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 Replies: 24 / Views: 3,878 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
It has been a while since I shared a story of how I was stressing over an ebay purchase gone wrong. These always seem to be over just a few bucks, but offend me over some principle, which overshadows the money involved. Last month I stumbled across a string of auctions by a seller who seemed intent on failure. The auction titles didn't mention the date, condition, or mint mark--just "Walking Liberty Halfs" [sic]. Furthermore, he started each auction at $4.50 or higher and added $2.50 for s/h. It goes without saying that the vast majority of these auctions received no bids. The opening bid was more than I am typically willing to spend on coins such as these, but I dutifully looked at each one nonetheless. The 46-D seemed to meet my criteria for fine condition (definitely not VF, as advertised), and against my better judgement, I bid the minimum. Of course, no one else bid and within a few hours I had paid via Pay Pal. Eleven days later, my coin completed its trek across two states (possibly by bicycle) and arrived at my door. Only it wasn't my coin, it was a 47-D. I checked the sellers auctions again (a painful process because the titles were all identical) and found the auction corresponding to this coin. It (along with nearly all of his auctions) had gone unsold. As an aside, this coin was also listed as VF, but hardly met my standards for fine. I sent a very nice message to the seller, stating that he had sent the wrong coin and that I was hopeful that he still had my coin. I expected him to apologize, say my coin would be mailed post haste, and suggest remediation for the misdirected coin. While he did apologize, I was underwhelmed by the rest of his reply: return his coin and he will send out the 46-D. This rubbed me the wrong way on two counts: 1) there was no excuse for not posting my coin IMMEDIATELY--I should not have to wait another 11 days for my purchase--and (2) he made no mention of reimbursing me for shipping his coin back. Part 2 to follow |
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Member
United States
3242 Posts |
I sell coin on ebay my self and you can make the seller refund or send you the coin you bid on. Tell ebay and force them to uphold the bid! I have had only 1 item I refunded it was a$20.00 star note, I miss graded as gem bu I got it for a pack that looked all unc to me notes I learned quick on that one. If I list a note that looks bu I put Au-Bu  In short Texasmick make him or her DO THE RIGTH THING  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
751 Posts |
Continued from above: Now I'm looking at waiting for two-way mail and making the USPS the only winner in the process. Out of impatience and frugality, I suggested an alternative: I offered to purchase the 47-D so the 46-D could be sent immediately. I offered him $4, which was 50c less than his opening bid. I didn't need another overgraded 47-D, but as I've said previously, I'm a hoarder when it comes to Walkers. His response was, "My asking price was 4.50 but seeing as it is Christmas time I won't argue. Send the 4.00 plus shipping." Whoa! I offered $4, not $4 + his inflated $2.50 s/h price. Plus, I've already paid one s&h fee, why another for a coin he sent in error? And finally, I am not going to pay to have him ship me a coin that is already in my possession! BTW, he is STILL holding my coin even though I have pointed out that it should be on its way. What is he waiting for? I paid for it, why is he holding it? I wrote a pretty hard-edged reply, but I asked my wife (with whom I share an ebay account) to soften it. Here is the result: quote:
I don't really need the 1947-D; I was only trying to make it easier for us, but $6.50 is more than I want to pay.
I see the fact that you sent me the wrong coin as your mistake and don't feel that I should have to pay to return this coin to you. You can send return postage with the 1946-D or give me a $0.63 refund for return postage of your coin, and I will be happy to send it back to you.
If these options are not acceptable to you, please refund my $7 plus 63c for return postage of your coin.
Thanks for trying to make this right.
Conclusion to follow. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
Conclusion: I gave the seller options: 1) negotiate a price for the 47-D (I would have gone to $5), 2) send my coin and reimburse me for shipping 3) send a refund and reimburse me for shipping. Note that I requested action by him before I offered to return his coin. He chose option 3b: quote:
Return my coin and I will refund your money.
Again he expects me to act in good faith (by returning his coin prior to receiving any reimbursement), but will not act in good faith himself. I chose to accept rather than argue on. I put his coin in the mail. Now I am out $7 for my coin, 52c (skimped on packaging) for mailing the 47-D, and no longer have his coin as security. If he doesn't refund my money, I have to rely on paypal for satisfactory resolution, which has let me down before. Hopefully, I will follow soon with a post-script describing a satisfactory resolution. I welcome alternatives to the way I went about this episode. I also welcome suggestions for how I should handle feedback. Edited by texasmick
12/06/2006 12:18 pm
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Valued Member
Sweden
79 Posts |
Ouch! Sounds like one of those situations you wish you had never placed a bid. The seller is kinda slow, in more ways than one. Hope he doesn't have a short fuse, or the whole thing could end with negative feedbacks flying. Guess you should be glad you don't have more money on the table... I hope it all works out.  |
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Formerly nancyc
Australia
5385 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by texasmick
If he doesn't refund my money, I have to rely on paypal for satisfactory resolution, which has let me down before.
I can't offer any suggestions, however in regards to PayPal, I tried to lodge a claim for items that were not as described, which I returned when the seller offered reimbursement, seller turned very nasty, sent me a pretty demanding email & I eventually resorted to lodging a claim. NO DICE SAYS ebay, UNDER $25, NO CAN DO. I wrote it off as a bad experience & added the seller to my black list. He's NLARU now, nothing to do with me though.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
It is one of those unfortunate experiences we all have had to endure. I had a similar experience and I finally gave up and accepted it. It shouldn't cost you more money for a mistake that was the sellers fault.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
I know some of you may have little patience with me obsessing over a few dollars. Maybe it says something very ugly about me that I can't let it go when I believe that I have been wronged. The dollar amount doesn't matter. A close friend tells me that "you have to pick your battles." I don't use a dollar amount as a criterion and maybe I should.
I consider some of you out there friends, in a disconnected Internet fashion. I appreciate the opportunity to vent. As one poster said, we've all been there.
I guess what stings the most is that I'm not running a business here. This is supposed to be fun. This is supposed to be relaxing. This is supposed to be an escape from the real world.
Anyway, a 64-year-old man from New Jersey who thinks you can treat people any way you like when you aren't face-to-face has me pretty PO'd right now. Thanks for listening.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1703 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by texasmick
I know some of you may have little patience with me obsessing over a few dollars. Maybe it says something very ugly about me that I can't let it go when I believe that I have been wronged. The dollar amount doesn't matter. A close friend tells me that "you have to pick your battles." I don't use a dollar amount as a criterion and maybe I should.
I consider some of you out there friends, in a disconnected Internet fashion. I appreciate the opportunity to vent. As one poster said, we've all been there.
I guess what stings the most is that I'm not running a business here. This is supposed to be fun. This is supposed to be relaxing. This is supposed to be an escape from the real world.
Anyway, a 64-year-old man from New Jersey who thinks you can treat people any way you like when you aren't face-to-face has me pretty PO'd right now. Thanks for listening.
Mick, It's rarely about the money and more about being wronged and wanting justice and knowing things shouldn't be the way they are. Terry |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
Seth, I'm with you all the way on this one and absolutely agree with TLS. There are certain principles which take precedence over whatever the fundamental monetary costs might be, worth a battle if not a small war. The seller is clearly in the wrong on this one and if it were me, I'd be very persistent on following up with getting the seller to do the right thing. I would certainly be bombarding him with emails and probably at some point would lose my cool and my sense of tact in order to get the message across.
As a seller much more often than a buyer, I have no problems accepting responsibility when I screw up. And I do screw up from time to time. When I realize my mistake, I immediately refund the buyer's money, include extra for him to ship it back (if necessary), include a little extra above this to compensate him for his troubles which were my fault, and otherwise ensure that the buyer is satisfied. The customer is always right.
Good luck!
Fred
Edited by Morgan Fred
12/14/2006 9:13 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
675 Posts |
I can't blame you for being frustrated. The seller should have sent out the correct coin for you immediately and taken care of the problem. The thing that is wrong with ebay though, is he will end up giving you negative feedback when you did everything in your power to resolve the situation.  Thundercoin |
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Valued Member
United States
455 Posts |
Texas, you sure nailed it when you said the principle overshadows the money involved. I was getting stressed just reading your post. It's strikes right to the core when we're mistreated while trying to do the right thing. Only with the advantage of hindsight I can say, I would've kept the 47d, left no feedback, and avoided the the seller going forward. Thanks for sharing the incident, I learned something. (Also, I'm glad for you it wasn't a lot of money)
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Valued Member
United States
67 Posts |
Texasmick, Is there some reason you're not sharing the seller's ebay ID with us? Certainly, he needs to understand that it is unlikely that any of us on the forum will deal with him if he treats us badly. And hearing that he is on an "avoid" list on a coin forum might get him to wise up, or at least to make this right with you. Also, I would like to share that the last time something like this happened to me, the seller told me to KEEP the wrong item AND sent me the right one!!! Very nice!!! (It was for a DvD however not a coin) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
Postscript: The seller never did refund my payment through paypal. Instead, he sent me a check. In the amount of $4.50. Needless to say, I was insulted. I half expected him to have written a bad check, costing me a hefty bank fee. I even considered not depositing it, but I did. Now I am waiting to make sure he doesn't stop payment (bank said I would be safe after 10 days), before I leave his feedback. Toblerone, the reason I haven't given his ebay ID is that I tend to be cautious about trashing someones reputation prematurely. I wanted to wait out the situation and give him every opportunity to do the right thing. But now that it's clear how the situation has played out, his ID is straitlegs. After the holiday, I will leave him is negative fb and make an entry in the discouraged sellers thread with a link to this one. Thanks for your interest and support. |
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Valued Member
United States
390 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by texasmick
Postscript:
The seller never did refund my payment through paypal. Instead, he sent me a check. In the amount of $4.50. Needless to say, I was insulted.
I half expected him to have written a bad check, costing me a hefty bank fee. I even considered not depositing it, but I did. Now I am waiting to make sure he doesn't stop payment (bank said I would be safe after 10 days), before I leave his feedback.
Toblerone, the reason I haven't given his ebay ID is that I tend to be cautious about trashing someones reputation prematurely. I wanted to wait out the situation and give him every opportunity to do the right thing. But now that it's clear how the situation has played out, his ID is straitlegs. After the holiday, I will leave him is negative fb and make an entry in the discouraged sellers thread with a link to this one. Thanks for your interest and support.
Boy these kinds of things really make me mad when I read about them. ebay is full of low life scumbags (but there ar many upright and honest people too). But, I think we should all, after you let us know, bombard his email asking him why he is a crook and telling him we would never deal with him. If you really want to take it over the limit, find a friend who is an attorney and send him a certified letter threatening to sue him. Most people get intimidated by attorney letters. I'm not saying you should sue him, but at least tweak him some to let him know he shouldn't mess with people like this. Maybe it's my vindictive streak coming out here, which I do try to control, but I agree that he is a jerk!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
Postscript II:
I figured I left enough time for his partial refund to make its way irrevocably into my account. I left the following negative feedback for straitlegs:
Slow, error-prone, unresponsive & dishonest. Wrong coin + partial refund = neg
Since he left me positive fb when I paid, he can't retaliate that way. I'll post if he responds to my fb, though. BTW, you would think since he had already left me fb, he would have given me the extra $3 to avoid a negative. But no one accused him of being a savvy ebayer.
Guido, thanks for the show of support. But I'm going to resist the temptation to harass the guy "in the real world" over $3.
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Replies: 24 / Views: 3,878 |
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Posted 12/06/2006 12:01 pm
