posted on January 29, 2001 11:36:26 AM new
Looks like I'm getting retaliated on for all of the NPB's and Negs ~ someone out there in Cyberspace is contacting my high bidders and saying some pretty ugly things! The bidders who seem to be getting it are Newbies. One bidder forwarded it to me last night, another e-mailed me this afternoon questioning me!
This is what the e-mail says:
I wanted to warn you about this particular seller. I purchased several pieces of clothing and was horrified at the condition in which they arrived! They stank of cigarette smoke and, even worse, what I believe to be cat urine. I requested a refund and was even willing to pay shipping back but they refused and threatened me with a negative! I just thought you should know the kind of person you're dealing with.
What Crap! And the writer knows it! Fortunately, my bidders see right through it!
I sent the info to Safe Harbor, now what?
I just sit while this creep tangles his web?
If you've been there, please help!
Thanks!
[ edited by chepistar on Jan 29, 2001 04:46 PM ]
posted on January 29, 2001 11:41:11 AM new
I found out that my bidders were receiving email from other sellers. They were bad mouthing my items. I decided to make my auctions private and that solved the problem.
posted on January 29, 2001 12:09:52 PM new
The first thing I would do is see if the person sending these emails is registered with ebay. If so, just turn them in for auction interference. Most likely they are not going to make it that easy for you.
You might consider addressing this in your TOS. "If you have any questions regarding my customer service, take a carefull look at my feedback. Someone who claims to be a former customer is contacting my current bidders, if you bid and receive one of these emails, please let me know."
I would be hesitant about bidding on a private auction unless there was an obvious reason.
posted on January 29, 2001 12:25:22 PM new
Have you contacted your high bidders yet with an e-mail letting them know that the allegations are not true, that you've contacted E-bay's safe harbor, that if they received a message they should either let you know or forward it to safe harbor, and reassure them that this isn't how you conduct business?
As a buyer I'm used to getting garbage e-mails from the competition and I just disregard them especially if the seller has been around a while and has really good feedback.
posted on January 29, 2001 12:26:46 PM newpopnrock
weren't you bombarded with questions as to why the auctions were private? Are your auctions still private now? thanks!
blondesense
Last night I did a search on the bidder ~ no bids had been placed on my auctions or any other for that matter. When I went to ID the person, the handle came up as "never registered" ~ first time I had seen that!
The whole thing is just so odd ~ the first time I thought it was a bottom feeder trying to get my high bidder to retract and win for a low price ~ it was a pretty hot auction (ROXY jacket) starting at $8.16 and closing over $60. Todays e-mail was in a totally different category (maternity) so I have to assume this is someone I negged, NARU'ed, or NPB'ed. Retaliation sure is ugly. No wonder seller's don't like to leave feedback. Had others done it before, this creep wouldn't be bugging my bidders!
This is a copy of what I sent the concerned bidder ~
Hi xxx!
Thank you for taking the time to contact me! It appears that someone wants you to retract your bids so they can win the xx for less! Someone out there is playing dirty! For your piece of mind:
(1) I do not smoke
(2) My cat lives outdoors.
(3) I did a Search ~ that user ID has never bid on or won any of my auctions or, for that matter, any auction on eBay.
(4) I leave feedback upon receipt of payment ~ it is not possible for me to threaten with a neg AFTER items are received! ALL of my bidders receive feedback prior to getting their package.
Thank you for taking the time to read my feedback ~ with over 800 transactions, I have negs left by one bidder ~ she retaliated on the negative I left her.
I appreciate your sending me the e-mail, I have forwarded it to Safe Harbour at eBay ~ bidders should not have to tolerate that kind of nastiness! I'm sorry someone did that to you! eBay is a place for fun! Thanks for helping to keep it that way! Best of Luck to you!
Regards, chepistar[/b]
any input out there? thanks again!
[ edited by chepistar on Jan 29, 2001 04:50 PM ]
posted on January 29, 2001 12:30:17 PM newsid
I run about 40-60 auctions a week ~ right now I have 40 with active bids. The person who is doing this seems to be targeting the newbies. Should I really contact all of the active bidders? yikes!
posted on January 29, 2001 12:35:55 PM new
I made my auctions private to protect my customers from spam and to keep my competitors from emailing my bidders. No one has questioned me on it. Not all of my auctions are private.
posted on January 29, 2001 01:27:10 PM new
Chepistar-
People who do this don't use their registered email address. If you have a forwarded copy of the email sent to the bidder(s), look at the headers, and the email path by which the email was sent, and trace it back to the origin. Then take that address (which might be different than the address it was sent from) and plug it into eBay. If you're lucky, the person might not have 2 completely different email accounts, just 2 different addy's from the same ISP.
posted on January 29, 2001 03:54:13 PM new
so...Guess What!
Apparently my harasser lurks the threads... ROXANNE
Glad you've gotten a bit more direct with your approach .... how about instead of playing these immature games you just e-mail me and let me know what's going? Since I have (1)never heard of you, (2)never shipped to you, and (3)none of my bidders have ever complained about the condition in which product was received.
Which laws are being broken? You would need to advise legal counsel for that but a start would include harassment, libel, slander, as well as several internet violations such as spam, etc.
[ edited by chepistar on Jan 29, 2001 05:14 PM ]
posted on January 29, 2001 05:11:00 PM new
I bid on private auctions. I like them. When the auction is private you don't get a bunch of spam from people selling similar items or accessories for what you bought. I feel it is the seller protecting the bidder.
