posted on August 22, 2001 01:00:58 PM new
Check out this sad chain of events that I just experienced with a newbie buyer:
7/26/01 Auction ended with winning bidder
7/27/01 Buyer paid with Billpoint
7/28/01 Shipped to to customer work address per customer request via standard Priority mail.
8/12/01 Received email from customer claiming non-receipt.
8/12/01 Emailed customer and asked him to ask around to see if package was accidently picked up by collegue in his office building.
8/14/01 Emailed us saying no, item never delivered and does not want to waste time chasing around to locate package. Told us not to send him anymore emails and that this transaction is no longer worth his vaulable time.
8/17/01 Located identical item on Friday and notified customer that replacement was being sent no charge.
8/20/01 Monday - Shipped replacement via UPS to customer.
8/22/01 Received notice from ebay that customer has initiated an eBay fraud report on the transaction.
This buyer has been very difficult and rude. We shipped the first order within 24 hours and it was lost, misdirected, stolen or perhaps worse. We reshipped item no charge after a huge amount of abuse from customer and despite demanding to be left alone, files a fraud report against us! He did not even allow enough time for the second package to be delivered. The UPS website clearly shows that the replacement shipment is in transit.
What to do? I completely understand the frustration in not receiving the order, but do not understand the arrogant, rude and uncooperative behavior. I've advised customer that we have had over 19,000 completed transactions and have never stuck a customer, not once.
posted on August 22, 2001 01:15:54 PM new
Did you send the first item UPS or through some traceable method? I suspect that this customer has discovered, like so many others, that using certain payment services gives new meaning to the phrase "safe, secure and free." It means the customer can rip off the seller and remain safe and secure while his purchase is free. I hope it was not an expensive item. You're going to be out two of them, plus shipping costs, plus the payment, plus the charge back fee.
I hope I'm wrong, but I've gotten a rash of similar reports and I heard that there are hacker sites where the members boast about how often they pulled this off.
posted on August 22, 2001 01:25:29 PM new
The support on the board is second to none. It's refreshing to see responses from people who understand things from a seller's perspective.
Regarding the transaction, I was perfectly willing to eat the cost of the replacment order and all associated costs. No problem... What I failed to understand was the lack of cooperation on the part of the buyer. After all, it's difficult to help someone when they're not willing to assist you. Know what I mean?
As it stands now, I now have a fraud report to have to refute. It's no big deal, as I have a UPS tracking number for the reshipment. What a waste of time.
Most eBay buyers are great folks, but you occassionally stumble into these troublemakers who can cause you a great deal of grief.
The UPS delivery instructions request for the UPS driver to kick the recipient in the shin, upon the successful delivery of the package. LOL....
posted on August 22, 2001 01:34:19 PM new
If this buyer is a scammer, your UPS tracking won't help. It went to a different address than his credit card. This is the big risk a seller takes if he doesn't ship to the correct address. Unfortunately, Billpoint does next to no address verification at all. After getting a number of reports about BP scams, I decided to see for myself. BP let me open an account with a cancelled NY credit card, using a fictitious name and address in Chicago (and since I made up the address, it probably doesnt even exist).
TAG (the Auction Guild) has sent out a warning to sellers to stop accepting BP credit card payments because of all the reports of fraud.
posted on August 22, 2001 01:41:55 PM new
Some sellers will not ship to a work address because too often the item is lost somewhere in the mailroom. It's happened to me several times but all of the items were eventually located.
Your buyer sounds extremely unreasonable and arrogant. You say he's new. How new is he? Is this his first transaction? He's not too new to know how to file a fraud charge. Something doesn't seem right about this person.
posted on August 22, 2001 02:13:57 PM new
I had someone once on Yahoo who bought an
item from me and asked me to send it to his
work address. I did, and he claimed that
it never arrived. Upon further questioning
he stated that he had left that job and
didn't have the time to check and see if it
was sitting there waiting for him!
It takes all kinds. I told him that if he
couldn't be bothered to check for the item
where HE HAD ASKED ME TO MAIL IT, then I
couldn't help him. Scammers...
Z
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
posted on August 22, 2001 02:14:15 PM newyisgood that is both fascinating and very troubling. Did you try to send a test payment to see if it actually went through?
Yeesh, this stuff sounds like good ad copy for the next email "Important Announcement" from Paypal!!
posted on August 22, 2001 02:29:41 PM new
If I had actually used it, I could be charged with fraud. What fascinated me was that I couldnt use the same card to get an ebay ID. It seems that ebay uses better security to protect itself that to protect its sellers. The bottom line is that address verification is very simple and costs no more than 10 cents to do. But Billpoint can't be bothered as long as they can pass on the costs to their sellers. They have also let the same scammers continue using the same accounts for months after the cardholder has claimed he didnt open it. Now that's inexcusable. As much as anyone may want to knock paypal, if a cardholder claims that someone opened an account without his knowledge, PP will freeze that account. There is no excuse for letting known scammers continue to defraud.
