posted on March 18, 2001 05:06:02 PM new
First let me say I know zero about cycling. This is for a video of a popular cycling race. The back cover does not say much of anything regarding specific contents. It talks about the comeback fairy tale finish of the winner and that's it.My ad has a picture of the front cover of the video which depicts that this is a special 90 minute edition of the race. The written text of my ad simply gives the Title of the video and that this is a factory sealed video produced by XXX Corp and that this was a fairy tale comeback story of the winner. That's it. I've sold about 10 of these and no one has complained.
A customer wrote me today and said that I misrepresented the auction and wants his money back. He said that the video only has the first 9 stages of the race which was not stated in my ad and he was under the assumption that this was the full race video and that cycling videos are always sold as full race videos and he had no expectation that this would be different.
posted on March 18, 2001 05:38:58 PM new
Yeah, and a great comeback it was...*G*
Seriously, the video was sealed and for all you know, it was blank...you represented it based on the description on the cover and the buyer saw a picture of that cover...
If he/she had any questions, based on their "assumptions", e-mailing you prior to bidding should have been in order...
I don't think you mis-represented...
If, in the interest of good customer relations, you did refund upon receipt of return, would you have difficulty selling this item as open box, notwithstanding the likely loss on the sour sale?
A lot would depend on your purpose on eBay......and what eating (or not) this bad sale would do....
Personally, I'd stick to my guns and let the chips fall where they may......but, then again, I'm mostly a buyer there, not a seller...
posted on March 18, 2001 06:14:09 PM new
Hi, I don't think you mis represented. Now did he figure out that this wasn't a whole race before he opened it or after. What if he made himself a copy of the video and now wants to return it. No store would take back an open video, CD, etc except for exchange for same item after it was opened if it was defective. It must be returned in the condition in which you sent it. Can he do that??
posted on March 18, 2001 06:34:37 PM new
If it's a Tour de France or something, maybe it's edited down?
Each stage of a cycling race can have a "fairy tale" ending.
Each stage is kind of a mini race itself.
If you have more to sell, and a neg would hinder future sales, AND my TOS didn't say no returns, I would seriously consider taking it back.
I recently got a retaliatory neg as a bidder for a sub $10 item.
Though I have just moved on and continure to shop, buying gear etc, I noticed that the sellers sales have stalled.
Now, let me confess here and now: I am Gleefully pleased to see that, because he lied and ebay's safeharbor "supports free speech." (If I had a major rip off, letmetellyou the condescending nature of safeharbor would be enough to make me laugh through my tears!)
so moral of the story: all I have to do is pre-bid discuss how my neg will affect a sellers attitude toward my bidding (so far not a bit) and then continue as the great customer that I am.
The seller on the other hand has my neg and his hysterical response...oh, and no sales.
Right or wrong, and this can be your own litmus, a neg does slow down bids in a competative area.
Just my anecdotal thoughts on a rain soaked Seattle afternoon.
(time for a run)
posted on March 18, 2001 10:33:34 PM new
DO NOT GIVE A REFUND!!!!
This buyer has already opened the video, watched it and most likely has a copy of it now.
You desribed what you knew of it to the best of your ability. Don't give a refund, period!
Oh and another thing. I think people fail to realize that this is an auction, not a retail store. If I went to a local auction and bought something and the next week went back and told the auctioneer that I wanted to return it, he would laugh in my face.
I am a buyer and a seller and I think unless the seller makes a mistake in the description or the item is damaged then give a refund. But I see too many people on these boards willing to give a refund for any reason whatsoever to save themselves from a neg. A neg is not going to kill you.
Another reason I see refunds being given is to make the buyer happy and hpefully have a return customer. This is simply crazy! In most of these situations, why on earth would you want these people as customers? If some nutball wants a refund because a shirt is the wrong shade of blue and is rude and threatens you with a neg, do you really want this person as a customer?
Here's one. Say I buy a video, watch it then email the seller and demand a refund because I thought the acting was terrible, shoud I get a refund? OR I buy a pack of playing cards and email saying "I want my money back. These cards are defective. I haven't been able to win one game of solitare. I've used other decks of cards and been able to win, you should have put in your description that there might be a chance i would lose. I will neg you if you don't give me my money back!"
How many sellers would give me my money back?
My rant is over. Thank You
[ edited by taintboy on Mar 18, 2001 10:51 PM ]
posted on March 18, 2001 10:34:17 PM new
I would give him a refund upon return of the video. Then you can watch it and write a more detailed description. Maybe you will get more $$ for the next one you list.
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Don't take life so serious, it ain't nohow permanent.
posted on March 19, 2001 07:27:39 AM newThe back cover does not say much of anything regarding specific contents. It talks about the comeback fairy tale finish of the winner and that's it.My ad has a picture of the front cover of the video which depicts that this is a special 90 minute edition of the race. The written text of my ad simply gives the Title of the video and that this is a factory sealed video produced by XXX Corp and that this was a fairy tale comeback story of the winner. That's it.
From what you have written it sounds as if there is the possibility that you may have misrepresented the video. Your description makes it sound like it is "the fairy tale comeback story of the winner." That is a part of the video, but that does not sound like it is the main focus, unless I am reading this wrong.
The bidder's complaint is odd. If you stated that this was a 90-minute edition, he should have been able to see that this was not a full race video. (The races are certainly longer than 90 minutes.)
Personally, I would refund. (But that comes from years of working in retail where we pretty much refunded almost anything for almost any reason. Call me brainwashed, but I would think that it is easier to take it back & resell it.) And yes, I am aware that this is an auction, not retail. That is just my personal philosophy.
posted on March 19, 2001 09:30:32 AM new
Thanks for all your advice. I slept on it as it was the first time I have been accused of this. I decided not to refund him the money. He basically said that I misrepresented the item since I didn't tell him that it wasn't the full race and he assumed it was based on prior experience. At the top of my head, I can't think of any product sold in the US that tells you what it doesn't contain. It tells you what it does contain. If a customer wants something specific then he needs to ask. He never did. If he had, I would have simply said I don't know. The video matches what's in the ad and he also received the video and made a conscience decision to break the seal and watch it. This isn't any different than if he went into Best Buy, looked at the video, bought it and then told Best Buy that they mispresented the item since the sales person failed to inform him that it wasn't the full race. My TOS do state that I will only refund if I misrepresented the item.
Thanks for all your advice as it did help me put things into perspective.
