posted on December 2, 2000 08:19:03 PM new
I've been using eBay for ove two years. I've purchased hundreds of items and sold probably about two hundred items. I am currently experiencing an unusual phenomenon. I pay by check. Two items that I paid for about one month ago have not arrived. Several subsequent purchases have arrived already. I finally email one of them just to touch base. She says she never received payment. In the meantime, I receive a message from eBay prompting me to pay the other one. Neither check has been cashed. I'm guessing that I mailed the checks on the same day from the building that I work in. The mail chute is set up such that you can mail from any floor by slipping the "letter" through a slot and then the letter falls through a "tube" to the basement. I'm guessing that they got stuck or are still stuck or some such thing, which I have heard happens on occasion, but which I have never experienced. Or I suppose it could be that they are sitting someplace unmailed--perhaps they're under my car seat or maybe they fell out of my pocket. Who knows. Whatever the case may be, I'm an honest guy and proud of a fast pay policy. Also, because I usually pay by check, it is not unusual to have the item take a while to get to me: one or two days to exchange addresses, a couple of days for the check to arrive, maybe a ten day hold period, then a few more days for the package to arrive. So I'm not bent out of shape when a package takes a while to arrive. Here's my beef: I'm miffed that the one seller notified eBay rather than simply emailing me and asking "what's up." Or why not call? I learned very quickly that things happen during the course of using eBay and have called both bidders and sellers many times with concerns and have had the problems vanish with that one phone call. This is the second time as of late where an eBay user has jumped the gun. What irritates me is, I'm an honest fella, so it gets my dander up when someone suggests otherwise. It seems to me that there are some in the eBay community with trigger fingers. When I joined eBay it was stressed that a phone call usually clears up problems, and they were correct. What's up?
posted on December 2, 2000 08:33:41 PM new
I agree with you; I would never file a NPB without making an effort to communicate directly with the high bidder. But I have read any number of posts on the various boards by sellers who say they don't have the time, etc.
Of course an NPB is just a reminder; it is just not a very tactful way for a seller to communicate with her buyers except as a last resort (IMO).
posted on December 2, 2000 10:48:07 PM new
The seller should have contacted you first before filing a NPB. We never file a NPB until shortly before the deadline and only after at least two email attempts....
Things do get lost in the mail. Strangely we've had 1 package lost in over 3000 transactions, but a lot of payments (about 2 dozen at last count) have been lost... Three times we received payments that have been lost for more than a month along with a note from the PO saying they were found inside a supposedly empty machine that was down for maintenance.
Please don't be angry that someone sent you a Non-paying Bidder Alert without emailing you first.
I agree that in the best of all worlds, an email from the seller would be best. But, the deadbeat situation, based on posts here, is getting ridiculous. So I think some sellers have just taken a hard line on this. 10 days with no payment, file a NPB alert.
I used to write emails first, then give the buyer two days to answer, then file my NPBA. This meant an extra two days waiting for funds, and while yours is a genuine error and probably the fault of the mailchute, many people who don't pay within 10-13 days just aren't going to pay. This means extra time spent on non-payers that could be spent on listing items, servicing good customers, etc.
I know it seems cold to just receive a "Reminder to pay your eBay seller," but I wanted to maybe present the other side here.
