posted on April 21, 2001 09:58:14 AM new
Any advice about my current situation would be greatly appreciated.
I am a seller from Canada and sold a widget to someone in the US. When I submitted the auction to eBay I included general information of what I knew about this widget but soon found out that many people were asking "Is this type X of the widget (cheaper version) or type Y of the widget (more expensive version)?". At the time of submission I didn't know but after all these questions I soon found out and added it 4 days before the auction close to my description (I had already received bids on the item) - it was a 7 day auction.
A bidder contacted me and asked me a few questions about the item and he knew it was widget X (the cheaper version). After his questions were answered he became the highest bidder. About a day before the auction ended there was a new high bidder (he only had to bid an additional 2.50 above the previous high bid to become the highest) and he won the auction with no new bids on top of his. The bidder did not ask any questions before bidding. The item sold for about $60 more than you could get it on the cheapest mail order website and about $20-30 more than you could get it on most other websites but in the category I sell in this happens quite often.
Anyways the buyer has received his item and now accused me of fraud because he thought it was widget Y (the more expensive) and he found out he could get the item cheaper elsewhere. He also stated that the goods were scratched (which they were not when I packed them and I am sure of this as they were brand new). Needless to say he wants his shipping and the rest of his money back.
He did purchase insurance (at my insistance) so perhaps a claim can be made for the damage (but I doubt it as I would think the item would have to be totally trashed for that to happen). He has also threatened a negative. I don't have a return policy stated on my auction and I'm not WalMart as I'm a very part time seller so I can't be soaking up huge losses.
I feel that if insurance covers some of it I will accept a return if he covers shipping. I feel it was his own fault as he didn't read the description. I don't have a ton of text in my auctions and just state the facts in big text with a picture and to ask any questions before bidding in bold. I also included a picture which an educated buyer would be able to tell it is widget X not widget Y. I have nearly 100 all positive feedbacks and if I wanted to rip somebody off I could have done it a long time ago with much higher priced items.
Any advice? Thanks.
[ edited by chris97 on Apr 21, 2001 10:00 AM ]
posted on April 21, 2001 10:42:59 AM new
In my opinion you are NOT obligated to take this back. You could, of course but I don't think you have to by any means.
But if the picture is clear enough to show that it was the item X, and not Y, there is no recourse.
As for damages, the insurance will investigate the damages. Because it is probably not badly damaged he is unlikely to make a claim, but it is up to him to make the claim. Most people who lie about damage don't file a claim because you normally have to file an affidavit and perjury is a crime that can lead to jail time. (That's why you need to file police reports for auto accidents to make a claim)
By threating negative feedback he is guilty of
Feedback extortion - Demanding any action of a fellow user that he or she is not required to do, at the threat of leaving negative feedback. ("Even though it didn't reach reserve, sell it to me for my bid or..."; "Pay me $100.00 or I will..."; "Sell me all of the Dutch items or I will get all of my friends to..."
-- http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/investigates.html#feedback
and can be dealt with by them. Forward all emails to [email protected]
The person is probably upset they overpaid and are trying to take it out on you.
"Ebay is like a game, sometimes you win by a huge margin, and other times you lose by an inch."
posted on April 21, 2001 10:56:31 AM new
I don't think you are going to like my suggestions, but I have been where you are now. I have discovered adding to a discription after bids are received is risky business. Not everyone will see the addition. Some will have placed it on their watchlist and really never read the ad again. Just place their bid last minute. To say bidders should read carefully and ask questions BEFORE bidding is a valid point, but unfortunately when key information is left out of the ad, I think you invite misunderstanding. That is obviously what happened here.
You might want to consider, smoothing ruffled feathers by apologizing for any misunderstanding, but point out nicely that you had added the information well before the close of the auction so to accuse you of fraud is not fair. Then you might want of offer him a partial refund (the difference between what the cheaper model usually goes for and what he bid). Nobody can make you do that of course. You can refuse take your NEG respond to it that you had amended the auction but that the bidder had not read or asked questions before bidding.
If this buyer is reasonable, he will take the partial refund. If he is not, then you probably should not allow it to be returned, take your NEG and respond, buyer misunderstood ad, refused the offer of a partial refund.
If your feeling very generous, just accept it back refund the price/shipping and take the loss. No guarantee you still will not get a NEG, but you can then respond the buyer misunderstood the auction, money was refunded-not much more you could do.
posted on April 21, 2001 01:19:08 PM new
I have had one experience in this line.
The buyer was very nasty and claimed fraud.
Fortunately, I had the PO clerk examine the book before shipping. He gave me a letter on Po stationary stating the condition.
In retrospect--I should have paid more attention to the brief letter from E Bay.
Eventually I recieved a e mail from some insurance agency saying they had paid a claim. There was no reference to E bay at all. AFter that I recieved a very harsh
letter from E Bay. I think that Ebay is too willing to beieve anything the buyer says.
Now, I place a Return policy note in the
description.
abe
I sent to Ebay the evidence showing pictures and the letter from the PO. Never heard from Ebay.
