posted on July 1, 2003 06:08:32 AM new
Well... this is a new one for me... I received a letter in the mail today that said:
Re: WIDGETS Ebay. Check sent to you in April has cleared but no Widgets! Please send same or remit payment refund! Email to you has failed send current one to: [email protected].
(okay... I made the e-mail address up... but the rest is accurate) So here's my problem with this.... first of all, the letter doesn't reference any eBay number. Plus he used a generic term to describe the widgets, so they could be one of several hundred that I sell. Fortunately... my records let me search by e-mail address too. I finally find his auction. It describes that a Widget X closed on 5/12/03 (definitely not April!) and my records indicate that no payment had been received. On a hunch... I cross-check my un-identified payment pile. Guess what... there's an envelope with the same return address!!! The postmark is 5/24/03 (again NOT April!). The envelope had no correspondence... just a check. (which has NOT been cashed!) The check states in the FOR section that this is for a WIDGET Y (completely different item than the WIDGET X he won!) The reason this payment ended up in my un-identified pile was that I never could match his payment up with an auction for WIDGET Y.
So... my question is... how should I handle this? The guy has lied about when the payment was sent, lied that the payment was cashed, and doesn't even know what item he won! How do you think I should phrase my e-mail to him? (I have an idea... but thought I should seek advice while I cool down a bit...) Oh... yeah.. by the way, this is all over a $4.99 item.... gotta love those bottom feeders!!
posted on July 1, 2003 06:20:17 AM new
Calmly explain to him that #1 the auction closed in May; #2 you were holding his check because no auction number was referenced and since you sell a large number of various widgets you did not want to ship the wrong item; #3 Now that you know who the check belongs to you will send it right out.
You probably should have done this research BEFORE hearing from the bidder. If you had emails from him surely you had his mailing address to cross check against the check he sent you. If things did not match at that time, I surely would have emailed or written the guy (or even called him) to straighten everything out. While I think the buyer did a poor job on his end, I think you also dropped the ball. JMO.
Cheryl
My religion is simple, my religion is kindness.
--Dalai Llama
posted on July 1, 2003 06:46:16 AM newWhile I think the buyer did a poor job on his end, I think you also dropped the ball.
Well, that's breathtakingly unfair.
eauctionmgnt, this bidder hasn't acted in good faith. He sent a check that you could not cash. No auction number, incorrect description, omitted email address, etc.
Why should such a lazy slug benefit from the great deal he got when he won your auction? I'll bet that widget can go for more than $4.99.
I would tear the check up and return it to him. He did, after all, indicate that a refund was acceptable.
posted on July 1, 2003 07:00:20 AM new
Why should such a lazy slug benefit from the great deal he got when he won your auction? I'll bet that widget can go for more than $4.99.
///////////////////////////
BECAUSE HE EARNED IT THE OLD FASHION WAY,like jackwebb said,he won the auction because no high bidder show up!!
posted on July 1, 2003 08:20:43 AM new
Maybe I haven't gotten big enough to where I blow off even my smallest customer. You can always pull contact information. If you have his ebay ID, you can call him. I wasn't aware that no address was provided in the email. I always ask that the customer provide his or her shipping address in their first email to me. Most have.
Cheryl
My religion is simple, my religion is kindness.
--Dalai Llama
posted on July 1, 2003 08:30:43 AM new
This bidder has more red flags than Red Square in Moscow in the 80's. My advice is return the voided check to him and be done with the bidder and block him on your BBList.
I certainly do not blow off ANY of my customers! However... there's not much you can do for customers who send payment in this manner. I am not a mind reader. How can I pull up contact information if I don't know who's information to pull up??
Anyhow... the situation gets more interesting.... I decided to check his feedback profile to see if he's done this type of thing before... and it appears he has. He has a fair number of neutrals and negatives that basically say the guy is a nut-job.... including some mentioning that he has harrassed them. BUT... I found something even more interesting as I searched his profile.... he left ME a positive feedback for this very item the day after the auction ended! Now that I know I have nothing to fear from the feedback end... I think I am going to follow Fluffy's advice. This guy seems to have lost his marbles... and I don't want to take the chance that he's put a stop-payment on the check. With my luck, I would cash the check, ship out the item, then get a notice from my bank that the check bounced. Then I'd be out the item, s/h charges PLUS I'd have a nice little bank charge as well. No thank you!
Here's the message I think I will compose to him (after putting him on my blocked bidder list!):
To Whom it may concern:
About a month ago, I received an envelope from a XXX XXXXX postmarked 5/24/03 with a check and no correspondence inside. The check # was xxxx and indicated that it was for a WIDGET Y. I could not match this payment with any of my WIDGET Y auctions, and therefore did not cash the check.
Yesterday, I received a letter from the same XXX XXXX with a notification that a WIDGET X had been paid for in April, the check had been cashed, and a demand for a refund or shipment of the WIDGET X.
The e-mail address enclosed with this letter enabled me to search my records and find the auction in question was ebay item #XXXXXXXXX. As almost two months have expired since this auction has ended, I am cancelling the transaction. If you wish to have your check sent back to you, please send me a self-addressed stamped envelope. Otherwise, I will destroy it.
Anyhow... somthing to that effect should suffice... let me know if you have any suggestions on better ways to phrase the letter! Thanks for all your help!
[ edited by eauctionmgnt on Jul 1, 2003 08:42 AM ]
posted on July 1, 2003 08:42:44 AM new
Well, this is a problem that I am sure many ebay sellers have. Be calm, cool and collected about this. He gave you options so you can do what you want. Either send his money back or the widget but before that email him calmly and tell him of the problems. I know a $4.99 widget doesn't warrent a phone call but maybe it does as they might be repeat customers.
I don't understand why buyers don't send the auction notice or a copy of the email when they mail the checks. Even write the auction number on the check is fine but somewhere someplace an idea of what is purchased. It is their money and not putting any information to help the seller is just throwing it away.
posted on July 1, 2003 08:51:30 AM new
He gave you POSITIVE. Wheeeeeeee! That scare is a relief! Now just send it back to him and block him and that be the end of it. And THEN respond to his FEED BACK! And be SURE to tell the SELLERS how it was. Don't waste your time talking to HIM!
posted on July 1, 2003 08:56:50 AM new
CARP! I can't edit! Won't let me! I hate this! Oh well.
Don't even bother sending him any e mail and wasting more time. He kept YOU in the dark why bother turning on the lights for him. send it back, block him, and reply to his feed back. poof!
posted on July 1, 2003 09:26:06 AM new
eauctionmgnt: Your letter is fine until the last paragraph. By requiring action on his part, you are continuing to engage this person. Instead, your action should be swift, decisive, final and fair.
Return the check to him by snail mail. Enclose a note. Finis.
I appreiciate your advice, but I'm not spending even $0.37 on this loser. If he wants the check back, he can send me an stamped envelope for it. If not... what does it matter? I haven't cashed the check, so I haven't received any money from him (and he hasn't lost any money either). If he tries to engage me in further communication my next e-mail will be swift and to the point. Such as:
This transaction is over. Any further communication will be considered harrassment and the proper authorities will be contacted.
Sadly... I have had to use that one a couple of times in my eBay dealings... but it always works! So... thanks again for all your help! This discussion has helped me vent and deal with the problem!
posted on July 1, 2003 10:15:44 AM new
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Open Up! This is SQUARE TRADE! Our Dearest cliente claims you have ripped him off for $4.99. Answer to the charges!
please take as many HOURS as you need to complete all the necessary forms in triplicate to resolve this matter to the satisfaction of the plaintiff.
It would be SO nice to just have their e mail address, [ ] trade, send them a short and to the point e mail and forget it!
posted on July 1, 2003 10:50:16 AM new
My suggestion is this: tear up the check, and reply back to the buyer that you never received anything. This transaction is laying in wait, ready to jump out and bite you if you don't drop it right away. IMHO
"Who's tending the bar? Sniping works up a thirst"
posted on July 1, 2003 11:21:20 AM new
The 37 cents plus envelope is the cost of doing business.
When you get the letter from your state attorney general's office wanting to know all about this complaint lodged by your bidder, you will wish you had made that small outlay of cash.
I had a buyer who broke 1 earring while she was putting them on. So, so obviously her fault. She didn't see it that way. She pestered me daily in email, negged me, opened a Square Trade case, opened a fraud case on eBay, took the earrings to her local jeweler who told her they were not as represented*, contacted the postal inspectors, and filed an online complaint with the California attorney general's office.
Most of that I could ignore but the last two I had to respond to.
By the time it was all over (if it even IS all over, she still sends me email), I heartily wished I had just sent her her $6.00 back.
You say this guy is a known nutcase, but you won't spend 37 cents to remove him from your life. I just don't get that. Sorry. It's not a question of who's right and who's wrong or who should pay. It's a question of moving on.
*The earrings were peridots set in vermeil, which was sterling silver covered with 18k gold. The jeweler, she reported, said "It's 14k gold at best." Vermeil has a near-microscopic layer of gold; it could NOT possibly matter what the pure gold content was. That's how nutty this lady was.
I am not hotcupoftea on Vendio.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Jul 1, 2003 11:25 AM ]
I don't get it... I have an UNCASHED check. What kind of complaint could possibly be filed?!? To file a complaint you have to prove that some sort of transaction actually occured, don't you? I certainly didn't steal any money.... and the uncashed check is PROOF of that! If I send it back... where's my proof?!? I think I'm in a better situation this way.... and I'm gonna leave it like this.
posted on July 1, 2003 11:29:35 AM new
Sounds like fluffy makes a LOT of sense. You fight the idiot and YOU will lose. The nut cases know ALL the tricks!
posted on July 1, 2003 01:18:06 PM new
Imagine someone going to all that trouble over a $6 pair of earrings?
She's gotta be in the running for the " #itch Of The Year " Awards.
posted on July 1, 2003 01:35:12 PM new
Here is an option that won't cost you a cent. Write VOID across the check, scan it & email him a letter with the scanned check as an attachment. Then keep the envelope & voided check as evidence in case anything ever comes of this.
posted on July 1, 2003 01:42:06 PM new
I still say...don't do anything. Unless you had to sign for the envelope carrying the check, how can they prove you even received it?
"Who's tending the bar? Sniping works up a thirst"
posted on July 1, 2003 08:10:02 PM new
Go With Fluffy on this one.
Experience has taught me also.37 cents is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Make a copy of the voided check, a envelope made out to them, stamped and with a copy of the check thats says "VOID".If you should stick a note in with the voided check, make a copy of that also.
Take it to the PO and have them hand stamp your copy of the prove, with the date of mailing.
hahahha. ME? I? said that? I guess I did.
Sniping works up a thirst"