posted on September 2, 2000 05:27:11 PM
We sold a pair of earrings for $9 on July 25th. I received a personal check in the mail from her with complete payment and shipped it to her on August 2nd. End of transaction? No!
I received an e-mail from her on August 15th where she stated that she had not received the item and was everything alright? She also included her shipping address again, but this time it was a different street number than what was on the address check!
So I sent her an e-mail outlining the situation that we had sent out the order to the only address she supplied (the payment envelope had no return address on it anywhere and nothing else came with it). I gave her a complete description of the package and how to go to the post office and inquire about it. End of transaction? No!
Today, on September I receive another e-mail from her. In it, she writes this message:
" Have you had any luck finding my earrings? If they were insured, I assume they can be traced, as I mentioned in my last note. I've been waiting to hear back from you before I leave you some negative feedback. I thought you would have written back to me with some news by now."
Now , you could correctly argue that she was simply mistaken in that I'd do some sort of postal trace, as it had never been requested of me. You can also argue that at this point, it would have been worth it to simply send another one to her to satisfy a customer. And you would be right. Almost.
The problem that I had with this was that in my previous reply, I twice mentioned the address to which we had shipped it to, the only address that she supplied. You know, like," Your order was shipped out to you on August 2nd, 2000 by insured first class mail to the following address:" and then the address that we did ship it to. What I saw was that in her newest email, she had hit the Reply button to send to me the last email. It was a copy of my letter that I sent, except the address that we said we sent it to was altered to the new one!
So, in other words, if we refused to replace the item for free or refund, whatever, she would somehow use the forged email against us! To me, that smells CROOK! She had also edited out all of the text where I explained how the check address that she gave was the wrong one. I wasn't dealing with an honest person, I was dealing with someone who made a mistake, but then wanted me to be responsible for it!
I know that some folks on here may think that I go Waaay overboard on taking my business seriously and some have laughed in the past here on AW about how I suggest to use your flatbed scanner to copy each check and money order Just In Case. Well, now I whipped it out and made an image scan of it and sent it off to her along with some suggestions that included getting the Postal Service to conduct an investigation as well eBay Investigative services to help her out. J
The sad part of this is, is that if she had tried to tell me the truth from the start, such as, "I am sorry, but I gave you the wrong street address and I am not able to retrieve it. Is there something that you could do for me, pretty please?" You know, if that had been her approach, I would have just sent to her another one. But after the negative feedback threat in her letter along with sending me an altered email of ours, I just can't condone this sort of behavior from anyone and I'll take the hard road every time if it means defeating this sort of nonsense.
I am sorry for the length of this post. I just wanted to point out to you how important that it is for every Seller to keep an up to date Shipping Log and to make a copy of every paper payment. Please think about it.
posted on September 2, 2000 06:32:18 PM
This is a simple reason why I ask buyers to send an address lable which can be pre-printed or hand-printed and legible by the PO and me. Have never had this problem as I tape what they send on the package. If it is by a payment service (Paypal) it can be verified by both the email that is sent and on the Paypal site. Try this and avoid this type of problem....I have never had one complaint and many say "what a great idea". This ensures that you want to be accurate and it gives them some type of feelings of saety.
posted on September 2, 2000 09:17:21 PMnowwhat: The address was incorrect only in the sense that it was an old address on the check, not their new one. So it would have gotten sent to the old address first.
What I didn't mention on that in the first post was that both addresses are on the same street in that city. The old street number started off with a 7 and the new one starts off with a 49. Across the street and two houses over??
Obviously, there is some major dispute going on between whomever is in her old house and themselves and is trying like hell to drag us into the middle of it - and not honestly, either! I just want OUT of it!
I have gone so far to write to her again and offered on Tuesday to ask the Post Office if we can do anything for her. Yes, another $9.00 item sent to her might, and I mean might make her drop the matter. But I have seen people get a replacement, then keep harassing for the one that never came. (not with us, fortunately)
So, with few options and a severe inclination to not get anymore involved than I have, i.e. we sold her the item, I am doing what I can to get rid of her and her problems that she has created for herself.
