posted on August 26, 2000 01:13:49 PM new
I haved a buyer who said they were unhappy with a item that was purchased by them, complained it was not as represented. Trying to be a good and honest seller I told them to return and I would refund. Just received the item back it isnt the item I sent them. Its is an unmarked piece of jade-ite Fire-king ovenware, chipped and badly repaired. Mine was marked and no chips, which can be proven by pictures in auction listing which still remain.
I have never had anything like this happen to me before, what would you do? What would be my options at this point?
I definately would never try and sell such bad merchadise to anyone, and my feedback would definately prove I am a honest and good seller. Feedback isn't of importance as I will let my reputation stand for its self I have a little under 100 positves feedback no negatives. Buyer is new has 4 positives and no negatives.
Please give me opinions as to how to respond to buyer.
posted on August 26, 2000 01:20:05 PM new
Sticky problem!!
I would contact the buyer and refer him to my pictures, tell him he must have mistakenly sent me the wrong piece back, and say I am returning it. I would also nicely state that as soon as he sends me the item I sold him I will gladly refund his money.
posted on August 26, 2000 01:40:45 PM new
And if he gives you any grief then ask him if he would like to defend himself against a charge of federal mail fraud.
posted on August 26, 2000 01:48:29 PM new
Assuming you are in the right, there are two possibilities here:
FIRST - buyer made a legitimate error and sent you the wrong item buy mistake. she bids on alot of this stuff it Can happen. From my own viewpoint, chances of this are being right are pretty low.
SECOND - you are being victimized by a scammer. There are, unfortunately, alot of these popping up all over online. A few years ago, I was one of those who always stuck up for bidders. Now, though, there seems to be every bit as many dishonest buyers as sellers, and scams along this line are too common to be dismissed out of hand.
Refer the bidder to your pictures, ask for their response, and keep your fingers crossed. Sellers have virtually no defense
against dishonest bidders, so you may very well get an undeserved negative.
posted on August 26, 2000 01:57:54 PM new
Perhaps the buyer bought several pieces from different sellers and confused your item and ID with another seller. I've read that sellers sometimes send the wrong item to the wrong buyer.
You might check to see if the buyer did purchase any items similar to yours, even on completed auctions. If so, I would suggest emailing them and asking if they might have confused your piece with another seller's item.
posted on August 26, 2000 02:57:12 PM newI am sorry but I must return to you the piece of Jade-ite to you. It will be sent to you via Priority Mail with insurance on Monday.
As all of the pieces of Jade-ite that we sell are marked with our own distinct mark, I am assuming you accidentally sent me another piece that you own by mistake. When you locate the piece that you bought from us, please send it to us as soon as possible in order for us to process your refund.
That's the letter that I have sent when we had LPs returned that were not the ones we sold. It is short and sweet and does not accuse the buyer of any wrong doing. It also states that without your item, you will not be issuing a refund.
posted on August 26, 2000 03:39:22 PM new
thanks for your help, I can stand a neg when I know that in fact I am being taken. I really dont think some one would beleive such rubish, given the good feedback I have received in the past.
Here's the e mail I sent:
Dear Mr XXXX
I received a platter today via the us mail. There are a couple problems with the situation. Maybe you sent me the wrong platter, this one is not marked Fire-KIng as was mine.
This one does have a lot of marks on the surface which mine did not. Also this one has had a chip repaired on the edge of the end of the platter, mine was not! The picture is still in the auction page and it definitely wasn't not chipped, I will leave the picture there until the matter is solved.
I understand if you deal with a lot of packages a mistake could have been made in the return shipping. I will send you this one back, but it is not the one that I shipped out.
The only option I can give is to reship you this piece since it is not the one I had for sale. If you can send the correct one back I will refund.
posted on August 26, 2000 07:28:54 PM new
There are buyers who will bid on auctions for the express purpose of trying to replace damaged pieces they already own without paying for new pieces. When they receive the good piece they complain that the piece was received damaged. They keep the good piece and send back the damaged piece. Some of these scammers go as far as to smash the piece so the seller can't really prove it is not the same piece that was sent. I know a few sellers who deal in dinnerware that have buyers try this from time to time. There was one nortorious buyer a few years ago who tried to replace serveral place settings of a very expensive Wedgwood pattern with this scam. (I think it came out that she had dropped a box of her dinnerware and was trying to replace them for free). The buyer was NARU after a while.
I have also heard of some not so nice doll buyers who will bid on a doll and find some excuse to return the doll. When the seller gets the doll back it may have a ratty dress or no shoes when it was sent with a good dress and shoes.
Sad, but this happens. I wonder if your buyer had a damaged piece of Jadeite s/he wanted to replace ?
EDIT: These folks like to bid on mint or never used pieces. I guess if you are going to steal you only want the best.
[ edited by smw on Aug 26, 2000 07:34 PM ]
posted on August 26, 2000 07:50:41 PM new
Here is what I do I have a policy of never paying double shipping EVER .
If a buyer writes me of damage To a Item I never ask for its return I have started placeing my business name on my auction photos I ask the buyer to take a clear picture of the damaged Item in its Orginal package showing the damage as best they can.
and a picture of the shipping label with there address and mine attach it to an email and send it to my email address when I receive the photo I will refund partly or in full depending on the situation if it was many Items with just one damaged I would refund for that peice .
I never Refuse to refund for damage with proof but I will never ever refund for buyer remores excuses .
guess what I have had one complaint of damage on a batch of ceramics I offered partail refund for the damage peice with a photo the next day they wrote back and said it was ok they found the chipped part and would be happy with the peice makeing the repair them selves no refund was needed .
in any case I never take returns refunding payment and double shipping fees is a very unprofitable deal.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on August 27, 2000 07:56:33 AM new
I got a responce from buyer, and he is insisting the platter is the one I sent him, I know that isnt true as I very well know the items that I sell. I wouldn't even list stuff in such bad condition and no list chipped or broken in item description! As a matter of fact if an item is chipped I dont list at all, as it wont bring enough to cost the cost of listing!! I am really at loss as how to repond to him now, This guy is definately scamming to get a better item that the one he returned.
posted on August 27, 2000 08:11:24 AM new
Send him back the same message that dixiebee told you to give him:
"As all of the pieces of Jade-ite that we sell are marked with our own distinct mark, I am assuming you accidentally sent me another piece that you own by mistake. When you locate the piece that you bought from us, please send it to us as soon as possible in order for us to process your refund."
The key is "our own distinct mark" -- that could mean a special invisible mark, or the FireKing backstamp that you mentioned.
And hang tough.
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
posted on August 27, 2000 10:07:27 AM new
I have sent him the email with the above text . Hope this works. This is a real pain in butt knowing I am right and have little or no recourse. It is quite dishearting to have to deal with the dishonest people in the world today! This buyer has comitted mail fraud and if I am correct a seller cant file a complaint against a buyer can they. I will do whats necessary and go to great links to prove my honesty. When I am right I'll go down with the ship, defending honor!
posted on August 27, 2000 10:25:18 AM newWhen I am right I'll go down with the ship, defending honor!
Stick to your guns if you are 100% sure this is not your item. If they leave you a neg, simply reply that the item they returned for a refund was not the one you sold them.
Be sure and return their inferior piece to them and insure it. You may also want to be sure to get a signature that they received the item. This way you don't have anything that belongs to them in your possession.
posted on August 27, 2000 10:31:39 AM new
jfpnatl -
Stick to your guns! If you sent an unchipped FireKing platter, as shown in the auction, and they returned the chipped not-FireKing platter back, they don'tmdeserve a refund.
In the future, put something like this in the auction terms: "Items may be marked before shipment, in a manner that does not damage the item. To get a refund, you have to return the item I shipped, in the condition that it was in when I shipped it."
You can mark glassware with a splotch of WHITE tempera paint, then sign the splotch. Can't be tampered with or moved. Or apply a small blob of sealing wax and put YOUR thumbprint into it.
posted on August 29, 2000 08:16:21 AM new
I would deduct the cost of shipping back their wrong piece from the refund--it's not your mistake and it created more work for you.
posted on August 29, 2000 09:30:13 PM new
This happened to me with a Barbie Doll. The buyer emailed saying doll was crushed on side. She also said the doll was opened and the doll had obviously been pulled out of the box. I packed the box with a layer inside the box of cardboard reinforcement all the way around so I know this didnt happen the way she said. Furthermore I only have sold these that are mint and unopened. I told her the routine of going to PO as it had insurance with packing and everything. The packing had been thrown out she said and that was impossible. She said she was going to send it back to me. I told her great...I could always use a free doll for my kid as she was not going to get a refund. I thanked her and gave her the full run down of MAIL FRAUD and told her I would follow through with the PO for filing and then file a civil suit. Low and behold she turned around and said that she wouldnt deal with this anymore and it wasnt worth it. I also told her not to contact me any further with cc sent to ebay and never heard from her again and no neg. She had well over sixty at the time and she also left fb for others. This was quite strange but obviously an attempt at a swith-er-roo! Stick with it and DO NOT GIVE IN!!! I would also tell her the shipping charges to send the item back are do and payable within twenty days or you will dispose of it as you se fit. You are required by law to make a minimalistic attempt at no expense to you to return an item to proper owner when it is in your hands with proper notice. Email is considered proper notice. If she dosnet send you the money in that time toss it out and move on even if you have to with a neg!!!!
[ edited by hamburgler on Aug 29, 2000 09:34 PM ]
