I recently listed an item that sold for approx. $60.00. I know this is not too much but the deadbeat bidder that bid on the item has strung me along with payment promises for 30 days as of today. Because of the way this seller has acted, I am seriously considering turning it over to a collection agency. Does anyone have any reccomendations for an agency that would handle a debt this small? Can I file a claim on his credit report myself? I am just so angry. The guy ruined my perfect feedback record when I submitted a non-paying bidder notice. I have been nothing but nice to him during this whole transaction and have done nothing to warrant the negative he gave me. It was :
I was harrased by this person. Do not do business with them.
I did not harass them in the least. I simply sent e-mails asking about payment, never hostile at all.
It would be worth any fee a collection agency would charge to put the mark on his credit report. If the collection agency is successful in collecting the debt, I would then send him the merchandise I guess? I am not sure how this works. I was just so mad when I saw that negative on my perfect 200+ feedback record. I know I probably need to get on with my life but if you could understand how this guy has lied and messed with me for the last 30 days and then ruined my perfect feedback record, you might be out for a little vengance yourself.
Thanks for any suggestions or hints you may have. I would especially appreciate anyone who could tell me how to file a credit report on him myself. I looked at his bidding history and he has bid on about 10 items that are the same as mine. The negative feedbacks are just starting to show up on his record now. He also knew full well what he was doing when he did this. He asked me several questions about the item by e-mail before bidding. He also has a bad phone number listed in his contact info so I can't even call him. Ebay won't retract the feedback. GRRRRR!
posted on July 17, 2001 05:29:20 PM new
Be sure to request a refund of the Final Value Fees from Ebay - you took the first step by filing a NonPaying Bidder Form. Just wait 10 days and file the FVF. If this person gets 3 FVFs filed on them, their ebay account is suspended.
Unless you've actually sent the item, and any check or payment they might have sent you bounced, I don't think you have justification to send their account to a credit agency. However, in the case of a bad check, I send my accounts to the M.A.D. Agency at: http://www.madagency.com
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
I understand how you can get upset. I too deal with those people all the time but can you really send them to a collection agency when you haven't shipped the item to them?
I would just get my ebay fees back, leave negative feedback and relist and move on. Ebay is about 98% good transactions with people who do pay and so you just figure the rest are just a part of doing business. At least you haven't really lost the items because sellers don't mail before payment arrives.
There's no danger of developing eyestrain from looking at the bright side of things!
posted on July 17, 2001 06:45:23 PM new
Hi Margaret5,
File for your FVF! If the other sellers who are leaving him negs have done so he will soon be NARU'd. Also...if his contact number with Ebay is no good..turn him into Safe Harbor..that will get him NARU'd!
Good Luck!
<p> Way "to" many too's and also's! LOL
[ edited by saljo63 on Jul 17, 2001 06:47 PM ]
posted on July 17, 2001 07:13:17 PM new
Hi,
I know how you feel. I recently went through a similar situation with a bidder. Be sure to email safeharbor and let them know his contact info is bad. I think they might give them a chance to correct it. If so watch and see if that is valid as well. If he gives false info they will NARU him, but you may have send safeharbor a few emails over it to get them to react.
With my bidder I seriously considered billing her for the items plus my ebay fees and all that. You could send an "official" looking bill yourself and try and see if it nudges payment. When I was thinking about it I figured I would look through our bills as some of them do say things like not paying can result in a lawsuit/mark against your credit and all that (but worded better-- that is why I was going to look through the bills first).
Heck I think you could even charge interest.
I didn't do it, but thinking about it made me feel better.
posted on July 17, 2001 07:21:47 PM new
This bidder has done nothing to warrant you turning him over to a collection agency. After all, you still have the goods, right?
While he seems to be a major jerk, you can't do anything but file for final value fees and re-list the item. And, of course, give him a neg, if you haven't already. I certainly would.
posted on July 18, 2001 05:04:33 AM newloosecannon, they actually HAVE done something to warrant using a collection agency. They've violated a binding contract to buy an item for a given price. They are legally responsible to pay that amount and receive the item they purchased...
However, whether or not it's practical to use a collection agency is another story. Since the seller still has the goods and (presumably) the item would sell at roughly the same amount, most people wouldn't bother. They'd recover the FVF, enter the neg, and resell the item for the same amount. Cost is listing fee + any "less' you got when you resold (although you could sell for more, so there's upside too!)
Collection agencies are expensive (fees for a $60 item will likely be in excess of $60) but sometimes it the principle and you "gotta do it"... FWIW, if NO ONE does anything about these deadbeats, it won't stop. MAKING them pay and GETTING IT ON THEIR CREDIT RECORD can be a big detractor... Getting NARU'd from eBay isn't, especially when you can reregister and be back in business tomorrow.
posted on July 18, 2001 06:14:16 AM new
I haven't sent the merchandise yet. I guess I was thinking I could still file with a collection agency because your bid is a contract. After the collection agency forces him to pay, then I could ship the merchandise and complete my end of the contract. Isn't the ebay bid just like him signing a bill of sale and agreeing to purchase something. If you went to a car dealer and signed to buy a new car, don't they expect you to complete the transaction. If you had them hold the car for 30 days and strung them along and just decided you weren't going to pay and then hung a sign in front of their business that said they were harassing people, wouldn't you be in big trouble?
I see this exactly the same way. Yes it is a much smaller amount but it is exactly the same principle. I am aware that collection agencies charge a large fee to collect normally 25 or 50 percent of the bill. That's why it would be great if I could file against his credit report myself. Isn't any business or individual allowed to file with a credit reporting agency? I would of course be quite willing to pay the fee to a professional. In fact, in this case, I would give up the whole $60.00 or possibly even $100.00 just for revenge. It would be so much more satisfying if I could do it myself though.
$60.00 is not a lot of money, it the principle of the thing. I would have let it go if he would have told me he didn't want the item and didn't keep me holding the item for 30 days and stringing me along. Then he left that neg, that is the most upsetting part of this transaction. I have worked very hard providing excellent customer service and very fast shipping and good packing to get all of those feedback comments.
I did nothing wrong to this person except send him a end of auction notice and two nicely worded email requests asking that he pay for the item he purchased. Then one day after I sent the NPB warning, I used AOL instant messanger to ask him if he still wanted the item. How is that harassing him?
PS ( Thanks to whoever posted that trick...AOL users' email and their AIM ID's are almost always the same. AIM is installed by default too I think. ) I have used this to contact a few AOL bidders and it works GREAT!
I am just so angry at this person. I always knew I would get a negative someday for something, I always figured it would be for a mistake I made or I would deserve it. I have went so far as to even allow dissatisfied customers in the past to keep their merchandise and still send them a full refund if they were unhappy for some reason. Even if the reason they were unhappy was clearly stated in the auction or I suspected they were trying to gyp me. I have followed a customer is ALWAYS right policy for my entire ebay career. But this guy wasn't dissatisfied..he is just a deadbeat. The customer is NOT right when they publicly lie about you. All he needed to do was send a email that said he didn't want the item. That negative feedback was WAY out of line. He has about 4 negatives now and he is NARU'ed..(so my neg changed to a neutral) but I want more..I want blood. I want to imagine the expression on his face when he applies for a home loan and they say there is this $60.00 unpaid bill on your credit report sir you need to satisfy that debt first before we can give you the loan. Then I will sleep well again..
If anyone knows how to file this on his credit report or knows an agency that would handle a tiny $60.00 bill, please let me know. please please please!
I have actually lost sleep over this. It sounds so crazy I know..but it just bothers me to no end that he left that comment. Online auction rage at its finest here folks. I have done NOTHING wrong. I hate for my other customers to see that comment. I just hate it. Maybe I can sue his ass on Judge Judy or something. One of my friends suggested I call the show and I think I may actually do that. I will show the world that he is a non-paying-bidder-bottom-feeding-scumbag-liar. He did this to other people too. I looked at the feedbacks he has left. He posted negs for most of the other items he bid on... Judge Judy normally does not give any punitive damages, but I am hopeful that I might just be one of the few that she does give them to. He has lied about my business and it is a matter of public record. I could use a free vacation to Judge Judy's courtroom anyways! I think they pay your plane ticket and accomodations if your case is accepted. That would rule!
Thanks so much for all of your help and listening me to vent this goofy stuff here. It helps.
posted on July 18, 2001 06:28:36 AM newthey actually HAVE done something to warrant using a collection agency. They've violated a binding contract to buy an item for a given price. They are legally responsible to pay that amount and receive the item they purchased...
Well, yeah, maybe, but it's kind of like spitting on the sidewalk. Illeagal perhaps, but no one is going to do anything about it.
If it were paid for with a fake cashier's check or a credit card, then they did a chargeback as soon as they got the goods, then that's serious.
Simply not paying for an auction? It's very annoying, but there is not much you can do about it except file fvf, relist and neg.
