EBay Fail!

SO FAR---I guess I,ve been lucky for a beginner.Everything I,ve ordered has been as shown and advertised.

I got stiffed by another model builder from another site in a trade though.$180.00 of kits " GONE WITH THE WIND ".

E-BAY always frightened me a little because I personally don,t like PAY-PAL.

I guess I will just be as careful as I have been. 

I am glad you got resolution.I usually won,t buy from overseas vendors anyway unless I know them or know of them.

TANKERbuilder

I ended up posting it as a positive transaction. I explained I got the wrong product but that the issue got resolved. I docked points in the star-system for accuracy of the order and for communications because I had to go through the resolution process to solve the problem.

In my opinion, if the seller makes a mistake but gives me a full refund, I'll give them a positive feedback explaining what happened.

You got your money back and a free kit for your trouble. Even if you don't want it, you could sell it on Ebay for the cost of a free lunch or something.

 Everyone screws up at some point,  it's how they handle screw ups that defines character.

Well, the reson I thought I'd tell ya what I thought is that I'm an Ebay seller too, and I tried like hell to make a gal in Houstin happy with a purchase, and she just didn't want to cooperate..

I sold her a WW2 A-14 Summer Flight Helmet (Tht's the tan cloth one with headphones) and made it absolutley clear that it had been in a bar and was NOT kept in a "non-smoking" home... She gave me negative feedback, with everything but shipping one star, and in the narrative wrote "Stunk of cigarette (or SOMEthing) smoke".. 

Then I contacted her and tried to offer her half her money back to get it cleaned, but she wouldn't have it, she wanted her money back, AND didn't want to give back the helmet...  Tlod her she couldn't have it both ways, she wasn't gonna get a free helmet...  Either take the offer or give up the helmet and I'd give her bck her money..

As it worked out, she dropped the whole thing, but she never changed the negative feedback with a follow-up to at least Neutral...  However, I did HER with a follow-up that stated what I did to try to resolve it....

So if you get any issues with her again, you can always follow up your first feedback with one that reflects any issues you may have later...

Hans von Hammer

This is just me, but I think she's genuine in her regret, and her asking for positive feedback is just a "Nice ta Get" thing..

Me? I'd click "Positive", then rate her with less than 5 stars in the appropriate blocks.. In the narrative, I'd also explain what happened like. "Seller didn't ship correct item. Resolution case opened, and case was resolved to my satifaction." or whatever you wanna write.. One star for "Item was as described".. (I can't rememebr the text on all the stars though)

Thanks Hans - That was more-or-less my intent. I hadn't thought ahead to the positive, neutral or negative feedback part yet (I only have 10 transactions on ebay, the last being a few years ago, so I'm a bit rusty on this.

I agree with your assessment of the transaction and will act accordingly.

Hans von Hammer

This is just me, but I think she's genuine in her regret, and her asking for positive feedback is just a "Nice ta Get" thing..

Me? I'd click "Positive", then rate her with less than 5 stars in the appropriate blocks.. In the narrative, I'd also explain what happened like. "Seller didn't ship correct item. Resolution case opened, and case was resolved to my satifaction." or whatever you wanna write.. One star for "Item was as described".. (I can't rememebr the text on all the stars though)

You don't have to click "Negative"... to give an honest opinion. You got your money back, she let you leep the kit, and her communication was ok..   So those were "positive" things..  I don't know if there's a narrative block for negative or neutral feedback, so that's why I sugested  clicking "Positive"..

Double

This is just me, but I think she's genuine in her regret, and her asking for positive feedback is just a "Nice ta Get" thing..

Me? I'd click "Positive", then rate her with less than 5 stars in the appropriate blocks.. In the narrative, I'd also explain what happened like. "Seller didn't ship correct item. Resolution case opened, and case was resolved to my satifaction." or whatever you wanna write.. One star for "Item was as described".. (I can't rememebr the text on all the stars though)

You don't have to click "Negative"... to give an honest opinion. You got your money back, she let you leep the kit, and her communication was ok..   So those were "positive" things..  I don't know if there's a narrative block for negative or neutral feedback, so that's why I sugested  clicking "Positive"..

I don't doubt it was an honest mistake. I only question the morality of her asking me not to leave negative feedback. I intend to leave honest feedback, both positive and negative.

I've bought on ebay since it's very early days and have had only a couple of bad transactions over all those years, and I will say that even though they can't control individual transactions, they always react and correct the problems.  I believe their reputation for policing their accounts keeps the real scammers away.  There will always be errors and misunderstandings and the communication correcting them can become confusing at times.  But the firmness and decisiveness of ebay usually creates an equitable solution.  And like has been said, your own research and caution can help avoid problems also.  Rick.

She may genuinely feel bad, but the bottom line is, she works for the person whose account ts responsible for this sorry transaction, and even if what she says is true, they should be held accountable for their lack of personal attention to your problems here.

You did all you could to give them a chance to rectify the situation and to show that they valued you as a customer, and personally--I myself being an ebay buyer--I would appreciate it if you WOULD leave them the appropriate negative feedback and have eBay investigate their business practices and suspend their business if necessary until they learn what it means to be a good seller.

I asked her if she wanted to pay to get her kit back. Check out this reply from the Seller:

It is okay :-)

You can keep the one you received.
Sorry i didn't ship the correct one at the first time..
even though it was my employee's fault, it is still my responsibility for that.
I would be just very very thank you and appreciate if you could leave me a feedback with good stars..
If you don't feel for 5 stars, just ignore my message.
I know you might feel unsatisfied for the transaction. So i don't force you to leave me feedback.
Again, very sorry for what happen.
Hope you like the other kit :-)
Have a great day
and hope to deal with you again

Dishonest much?

That's great, Griffin.

I would keep that kit regardless of what the seller responded--but my guess is that she/he probably won't. A little payback for your aggravation that you had to go through because of them.

I logged in to paypal tonight and my balance was up and the claim was closed. The refund wasn't in my history yet but I pulled my money just to make sure.

I have sent the seller an message asking if she would like to pay to have the incorrect model back but I'm expecting to be able to keep it.

If that's the case, I'll be building a 1:72 scale F-14 for the WingDings GB.

You can also call Ebay's Resolution Center directly and talk with a human being... I did just that with a kit I  bought and didn't receive plus, I'd forgotten that I'd bought it, and went well past the 45 days... I still got a full refund...

Griffin

I never received the promised refund. I opened a Dispute Claim in the Paypal Resolution Centre this morning.

Sorry to hear about that Griffin. My apologies for using your thread to encourage Cadet Chuck to use eBay.

Don't worry, you will get your money back. Ebay will withdraw the funds from the sellers account.

Cadet Chuck

Thank you, El Taino.  What you say makes sense, especially that it used to be about "look what I found in my basement."  I used that scenario to my advantage to gradually acquire a near-mint collection of vintage toy ray guns, including the metal "Buck Rogers" guns from the 30's and 40's, which you rarely see anymore, and if you do, they are rusted and pretty much ruined. 

I also scored on a lot of rare items tied to the childrens' sci-fi series shown on TV in the late 40's and early 50's, even a lot of toys that you would send for by sending in a cereal boxtop and a quarter.  Not many of those survived.

What I bought was not cheap, but in the condition they are, you won't find them available for sale today.  I guess a limited number of collectors, like me, bought up all the good ones and will be hanging onto them for many years to come.

You're very welcome Chuck, I just opened my inbox this morning to find out I won a Tamiya Bradley M2A2 with a Eduard PE set for $22. The PE set alone goes for around $15 after s&h

Feedback % is not enough, check your seller for neutral/negative feedback in the last 6 to 1 month. Sellers with a lot of listings per month, will tend to dilute their negative feedback in their final %. So check that negative feedback to see the seller's achilles heel.

Good Luck!

the doog

 

Good luck on getting your money back. Let's hope they find this fool and call him to account.

And the coloured girls go:

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo...

I bought about $ 120 worth of trains one time and they weren't the right railroad. Seller sez, keep em and I'll send you the right ones, and he did. Guess I way overpaid in the first instance, but it worked out ok. First models I ever stripped and repainted with AM decals.

eBay is a very good thing most of the time. We do ok in models, but where people really do get burned is on the "label" stuff like scarves, jewelry and clothing where the lack of authentic packaging isn't a give away.

It's a real shame that you had to get to this step, Griffin. Don't let it dissuade you from using eBay, though. I've had nearly 500 transactions, and never been "stiffed" yet.

Good luck on getting your money back. Let's hope they find this fool and call him to account. I would also contact eBay and file a claim/dispute so that they terminate his account and that way at least no one else will be ripped off by this goon!

I never received the promised refund. I opened a Dispute Claim in the Paypal Resolution Centre this morning.

Thank you, El Taino.  What you say makes sense, especially that it used to be about "look what I found in my basement."  I used that scenario to my advantage to gradually acquire a near-mint collection of vintage toy ray guns, including the metal "Buck Rogers" guns from the 30's and 40's, which you rarely see anymore, and if you do, they are rusted and pretty much ruined. 

I also scored on a lot of rare items tied to the childrens' sci-fi series shown on TV in the late 40's and early 50's, even a lot of toys that you would send for by sending in a cereal boxtop and a quarter.  Not many of those survived.

What I bought was not cheap, but in the condition they are, you won't find them available for sale today.  I guess a limited number of collectors, like me, bought up all the good ones and will be hanging onto them for many years to come.

Cadet Chuck

When EBay first started about 10 years ago, it worked great.  One on one, with honest buyers and sellers that you could communicate with.  Then it got complicated, PayPal got started, and other crooks got in the act to rip you off.  I haven't used it for many years, and never will again.

Then your missing out a lot. 10 to 12 years ago it was all about that thing I found in the attic or basement. If you were eBay, you knew it wasn't going to last long under this premise, so things would have to change. I'm a patient eBayer and I get the heck of great deals from individual sellers. As a buyer and as seller, I can tell you that this is the beast time to be an eBay buyer. Ebay and Paypal are more committed to a good buying experience and they have your back if something goes wrong.

However, as a seller, I don't feel that comfortable. Paypal randomly kidnaps your sales funds for up to 21 days until you actually mail the item(s) and provide the buyer with positive feedback and a delivery confirmation number. That bothers me as a seller, but I don't worry that much because I list something for sale every blue moon.

Give them a try.

I got a reply to my last email:

hello i am sorry for late reply. 

i will do full refund on monday. 

i am very very sorry... i was really sick for three days...

i apology and please understand. 

if i dont make refund til end of monday, plz escalate to ebay. 

thank you and sorry

7 days is only after the date of payment if no delivery date was provided.

I can make a claim any time now that I've received the incorrect item.

Edit - bbrowniii, I took your advice:

Dear "Seller's name here"

It has been over 48 hours since I replied (see below)to your offer for a partial refund and you have not replied to my counter offer.

I do not want to have to escalate this dispute. As this error is not my fault, I feel the only fair solution is for you to refund the entire purchase, including shipping. As I said before, you should also pay for return shipping, should you choose.

Please reply to me within 48 hours (9:00 p.m. MST on Sunday evening) or I will assume you are not cooperating and I will have to file a claim for Buyer Protection and will have to leave negative feedback on for this transaction. I do not want to do this, but I will if I must.

Please advise me as to which course of action you would like to follow.

Respectfully,

"My Name Here"

I guess I'll wait to see what happens. I can see Paypal making me send the item back on my dime in which case I'll be out $10+ and have nothing to show for it.

I believe that you need to wait a full 7 days to file a claim. You should research it on the eBay forum to be sure?

Either that or initiate a claim right now--the form you fill out tells you if you are within the time allotted, I believe?

Griffin

48 Hours - Is it time to file a claim?

You could, I suppose. Personally, I wouldn't... at least not yet.

I've only had a bad experience with E-bay once. So take my advice for what it is...

What I would do is I would send the original seller one final e-mail. Calmly and reasonably explain that you are not satisfied with their offer of a resolution and you will only be happy when you either get the kit that you ordered or a FULL refund. I'd also explain that I was concerned that my previous e-mail had gone unanswered for (at this point) 48 hours and if I did not hear from the seller within X time (you pick what you want: 24 hours? 48? it is up to you) I'd be forced to seek a formal resolution from E-Bay and PayPal.

Basically, I'd give the original seller one more chance to fix this, but at the same time I'd make it clear that this is the LAST chance.

48 Hours - Is it time to file a claim?

When EBay first started about 10 years ago, it worked great.  One on one, with honest buyers and sellers that you could communicate with.  Then it got complicated, PayPal got started, and other crooks got in the act to rip you off.  I haven't used it for many years, and never will again.

24+ Hours, no response . . .

Youre mare reasonable than I am man. 

I ordered a Star Wars kit off ebay for a groupo build here a couple years ago.  I never got the kit and had to go through ebay resolution center.  It turns out another guy from the same group build ordered the same kit.  We both got screwed. 

I generally have a good relationship with ebay but every once in a while you get hurt.  They do have a great resolution center though, just make sure you start it within their time limits.