NEED TO RANT: Tell me I'm not being unreasonable, please . . .

[AngelBear]

zuse, what that seller is doing actually isn't allowed on eBay. You can't have multiple choice auctions or BINs.

I have gotten three other messages from this seller, each one a little more bizzare than the next. Luckily eBay has stepped in and I just have to ship the item back. Hopefully everything goes smoothly there. 

[zuse]

I know when I was selling on eBay I always felt a bit nervous because you always hear how biased eBay is towards the buyers. For example, a buyer can leave negative feedback on the seller but the seller can't leave negative feedback for the buyer.

But I got lucky and never had a crazy. My one problem was resolved very peacefully between me and the buyer.

I haven't sold in awhile because I haven't had the time. But I would still use them because even with all the fees the audience that eBay gives you for your item is unreal.

Anyways, around this same time I won two "wholesale" lots of older toys from a seller. I quickly paid. Soon enough my box came... and it contained the toys from two DIFFERENT lots. Someone else had also won two lots. So I just assumed that labels had been swapped and they had mailed the packages without noticing. I think the items I received were worth a bit less than the ones in the lot I had won and of course to be were just less valuable anyway because they weren't what I had won! So I contacted the seller and told them what I thought had happened. Supposedly they contacted the other buyer and that person never received anything. I think this was before the winner was anonymous and I also contacted the buyer. They apparently never received anything at all and were given a refund. Meanwhile, the seller ceased contact with me. I initiated a report that item was not received and Paypal/eBay closed it because they said the tracking number had been delivered to my house. So then I called them up and spelled out to them that it was a "Not As Described" and explained the situation. Eventually they told me I could pay to mail it back for a full refund. I eventually declined because it actually saved me more money to just relist the items on eBay separately but I still barely recouped what I spent. And that was a ton of extra work. I WAS SO MAD. The only proof they needed was that a box arrived at my house. They didn't care WHAT it contained. IT COULD HAVE BEEN BRICKS? I even sent them pictures from the auction and of my box and still they didn't help me at all. So I still think that the buyer gets screwed in favor of the seller and I've seen it from both sides.

[mouse]

I've been screwed over numerous times by sellers and once by a buyer (that wasn't so bad I suppose - I got a neutral feedback on a pick-up item and they didn't say anything was wrong with it at the time or message me after - and they said the item (a pram) was rusty but it was listed as used and that it had faults. I lost out over 60 on ebay once - a bought a wii game that stuffed up. Contacted the seller and they ignored me, did a dispute with paypal, posted the item back with registered post and then the seller claimed never to have recieved it and paypal wouldn't accept I'd posted it with tracking because for registered post you have to fill out a form asking if the number had been delivered and then wait for a reply back and they weren't willing to do that which was really unfair because technically that is still a form of tracking but they wouldn't refund me and I contact the post office and the seller had recieved the package. I was really po'd (as you'd imagine, and I'd spent like hours on the phone to paypal). I've also recieved things where stuff was missing (excuse by seller: oh I asked my daughter and it's only some small things that are missing, it doesn't matter) and a counterfeit item (why you think it had low starting, why would anyone start at that price if it was real) it wasn't a really low price and they took the picture from far away to conceal the fact that it was counterfeit. Why would anyone pay that much for a counterfeit item? I've had quite a few bad ebay experiences. Sometimes I've had to take a step away from ebay because I've got that angry about it that it's made me feel sick!

[Rider of the storm]

I do not buy on ebay some days I want to but thanks to you guys , I think I will stick to yard sales and try my luck at the thrift stores. I might be on ebay to buy some day but not  for now.

[AngelBear]

I just got an email from the seller and she now wants to send me the rest of the lot plus an extra item or two. She said she was sorry and felt bad about everything. I am sitting here trying to think what to do now. I already filed with eBay and boxed the items to go back but her message was pretty sincere. Guess I'll take the day to think about it.

mouse and zuse, I have been messed with a lot on eBay, but mostly as a seller. The worst was a lady from California who bought all the Berry Happy Home Playroom furniture from me for $550. This was before I was smarter so when she asked me to send it to another address besides the one on her account I did it. Long story short, she spent the next couple of weeks trying to con me out of a refund after claiming she never got it. Then paypal decided in her favor. I actually got the police involved and everything but in the end I was out my $550.

But Rider of the storm, I must say that the huge majority of buyers are nice and honest. But it's the few baddies that get you down sometimes!

[zuse]

Maybe she Googled herself, haha.

As for your previous horror story - yeah, that was a bad call but we all make dumb mistakes sometimes. I know I don't always think things through. But boy did you ever pay for it!

[EmBee]

Wow that's great AngelBear!  I'm so glad it got resolved.  I'm glad I was wrong about accusing the seller of being deluded.   

Well whether you choose to accept or not, I hope you're happy with the results!
-Em

[apanda0622]

I'm glad it looks like it is going to work out. 

I had a picture problem like this too.  I bought a lot of my little pony family with four members.  But then, I found it was only for the mommy.  The picture had the whole family, but the title said something like "my little pony bright bouquet family mommy"  So I figured "mommy" was a key word.  I was mad, but the seller cancelled the win, so it worked out.

I can understand the girl changing her mind.  I had someone buy a few boyds bears and the lady found some flaws I had never noticed (I had bought them used) and the flaws were so small.  I was mad at first, but then I thought about it, I didn't want to get a negative, so I gave her a refund.

[mouse]

Wow Angelbear you really did pay for that mistake! I know ebay and paypal policy pretty thoroughly now so I know what my rights are and how to avoid being scammed and stuff.

[AngelBear]

The funny end to that story of losing that money is that I remembered her name (it's a very unique) and googled it a couple of years later. Apparently she was thrown in jail for falsely accusing a California senator of dirty dancing in a video she posted on youtube. I emailed the senator and included all the case information and she forwarded to the FBI. Not sure if anything ever came out of it, but I suspected I wasn't the only one she'd scammed.

Ugh!

[natnolly]

EricaVee, I agree with you...
I would be so mad and puzzled at how anyone could be so DUMB.
I would do whatever I could to slander her as a seller.

[Ianua]

Slander is a crime ..... words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another.

So it wouldn't be slander because it would be true

[ianthe99]

I say take the extra stuff. It's good that she feels guilty for being so rude. Besides, it what she should have done in the first place. It doesn't say anywhere in the auction text that the other things aren't included..and there are lots of pics of them there. It might have been a mistake.. but it was her mistake. Least she could have done was be nicer.

[AngelBear]

The moment Paypal held the funds she got really nice. The other stuff is on its way now. Once I get it I will be cancelling the dispute. I'm not crazy mad or anything, I will just be happy to get what I ordered, even if everything in the lot needs some restoration.

[Venefica]

Good customer service would have been to send the other items in the picture, if something is in a picture which is not included it either have to be rather obvious, like a action figure standing on your kitchen counter it is obvious the frying pan in the background is not included for example, however if you sell toys and there are multiple toys in the picture the auction text have to be specific and say what is included in the lot and what is not. Your seller is in the wrong not you. Now the second best thing for her to do if she was not willing to send the other items along would be to offer a full refund, including for your return shipping along with a profound apology. The seller's behavior is unacceptable.

Now I do understand her reaction to a certain degree,  not that I support it in any way. Ebay have become rather hostile towards sellers, it is very easy for buyers to take advantage of sellers and that leave many of the sellers on edge. It is a real shame ebay works like that as I think there need to be a balance of power between buyer and seller.

I am also wondering how the seller found it to be obvious that a MLP was not a part of a Lady Lovely Locks lot. I mean I can tell the difference between a MLP and a LLL and so can probably every member of this forum, but someone just looking for some nifty toy for their child who did not have knowledge of the various 80's toylines would not be able to tell them apart just at a glance.

I am glad to hear everything worked out for you.