posted on January 21, 2001 08:31:50 AM
I have been buying and selling on Ebay for over a year. Ebay allows you to file a Non-Paying Bidder Alert on anyone that fails to pay for an auction item. After 4 complaints, that person is suspended. However, I have also purchased items on Ebay. When I get ripped off by a seller all I can do is leave Neg. Feedback which starts a "Feedback WAR" between myself and the seller. That hurts me as much as the "Rip-Off" seller. Why does Ebay not have a "4 strikes your out" policy with sellers? Any suggestions?
posted on January 21, 2001 08:41:49 AM
Things do get lost in the mail!! Not oftem but certainly it DOES happen. DID they offer you a refund, there are way to handle fraud, take the necessary steps!!
posted on January 21, 2001 09:20:15 AM
Thursday (January 18) I received a package that was mailed via Priority mail December 13! The seller had already sent me a refund (which I returned when the package finally arrived). It does happen!
posted on January 21, 2001 09:28:56 AM
Yet, the same thing can happen to payments sent through the mail and half the advice given here is to do the NPB at 10 days and the FVF 7 days later and neg the buyer.
Why cut the seller slack for mail problems if you don't want to cut the buyers any slack?
I know many sellers are not so quick to do the NPB/FVF, but sometimes the double standard just seems so glaring.
posted on January 21, 2001 09:41:01 AM
Greg, As a buyer and seller, I agree with you completely. I have only filed one NPB since I started selling, that buyer fell off the face of the earth on a certain date. Stopped bidding, paying, everything.
Sellers who file after 10 days no matter what should think about this the next time the package gets lost. Some even have in the TOS that they are not responsible for lost packages. Then who is? The deal is not complete until the item is in the buyers hands, insurance or no insurance!
Why don't you notify ebay of this and maybe other buyers will eventually do the same. Sellers are a dime a dozen right now. Without the buyers ebay doesn't exist. Enough of you band together and they will take note.
posted on January 21, 2001 09:58:13 AM
When I have ever had a buyer who had a problem getting a payment to me, we have been able to work something out. Communication is the key to most eBay sellers. I once received a check that was mailed over 7 months prior to me receiving it. The buyer had long ago mailed me a replacement check and had been enjoying his item for months. I think most of us have been at this long enough to know when someone is yanking our chain about lost payments.
I'm pretty sure the electric company would not be so tolerant if you were to tell them that you had mailed the payment so it must be lost in the mail. When you get a 10 day shut off warning, I bet that whether your check is "lost" or not, you are down there paying your bill before they cut your electricity off. You will go to the bank and put a stop payment on your check or find out how to cancel your money order. I'm fairly certain that the clerks at the electric company will not hold your hand and give you step-by-step instructions on how to do this. I'm also fairly certain that people who might stand in the lobby and yell I mailed my check so you must have gotten it -- you are a thief and a crook! are probably escorted out of the building.
This post is not aimed at anyone in particular, I must have just needed to vent. LOL
You are absolutely correct. Sellers are not held to the same standards as buyers. I am in a situation now where I won an auction from a seller for a saphire and diamond heart that I won weeks before X-Mas. UPS had a tracking number and that number stated the package was is Savannah, Georgia terminal. It was never delivered to my home. Thus, X-Mas gift was not under the tree. I contacted the "Seller" and they say I can NOT get a refund on my CC until after they receive the insurance check. Their feedback shows 11 neg. as of today with problems. However, over 1000 positive.
Ebay does not provide an avenue where the sellers are held accountable. I unerstand things get lost. That is not the BUYERS problem.
I sell on Ebay as well. If a customer tells me they did not receive an item, a refund is in the mail the same day. I have sold over 547 items and only had one or two that I refunded. BIG DEAL...cost of doing business.
Buyers should be able to file a complaint like a NPB on sellers. If the seller gets 4 they should also be suspended as is the case with buyers.
posted on January 21, 2001 10:03:02 AM
Although it does take a couple extra minutes, it is well worth it for Sellers to Email Buyer a copy of Shipping Receipt. And Bidders could do the same: Email a copy of the top portion of the Money Order, or Cashier's Check. (don't know what to do about personal check [dosgust].
Since ultimately, the seller will get all that info, a few days sooner is not going to hurt. There must be a way to scan a copy of a C.C. Payment record?
This has worked very well for me both buying and selling. It might not bring the payment or the purchase to the door, but at least, all concerned can see that "it is in the [proverbial] mail"
Unfortunately, a copy of a personal check would not guarantee that the check was dropped in the mail...
******** Gosh Shosh!
posted on January 21, 2001 10:12:32 AM
Hey! (mulberry912) Frances,
Tell your c/c authority that you never got the goods and they may give you a prompt refund.
posted on January 21, 2001 10:20:18 AMIf item is lost, it is not seller's doing....
It might not be the seller's doing, but it is 100% the seller's responsibility. The same as when payment is lost, that's 100% the buyer's responsibility.
Imagine declaring seller to be partly responsible for the payment not arriveing because seller "declined insurance".
posted on January 21, 2001 10:24:52 AM
The issue is NOT ablout a lost package. The issue is that Sellers are not held to the same standards as buyers on Ebay. If a buyer fails to pay, you file NPB's.. When that buyer gets 4 NPB's they are booted from Ebay...
There is not a similar avenue that can be taken against "SELLERS", of which I am one. A sell can get away with almost anything on EBAY and buyers are at their mercy.
posted on January 21, 2001 10:25:49 AM
Merchandise can be INSURED and it is the CARRIER'S total responsibility to refund..That's why they collect fees.
posted on January 21, 2001 10:26:28 AMdixiebee, using your analogy and living in CA. What am I as the buyer of electricity to do now that the electric company is not delivering power to me all of the time (in case someone is not familiar with the situition in CA, we are currently having rolling blackouts becasue PG&E claims to not have enough power after deregulation)?
The power company can and will shut off power if you don't pay, but there is not much I can do if the power company doesn't provide me power.
Seems like a real good analogy to eBay. Buyers have a lot fewer options for a bad seller.
posted on January 21, 2001 11:21:58 AM
I understand that a buyer is out when packages get lost or misdirected, but why would you say a seller is responible in such situations , we are out too. Always purchase insurance folks it could save you alot of time and money in the long run.
It amazes me to think anyone would not purchase insurance for any thing, it doesnt cost that much. Thats the meaning of insurance, Protection!!!!
Are sellers expected to provide free insurance, wholesale priced merchandise,low starting or opening bids, free credit card processing, packing supplies . Heck if you find a nice item on e bay why not just send your mailling address for free product too.
I know before you get started, if your opening bids are too high all you be doing is paying listing fees, so before you say add to opening bid, think about what youre saying.
Should the seller really be held responsile if a buyer refused insurance???
posted on January 21, 2001 12:11:01 PM
sorry mulberry912!!
I misread your post, if you paid for insurnace you deserve to have your refund immediately. As for sellers not be held accountable, well through the feedback system we are. Post Negative feedback, thats what its for to expose bad sellers. I realize that some do continue to sell, but least you have the option to leave feedback, these type people will never prosper, dishonest sellers abd thise who dont provide good customer service WILL fall to the wayside! Sorry for misreading you post!!
posted on January 21, 2001 01:25:08 PM
Sometimes, things lost in the mail are the fault of the buyer! I mailed a package in mid November. When it was not there in a week, I tried to start a trace on it.
You can't trace insured packages for a month-I told the buyer this and she gave me a neg, claiming I didn't really mail it.
This week, the package was returned to me. It had been in the post office since November 24, waiting for her to claim it. seems her office was closed on the 24th, no one gave her the delivery notice, and she never went and got it. If she had allowed me to send it to her home, this mixup would not have occurred!
So, although it's really not her fault the package wasn't there for her, it certainly was not mine! Give those sellers a break-most are very honest and will try their best to get your package to you!
Edited to add: This is the second package in as many months that was shipped to a business address and returned unclaimed!
[ edited by bearmom on Jan 21, 2001 01:26 PM ]
posted on January 21, 2001 10:33:49 PM mulberry912
My biggest eBay wish is that eBay would do something to categorize sellers more effectively. Bad sellers are costly to good buyers in terms of money, time and aggravation.
The PowerSeller designation and feedback system is ineffective. eBay needs to devise and implement a system that lets buyers know if the seller has any business skils or not. Perhaps all that is necessary is to require the seller to take a simple online test and answer questions about business practices and ethics. It can be an A and F rating. If the seller passes the test, the seller is an "A." If the seller flunks the test, the seller is rated an "F." That way the buyer clicks into the auction, sees the "F" and has one more piece of information, that at the minimum the seller could not pass an easy test.
Regarding insurance, I got ripped off last year. I paid a seller about two thousand dollars for a china set. The seller took the set to one of those packaging mailing businesses to get the dishes professionally packaged and shipped out UPS. Some of the dishes arrived broken. I followed UPS procedures, reported about $300 of broken dishes, UPS came by and took broken dishes and boxes away. UPS refunded the mailing company and after six months of calling long distance to the packaging compay I am still not reimbursed. The seller says it isn't her problem.
I am trying to be more careful with my bids, contacting the sellers first, getting a feel for who they are. The cost of dealing with sellers with zero business skills is just too much. I just left a neg with my latest rip-off seller. I purchased an item. The seller's TOS states immediate shipment. I paid with Billpoint. Fifteen days later I email and ask where my item is. The seller says she will look into it. I don't hear back so I email again, ask for the tracking number. The seller emails back, says she can't find the tracking number but is certain the item was shipped about 8 days after I paid for it. I email back, say I want the tracking number, it is proof that the item was shipped. Then I get the seller's contact info and call the seller, leave a message on her answering machine. The seller finally sends another email, says that she works and has responsibilities, that eBay is just part time for her. I email back, remind her she has my money and where is my tracking number. She says she will find the tracking number on the 24th of this month. I email and state that I want it now. She emails back, says she is travelling and that she is going to report me to eBay for being Rude. I gave up, left a neg.
