posted on February 3, 2005 07:43:12 PM new
I've been doing ebay for quite awhile (7 years) and I believe I have my first switcher in quite awhile. We shipped an item last week. He emails me on Tuesday asking for the tracking number and insurance info b/c he didn't receive the item. Today I get an email:
"HI...THE SALAD BOWL DID COME TODAY...IT WAS PACKED VERY WELL..THNXS.
HOWEVER...THERE IS A VERY SMALL CHIP IN THE OF THE GLASS RIM...RIGHT WHERE THERE IS THE BEAD OF GLASS...IT IS ON THE INSIDE WHERE THE BEAD IS ON THE RIM...
IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS DONE BY A KEY OR SOMETHING SHARP....MAYBE A KNIFE...
THE NICK IS ROUGH AND DANGEROUS TO USE TO EAT OUT OF....BECAUSE IT IS CRUMBLY GLASS..
I DONT FEEL COMFORTABLE USING IT AND HAVE NO USE FOR DECORATION USE.
I WOULD LIKE TO RETURN IT..
PLEASE RESPOND THNKS JIM"
--------------
I email him back:
I am sorry to hear that the item arrived damaged. We inspect all of our items by two people before listing and packing, and can assure you that there was no damage to the glass prior to shipment. As you can tell by our packing, we do a professional job packing glass, and this is the first problem we have encountered. Insurance was purchased with this item, so I will submit a claim with USPS tomorrow. Please keep all packing materials and the box because I believe they do use this to investigate the claim. I will also keep the photographs of the item when it was listed as proof there was no damage to the item. I will email you on Monday and let you know the status and how the Post Office will proceed.
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He responds:
THERE IS REALLY NO WAY THIS WAS DAMAGED IN THE SHIPPING...
AS I DESCRIBED..IT WAS NICKED ON THE INSIDE OF THE RIM....
I SUBSCRIBE TO THE HONESTY POLICY AND TREAT PEOPLE THE WAY I WANT TREATED IDEALS....
HOWEVER..I AM NOT GOING TO ARGUE ABOUT HOW THIS HAPPENED OR WHEN OR WHERE...BUT IN MY OPINION...IT COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN SHIPPING..
GLAD TO HEAR YOU WILL DEAL WITH IT...AND I AM HAPPY TO SHIP IT BACK OR GIVE IT TO USPS.OR WHATEVER...
BUT I WILL WANT ALL THE COST INVOLVED WITH THIS DEAL...WHICH AT THIS POINT IS 38.45....EXCLUDING THE MO I BOUGHT.
PLEASE SEND TO
XXXxxx
APT 207 xxxxx ST
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA..
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN U ARE SENDING THE REFUND AND WHAT U WANT ME TO DO WITH THIS...I DO HAVE ALL THE PACKING MATERIAL AND BOX AND THE ITEM
I ASSUME IF YOU ARE FILING WITH USPS..THEY ARE PAYING U..THE SHIPPER...THATS THE WHY I REMEMBER WHEN I HAVE HAD PAST PROBLEMS..
THNXS..PLEASE RESPOND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
-------------
This is where I left off and haven't responded back. I went back and checked his feedback and it is 96% with over 200. However, his 8 negatives are quite suspicious, including one that stated they suspected them of switching as well. We package out items using bubble wrap, peanuts, and leave plenty of space (3-4 inches) of bubble between the box wall and edge of any item. We take pride in our packing and shipping, most of our customers praise us for it. We have no negs, one neutral b/c I had a family matter to tend to and the item was delayed. We have over 150 positives. Anyhow, I am very suspicious b/c two of us inspect it, one when cleaning and one when photographing and then we check it as we wrap it for shipment. I know this is a long message, but what do you think? I have emailed the negs in his history to find out more about their experiences. Any suggestions?
[ edited by shagmidmod on Feb 3, 2005 08:00 PM ]
posted on February 3, 2005 08:37:18 PM new
What you probably should have done was tell your buyer you would be happy to have him ship it back to you as you special mark all your glassware to make sure the item returned to me is the item I sent you. So what you didn't mark it he wouldn't have known but you would have found out if he was switching the bowl. Sorry this happened to you but it seems like eBay is getting a little harder to sell. Good Luck.
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posted on February 3, 2005 09:44:35 PM new
Crumbly glass- weak whine for "I think i paid too much and I want a refund".
Tell the jerk that he needs to mail the bowl back to you so you can check for your "mark". Refunds will not be issued until the item has been received and mark verified. PERIOD!
You will recognize your bowl when you receive it.
If, on some small chance, you actually did miss the damage during packing, you can give him the refund. Most likely, he won't be willing to take you up on the return conditions.
posted on February 3, 2005 09:46:16 PM new
There is no way that he received what he claimed he received. Not the way we pack it. I also find it amusing that he only types in all caps. He knows what he is doing. He is attempting to manipulate and bully sellers. He does it every now and then so that it doesn't look too obvious.
All of his negatives basically said he bullied, was pushy, rude, etc. In fact two negatives used the word, "plague" to describe this bidder.
posted on February 3, 2005 10:05:44 PM new
Looks like you're either going to have to take a neg on this one, or pay the extortion and wind up with a damaged bowl. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where he's going with this. Personally, I'd be tempted to throw a neg at him first and then send him an email and tell him where he can shove that bowl so the chip won't be visible to the public. But the final call is yours.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on February 3, 2005 11:50:11 PM new
Why don't you simply send him the insurance form and he takes it to his PO for inspection and refund.
If any buyer claims damage and it's not insured I tell them to return it for a full refund of the purchase price (NOT shipping). I haven't ever had too because they suddenly change their minds and decide to keep the "broken" item.
posted on February 4, 2005 12:38:49 AM new
I agree with crowfarm. I to have had this kind of south bound end of a northbound horse try to tell me that I have sent a damaged piece when I know damz well it was in perfect condition. Send them the ins. form & tell them to fight with the PO.
posted on February 4, 2005 04:33:36 AM new
I have never had to send a form from the P.O.
I tell my buyer to take the item, plus packaging to the P.O. and they give him a form to fill out. They send the form to me and I attach the Insurance proof and complete the form, sign it, and return it to his P.O. and at this point they take their time in refunding him, his money.
I make it clear that he paid for the insurance and so it is his responsibility to follow through on the insurance.
posted on February 4, 2005 05:22:20 AM new
"I ASSUME IF YOU ARE FILING WITH USPS..THEY ARE PAYING U..THE SHIPPER...THATS THE WHY I REMEMBER WHEN I HAVE HAD PAST PROBLEMS"
That statement should tell you something right off the bat.
posted on February 4, 2005 08:21:46 AM new
Now the plot thickens. I emailed him the stamping story, and received 4 emails from him overnight. He continues to demand that I refund the cost of the item, the shipping, the cost of his money order, etc. The guy is a total baby.
Ironically, he also now claims I didn't package the item properly, yet the damage was impossible to have happened in shipping, and his first email acknowledging he received it clearly stated we packaged it well.
Not to bring politics into this, but do I sense... flip flopper. lol.
I'm going to hold this guy accountable, no matter what he does. I've received a response already from another seller about the guy. He says the guy tried to cry foul about every thing including the shipping fee he charged, cried when he received the item, etc. He also said he has received several emails from other sellers regarding this guy and problems they have had. I'm guessing there are more problems than what his feedback reveals.
posted on February 4, 2005 12:07:46 PM new
Not to be a total nerd, but all the eBay books I've read say that it's really not worth messing with the occasional crazy-pants you run across on eBay.
People like this are completely off their rocker, have nothing better to do than make your life Hell and cannot be reasoned with. They'll never cooperate, and you'll end up wasting a bunch of your time, and still getting negged. He could even get mad enough to start screwing with your other auctions, e-mailing potential bidders, etc. Like I said...they have NOTHING better to do.
I REALLY hate to let people like this get away with it, but if you don't want a negative, cooperate with his demands, then report him to eBay so that they can follow up on his suspicious activity. If you're ready to absorb a negative, tell him to stick it.
Take comfort in all the positive transactions you've had, and chock it up to the fact that if you sell a lot on eBay, you're going to run across people like this every once in a while. We ALL do, but thanksfully, they only show up about .01 percent of the time.
posted on February 4, 2005 01:30:35 PM new
Play the bluff. If you get negged, so what. It boils down to the money is in your pocket. The neg will not hurt you if it is your only one.
posted on February 5, 2005 08:29:41 AM new
Well, now the guy is calling our store. This deal that ebay requires us to have phone numbers posted is really stupid. I wasn't there yesterday when he called, but my business partner was. He left a message, then called back. She told him I wasn't working yesterday and asked if he wanted to leave a message, which he did. Then he called a third time to see if I got the message. After that, I emailed him and told him to refrain from calling our store because we are handling it via email and I prefer having everything in writing (just in case he gets threatening). If he calls today, I am simply going to tell him the same thing and that he is now harrassing us because we asked him not to call us. Ebay's requirement that we give our phone number should really only be used if emails are not being answered or are being returned. Maybe I'm one of the few that feel this way, but I don't really care to handle online problems over the phone, especially after things have already progressed as far as they have.
posted on February 5, 2005 08:40:17 AM new
I agree with mandaray3, there are crazies out there and although the seller may be in the right, it is just not worth dealing with them. This is a $40 transaction, I would refund and move on. The amount of time and hassle you are going to have to deal with and possibly not have this transaction resolved is probably not worth $40. If there was insurance on this item, then just tell the guy to take the item to the post office for inspection, and go from there.
posted on February 5, 2005 08:41:36 AM new
tinysample is his id. you won't have problems checking out the auction when you search his account. the photos are still up too.
posted on February 5, 2005 01:16:29 PM new
I just checked your auction and I don't understand what he means by a bead of glass. Isn't the rim around the top even as it looks in your pictures. BTW Nice images.
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[ edited by Libra63 on Feb 5, 2005 01:26 PM ]
posted on February 5, 2005 08:53:38 PM new
thanks on the photo kudos. i'm a longtime photographer as well, so I really focus on that aspect of displaying our items. We have found that our sales have increased about 20%, both in bids and in final value when I take photos in an inexpensive home studio. If you are interested in setting a similar photo studio at home, I can tell you how to do it for under $100.
We really do take alot of pride in selling, and do everything possible to ensure that the item arrives safely as well. We inspect items before we purchase them, when we clean them, when I photograph them, and when we prepare them for shipping. So, we have inspected this glass bowl 4 times. Generally twice by me, and twice by my girlfriend/business partner.
If you want to check out our store, the website is www.shaghomefx.com. We are closing this location at the end of February and will open our new store in April or May. We are looking forward to a much busier location, along with room to have a medium shipping room/photo studio with a skylight. Our sales floor will be just over 1300 square feet. We loved our year and a half in the Alberta Arts District of Portland, but our new spot in the Hollywood district is so exciting. It has that 50's midcentury ranch feel to it that we love and will easily match our furniture and collectibles that we sell.
posted on February 5, 2005 09:36:43 PM new
Hi Shag,
Sorry to hear about this one crackpot. We have all experience them at one time or another on Ebay. I read that you have your own website. I am very much interested in opening up my own in light of the upcoming fee increases. Can you shed some light as to a direct or how to?
Thank you,
rosanne
posted on February 6, 2005 09:00:15 AM new
our store has a website. we really only use it at this time for information. We have 4 or 5 pages, one dedicated to who we are, one which gives our store hours, one that gives a map and directions to our store, etc. We haven't used it to sell from yet. when our shop closes at the end of the month, i will be updating our information. we just paid $250 for advertising in a national magazine which unfortunately will have our current address. the magazine will be on newstands at the end of this month. it has our web info, so i need to update it to tell people we moved, and other info.
i would use a program like front page, or go to www.godaddy.com and check out their web creator software. it is cheap, simple to use, but it is also a bit limiting. i used it to create our site.
"Who could have possibly envisioned an erection — an election in Iraq at this point in history?" Prez.Jim Beam, at the White House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2005
posted on February 6, 2005 09:46:45 AM new
Oh weird feedback page in general. Why do all the people leaving feedback sound exactly the same? "Thanking God" for this seller? Huh? Some are even "holding back" their magnitude of praising? They are all in caps and all sound like the feedback comes from the same guy? Weird!
posted on February 6, 2005 09:49:57 AM new
tom, you are having entirely to much fun! Thanks for the info...oops, there goes another bad one blocked. (Name that tune)
Kevin
posted on February 6, 2005 09:59:54 AM new
What can I tell ya, Kevin? I've given up the "Curse of Onan" for Lent, so things be pretty boring around here...
"Who could have possibly envisioned an erection — an election in Iraq at this point in history?" Prez.Snort-Snort, at the White House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2005
posted on February 6, 2005 02:39:33 PM new
the guy is a nut job. i just nailed him with a neg as well a few minutes ago. he is obsessed with being a real hemmi. i've heard back from a few of his past sellers and they have conveyed the exact same problems and concerns. the plague doesn't explain him at the least. he has spewed a real slew of insults and threats. i'm not even bothering with responding to this guy. block and move on...
posted on February 6, 2005 02:41:17 PM new
rivki- the link given by tomwii was for feedback left by the bidder. that explains why the look and sound the same.
