payment. Second, I asked you when you sent it out and you didn't even reply. If you're going to accuse me of anything, I would suggest working it out with me first instead of accusing me of something I didn't do. I put in my auction terms you had thirty days to pay, and that's almost up.
And by the way, I have 400+ feedback. I think if I was to steal your money, that feedback number would be a LOT less, wouldn't you?"
His reply:
"I mailed you the money order. I'm sorry you didn't get it. It sucks for me that I lost the money, you shouldn't be complaining."
I let him know he can stop payment on the money order and then resend it. Three days later he e-mails me:
"it was too late, someone already took the money. Anyway, I'm sorry about our confusion. Thanks anyway,"
Now this doesn't make sense since you need to wait two months to file the forms and then receive word on the status. I figured he could at least send a new money order and then follow up on the old one. Because of this I e-mail him:
"So where does that leave me? Am I still getting payment for the frames?"
His response:
"are you joking?"
I tell him I'm not since I still haven't gotten payment. His final response:
"just cancel the transaction. we'll leave it at that"
I figured I'd share this and get some opinions. I'm thinking either he didn't send payment and just made excuses, or he did send it, it got lost, and he's too clueless to realize it didn't arrive (hence the accusation of stealing).
[ edited by snapman on Oct 27, 2000 05:32 PM ]
posted on October 27, 2000 05:42:23 PM new
He didn't send the money order, he had little if any intention of ever sending it. Complete the FVF, leave him a calm, factual neg: "Auction ended XX, no payment by XX." Unfortunately, expect a neg in return, probably with yet-another lie in it. Respond to that calmly as well.
posted on October 27, 2000 05:57:47 PM new
Already relisted and sold the items. I plan on FVF'ing and negging around Halloween. If I'm lucky he won't realize what happened until it's too late to do anything about it.
I usually don't worry about leaving negatives (I almost always do), but most of the time I leave them for people who just don't care. They don't react when they get them (only have one negative so far). This guy flipped out when I sent the warning!
posted on October 27, 2000 05:59:21 PM new
This may not be strictly relevant to your question but I do not like money orders and I believe they are more hassle than they are worth. They are expensive to stop and time-consuming to trace. Checks can be easily traced and if a check is intentionally stopped by a buyer to deprive you of funds as a seller the offense is simple - it is called mail fraud. The bottom line is that checks ensure accountability - mo's do not and mo's can be stopped and fiddled so the idea that mo's are intrinsically "safe" is largely illusion. Meanwhile your buyer is definitely a flake - why risk a negative over a few bucks? + you can always relist.
posted on October 27, 2000 06:10:33 PM newsbruce is so right about money orders!
I would just consider this a learning experience and forget it.
Right now, I have a buyer who is in the process of checking out
a missing money order. It will take from 4 to 6 weeks. Then
he will probably be informed that the money order was cashed (they
are easily cashed by anybody) and of course, I will be suspect.
posted on October 27, 2000 06:11:27 PM new
But on my end money orders are a lot better. It's guaranteed payment. I can send the item immediately, I don't have to have a waiting period. I also don't have to worry about a money order "bouncing." I recently had a check bounce for about $150, and am waiting for repayment from the buyer. Wouldn't have that problem with a m.o.
posted on October 27, 2000 07:45:49 PM new
It is already more than 60 days since 8/25.
**Disclaimer: If I appear arguementive, then I probably am just being a #*!@ today. It comes & goes. C.
posted on October 27, 2000 07:52:23 PM new
I had someone leave me feedback recently, two and a half months after the auction ended. I think eBay's policy is different now, auctions go away at the beginning of the month instead of after 60 days.
posted on October 27, 2000 08:10:52 PM new
If you receive a neg more than 60 days after the auction you can have it removed, unless eBay has recently changed it's policy.
**Disclaimer: If I appear arguementive, then I probably am just being a #*!@ today. It comes & goes. C.
posted on October 27, 2000 09:03:29 PM new
You can now leave feedback for 90 days after the end of auction. IMO it just gives more time for deadbeats to give you a retalitory negative.
posted on October 27, 2000 09:11:45 PM new
eBay did away with the "we'll remove the neg if it's left after 60 days" in February. You can leave a neg as long as the item number is somewhere in the database, which presumably is for at least 90 days now.
posted on October 28, 2000 06:43:01 AM new
The buyer obviously had no intention of completing the transaction.
My one and only neg feedback came relatively early in my eBay "career". I was selling brand new golf balls in lots of three dozen each. Normally, I notify my successful bidders by email within twelve hours of the end of the auction. In this on instance, I received an email THREE MINUTES after the auction's end, informing me that he was the high bidder, and asking for an address to which payment should be sent. I should mention here that this particular lot went for more than a fair market price, which surprised me. I immediately replied to the email with a congratulatory note, and provided the required payment info. SIX HOURS later, I receive a second email, complaining that I never responded to the first one...
I politely respond with a copy of my previous message. TEN HOURS later the buyer emails me a message saying that I OBVIOUSLY don't want to sell my goods, and cancels the transaction. I should state that none of my messages were returned as undeliverable, and each was issued as a reply to his correct email address. I sent one final response, explaining that he obviously had no intention of making the purchase, and had come up with this as a clever way to get out of the deal. I was willing to let it pass and relist my goods. WHAM-- He posts a neg less than 24 hours after the end of the auction!
Unfortunately, there's no way to protect yourself from people like the one you've encountered. My advice-- just blow it off and move on to the next.
posted on October 28, 2000 11:27:20 AM new
kramerfamily, I'm going to leave the negative today. I'm never usually worried about negatives since, like I said in a previous post, rarely do I hear from the buyer even after issuing the warning and leaving the negative. Considering all the inconsistencies in his e-mails (wanting 2 frames after bidding on three, saying I stole his payment, etc.), and considering everyone else's opinions on my post, I really believe he was stringing me along.
It's just the idea of getting another negative that's bugging me, I guess, even though the world didn't end after the first one I got.
posted on October 28, 2000 01:17:20 PM new
FWIW a payment not received in 14 days is time enough for an NPB alert. Ten days later file FVF credit. If they don't respond to the alert, time's up. A neg is strictly after the fact.
posted on October 28, 2000 01:42:18 PM new
My personal policy is a month. I've had people send payment after two weeks but below a month. After four weeks, I issue the NPB and two weeks later do the FVF.
