posted on December 2, 2005 10:12:49 AM new
Here are emails sent and received last night by some irate Ebay lurker, about two hours before the auction ended.
Hi,
Just a note that this is not a Vintage piece. This is sold by QVC for about 70.00. I'm sure your winner will be upset to know that they paid more than double for a pin that has been misrepresented!!
Reply: Good Evening,
Thank you for your interest.
I purchased this piece among many others at an estate sale about two years ago.
The heirs informed me their deceased mother purchased the collection in the 1980's.
I would never, ever knowingly misrepresent any of my items, and I not pleased with your accusation of such.
However, if you read the auction description throughly, you would see the words SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. I stand behind my items, customer satisfaction is my #1 Ebay Priority.
Her response: This is not from the 80's and you should check out your items better before stating untrue facts, I wonder how the winner will feel knowing they could buy this on QVC for half the price!!
You should let the winner know you misrepresented the description for this auction!
My reply: Dear *****,
Thank you for writing. Please do not continue to try to intimidate me by accusing me of stating untrue facts and misrepresenting my items.
I told you the conditions in which I acquired this jewelry.
Please settle down enough to let me know where you received your information, so I may inform the winner, as I do not watch the show you are speaking of. Thanking you in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
I did not hear back from her. However, I went on to QVC on line and low and behold there it was. I don't know if their piece is a reissue or what. All I know is I purchased the collection two years ago and assumed the heirs knew what they were talking about. This is the last piece in the collection and, every winner was happy.
I don't even watch QVC.
I of course, immediately contacted the winner last night, and informed her of the situation. I told her she could back out if she wanted to. She has not responded yet.
What bothers me most are those bully and rude emails from that lurker.
Should I report it to Ebay?
Boy, do I have a headache. I think I need a cup of coffee and some good advise. Thanks.
posted on December 2, 2005 10:38:48 AM new
no,this is normal retail business.
sip your coffee,take a deep breath,the best (or worst)has yet to come.
/ lets all stop whining !! /
posted on December 2, 2005 11:11:20 AM new
If the auction was over and this person was not the winner, why even answer the rude email?
You're only responsible to your customer, not some irate loser.
I place them in the block bidder bin and move on.
Ron
"Better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not."
posted on December 2, 2005 11:16:52 AM new
Thanks for your kind words, I am having my coffee right now. Whew!
I went in to look at the posting and though I haven't heard from the winner, she marked it as, "payment sent". After I receive it, I will refund with the exception of what she would of paid on QVC even if she doesn't ask.
posted on December 2, 2005 11:52:36 AM new
About QVC jewelry: They have some very nice items, well-known designers, and OFTEN the items are copies of original jewelry. If QVC is offering it now, the odds are they didn't offer it two or more years ago. I wouldn't worry about that.
We live in a mountain town with no real retail businesses, so I do a lot of internet shopping, including much of my clothing, from QVC. They stand behind their products and are friendly to boot.
______________________________
posted on December 2, 2005 12:30:41 PM new
Yes fluffy, it was a serious question and I took it most seriously.
However, without a doubt the question could of been sent in a polite and not accusatory manner.
As thin skinned as I may appear to be, I would never have been upset if it was approached politely.
posted on December 2, 2005 04:05:12 PM new
I came upon an auction this week for a very interesting photograph that was misidentified in the title and description as the wrong process. It is a fascinating image and will go for a good sum but not as much as it would if the identification was correct. I wrote a very polite email, as did several other people. The poster thanked me and amended the description with the correct information, posted the correction, and a thank-you note to all who wrote him.
I think we all handled this in a responsible way. You could say that we should have kept our opinions to ourselves, as I have read on this board, but everyone was civil and we possibly saved this seller from a bad transaction from someone who did not learn the difference until after they received the item.
By contrast a few week ago I saw an item that was wildly misidentified and my polite email was ignored by the seller. Fortunately no one was willing to pay his reserve. I expect anyone who would have knew enough to see that the attribution was nonsense.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on December 2, 2005 05:46:26 PM new
"All I know is I purchased the collection two years ago and assumed the heirs knew what they were talking about"
I buy items at estate sales, I never assume they know what they are talking about. I consider that my job!
I would have never engaged the person who wrote though - If the item was sold, what purpose is there to communicate with them? If I don't like someone's email, I simply block them from buying and delete the question.
posted on December 2, 2005 09:28:38 PM new
Right or wrong, I think all Ebayers deserve a polite response, even if they choose to be rude. I'm not the type to ignore Ebayer's emails. She wrote to me while the auction was in progress, but would end very shortly, so I could not post her email or my reply on the site.
The heirs did not say their mother bought the stuff on QVC. You are right, it is my job to know what I am talking about and not assume. I thought I did, since QVC was not even a consideration. Had I known I would of investigated it, and described the auction accordingly.
I am always open to suggestions, and there is no reason to email informative suggestions in a accusatory manner to the seller.
However, all is well that end's well. I contacted the winner by phone and she was great.
She still wants the pin, so I will sell it to her for the same price as QVC.
Best of all, she once lived in my town and I once lived in her's. We have mutual friends in common.
By the way, I did block that impolite Ebayer.
posted on December 3, 2005 08:34:56 AM new
I guess my view is that potential customers deserve a polite response. Those who are rude (I've been sworn at in a question) deserve no response and to be blocked. Nosy busybodies (there are a lot out there) may or may not deserve a response, that is subjective. After a sale, there really is no point. I've had an auction in the past where another person wrote (they were polite) and suggested that it was different than I described - It was a stamp, and after further evaluation, he was right! I thanked him, and ended the auction (there weren't any bids) - By the way, I don't think the person who wrote to you was impolite. I have better things to do with my time than look at completed auctions and notify sellers of problems, but hey, there are all types!
posted on December 3, 2005 09:11:58 AM new
Several times in the last 6 years I've received an e-mail (always before auction's end) with better info about my item. (Sometimes I ask for further info in the auction description when selling Great Unknowns.) I'm always grateful for that and amend my description.
There've been a few times I've had to ask seller a question because some important info wasn't in the description. I've never gotten a rude response, but I have gotten total silence.
______________________________
posted on December 3, 2005 12:42:09 PM new
This auction was still on going when the person questioned it, but was to end very shortly.
I did ask her to give me further information (re: the email at the beginning of this thread.) I could then relay it to the winner or high bidder, since it was too late to add to the description.
I never heard from her again, but immediately investigated her information myself and quickly related it to the highest bidder at that time.
The winner was notified of the problem at the end of the auction.
I even tried to cancel the auction, but it was too late.
I always amend my auction when I receive better information, and then notify the highest bidder.
If her accusations would have been in a timely manner, I would of either canceled the auction or added to the description.
My hands were tied at the time. However, as soon
as it ended, I was able to proceed.
