The Ultimate E-Bay Seller's Travesty.....Buyer Misconduct (1 Viewer)

[PanzerAce1944]

This story is very true and quite amazing. Back on the 4th of July I sold a spare of a painted figure that I had. The buyer bought and paid on the 4th and I shipped it
on the 5th of July. Figure was sent to Germany to this buyer. On the 12th of July the buyer filed a claim with E-Bay complaining that the customs form tracking info
stated item in Chicago 7 July 2012 and he has not received his item.Obviously en route overseas !!!! Of course E-bay holds the funds from me to investigate and after taking a photo of the proof of shipping with my and the buyers name and sending this to them, E-Bay ruled in favor of the buyer because the tracking info did not update from being in Chicago 7 July 2012. I E-mailed the buyer after he got his full refund and asked him if he was going to notify E-Bay once the item was delivered to his address. So the next thing that happens is he leaves negative feedback for contacting him after he got his refund. So the buyer in Germany has my item, has my money, and to top it all off leaves a negative feedback on top of it all. E-bay's answer to all of this is to side with the poor innocent buyer. I told the E-bay rep on the phone this was the last time that I do business with them as the whole episode is robbery, lying, and a slap in the face to boot.

 

[Aussie Monty]

This story is very true and quite amazing. Back on the 4th of July I sold a spare of a painted figure that I had. The buyer bought and paid on the 4th and I shipped it
on the 5th of July. Figure was sent to Germany to this buyer. On the 12th of July the buyer filed a claim with E-Bay complaining that the customs form tracking info
stated item in Chicago 7 July 2012 and he has not received his item.Obviously en route overseas !!!! Of course E-bay holds the funds from me to investigate and after taking a photo of the proof of shipping with my and the buyers name and sending this to them, E-Bay ruled in favor of the buyer because the tracking info did not update from being in Chicago 7 July 2012. I E-mailed the buyer after he got his full refund and asked him if he was going to notify E-Bay once the item was delivered to his address. So the next thing that happens is he leaves negative feedback for contacting him after he got his refund. So the buyer in Germany has my item, has my money, and to top it all off leaves a negative feedback on top of it all. E-bay's answer to all of this is to side with the poor innocent buyer. I told the E-bay rep on the phone this was the last time that I do business with them as the whole episode is robbery, lying, and a slap in the face to boot.

Hi PanzerAce1944,
Little I can say to that one, other than "WHAT THE F@#!"
Can you send me a PM with the eBay name of the buyer so I can ensure I do not deal with such a person.
The world is full of them these days, I am sorry to say.
Thanks
Monty

 

[ChestersRonkonkomaNY]

I used to ship $100,000 worth of product through e-bay a year. Always got screwed in such deals when the buyer did something fraudulent.

 

[Gideon]

I've been pretty lucky. I've had a few overseas buyers try to pull this but when I've called into eBay, they've reversed the issue. Including having two negative comments deleted due to buyers who were being jerks. What I have found is that its important for all communication about an item be discussed using the ebay message system. this way, ebay reps can read the emails back and forth and determine the intent of the people involved. I never, ever communicate about an item sold on eBay outside of the eBay message system. Never by phone, never by personal email exchange. Only on eBay.

 

[PanzerAce1944]

I've been pretty lucky. I've had a few overseas buyers try to pull this but when I've called into eBay, they've reversed the issue.

I called in too 3 times and no luck.What was your technique ???

 

[theBaron]

...What I have found is that its important for all communication about an item be discussed using the ebay message system. this way, ebay reps can read the emails back and forth and determine the intent of the people involved. I never, ever communicate about an item sold on eBay outside of the eBay message system. Never by phone, never by personal email exchange. Only on eBay.

Very wise, Gideon! I follow the same practice as a buyer. I have a CYA gene.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Iron Brigade]

This story is very true and quite amazing. Back on the 4th of July I sold a spare of a painted figure that I had. The buyer bought and paid on the 4th and I shipped it
on the 5th of July. Figure was sent to Germany to this buyer. On the 12th of July the buyer filed a claim with E-Bay complaining that the customs form tracking info
stated item in Chicago 7 July 2012 and he has not received his item.Obviously en route overseas !!!! Of course E-bay holds the funds from me to investigate and after taking a photo of the proof of shipping with my and the buyers name and sending this to them, E-Bay ruled in favor of the buyer because the tracking info did not update from being in Chicago 7 July 2012. I E-mailed the buyer after he got his full refund and asked him if he was going to notify E-Bay once the item was delivered to his address. So the next thing that happens is he leaves negative feedback for contacting him after he got his refund. So the buyer in Germany has my item, has my money, and to top it all off leaves a negative feedback on top of it all. E-bay's answer to all of this is to side with the poor innocent buyer. I told the E-bay rep on the phone this was the last time that I do business with them as the whole episode is robbery, lying, and a slap in the face to boot.

Hello "PanzerAce1944":

Ah, I feel your pain! Alas, in 2011 I had a six auctions deal with same buyer in England go bad due to damage claimed by buyer to part of shipments to him. I found out the hard way that eBay in the UK is a separate entitly and eBay in USA could not help me. The people in the UK screwed up and they said I still owed some money in addition to the $391 I paid to buyer after the USPS Insurance check was received by me. Dealing with the eBay in UK was bad news and I found out that the seller in USA has to file claims, not the buyer. After this case and remembering the here and there complaints by non USA buyers of their high customs taxes which they want me to help them with by filing false US Customs Forms and the high cost of postage I decided to never list anything on eBay beyound the USA. As the old saying goes, "once burned, twice smart". Since July 2011 the eBay in the UK has sent E-mail messages asking for the money I do not owe and so far nothing negative has happened to me. I did keep my eBay account dormant for nearly a year after the problems I had in mid 2011.

"Iron Brigade"

 

[tdubel]

Unless it is a repeat buyer from overseas, I will not ship using first class mail. I ship Priority (better) or Express (best) when going overseas. This eliminates all foolishness and if it does get lost, easier to collect the claim.

I recently told a newbie from an overseas country to p-off (ala Gordon Ramsey for you Master Chef and Kitchen addicts) after he complained prior to bidding that the shipping was too high. I merely explained the Express mail route, then he insulted me, now I have blocked him from bidding. I was able to nip this problem in the bud so to speak.

Selling for me is a hobby and the minute it becomes annoying, that would be upsetting, therefore, I employ a couple of logical practices like the above and that elminates 99.9% of the issues.

TD

 

[ostrein]

Sorry to hear this PA. It always makes me really mad when I hear such stories because without sellers in the US I wouldn't have the collection I have now.
Everyone should know by now that you have to pay about 20% customs and import fees.

I only wish that when I find my next treasure on eBay US the seller does ship to Germany.

Oliver

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Unless I know the buyer, I ship only to Canada/USA with a tracking number, insurance and delivery confirmation. That's the way ebay must want it by the way they treat sellers and charge fees on shipping and those shipping costs are very expensive for international shipping.

Terry

 

[PanzerAce1944]

Thanks for all of the words of advise and encouragement guys. Its too bad the one time I decide to sell something in months I get "BURNED" :redface2:
E-Bay sent me a customer service questionaire and I blasted them on it. No seller rights or protection whatsoever !!!!

 

[Gideon]

I called in too 3 times and no luck.What was your technique ???

well, all packages leave here with delivery confirmation at the very least. all communication is routed through the ebay message system. i remain polite yet assertive in all potential issues. i confirm a lot of what people are communicating to me which sometimes leads them to slip up in future messages and/or draws out a nastier side of them. once the deed is done, i can dispute it better.

i have lost one item not as described case and a few other disputes by doing the above. the only negative which stuck was with a real sob who didn't pay till i opened an unpaid case. he told he was going to leave a negative so i refunded his money and sold the item to the under bidder. so, at least, i got the positive from the under bidder to negate the negative from the first. man he was a jerk.

 

[Gideon]

also, i've begun to do a lot more deals outside of ebay due to all their newer rules and regs which run against a positive selling experience. anytime i give any sort of refund, even for shipping, i have the buyer cancel the transaction with me so that i don't get billed for the amount i refunded. ebay can't give partial final value fee credits. so they lose out. to bad for them. i do this religiously now. they've gotten that bad.

further, anytime I build something for a client, a piece of furniture, sconce, shelf, anything - I invoice via paypal as a service not a product. not sure i would do that with pre made goods but I do that to help protect me in case of a dispute.

 

[PanzerAce1944]

Thanks gideon ! If I sell again on E-Bay it will remain U.S. Only !!! and with delivery confirmation, insurance.

 

[wayne556517]

Thanks gideon ! If I sell again on E-Bay it will remain U.S. Only !!! and with delivery confirmation, insurance.

Hey where all not bad people out of the US........................^&grin

 

[David Pirie]

Seller misconduct.

I've had two bad experiences with sellers, one in Canada and one in France. On both occasions I bought product at a very good price ,tto good to be true in fact. The seller from Canada boo-hooed that he couldn't sell, loved the product yadda yadda so I took pity on the jerk and cancelled the sale. The Frenchy said he broke the item putting it back in the box. I smelt a rat and said i didn't care, I'd have it broken and yadda yadda, he couldn't it all fairness sell it to me. I'm keeping an eye on both sellers and if i see the items again I'll do something they'll regret.

So buyers and sellers both can be unscrupulous but karma has a way of sorting them out.

 

[Mitch]

Why do something you regret. I have steered clear of e-bay for a long time because of all the bad press and, only recently allowed myself to join it and sell some stuff and buy a good bit. Its obvious there are as many bad sellers as there are bad customers but, if someone did not want to sell something to me after I won it no biggie and move on. If they relist then rebid and mess with them that way by winning it again.

I had a women I won an item from say it was posted it never turned up and then went all around the doors with excuses in the end she said another seller actually had here item listed as the box looked identical!!!! I waited and then got a full refund for non delivery. Looney tunes sprung to mind.

You just have to watch out for the crackerjacks as with anything, its a crap game and you take the chance you will have no problem but, its bound to happen
Mitch

Seller misconduct.

I've had two bad experiences with sellers, one in Canada and one in France. On both occasions I bought product at a very good price ,tto good to be true in fact. The seller from Canada boo-hooed that he couldn't sell, loved the product yadda yadda so I took pity on the jerk and cancelled the sale. The Frenchy said he broke the item putting it back in the box. I smelt a rat and said i didn't care, I'd have it broken and yadda yadda, he couldn't it all fairness sell it to me. I'm keeping an eye on both sellers and if i see the items again I'll do something they'll regret.

So buyers and sellers both can be unscrupulous but karma has a way of sorting them out.

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Yes, this has happened to me as well. The common misconception most people have is that the number issued by the USPS is a tracking number, it is not. It is a delivery confirmation number. It is not scanned a every point that the item is processed through the system like FedEx and UPS does. Most of the time it is never scanned again once it leaves the US. I have had numerous customers contact me that they haven't received their items, and the tracking number shows their item stuck in Jamaica NY (the departure point for international mail for my area). I then have to explain how USPS scans packages. 99% of the time the items do arrive, but I know I have been scammed on a few occasions. The cost of doing business overseas, and the last time I allow that person to shop on my site or buy my items on eBay. eBay will only back the seller if they use USPS Express Mail, FedEx, or USPS which they consider to be an actual tracking number. Theses services are just way to costly to use. An another problem is that the estimated delivery times that the USPS lists on their site are way short of the actual delivery times. 1st class mail is more like 3 to 4 weeks from my experience. Priority mail averages at least two weeks overseas. Germany by far has the worst customs agency of all the countries I ship to. If a German customs agent opens your package and sees something they do not like they will either send it back or most time just throw it in the trash. How do I know this ? Because one of my good customers use to work for customs. If you have ever bought a Dragon German action figure that is the reason that they cover the uniform insignia with black tape, German customs even tried to have US customs pursue a complaint with me because I shipped German flag toppers that had swastikas on them. The matter was dismissed because US customs told them to go scratch. So I'm sure that they're would be a few toy soldier items that they also may not appreciate

 

[wds0855]

I have stopped selling outside the Continental US years ago. Too much hassle. And everytime it only got worse. Finally came to my senses. For anyone else still willing to go the extera mile, good luck.

Walt

 

[MarkeytMaker]

Unless it is a repeat buyer from overseas, I will not ship using first class mail. I ship Priority (better) or Express (best) when going overseas. This eliminates all foolishness and if it does get lost, easier to collect the claim.

I recently told a newbie from an overseas country to p-off (ala Gordon Ramsey for you Master Chef and Kitchen addicts) after he complained prior to bidding that the shipping was too high. I merely explained the Express mail route, then he insulted me, now I have blocked him from bidding. I was able to nip this problem in the bud so to speak.

Selling for me is a hobby and the minute it becomes annoying, that would be upsetting, therefore, I employ a couple of logical practices like the above and that elminates 99.9% of the issues.

TD

I have posted this numerous times and will do so again if it helps someone! I add to my item description that, "I allow bidding upon request for overseas buyers with 100% feedback". Once they request to bid I reply back with "I only ship USPS Express International", I also let them know that the average shipment for a 12X12X12 box is about $50-60 (could be more depending on their region)...every single time the person requesting to bid says that would be fine and thanks me for informing them upfront. Once they email me back I just add them to the bidder's exemption list. Shipments usually take 3-5 days

Markey