posted on January 8, 2001 08:47:19 PM new
I won (or at least I thought I did) an auction on ebay for a trackball I wanted for Christmas.
I found the trackball I wanted and used buy it now to win it. I checked the seller's (All positive) feedback and assumed they were legit. I paid for the item via Paypal within an hour after I won the auction.
Well, it is almost 3 weeks later and after numerous emails this seller will not reply to me.
I did my job in checking his feedback and now I feel like a complete idiot !!!
posted on January 8, 2001 08:53:11 PM new
Hi:
I don't see where you did anythig wrong,keep trying to contact him.It sounds like maybe he could be away on vacation or something.I've been wanting to go away for a while my self but worrie how that will impact my auction's.
posted on January 8, 2001 09:25:42 PM new
Hmm... they are still newbies then.
Were they verified sellers through Paypal? Did you pay with your credit card? If worst comes to worst you could always *try* to get your money back that way..
If your purchase was more then $25 you could also try Ebay's buyer's insurance.
Hmm.. other than keep trying to contact him I don't know what to tell you. You could also contact any of his other bidders to see if they are having problems contacting him. Maybe your emails aren't going through?
Try emailing him through "mail this auction to a friend" feature too....
posted on January 9, 2001 12:01:20 PM new
UPDATE :
I contacted the other winners of his 7 (or so) other auctions.
All replied and none had recieved their items. One told me that they were contacted by the seller and told that the item they won was destroyed and the transaction was off (they were smart and did not send their money, so they got off). Another informed me that the seller did not know how much shipping would be to send thier item so he would go ahead and send it and they could pay the exact amount when they recieved their item. ?????????
I do not understand that at all.
I did try the "send this auction to a friend" feauture, but no reply.
Can I report him for having a fax number as a contact number ? Or how about for listing the wrong city and state in his contact info ?
The area code on the phone number is actually in the wrong state too.
posted on January 9, 2001 12:09:30 PM new
I always want to whack people across the side of the head when they spout their perfect Hindsight scenario at me---so feel free to do so after I spout my glowing words of wisdom below.
"NEVER Pay for anything prior to the seller contacting you---"
I posted this thread to get some help on what to do about a rip off seller.
I did not post this thread to to ask about buyers preferences.
As far as paying before the seller contacts me. If the shipping is clearly stated in the auction and they accept Paypal, why shouldn't I pay when the auction ends ?
I already know how much I owe and when the auction is over I consider that a done deal.
Alot of my buyers pay me prior to me contacting them and I say that is an excellent buyer !
Whether I paid this seller before or after he contacted me is not the point, nor does it make a difference as to the outcome. I could have paid him after he sent an EOA, but if he was going to rip me off anyway, he would have still done it then.
I paid for something I did not recieve. The seller has false contact info and I am out $48 bucks !
This whole deal has me not wanting to buy on ebay anymore !
On top of that, you should be concerned about sellers like this doing this to other people, which in turn will make someone else not want anything to do with ebay. Maybe even one of your potential customers or even worse, one of mine.
posted on January 10, 2001 07:17:29 AM new
Sorry, but I kinda agree with Zazzie. I would NEVER pay for something before I've heard from the seller. Don't kick yourself too hard though, I'd report it to ebay. Did you pay thru paypal with a credit card? If so, you can try to get your money back. Maybe I missed some of the story, but how could this person have such good feedback if a few buyers never got their mechandise? This has SCAM written all over it. When I check a seller's feedback, I also then take note of how much feedback that buyer has. Sometimes I take a quick peek at their's too. If anything, and I mean anything, looks fishy, I forget about the item. No matter how bad I wanted it. Sorry this had to happen to you!
posted on January 10, 2001 09:02:45 AM new
"This whole deal has me not wanting to buy on ebay anymore !"
cix,
Please don't let this one bad deal scare you from buying off ebay. That's exactly, as you already pointed out, what many of us sellers are concerned about. One dishonest seller and that potential buyer is gone forever...
As some have said in other threads about only 5% of buyers really being dishonest, I like to think the same might apply to sellers. (I'm part of the 95% myself.)
I don't do that much buying myself, but most of my purchases have gone through without a hitch. Had some trouble a couple of times, but most transactions went fine and I wouldn't let the few bad sellers stop me from buying from all the good ones.
And no, there's nothing wrong with instantly paying for an auction. Like you said, it has nothing to do with whether you're dealing with an honest seller or not. I've done it and many of my buyers do it.
There's been a lot of good advice here, so I won't repeat any of it. Just do what you need to do to make this one right with yourself and move on from there...
posted on January 10, 2001 11:02:51 AM new
I would contact the other buyers again asking them to join you in a multiple complaint against the seller. This may carry more weight with ebay if they see a "class action" complaint. I would be sure to let ebay know that the info suplied by the seller was bogus, I think that is
grounds alone for an ebay infraction.
Good Luck
Latte
posted on January 10, 2001 12:20:33 PM new
cix: welcome to the club. Of the last 8 purchases I've made 4 sellers have been extremely poor even though their feedback has indicated otherwise. My situation has been a duplication of yours.
First seller... I use Buy It Now and pay within 1 hour. I immediately send auction notice with my info and inform I've paid. I never receive any kind of a notice from this person regarding end of auction. After 5 days and 4 emails later I get a stock end of auction notice from seller that I can send my paymnet to... etc. etc. It takes 3 more days to get a response that he actually got the payment and will be shipping. Still waiting.
Second seller... I win an auction and again immedaitely pay. Same notices sent to seller. Four days later I'm at the point of sending cranky emails because I've never heard a word from this person. The next day I get a message saying that due to his error he didn't actually have the item sold. He was expecting his shipment but didn't arrive in time and should have it in within a week to ten days. Meanwhile, he is still auctioning the same item.
Third Seller... Auction ended. Got EOA from seller. Paid. Nothing. Waited 4 days. Still no word. Started sending emails. No replies. 10 days have passed and sellers feedback has gone from 80+ positive to 5 recent Negs for same reason. Day 12 I inform seller if I don't hear within 24 hours (and gave a deadline date and time) I would contact safeharbor. 48 hours later I get an email, "Sorry. I'm running behind. Will ship today."
Fourth seller (and my favorite)... Won auction. Got EOA. Send money order next day. A week goes by. Send email. No response. Two weeks go by and 3 more emails have been sent. No response. Nearing end of third week, I'm sending emails with attitude. Seller replies to all of the emails individually. Now here's the best part, he uses 6 different excuses (busy, pneumonia, holidays, ill family member, snow) in the replies as to why he's so late. The last excuse being that the payment arrived today (after three weeks). It was held up by the East Coast snow storm (which was something like 7 - 10 days ago) and they haven't received any mail.
I reply to that email saying to stop making excuses and send the item. The payment would have been received over a week before the snow. Since I live about 300 miles from the person he should have had the payment in 2 - 3 days not 3 weeks. I get back a 12 paragraph rant about how rude I am and he really did get the payment the day before and he doesn't like my attitude, etc. etc. and has sent the item that day. blah blah blah. The is another perfect feedback seller.
And... for the timely service but shouldn't be a seller category. I bought a high-end VCR. This was used but reasonably priced. Auction end. He sends EOA. I send payment within 2 hours. Seller sends item the next day. I receive VCR with I layer of bubble wrap laid on the top and on the bottom of the inside with peanuts between. The VCR is in the midst of the peanuts. The manual is tossed in along with the cables and remote. Let's see if anyone can guess what I found.
The VCR was filled with peanuts which entered through the tape door. The VCR wasn't in a bag. It was just laid in the peanuts. I opened the case and the inside of the VCR was packed with peanuts which were wedged into every concievable location and between curcuit boards. I send an email explaining how angry I am about the packing. The reply? "Are you pissed at me? I never thought about that happening. The VCR arrived without any shipping damage, right?"
posted on January 11, 2001 05:23:48 AM new
UPDATE :
Ok, here is an email I sent the seller :
"Why is it so hard for you to give me a simple answer ?
When did you ship my item out ? What date ?
From which Post Office did you send my item out ?
It is very simple. Look at the reciept the clerk gave you when you shipped my item and tell me what it says. THATS ALL I WANT TO KNOW."
Here is his reply :
"Unfortunately I don't have the receipt from the Post Office. However, I can
tell you that it was taken to the Downtown Brooklyn, NY Post Office on
Thursday of last week and shipped Priority Mail although I wanted you to
have it by Friday (didn't want to ship it express). I expected that it
would get to you by Monday or Tuesday of this week being that Priority Mail
is 2-3 shipping days. Simply send an email to me notifying me that you have
received the TurboRing and I will consider this the last reason for me to
have any contact with you.
Good Day "
CAN YOU BELIEVE THE NERVE OF THIS GUY ???
Last reason to have contact with me MY EYE !!!
I am going to go full out on this one !!
I already contacted Paypal and ebay safeharbor.
I am going to nail this sellers butt to the wall !
posted on January 11, 2001 01:47:01 PM new
"CAN YOU BELIEVE THE NERVE OF THIS GUY ???
Last reason to have contact with me MY EYE !!!
I am going to go full out on this one !!
I already contacted Paypal and ebay safeharbor.
I am going to nail this sellers butt to the wall !"
Hmmm... I can understand your frustration. However many people do not do this as a profession and do operate with the speed and professionalism you want. Is that right? Probably not. Is it reality? Yes. If he actually sent the item and you actually get it, their is nothing you, safeharbor, or paypal can do. If you do not get it, he can do a trace after 30 days. You can do a chargeback after that if needed. If possible it is probably best not to take this personally.
