posted on February 12, 2003 11:04:49 AM new
I am a small seller trying to make a buck or two on Ebay from home (ever since I was hit by a truck crossing the street) and have had a perfect FB record until now. I have FB of 395, with 458 positive (I have a number of repeat buyers).
I knew sooner or later I'd get a nut though. Bidder on an under $5.00 item won't go get a money order and says I must take a personal check and says she is honest. I explain that although she may be honest, I have been burned by those in the past who said they were as well when taking personal checks, and please abide by auction terms. I also gently explain Ebay rules & guidelines, and that she might want to take another look at them. She gets huffy, tells me to "lighten up" and says doesn't want item anymore and won't pay.
I cooly say fine, I'll follow Ebay guidelines in the matter. She runs right over and negs me, saying I won't trust her to mail a $5.00 check. Fine.
I NPB'd her as a no-pay. Will file FVF when time comes. I negged her stronger than she did me, but not in a retaliatory manner. It reads:
WARNING!! Did not pay. Attempted to change terms after auction end + attitude.
The reason I am posting here is I did not personally have the reaction I expected to getting a neg. I have tried to build my positive FB so hard, I thought I would be upset. I wasn't. I have realized in reading the boards here that no matter how honest a seller is, no matter how much attention is given to detail, no matter how cordially you treat every customer, even when they are acting like an A$$, you will eventually get negged!
I actually laughed when I read it, because I know I did not deserve it, and that she could not hurt me. It wasn't even as negative as I had expected, with the attitude she'd had in her emails.
I felt as though I had earned the "red badge of courage"!
Fluffy the Wonder Cat? Are you out there? You may be amused to know that when I checked the buyer's other feedback, most of her other infrequent purchases were for inexpensive jewelry! Having read your recent post about your customers made this particularly funny!
Thanks,
Patty
[ edited by meadowlark on Feb 12, 2003 11:06 AM ]
[ edited by meadowlark on Feb 12, 2003 11:07 AM ]
posted on February 12, 2003 11:26:34 AM new I explain that although she may be honest, I have been burned by those in the past who said they were as well when taking personal checks.
Never ever get into this at any time as its a lost cause.
Best to just say that checks are not in your payment tos and please send a m.o. per your tos. Then take it from there.
Your response was fine as it was to the point.
posted on February 12, 2003 11:41:58 AM new
You did the right thing. It's your auction under your terms. She knew before she bid. All you need to do now is block her if you haven't already.
posted on February 12, 2003 11:45:24 AM new
Meadowlark...Don't forget to block her from bidding on future items you might have up...Ones like her do irk you but don't let it bother you, you did ok on your end, she's a creep...I have 381 positves and I await the first neg from a nut similar to yours...I know it'll come eventually and don't know how I will react...
posted on February 12, 2003 11:58:57 AM new
Meadowlark, good for you! You have a good attitude about this. I have about 500 +feedbacks, no negs, 2 neutrals which were stupid. I HATED the neutrals but have gotten over it now. I too know that sooner or later I'll get that first neg. Some you win, some you lose.
posted on February 12, 2003 12:21:30 PM new
I once had a customer email me to say that since I had no negs, he thought it was suspicious. No one could be on ebay for a few years and get over 100 positives and no negs, he insisted. Well, about a week later I got my first neg from someone who claims I never sent the item even though I sent her a tracking number and it showed that the item had been delivered. I responded to her neg with a link to a page on my website that showed the deliver confirmation notice. I then got in touch with the first customer to say I now had a neg so I was trustworthy. He ordered over a thousand dollars worth of stuff. About a week later ebay contacts me to say that it is against their rules to have a link in feedback and they have therefore removed all feedback, the neg she gave me and the positive I gave her. Fortunately, my customer decided to go ahead with the order despite the fact that I was now suspicious, due to my perfect rating.
Of course, it didn't last. A deadbeat didn't even wait for me to neg him. He immediately gave me a neg and wrote "bad didn't pay." My only response was to point out that he was the buyer and I was the seller.
Unfortunately, the rating system is far from perfect. The problem is that sellers need positive feedback to get bids. Buyers can come along with new IDs every day. I wish ebay had the feature Yahoo did where you can block bidders with 0 or less from even bidding. I really feel bad for new sellers who get undeserved negs when they first start out.
By the way, the original buyer who called me a crook later emailed to say that she learned her ex-boyfriend had taken the delivery and stolen it. I still think that once I sent her the DC number and it showed delivered, she had no call to claim I never sent it.
posted on February 12, 2003 01:48:35 PM new
There are mean people out there. I also started selling on ebay in March because of pregnancy complications. In August I ended up finding out I had an ectopic/tubal pregnancy and went into emergency surgery for a partial hysterectomy the same night. I was on complete bed rest for 4 weeks. I could barely get out of bed as I was on HEAVY drugs for the pain and mostly slept all day. I tried to have my husband send emails to my ebay customers, but several gave me negative feedback although their items were delivered and also given partial refunds for the delays. It sucked to get 9 negatives so quickly. Especially since I work so hard to make all of my customers happy, even losing money at times. I too have had people claim non-delivery, but I send all packages by UPS or Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. Still sometimes they pull that trick. Since the negatives I have had over 100 positives, and it does not seem to have as harsh of an impact as I had expected.
posted on February 12, 2003 04:39:31 PM new
Dear all,
Thanks for your support and suggestions! I forgot to mention I did block her as a bidder and blocked her email address as well.
(Sigh of relief!)
Patty
Edited to add: I did state in all caps in my TOS that I don't take persoanl checks. It is the only part of my listing in all caps.
[ edited by meadowlark on Feb 14, 2003 02:50 PM ]
