posted on July 9, 2001 08:31:12 PM
Hello, fellow Auctionwatchers. Have many of you other ebay sellers received payments via C2it.com yet? I've been signed up for several weeks now, and have yet to receive my first payment from a bidder. Something is just not clicking (maybe the fact that the buyer pays the fees??).
I'd be glad to hear any responses from those who have received auction payments from buyers using C2it, and how well things went.
posted on July 9, 2001 08:41:39 PM
I've had about 15 payments. Only had a problem with one. She used the wrong email address and had to call and cancel. It took a week for them to credit her account and she wouldn't resubmit payment until this was done. Then she put in the correct email address but put a space as the leading character and I received the message that I received cash but was unable to pick it up. C2it told me to tell tell the customer to cancel the payment. (this type of stuff should have been uncovered during testing). She wasn't too happy and so far has yet to pay me. It's not like she didn't try. All the others went smooth.
posted on July 9, 2001 11:27:50 PM
I get about 10 payments a week, signed up 6/1.
I have had 2 customers tell me it is too hard to register and send money.
The problems I as a seller have are:
NO information in the email saying I have cash. ie - There is a name and sometimes an auction #. But no mail to address.
I request the payment to go to my business credit card. However, I have been informed that they refuse electronic payments. So c2it tries electronically, it is refused, then about 10 days after I requested the funds a check is issued - sometimes to the credit card company sometimes to me. They tell me all the checks are issued to the credit card company since that is where I requested the payment to go. Funny thing is I do get the checks, payable to me. So I do not think all the customer service reps know how to read the computer info they are looking at.
I had to request 5 times (3 by computer 2 by phone) before I even received the form to have funds sent directly to my bank account.
I figure I will use my 90 days FREE.
I read on the boards once that they pay refferral fees - I emailed them asking about it and it's been about a month and absolutely no response to that question. Not that I care, but everyone of my customers are new to c2it. I might as well get it if they really offer it.
I only take non credit card transaction via PayPal, money orders and c2it as payment. Works well for me.
posted on July 10, 2001 05:39:38 AM
Thanks for the responses so far. As I mentioned earlier regarding my c2it account,
you can hear the crickets and see the tumbleweed rolling by. No payments at all through c2it. Maybe in time that'll change.
When I originally signed up for c2it, I gave them all kinds of info that they needed (credit card, phone, my ebay member e-mail address, etc). But they still wouldn't set me up with an account since they said they needed more proof! So I faxed them a utilities bill which once again verified my address.
I really hope things change, and buyers start warming up to the notion of c2it, considering the time I've already invested just in the act of signing up.
I appreciate the responses so far, and would like to hear other opinions as well. Thanks.
Blackjack21
[ edited by blackjack21 on Jul 10, 2001 05:41 AM ]
posted on July 10, 2001 06:22:27 AM
Maybe it's because every year for at least the past ten years Citibank has been rated as one of the worst banks worldwide for overall satisfaction.
posted on July 10, 2001 12:01:11 PM
RichieRich mentions he doesn't take credit cards through PayPal. have you have problems with cc users and only take bank cards. Info would be helpful to me. Re C2it... i have a citibank account and the registration is far too complicated and lengthy to use. Heard that PayPay is in talks with C2it. Has anyone else heard this.
posted on July 10, 2001 12:14:31 PM
Several payment services were happy to talk to me and discuss issues which have been covered in some articles including a recent one on AuctionBytes.
C2it was the only one that met with me in person to discuss what users were looking for in a payment service. We still chat mostly via email and some of my suggestions have been implemented, for example, unclaimed payments can now be cancelled online without calling C2it.
I have been using them for several months and getting most of my customers to switch for the simple reasons that:
- they are run by a real bank and not a bank wanna-be.
- accounts are fdic insured
- sellers are protected against charge backs
- customers get $10 back on their first payment (a great selling point for low-priced items)
- sellers get a $5 referral fee up to $50
- it is free to sellers and only 1% to buyers after the free period. The $10 covers the first $1000 of purchase fees. If buyers are still upset, sellers can offer a 1% discount for using C2it and it's still cheaper and safer than any other similar service.
- they have 24 hour toll-free support
I did have one buyer who refused to use it because she did not want to enter her SS#. She even had a Citicard, which meant they already had this info and only wanted to verify that it was really her opening the account. Some others emailed me about this but when I pointed that C2it is a real bank with real banking requirements, they signed up. The legalese on their site is disconcerting. It sounds like you will get put on spam lists unless you mail them. The fact is that if you check off the boxes that say "do not give my info to anyone" you will not be spammed.
So far, several dozen payments and all went smoothly.
As for PP in talks with C2it, I was told that this was a long time ago and the talks were dropped.
No I have had no problem with credit cards /debit cards using PayPal because I do not accept such transactions. I only have a personal account with them because I do not want the fees! I started with them sometime back, when they were always free. When the changes started I left it the way it was....FREE! The personal account allows me to receive payment via echeck, instant transfer, PayPal funds and bidders are usually ok with that because I do not advertise PayPal in my listing.
NOW about the referral from c2it. I emailed them about a month ago after reading that on this board. They never responded. I have yet to receive a referral fee and everyone that has paid me using it was new to c2it. I can not find anything on the site about referral fees.
[ edited by RichieRich on Jul 10, 2001 03:15 PM ]
posted on July 10, 2001 08:33:33 PMyisgood- sellers are protected against charge backs
How?
yisgood- accounts are fdic insured
Citibank will not be liable for any loss resulting from a cause outside of its direct control, including but not limited to failure of electronic or mechanical equipment or communication lines, telephone or other interconnect problems, computer viruses, "hacking", theft, operator errors, unauthorized access, or environmental conditions.
yisgood The legalese on their site is disconcerting. It sounds like you will get put on spam lists unless you mail them. The fact is that if you check off the boxes that say "do not give my info to anyone" you will not be spammed.
The fact is this: If you want to limit disclosures of personal information about you as described in the Privacy Notice please print this page and check the box or boxes you wish to select to indicate your privacy choices. Then, mail this form with your selections to the address listed below.
posted on July 10, 2001 09:29:41 PM
Maybe a little off topic...but
has anyone had any trouble with their (C2IT'S) logo in your auctions? I use Frontpage 2000 and I can't get the thing to load live. I copy the html code exactly as specified and no go. I've even uploaded it to my webspace hoping that would work, and still no go. Anyone have the same problem? If you figured it out would you mind sharing your solution? Best, Sue (Dave61bug)
posted on July 10, 2001 10:00:09 PM
I want to know about the chargeback also. If a buyer can't get a chargeback, if there is something in place with this service to prevent a chargeback, then I won't consider using C2it.
I've only had to get a chargeback once. The amount was over two hundred dollars. I had paid with a credit card through Billpoint. The seller had good feedback. However I never received the item and the seller never provided proof of shipment. I gave my credit card company copies of all of the email correspondence with the seller and my credit card company approved my claim. eBay NARUed the seller.
So if I can't protect myself as a buyer with the ability to do a chargeback when I have been defrauded, then I won't consider using C2it.
posted on July 11, 2001 06:38:06 AM
>>I want to know about the chargeback also. If a buyer can't get a chargeback, if there is something in place with this service to prevent a chargeback, then I won't consider using C2it. <<
No credit card service can prevent the customer from making a charge back. However, the decision whether to allow the charge back depends upon at least two factors: the company that issued the card and the vendor that charged the card. Some companies will allow a charge back under certain conditions that other companies will deny. If the charge back is allowed, it is then sent to the vendor who actually made the charge. If the vendor can successfully defend the claim, the charge is denied.
As a large bank and issuer of credit cards, C2it will more vigorously defend some of the silly charge backs that others have allowed. For example, Billpoint allowed the same woman to order many items over a period of months and then her husband charged it all back claiming she was not authorized to use his account. C2it would have denied those charge backs. 1) Who gave her her husband's password to make the charges? 2) Why wasn't the account closed after the first claim of unauthorized use?
C2it also states that they will not take money back from the seller after it has been claimed. They do allow an exception if the seller's activity indicates fraud. This would be if the same seller had several charge backs or could not show proof of shipping. So as I see it, C2it is trying to be responsible toward both buyer and seller.
They don't make wild promises of "buyer/seller protection" only to break them constantly, like another service that has to provide a rep here to put company spin on all the complaints. So rather than discuss hypothetical situations, just find me one complaint of a C2it charge back. Then count up the complaints made against other services and decide which makes more sense.
While you're at it, has anyone been spammed by C2it after checking off those boxes? I have been spammed regularly by paypal and billpoint.
To a certain poster here that keeps asking the same questions I have already answered: Should I counter by quoting all the legalese on Paypal's site that reduces their promises of protection to nothing? Yet you seem enamored of them. Your posts all reflect an attitude of "my mind is made up - don't confuse me with the facts."
posted on July 11, 2001 07:15:30 AMyisgoodWhile you're at it, has anyone been spammed by C2it after checking off those boxes?
Can anyone show me these boxes to check off? I've been to the C2it site many times and the only privacy preferences I can find is a form that has to be printed out and then mailed in. Am I missing something here? If there is an online method of setting your C2it limited disclosure of personal information please give me directions.
I've been going to www.c2it.com and then clicking on the "privacy" link at the bottom of the screen. Then on the privacy terms there is a section called "Privacy Choices Form" and a link called "click here". When that links opens I'm presented a form with some boxes to limit my disclosure. Unless I get use a marker on my monitor there is no way to check those boxes. It seems to me the form has to be printed out and mailed in.
posted on July 11, 2001 07:39:45 AM
When I opened my account, I was presented with a form that let me check off those 4 boxes. Last week I helped a local customer open their account and the 4 boxes were available online. It appears that once the account has already been open, it requires a mailed form to change the preferences. This might be preferably to the system used by Paypal and Ebay, where your preferences can be automatically changed due to "software problems." I really loved ebay's spam informing me that THEY decided I wanted this even though my preferences were that I didn't.
In addition to the $10 I received when I sent someone a payment, I just got my second $5 referral. Guess what? All the customer had to do was open a C2it account and send me a payment (for which he got $10). He didn't have to open a $250 money market and jump through all the hoops your favorite payment service requires.
