posted on March 15, 2001 08:13:20 AM
ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!1
Had an auction end for an autographed ball on 3/5, sent WBN then. On 3/9 I sent a reminder, verrrrry nicely inquiring as to whether or not he was still interested in the ball, since I hadn't heard a peep from him. He emailed back on 3/12 saying only "Yes, I'm interested". No payment or address info.
Today, I get an email saying "I can't get Pay Pal to work with your info, guess I'll just take a pass on the ball." Nothing more.
posted on March 15, 2001 08:27:14 AM
Take a breath ....
Count to 10...
Close your office door and swear like a sailor...
Count to 10 again.... then:
Email a professionally worded note to your bidder (leave out words like a**hole, sloth, etc.) and calmly tell them how sorry you are that PayPal isn't working. How this isn't a reason to end the transaction as you're happy to take check, MO, etc. (whatever you're happy with). You know they want the item and hate to see them disappointed.
It curdles my milk to be nice to idiots like this, but 9 times out of 10 it works out for me.
Good luck!
[ edited by sadie999 on Mar 15, 2001 08:28 AM ]
posted on March 15, 2001 08:33:34 AM
Send him a paypal money request. And a message stating you are sorry paypal didn't work for him, but that by filling out the request should clear any info problems he ran into!
it should work just fine. A lot of people mispell my name, putting an "L" in there. Give it another try, I will email you and let you know when it comes through. Please keep in mind that I have to pay fees for listing and selling based on the final value of the ball. I would prefer that you not just "take a pass" on the item. You may also send a money order if you prefer to
myname
myaddress
mycityandstate
Thanks for your patience!
me"
He then writes back, "I did not put an L in it. I typed it in from your email. It doesn't work"
So I write back, "Hi there,
I'm not sure why it wouldn't work. Even if you sent it to an unregistered email addy you would still get the confirmation email that a payment had been made, it would just be unclaimed if it were sent to an invalid address. I have just checked my pay pal account and it is working fine and in good standing. I have also added the common misspelled email and alternate email to it so that should no longer be a problem for my buyers. Are you getting confirmation that a payment has been sent? Perhaps you might want to check with pay pal directly at 1-(888) 221-1161.
Again, I thank you for your patience. I know that this type of thing can be very frustrating. Keep me posted!
me"
No word back from him yet.. getting my NPB finger ready to hit that button!
posted on March 15, 2001 08:43:40 AM
Sorry this is happening to you!
I've learned that we can be nice but also be firm, too. Rather than say, "are you still interested" I would have factually said, "I have not received an email with payment details from you after the close of my auction 11111111.
As a highly regarded auction seller I am aware of (and use) the non-paying bidder process offered by eBay, which can often result in non-paying bidders being suspended from eBay. However, I like to work directly with bidders to resolve issues if at all possible.
I accept Paypal, etc. etc. - please let me know what payment method works best for you." My email subject header states "3rd request - widget auction".
I would also immediately send a payment request from Paypal site - he doesn't have to do anything but place his password in reply! -- and if no reply, put in the form for NPB - and let eBay nudge him in the right direction!
No comment about negative feedback, no threats, just common and plain language that he is responsible to honor his commitment.
Then, if he does not send anything, file for FVF and let him get NARUd after this happens a couple of times. We need to use the protection (limited though it may be) offered by eBay otherwise he goes out and does it again!
posted on March 15, 2001 02:18:46 PM
I like dadofstickboy's advice. If you send him a paypal invoice, there should be no problems at all... Of course, that's if he *wants* to pay!!!
posted on March 15, 2001 09:08:28 PM
Well, apparently he does NOT want to pay. I did send the Pay Pal invoice thingy as soon as dadofstickboy reminded me about that.
How long should I give him before I send the NPB alert? I'm thinking another 3 days, though I didn't give him a time frame (duh me! ) It is possible, I suppose, that he went immediately down to the local quickee mart and bought a money order to pop in the mail to me.. yah right!
The guy is a newbie with only 19 FB. So far, all are positively glowing. I'm thinking he's changed his mind (a measley 10 bucks!) and just thinks he can opt out. I admit I might have been too nice to him, but I was in a good mood today. (Emphasis on the was!!! )
posted on March 15, 2001 11:18:47 PM
I don't think anyone with 19 feedback is a "newbie." Under 10 maybe, but not 19. No telling how many times he has pulled this same stunt after a change of mind to get out of receiving negative feedback.
I had one the other day that answered my notice within 24 hours asking if he could use PayPal. I said yes. Two days later he still has not paid. I don't think you need tea leaves to figgure out this one.
posted on March 15, 2001 11:55:39 PM
Before you get hasty with the NPBF, please be advised that PayPal must indeed be having some problems. In the last 2 weeks I have had two very legitimate buyers with positive track records tell me..."for some reason I can't get my PayPal account to work."
In both cases these bidders, who were persistent and very familiar with PayPal's various services, ended up sending me a payment by PayPal's "eCheck" service. They resorted to this after a couple of days and several attempts at trying to get their regular PayPal payment sending process to work.
With "eCheck" the buyer is basically sending you an electronic check directly from his bank account the way I understand it. Once a buyer has paid with eCheck, PayPal sends the seller an email notice saying..."John Q. Bidder has sent you a pending payment..." They tell you that the eCheck will normally take 4 business days to clear the bank and will be pending and marked "uncleared" on the seller's account inbox, until it clears. PayPal then states that as soon as the eCheck has cleared from the sender's account into yours, they will notify you by email, and that you shouldn't ship an item until you get that notice.
Like I said, no one had ever paid me by eCheck before until just this past few days when these 2 common stories occurred. These 2 guys didn't really want to pay that way either, but they "could not get their PayPal account to work" for some reason. I'm guessing it's happening to several people, and your semi-newbie bidder "might" be one of them.
One of the 2 guys involved in my above story emailed me daily apologizing for the waiting period, said he had called PayPal customer service and his bank trying to find out why his regular PayPal sending process wouldn't work, etc. He was very legit, he was told his accounts were all in good standing, and there was just some glitch in the system. His eCheck did indeed clear after 4 days. (The other guy's is still in the 4 day waiting period.)
So, your guy may be having the same problems, but just be too new to the service to know what to do about it. It may not be that your info wouldn't work when he tried to make his payment, but that there is a glitch in his PayPal account's sending status.
Try to show some patience and restraint until you are SURE that he has been given ample time, other options, and opportunity to make good on his bid. If you're emails just continue to escalate in threats and demands, you may lose a sale, and cause yourself undue stress and negative feedback in the process. Provide good customer service to him, and if he then still renigs....NEG him and file the NPBF!!!
posted on March 16, 2001 12:45:25 AM
"I sent a reminder, verrrrry nicely inquiring as to whether or not he was still interested in the ball"
That is the first thing you did wrong.
If someone owes you money, do you ask them, "Hey, you still interested in paying me back ?" ?
You gave you buyer the opportunity to back out of the deal by asking him a question like that.
If you asked me that, I would assume you are letting me out of the deal by asking if I still want it or not. For all I know you could have found a guy willing to pay you double what I owed you and therefore you would like to back out of the deal.
If you want to continue encouraging this type of behavior from buyers, then keep doing what you are doing.
If you want people to pay you, then email them and ask, "Why have you not paid me what you owe me for item XXXXXXX ?".
Deadbeat bidders look for any opportunity to back out of deals. Don't leave the window open for them.
posted on March 16, 2001 05:10:19 AM
If he cut and pasted he may have picked up a symbol like a period.
My wife tried to correct my copy by adding a period to the statement in my auction descriptions that gives my e-mail address.
I had to tell her I want it like that because if I put a period after the address people pick it up cutting and then the payment does not come through.
