posted on August 26, 2002 06:34:15 PM new
Since we seem to be encountering many adherents of the eBay Deathly Illness Excuse, We've decided to put together some helpful hints for deadbeats who would like there to be half a chance of their preposterous excuse being taken seriously. These are of course based on actual customer experiences.
1) Never offer your psychic services for sale on eBay while emailing your sellers to tell them you've been hospitalized unexpectedly "for an indefinite stay" and therefore cannot make good on your bids. We realize you think your sellers are as dumb as a bag of hair, but a few of them know how to use Seller Search. FYI.
2) You could claim that you can't pay for your recent bids because your husband is a firefighter who was disabled on 9/11, but check the calendar first, sweetums. He woulda been disabled when you bid, no? (Not to mention when you bid on those 36 other items.)
3) Wailing "But all the OTHER sellers believed me when I told them my husband had a heart attack last week!" is not a recommended approach. Following up to claim that paying for less than $10 of goods will cause the electricity to be shut off might *seem* like a heart-rending plea, but check first to see if your seller lives in the same region. It's possible she actually knows the utility company won't shut off residential power until the bill goes unpaid for six months.
We hope these tips will inspire the ambitious deadbeat to come up with more creative eBay DIEs.
posted on August 28, 2002 08:55:18 AM new
Sounds good, Fluff. I got two deadbeats right now who haven't contacted me nor paid. I ran some 99 cent specials last weekend and they both bought quite a bit. Now comes time to pay. Today I went in and checked out their feedback. I don't know why I didn't do it when they were bidding as I usually do most of the time - just got caught up with the scene I guess. Found out both of them have a lot of feedbacks but one has 4-5 bad negatives and the other has 6-7 negatives. Other than those few negatives, they have extremely great feedbacks. Why me! I have another one who I discovered found a bracelet almost exactly like what I was selling only 50 cents cheaper so she opted for the cheaper one. She had already bid and won on mine. I only have a few days to go on the nonpaying bidder process to get my fees refunded. You said once before that you cancel bids on anyone with a -1 feedback. How does one do that? There are only 3 reasons you can give on that cancellation thing, which one do you put for getting rid of bidders? Just curious. I always end up blocking these people, but need to get them out of my hair before that even begins. Thanks!
posted on August 28, 2002 09:14:42 AM new
Pat, what the cancellation page says is:
"Here are a few examples of a legitimate cancellation:"
Examples - not that those are the only reasons for which you can cancel a bid.
But rest assured that eBay did not accidentally word it the way it is worded - I'm sure lots of people don't see their "reason" listed, so let it ride - to their detriment, and eBay's enrichment.
1. Never follow the seller's TOS. Never contact the seller within the specified time limit, and never mail payment within the specified time limit.
2. Never respond to the seller's EOA. Pretend you don't exist.
3. If you are a high FB deadbeat (they do exist), always forget to include the seller's ZIP or Postal Code on your payment envelope ... that'll buy you an extra few days.
4. After excuse 3 has expired, refer to fluffy's tips.
gc2 ... check out the thread titled Bids "Administratively cancelled" for no reason in the Policies/User Agreement form on ebay ... there appears to be another way to cancel bids that is a bit scary.
posted on August 28, 2002 03:39:00 PM new
I received an email today from a bidder who was over 10 days late with payment. This reply was in response to my friendly reminder, I didn't get your payment yet email. This is the quote verbatim, I did not change a thing
===="Sorry - I thought I had mailed it out, but if you haven't received it, I
probably dreamt it! Payment is in the mail."
Yeah, and I also dreamt I left negative feedback.
Today from another late payer
===="I won this auction on August 20. I was checking today to see what items I still had not received and this was one of them. Then I could not find on Paypal or Billpoint where I had paid. Have you received payment from me on this item?"
Perhaps you should have checked to see what items you didn't pay for. (Note: Paypal or Billpoint was not a payment option either)
Oh what a month I have had!! Is there a full moon somewhere?
posted on August 28, 2002 04:34:24 PM newPerhaps you should have checked to see what items you didn't pay for.
Oh Xena, you have my sympathy. I get these winners all the time; those well-organized folks who can't figure out if they paid and if they did, how. So they want us to figure it out for them.
I console myself by thinking that at least they've mentioned payment, unlike those (apparently) drowned bidders who vanish without a ripple right after the auction ends.
posted on August 30, 2002 05:30:16 AM new
oprmond2000: And that is why no one should waste a moment of precious life worrying about feedback...or about anything that is out of your control.
