Coins Not Received - Paypal Dispute?

You should be able to obtain a phone number for the seller through ebay's contact procedures. Go to: http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/win-contact.html then click onto "request additional contact information" to obtain the seller's phone #. The direct route may be the simplest solution. If you don't get satisfaction with a phone call, then file a PayPal dispute or cancel with your credit card.

I think we've all had similar or comparable problems with ebay transactions. A number of years ago, I had a non-paying buyer. I finally made contact with his home via phone only to learn that he had died.

Give him a cryptic read-between-the-lines positive feedback (something like, "Transaction OK.", then put him on your never-bid-on-his-items-again list.

At least you received your coins. I think non-communicating sellers and buyers demonstrate the highest form of incivility and discourtesy.

Okie-Colin: The reason I tend advocate filing Paypal disputes is that I don't use credit cards to purchase. I've always used an existing Paypal account. Though, to be honest, I've never had to file a dispute (knock on wood). I hope I never have to.

If you pay by credit card, it probably is easier to just have it charged back. I'm glad you got your coins and none of this is necessary. A seller has 7 days to ship from the time they receive your payment. This is Paypal's rule.

If you ever want to email me with an auction you are interested in bidding on, I'll be more than happy to help you out and give you my opinion on the seller and such. I've done a lot of dealing with many of the numismatic sellers on ebay. I know that some people don't like to post auction links on the forum for fear that someone else will be interested and bid against them, though you are certainly also welcome to do that.

Sleaklight: There is absolutely no excuse for shipping rolls that way. The only time I have ever shipped a roll in anything other than a box is when it had to go overseas and it was so wrapped in bubble wrap that I don't think anything could have hurt it. For the amount of money that you paid for shipping, this is inexcusable.

You should also get your shipping back. I would like to point out that, in most cases, if we accept a return, we reimburse the return shipping and refund the initial shipping amount. If the seller makes an error, the buyer should not lose anything. It's bad enough to have to deal with the inconvenience. I would report this seller to ebay if the seller is not willing to give you a FULL refund.

I think that you were entitled to have the coins shipped properly for the amount of shipping that you paid (which by the way is very excessive). For the amount that you paid, it should have been sent Fed-Ex. He could have sent it to you via Priority Mail for, I would guess, a 3-pound rate. I'm not sure where you live, but that means that it would have been under $9, since if it was more than $8.10, he could have sent it in a flat-rate box. Even with insurance added and a small handling charge, his rate was completely outrageous. It seems to me that he was trying to circumvent ebay's listing/final fees and ebay doesn't like that. I'm sure that they would be very interested in hearing about your experience.

If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate you posting the seller ID or a link to one of his auctions.

Apparently, he's a very slow learner or he is intentionally mailing damaged, empty envelopes that never contained any rolls. I'm not making an accusation, just stating a possibility. One way or another, I would not purchase from this seller.

If you paid via Paypal, open a dispute if he is not willing to give you a FULL refund (including shipping). In my opinion, this seller is very irresponsible and should have been prepared to ship these rolls properly (especially considering how many he has sold!)

If you paid by any other method, open a dispute with ebay and cite his recent feedback discussing his inadequate packing methods. Again, fight for a FULL refund.

Sleaklight, this guy is a con artist in my opinion. He stated he would not combine shipping and then did and pocketed the difference! Saying you did not pay for insurance is baloney, he had enough left over in the excessive shipping to pay the insurance to protect himself...much less you. Method of shipping...he might as well have put a red warning label on it reading "Handle With Care, RARE coins Enclosed". That type of envelope for mailing coins is an open invitation to someone ripping them off somewhere in transit with no one ever being able to determine who. I detest sellers who operate in this fashion. I have never charged a handling fee on a sale (except last one which was a 60lb stoneware crock that needed special packing, at that was limited to $15), in fact I often wind up loosing a little on shipping by underestimating slightly...but never the other way around.

You should get a full refund no questions asked and still fill a complaint with ebay about his shipping practices AND leave negative feedback. (This my PTSD as a Vietnam Vet speaking).

I am a firm believer in the concept of Karma, or "what goes around comes around" , or "sowing and reaping"...(it all expresses the same law of the universe) even if you let it pass it will come back to haunt him/her at some point in the future.

look at the package he sent it in:


Image: no_contents.jpg
85.21 KB

Ridiculous! Anyway, I am going to wait till Monday, if he fails to answer me or make contact, I go straight to PayPal and ebay.

well he was ignoring my replies today and finally got uhmm angry so I sent him this:

quote:

---

Hi it is 10 pm pacific time, I've been real patient waitying for a reply from you, if I don't receive a full refund for this by 9 a.m. pacific time tomorrow morning, April 17, 2007, I will file a complaint with paypal and ebay.
Reason being, I asked if you did combined shipping, your answerwas no. What did you do, stick all rolls in one pack and shipped them out with 12-39 cent stamps a post office 5 cent stamp. Yet you charged me $5.99 for each and singke roll for a grand total of $23.96 for 1 single package, not 4 individual packages as you charged me for. If you did not do combined shipping, then you should have not shipped them combined. The loss of all rolls is your negligence. I expect nothing less than a full refund from you. Again, if the refund is not sent in by 9 a.m. Pacific time, April 17, 2007 , I will report this to ebay and paypal and submit all this evidence in which you have a 100% chance of losing. Do the right thing and refund me.
-Oscar

---

15 minutes later there is a refund pending iny my paypal account for the full amount I am happy, but don't expect me to give him any feedback!