posted on December 17, 2001 12:14:30 PM new
I had an auction end on eBay on November 12th. The WBN was sent out the next day. I received no response.
I sent a follow-up after one week. I got an e-mail response that said, "I mailed the money order."
A week goes by and no money order shows up. I followed this with an eBay NPB first alert. I got an e-mail response that said, "I'll send money order on Tuesday". So I ask, "What about last week's message?" I get no response.
I took some vacation time, came back and still no money order. So, I finish eBay NPB and issue a neg.
The following (edited) e-mail showed up this afternoon - having been bounced around to several incorrect variations of my e-mail id:
I'M VERY SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T SENT OUT YOUR MONEY ORDER YET. IF YOU STILL WANT ME TO, I WILL SEND IT OUT TODAY.THIS WAS NOT THE FAULT OF xxxxx.MY NAME IS yyyy zzzzz, AND HE LET ME PURCHASE THIS WITH HIS ACCOUNT,BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE ONE.IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK HE RECEIVED, I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT, BUT IF NOT, I UNDERSTAND.ONCE AGAIN, MY APPOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY.
I'm open to any - and all - suggestions as to what to do about this one. I'm stumped!
posted on December 17, 2001 01:04:25 PM new
I say just keep going. If it's really true that the guy allowed someone else to use his ID then he should know better. Just block him from bidding on any more of your auctions. You gave him plenty of opportunities to pay; he didn't and you followed procedure.
posted on December 17, 2001 01:19:07 PM new
Ignore it and let it stand as it is.
If he's lying he deserves the neg. If he isn't lying, he'll learn quickly not to LOAN his account to other people. But he's obviously lying- If someone else was using his auction account, why did he answer that the check was mailed? Does the other person use his email too?
Besides, you probably can't get the feedback removed, and even if they would do it, it would be more trouble than this guy is worth.
posted on December 17, 2001 02:51:56 PM new
My girlfriend used to bid using my account, and I'd say why don't you use your own account? Finally she did. She'll bid on her days off, which is about once a month, and she'll have no time to pay, so she'll tell me, go get a money order, and I'll tell her, you go get a money order, I have enough to keep order of. Then I'll say, did you tell them you're sending money, and she'll say, will you do that for me, and I'll say, I'm not doing it, you bid, you tell them, I have enough to keep order of. So a few weeks go buy and I'll say, did you send the money. She says, email them and say the money is coming. Then I say, lets go get a money order today. Eventually I take over and get the money order, and tell the seller the money is coming.
You may have a better understanding now from a chaotic household.
Well, it's getting better for her, now she uses my paypal once the auction ends, and I tell her, don't use my paypal, but she does.
posted on December 18, 2001 06:11:12 AM new
If you still have the item, why not tell them to send the money? You still have a chance to make the sale! This is a separate issue from the neg. feedback.
posted on December 18, 2001 07:20:12 AM new
I re-registered with eBay as a buyer only and I have won around 25 auctions since then. In each and every case, instead of getting a personal email from the seller, I am getting bombarded with forms and all kinds of other junk. It seems like sellers are just too busy to communicate with their buyers.
Perhaps the "new eBay" is one of the reasons why you are experiencing some problems with your buyers ... it's just too complicated to buy stuff on eBay now.
As a buyer, I expect the seller to make the first contact. Instead of getting "Hi, how are ya" type emails requesting payment, all I get are impersonal "fill out this form" emails. I can't be bothered to try to figure out how to fill out all of these forms ... if a seller can't take the time to send me a personal email with a total cost and an address to send the payment to, I guess I'm heading for a bunch of negs.
posted on December 18, 2001 08:24:12 AM new
RB I use AW's services to send out a WBN because I think it really is easy to fill out a form with some information. I always try to make sure the item gets shipped quickly.
As a buyer, I don't mind filling out a form if the seller is going to provide quick turnaround on the item.
When the WBN doesn't work, I do personally send out e-mails requesting information. In fact, I'm developing my own Microsoft Outlook/Access based post-sale management software to make this process more personal than AW (especially for combined winnings).
But when I get responses that don't add up, then I get concerned and take the only avenues that eBay provides: NPB and negative feedback.
It turns out that the person who bid for the item told his friend that he mailed the money order - but he didn't. Apparently, despite 6 e-mails over the course of 1 month the eBayer who lent his id couldn't figure out that something was wrong.
Now, of course, he's blaming me for the neg. So now it's not his behavior, not his fault, not even his friend's fault - but mine.
posted on December 18, 2001 08:32:54 AM new
I understand. But, most of these "forms" are not designed for international buyers ... they get rejected when all the fields are not properly completed. For example, we don't use a 6 digit ZIP Code in Canada - it's impossible to fill out this part with a Postal Code and get the form accepted, and it just makes what should be a simple process more complicated and frustrating.
Just out of curiosity, how long do you wait before you realize that the form "didn't work" and do the personal email thing? From my previous experiences with eBay, many sellers start posting negs if they haven't received their money within 10 days. IOW, has the "new" eBay relaxed your payment requirements a bit to take into consideration the 1000's of buyers who don't want to, or cannot fill out these "forms" and therefore appear to be unresponsive to your request for payment?
posted on December 18, 2001 10:33:49 AM new
RB: I'm with you, even though I am a seller. AW could do itself a favor by replacing its complicated WBN with a simple email that says, "You won this. The cost is this. This is how you can pay. Send the money to this address. Thanx."
posted on December 18, 2001 10:41:58 AM new
Hi pelorus ... in some cases, that what the form says. Problem is, the seller just assumes that you live in the same country. If the seller happens to be a US seller and sends me this type of email, as soon as I email them back with my address and tell them the money is on the way, I get one of those "Wait ... that price doesn't include shipping to Canada" emails.
Right back to Square 1, except now both seller and buyer are just a bit more agitated and more time has been wasted.
I composed an email this morning and sent it to every seller whose auctions I have placed bids on. Basically, I advise them that the "new" eBay system is too difficult for me to use, that I am in Canada, and that I prefer USPS air mail. I then ask them to contact me directly with a personal email if I win and give me the total and their address at the end of the auction (you know ... what we always used to do), and I ask them to combine wins if applicable to get a better postage rate.
The interesting part is that I emailed 9 different sellers so far, and already 3 of them have responded telling me that they are OK with that (that's what they were going to do anyway), and that the "new" eBay system has caused them some grief too. One of them told me he has actually "lost track" of customers due to the confusion.
Even more interesting is that all 3 responders are Power Sellers ... my previous experience with Power Sellers is that they don't respond to anything so they must be up tight about something.
I wonder if eBay is aware that they are alienating many of their members by trying to make their system more like a store and "easier" to use?
posted on December 18, 2001 10:56:35 AM new
RB & pelorus,
I sell books internationally, mostly to the US, but often to Canada and occasionally to Europe. Less often to Asia if you must know...
Both my auction listing and the email tell international bidders to contact me for a quote on shipping charges. No problems. But to ask me or anyone else that sells 30-100 items a week to answer each and every email by hand is outta their friggin' MIND!
It typically takes me three or four emails to nail down a sale and both the automatic WBN and the reminders are a godsend. If a buyer needs a little hand-holding, that's fine. Don't mind at all, but often buyers are able to follow directions and we can complete a sale without me spending a couple hours a day composing email.
Neither me nor anyone else could sell as much, so AW, eBay, Paypal, etc couldn't make as much money nor be as successful, etc. This is what makes the whole thing go around for me. Successful commerce is based on more efficient, if less personal operations.
posted on December 18, 2001 11:38:18 AM new
RB: What do you think a seller should do? I don't know a buyer is from Canada when I send the first email, so I can't give the proper shipping charge. Should I take a clue from terrydarc and include a note in the WBN for Canadians to contact me for rates? Is there a better way?
Why are Canadians buying so many books on ebay, anyway??? One would think that the postage costs would negate any savings from buying this way.
posted on December 18, 2001 11:38:19 AM newBoth my auction listing ... tell international bidders to contact me for a quote on shipping charges.
Is that before placing a bid? If so, I agree that a big time seller would have a problem answering each and every request.
I'm talking about communications after the auction has been won. If it's too "friggin" difficult for sellers to make personal contact with their buyers after a sale, then they should include a line in their listing that indicates this.
"Note that I am too friggin busy to send you an email if you win this item, so fill out my form or I'll neg you. If the form doesn't work, or if it's too complicated, or if your operating system can't read it, too friggin bad ... I'll neg you for that too".
I can then avoid such auctions.
My problem is that the more efficient, if less personal operations are not geared towards international sales in most cases.
pelorus ... the old way worked for me. I won an auction, the seller sent me an EOA notice, I emailed them back to confirm my win with my address and a request for a total, they emailed that back to me and it was a done deal.
[ edited by RB on Dec 18, 2001 11:41 AM ]
