OT: Sigh. Ebay buyers driving me to drink... - YouLookFab Forum

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OT: Sigh. Ebay buyers driving me to drink...

rae

(website)

Veteran

Dude. Seriously.

Pay attention to your delivery time estimates. I am not Zappos, and I don't pretend to be. You may think your package is weeks overdue, but in reality it is not scheduled to get there that fast. Don't unleash the beast within at me when the package isn't even late yet.

Remember that Ebay sellers are regular people! Great, you asked where your package was. I explained about the shipping times and said I'd contact the post office. Why on earth would you email me less than 24 hours later asking for an update? And then file a complaint the day after that without giving any time to respond?

What. The. Heck. I swear, people can be so horrible sometimes...

General

30 replies

Latest reply was from Isabel

Heather

Veteran

Giant Hugs, Rae. Golden Rule, right?

Jem

Veteran

I used to sell alot on Ebay, so I know what you mean! Hopefully the package will arrive soon, so you don't have to deal with this person anymore.

Mochi

Veteran

Argh. I wouldn't have the strength....soon they'll be out of your life!

Queen Mum

Veteran

good grief. We just can't handle a little waiting as a society anymore. We want it and we want it yesterday.

Jyoti

(website)

Veteran

Oh noez rae! The internet is filled with silly, silly people who don't understand there are human beings sitting on the other end. xD

I once had a craptastic ebay seller though-- I sent something to my boyfriend and forgot to list his apt number which is totally my fault and it was returned to sender-- but in following up (...weeks later), he told me the package was sitting in a house he didn't live in anymore and he'd send it when he could be bothered to go pick it up as it was an inconvenience for him to finish up the transaction.

I wish you were my ebay seller all the time, lol! I know I'd be way happier with ebay that way!

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

ugh.

I just print postage right off my computer that gives them a free tracking number. "Where's my stuff?!" *points* "Looks like Kentucky."

Meredith1953

Veteran

Hopefully you will never have to deal with him again!

rae

(website)

Veteran

Yes... one way or another, it will soon be over. At least, it will be 45 days after they decide to escalate the case to Ebay for resolution. I am happy to work with nice people if something gets lost in the mail, but I think I'll make this person wait it out. -_-

Jyoti, I'm sorry to hear of your experience. I have had some of those, too, so it really does burn me up more when I try to give good service and get a lot of guff back. I hope you have better transactions in the future, should you decide to buy again.

Nicole, part of the problem is that USPS has been getting super duper lax with scanning in packages for tracking! If you ever notice sellers putting in their listings that "tracking numbers are really just delivery confirmations" or something similar, this is what they mean. I understand the frustration, since it looks like I never sent the box, but really... I can't control the postmen.

Maybe I should just charge $$$ for shipping and use UPS... but then no one would buy, right?

Oy.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

A few years ago I sold some dvds on Ebay. I made a big point of writing they were coming from Israel and would take a bit longer (in truth they all arrived within 2 weeks). If I recall correctly, every single one of my buyers complained about the time. I stopped selling on ebay after that.

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

Rae - oh yeah. I know all about that. My small town post office is really good about making sure they scan the bar code for me but i had a busier post office in the past when i lived in a different town that was horrible about doing this. :-/ Hang in there!

ironkurtin

Veteran

The post office has gotten terribly bad about this very recently. I used to be able to track things to the day. Not so anymore! I got home today to FOUR boxes and stinkeye from my beloved.

I have had some horrible, horrible buyers too. It makes me glad I do not work in retail and just sell once in a while for "fun"!

RandomThoughts (Andrea)

Veteran

I know what you're saying, Rae. I sold a little handbag on eBay. Little black and white dealie. Buyer was very rude, said she thought it would be bright white but it was more of a soft white/bone color. I clearly stated no returns on the auction.

I decided to refund her because I just didn't want to deal with the hassel. When she asked for shipping too, I told her to fly a kite.

OTOH, we just purchased a tablet from eBay. I paid immediately and eagerly awaited it's arrival. it was a day or two late according to the delivery estimate but I figured USPS... not exact. The seller then contacts me stating that he is out of state (apparently he lives in Seattle), and why had I not come and picked up the tablet? He wouldn't be back in the city for another 2 or 3 weeks so I could wait or have a roomate leave it in their carport. (!!!)

Uhm, WTF? I _paid_ for shipping. Never said I wanted to pick it up and why did he wait until he was ALREADY out of state to contact me??? After having to chase him around a little bit he finally arranged a pick up time with his roommates (no way was I comfortable with his leaving it out where it could get stole, or "stolen"). He's yet to refund my shipping. Grrr.....

Julie

Veteran

Lack of patience seems to be the in thing, these days. A friend from Ireland stopped in to visit me on her return from the US, and remarked, "I reckon those Yanks stand in front of microwaves screaming, 'COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' ." Sadly, I'm starting to see Canadians in some of the bigger centres starting to do the same thing. Relax people, the sun will rise, tomorrow.

Cheers
Julie

rae

(website)

Veteran

Andrea, that's just awful! I bet he wanted to do a pickup only listing and simply filled out the listing details wrong... still lame of him not to own up to it - and um, not contact you to schedule a pickup right away, if that's what he thought was going on. Have you filed a Paypal claim for the shipping fees?

Julie, that's too funny - and true! Especially in traffic. o_0

As an update, I replied to the case. Explained that, yes, in fact I did reply to you. Yes, in fact, I did update you on the shipping status. Well, the buyer has closed the case for now and said she feels really bad about it and had just forgotten that I emailed her. Whew... now I can stop shaking my fists in the air and start praying that USPS doesn't lose her bag.

ironkurtin

Veteran

I remember my "favorite" ebay transaction, where the seller accused me of being a liar and a bad person and creating some sort of great sweater conspiracy to deceive her about the sweater she had purchased, which was *obviously* not a woman's sweater (?) and *obviously* not cashmere (although the label said so) and which her husband said was ugly (oookay...). She went on to say if I took it back she'd buy more from me. Gee... big incentive.

And her final feedback was, "Great item! Will be back!" Don't do me any favors, crazy lady!

Lisa

Veteran

Sorry to hear about your frustration Rae. I recently sold some items on Ebay and not one of the buyers ever bothered to rate me as a seller. I don't have many ratings anyway (since I don't sell on Ebay often) and now Paypal contected me stating my rating is too low in transactions so my funds will be held for 21 days. I have positive ratings for all my selling but since not many people rate, I don't have many ratings. So frustrating!

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I feel for you. I have a doozie right now. A dress I sold before we packed for the move was not paid for. I finally opened a non paying bidder case and waited to hear any response. Days passed and nothing, and so I packed up the dress with all my worldly belongings to drive across the country. Guess who finally pays the very first day we hit the road?? Yep, now the dress is under god knows what in the back of our truck here in South Carolina. My BF says if she waited a week to finally pay, she can wait a week for us to get home and unpack to ship it. I know he's right but part of me really has the urge to do the right thing and start digging it out. Sigh.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Mo, I think if you let her know there's a delay your bases are covered. Have a great trip!

Mo

(website)

Veteran

IK, I emailed her 3 times about paying, and timeframes due to my upcoming move. Not one response from any of them. So I guess technically I'm covered, but I have this nagging 'do gooder' gene or something rattling loose LOL.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Yeesh, how I wish there was still a buyer rating system! I just don't understand the fact that buyers have no built-in checks and balances in Ebay.

I think you are in the clear, Mo. You don't need any more stress during a huge move like this.

Fruitful

Veteran

Lisa, I feel guilty now *off to leave Ebay feedback*

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

Lol Fruitful.

Sometimes i think buyers feel a sort of position of power on Ebay ever since they changed some rules around where you can't leave anything but positive feedback for them.

Jjsloane

Veteran

Thank you for confirming why I have been avoiding ebay (and my garage is piling up with "stuff") I once was tormented nonstop by a person from Japan who insisted I must sell him my purple Renaissance cape even though I told him I do not ship internationally. I could write a book with his replies and pathetic begging for the item. I had to block him. I'm sure your buyer will relax once they have their item, but it is annoying they are pestering you.

Fruitful

Veteran

Nicole, I think some people are definitely like that.

Unfortunately I'm not - I put off leaving feedback because I was unhappy with how they squashed my shoes when they packed them. I never leave negs though, so I just gave them a 5 star rating and wrote "thankyou". Sigh. I know that's not helping them improve, I just feel there's so much potential for misunderstanding I don't want to say anything inflammatory. If buyers check all my left feedback they'll know "thankyou" means "meh" compared to my normally gushing feedback...

Mander

(website)

Veteran

Funny how a little documentation can make people back off. I hear similar kinds of tales a lot from my friends who are teachers -- people claim that they handed in assignments or what have you, complain to deans and heads of departments because they didn't receive an instant reply to their 3am email, and so on. Yet somehow they seem to slink away under the "oh, I forgot" excuse when their impatience and/or lies are documented...

I often feel limited in leaving feedback, too. It's such a stupid game on Ebay's part -- you basically can't say anything negative, because of retaliatory bad feedback, which then makes people afraid to deal with you. It's one of the reasons why I only buy small stuff from ebay. At least if I lose out on a transaction, I'm not losing much.

Isabel

Veteran

I agree with QM. Everything has to be instantaneous - THEN add to that the we feel we can exude control over someone' s life by affecting their reputation and you get self-absorbed crazies.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Fingers crossed the parcel arrives soon so this person is out of your life Rae!

ironkurtin

Veteran

Another ebay story... I sold something, they paid, I shipped it out, then my mother in law died in an accident. In the whirlwind after that, I paid NO attention to anything that had to do with ebay.

I get back home and the buyer has written in my feedback, "I PAID ON TIME AND NEVER GOT POSITIVE FEEDBACK - WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?!!!!" I contact the buyer to explain that I had a death in the family, and that "never" was going to end in about 5 minutes.

In return, I get a rant back that "we all have lives, leaving feedback is just common courtesy!"

Maybe she missed the part about how my mother in law DOESN'T have a life anymore? Whoever this person is, their life must be very empty if they're hoping for instantaneous validation via ebay feedback scores.

rae

(website)

Veteran

IK, that is beyond disgusting! I would have reported this person to Ebay for misuse/being abusive through the emails. Grossly insensitive. Either that, or I might have completely lost it and replied with a mad string of expletives.

One of my close friends missed my wedding because she needed to attend her aunt's death rites. No problem. That kind of thing trumps all - yes, including Ebay feedback that can be given at pretty much any time... SO sorry to hear about that horrible buyer; I think karma will get her, though.

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