posted on February 18, 2002 06:32:57 PM
I'm a seller. But I've always been wicked lenient with people when it comes to payment. I usually sell really cheap stuff that I have a ton of, so it's easier. If someone says they sent payment but never got the stuff, I usually just send it to them. B/c once in a while I make a mistake. (Now that I have auctionwatch to keep track of things better, I'll be a little stricter.)
But I bought some ice skates a few weeks ago. I didn't notice the guy only accepted money orders, or I might not have bid, cuz they're so inconvenient for me. I emailed him and said I would send it on Thursday, but I didn't go to the P.O. til Saturday, so I sent it then. About a week later I got an email saying he hadn't received payment and wanted an explanation. I emailed back that I had sent it on Saturday and it should have been there already and certainly should be soon.
First, does anyone know what I do to check on a postal money order?
So, I get an email back today that was so hostile. He said he had several emails from me, one claiming I sent payment on Thursday and one claiming I sent it on Saturday. And if he doesn't receive payment by this Saturday, he's gonna leave me neg fb and sell to the underbidder.
I emailed him back that first he should read that I never said I sent the payment on Thursday... on Tuesday, I said I WOULD send it Thursday. That's not a contradiction. That's a change of plan. Then I told him that he should realize that with 600+ positive feedbacks I'm not some newbie who doesn't know how to follow through on a bid. I guess the point i want to make here is that sellers should use their heads. I have been on ebay for years. Have a few negs like everyone, but none for non-paying bidder. IF this guy had half a brain, he would realize that I didn't just decide not to pay him for his auction.
So i left him a negative tonight saying something like "Became hostile when buyer w/ 600+ fb mo was lost in mail." He thought his threat of a neg would get me to send another payment. But all it did was get him a negative. I'm sure he'll retaliate, but I've learned, the negs always come when you don't deserve them. Never when you do.
posted on February 18, 2002 06:50:55 PM
I really do not understand how some sellers work. The guy deserved the neg. Who needs an abusive seller.
If a payment is late, you file an NPB and then a FVF credit. You don't take an attitude with a bidder. Some bidders don't pay; it's not a hanging issue, just a business liability.
posted on February 18, 2002 07:03:44 PM
The only problem you might have with a neg now (although I might have done the same in your position) is that if you have problems with the shipment, you will have an uncooperative seller.
I think it is ridiculous for this seller to threaten a neg so early. What is their record like? Lots of negs? Are they new to ebay?
It's sellers like this that can make a buyer decide NOT to buy on ebay again. It hurts all of us.
posted on February 18, 2002 09:18:44 PM
You say the auction ended a few weeks ago, and the seller still hasn't received payment. And that the seller gave you another week to get payment in, or else you will receive negative feedback. What's the big deal? Any seller has a right to expect to be paid in a timely manner, and a month after the auction ends is not a timely manner.
Since I didn't read his email to you, I can't judge his attitude; however, I would have also warned you about negative feedback for NPBs. I expect the seller's side of the story is that you jerked him around for weeks and never paid.
posted on February 18, 2002 09:28:54 PMFirst, does anyone know what I do to check on a postal money order?
Your post office will be able to tell you if the money order has been cashed. I know because I had a buyer whose money order I never received. His post office was able to confirm that the money order had not been cashed.
posted on February 18, 2002 09:32:51 PM
That is assuming they sent a POSTAL Money order. Otherwise, the post office will be of no help. I've found that money orders are a real problem if they get lost, because you have to generally pay a fee to trace them. It makes no sense to send a money order for small amounts, might as well send cash.
posted on February 19, 2002 02:02:06 AM
you say "negs always come when you don't deserve them", to who? you definitely deserve one. you send payment whenever it is convenient for you and then get defensive and rude when the seller wants his money. did you tell him upfront you were playing "buy now, pay later"?
let's see here.....
you sent money order....
he has not shipped item.....
you already left neg.....
he gets money order.....
says up yours......
you get zip......
and a neg on top of that.....
I think you shot yourself in the foot.
[ edited by rarriffle on Feb 19, 2002 03:15 AM ]
posted on February 19, 2002 03:44:29 AM
You can't always depend on other sellers to behave in the same manner towards payment as you do. I try and pay as quickly as possible--not that I care whether this garners good feedback anymore or not. Just makes sense.
Nothing gives a seller any excuse to be hostile. And threatening a bidder is a guarantee that you won't get what you want. I'd have negged this guy myself, but I would do so afer the merchandise was in hand. It would have the same impact without the liability on the transaction.
posted on February 19, 2002 08:26:10 AM
okay, a little clarification... This is not a case of my buy now & pay later or me being an irresponsible bidder... the auction ended on 2/3. I told him I would send payment on 2/7, but I actually sent it on 2/9. It should have arrived within the 10 day window, b/c he only lives a few states away. He emailed me, let's see... around 2/15 give or take a day asking me about the payment and I told him I sent it on 2/9 via postal money order. At that time there was still a chance of it arriving, considering sometimes things do get slowed down in the mail. At that time it was less than a week from when I sent it.
Now, it's been more than a week. I'd give up on it getting there too. If he had emailed me back and said it's obviously lost in the mail, can you check on it... or can you send another m.o. and file for a refund on the other one, i would have gladly accomodated him. B/c the responsibility is for the buyer to get payment to the seller. However, when he started threatening me with negative feedback, basically calling me a liar, I decided just to forget about him.
My question is, "Doesn't feedback count for anything." I mean does this guy think I've had 600+ positive transactions... some buying, some selling with less than 1% negs (none of which are from buying, but of course he isn't going to read them all)... does he really think that after all that, I just decided out of the blue that I don't want to pay this guy, so I'm gonna jerk him around. If on a higher priced item, a person with a low feedback doesn't pay, I get suspicious. If the person has high feedback and relatively few negs, I just send them reminders every now and again, b/c I know it's just slipped their mind, or something legitimately has happened...
As far as my not reading descriptions, I was shopping for the best price. And on this item, if they accepted PayPal, it was at least double the price... So, it's worth the inconvenience. I just do hate money orders...
posted on February 19, 2002 10:45:57 AM
I think money orders are such a waste on inexpensive items. I factor the expense of such things on a small dollar bid, so the requirement for such comes directly out of the seller's income not mine.
Just chalk this up to experience. Most sellers are not this way, but not every seller checks out their bidder's feedback either. I think you are expecting the seller to be paying attention to his auctions the way you do and that does not appear to be the case on this one.
posted on February 19, 2002 12:18:35 PM
I got the m.o. back today. Apparently, I forgot to put postage. I'm resending it. And I told the seller that. I'm still glad I left a negative, b/c he was so rude.
posted on February 19, 2002 12:30:03 PM
Dr. Brown:
So how does it feel to be on the other side? Your story sounds alot like mine minus the NSF. Sent MO, got lost in mail, seller becomes an ass....blah blah blah.
I was so glad to read this today and show you for the hypocrit you are. You see, you told me that I was WRONG, and yet you did the same thing. Now you have to deal with the hassle. See, the USPS DOES lose mail, and it is not the sender's responsibility if this happens. That's what you are using as an excuse. Well, you told me that I probably never sent the MO to "Betty"...did you send the MO to your seller? Doesn't feel good to be called a liar when you are telling the truth, does it?
As a seasoned Ebayer, you should know that you need to send payments at least 5 days before due date. It's the same with your bills. 5 days, not 2!
I'm so glad I got to witness "what goes around comes around" and it sounds like yours has just arrived. Enjoy being burned at the stake, after all how many torches have you set yourself? Have a great day...I know I will!
posted on February 19, 2002 12:37:03 PM
drbrownauctions
posted on February 7, 2002 11:39:09 PM
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maybe we should all go bid on her stuff and make her wait like 30 days for the $$ and then not send it... ha ha
Sounds like this statement may come back to bite you! I guess that's what you did to this seller?
posted on February 19, 2002 01:44:36 PM
mballi, since we have not seen the original email from the seller, we do not know if he/she is a bully
item sold on the 3, that is over 2 weeks ago, I would be threatening a negative too. I don't care how many feedback a person has, they need to pay promptly, not when they get around to it!!!
posted on February 19, 2002 02:04:44 PM
I agree that we should not blame the victim...just giving DrBrown a taste of their own medicine. This person has a habit of "blaming the victim".
But who is really the victim here?
And "I forgot the postage" is the most ridiculous excuse I've heard yet! Did you not have to go to the P.O. for the M.O.? Seems one would realize that stamps are required. OK, so you don't read the ads, you don't pay on time and you convienantly forget the postage...how does that put you in a position to judge other "victims" on this board? Like I said before, you never know til you are in it yourself. And, if I recall "rudeness is not an excuse for not paying for an item". Shall I refresh your memory? Here's one of drbrown's previous post on a similar subjuct....(See bidder passes 2 NSF for 60+ auctions) "posted on February 6, 2002 06:39:30 PM
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WeeBit, you said "But if you were being treated this way you'd make her wait too." Whether or not the seller has a bad attitude b/c of your bounced check, you have no right to make somebody wait. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Oh and by the way...Betty Lou's true colors are showing. Guess you're not a very good judge of character either.
posted on February 19, 2002 09:22:39 PM
Weebit, you're terrible application amuses me. If yours had been a case of a lost money order, that would have been a lot different than 2 bounced checks. Furthermore, I didn't decide not to pay the guy to teach him a lesson. As soon as I got the money order back today, I put a stamp on it and shipped it out to him... I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO EQUATE A LATE MONEY ORDER WITH TWO BOUNCED CHECKS AND THEN ADMITTING THAT YOU'RE NOT PAYING FOR ITEMS YOU RECEIVED TO TEACH THE SELLER A LESSON. Is your logic that flawed?
Incidentally, I really would rather not have the item anymore. I already negged him, so I'm sure I'll get one back. So I have nothing to gain by sending him the m.o. now. But I bid on the item, and it's my responsibility to pay for it.
As far as accusing me of paying late, NOT. The original payment was sent on time. Just didn't have a stamp. And if the seller wants to accuse me of lying about that, he can easily see the date the m.o. was bought. Unless you think I buy money orders and keep them around and send them 2 weeks later only if the person insists. I have lots of stamps, since I usually send small packages that I can put in a mailbox with stamps. I don't go to the P.O. often. I planned to send it at the window, but they gave me the m.o. at the very end of the transaction. So I didn't prestamp it... thinking I would have it metered. Then when it wasn't metered, I just forgot to put the stamp on.
rariffle: you missed the point. I did originally mail on time. I changed it by two days, but that was still within the allowed time frame. It's not paying when I get around to it.
As soon as I emailed the seller today, he sent me back an email stating that he's sorry and a lot of young "punks" bid and never pay. And he will wait beyond Saturday for my m.o. Apparently, he didn't realize I negged him yet. I'm sure when he does he'll neg me back, but that's okay.
posted on February 19, 2002 09:37:14 PM
drbrown:
Mine was also a situation of a lost MO. I do take responsibility for the NSF. My fault, you're right. But it doesn't give someone the right to write lies about you in a public forum. (Not you, "Betty".
I guess what I was trying to say is that like Betty, you negged the person without giving them a chance to work it out with you. Now you say that you are going to return the item anyway. So now, not only is payment very late, but once it's rec'd you're going to put the buyer through the additional expense with a return. WHY? Because YOU screwed up and then negged him without knowing the whole story and now you're going to return the merchandise. Give me a break, even I didn't put Betty through that. So why are you punishing the seller for your mistake? Why are you unwilling to realize that YOU caused all of this, not them. Then you come here for sympathy. Good Grief!
posted on February 20, 2002 12:39:12 PM
Weebit, are you that dense or do you just choose to interpret things how you want to?
I never said I would return the item. I said that I do not WANT the item anymore. But even though I could easily just not have resent the m.o., I did anyway b/c I realize my responsibilities as a bidder. And no, I didn't hold onto the m.o. until the last possible second, like someone else I know. I am going to keep the item that I no longer want (or maybe resell it on ebay), b/c I bid on it, and it's my responsibility now.
No matter how you look at it, a late money order and bouncing TWO checks are NOT even remotely close to being the same thing. If all you had done was a lost m.o., then I would not have sided with the seller. But you bounced TWO checks. Then the big issue was your attitude with her of teaching her a lesson by not paying her. That's a big difference.
Maybe if I hadn't already left the negative I wouldn't now, but that's a different story. The main reason I did it immediately was so my neg would be first, so he couldn't say it was retaliatory.
posted on February 28, 2002 09:05:15 PM
Would you believe I actually got a positive feedback out of this guy. It's almost like he hasn't even seen the negative yet.
It does make me feel badly a little, but only a little.
.