posted on August 4, 2003 03:56:26 PM new
This is a very odd situation to say the least. I have been selling Steiff collectible bears for some time now with no problems and wonderful feedback on the transactions. I have sold quite a few of them and never had any problems until a few days ago. I had one buyer bid on 6 of the bears shortly after they were listed. Shortly after she placed the bids she e-mailed me a very long rambling e-mail that she should not have bid on the bears because they are "fake and not Steiff." She said they were "fake" because she couldn't find anything on the internet about them. I was out of town attending a funeral for 1-1/2 days but I responded immediately upon my return telling her that they are authentic Steiff but that Steiff had partnered with Enesco for this particular series of bears. I also told her that the auction still had 5 days to run and she was free to retract her bids. I was very nice to her and directed her to some of the Steiff web sites that would confirm that they are genuine. Well, she sent more rambling e-mails asking me to cancel her bids. I repeatedly told her to retract her own bids if that was her desire. I also gave her directions on how to do it but she said she was afraid it would affect her feedback if she did the retractions. After a number of more e-mails to me she then called my house and spoke with my husband. He said she rambled on for 15 minutes but he was very nice and he also told her to retract her bids. She still refused to retract her bids and of course she was the winner of the first of the 6 auctions. She paid immediately this past Saturday morning and then she left me feedback saying, " Very nice person, Thank you, made a friend, great product. AAA+++." I was shocked that she left feedback immediately after the auction closed. She paid at about 10:00AM and her item was shipped @approx. 11:45AM. She just sent me the following e-mail, " I purchased your first bear, because you were so nasty to me, and I am a catholic and don't believe in fighting, or hurting people, I wrote to you through ebay e-bay ask the seller a question, on July 31 the same day that I bid on these bears after I found out that they are Enesco bears, not Steiff bears, if they were true Steiff bears, they would be selling like hotcakes, and people would be bidding, after bidding after bidding. Also I tried to retract my bids so hard with e-mails, I want you to know that I went to true steiff sites and there is now mention of these bears, I went to Enesco, and they don't even talk about them any more. A true Steiff collectable would never sell for $9.99 or $20.00 especially if they are a $65.00 item each originally, and why would you be selling them so cheaply? You can do what you want, I even called you long distance, and talked to your husband about this problem, he was very very nice to me. Then you sent me all e-mails all at one time back to me, from the ask the seller a question e-mails I set to you, and you sent them late at night on August 1, almost at midnight of August 2, These are not steiff they are by Enesco, made by Enesco, so why don't you say made by Enesco with Stiffs OK to make these bears. I called a store in Boston, and they are not steiff made but Enesco made. You do what you have to do, but I am not buying any more of these after I realized that I am right. I have been on ebay for only not quite 5 months, you have a big business, and have been on ebay selling for a very long time. you know that I am right about these bears, and if I am not you prove to me that I am not. And not with a printed out page from a website that is selling them, I want honest to goodness truth in writing back to me. I have always paid for my items, if they are authentic, but I will not be fooled by an Enesco product, over Steiff product. tell me do you see everyone if they are a real Steiff collector bidding like crazy on your bears by Enesco, I say not, so what does this say, no one wants them, this is why they are so cheap in price, and you must have bought them all out from Enesco at a very low price, other wise you are losing an awful lot of money, wouldn't you say? You do what to want to me, as I do not care, there are other auctions online that I found, as of today I am closing out my account on ebay, for I am not going to by garbage and be treated like you have treated me with you terrible words, now it is my turn to let you know that you made sure to say Steiff bear and only once Enesco. I will not be fooled by you or any one again. Also you made sure you waited long enough to answer back my e-mails on ask the seller a question all at one time late at night, and then the next day have the ordosity to say, I sent you plenty of e-mails, oh yes almost 2 days later and 5 min. apart all at one time. Now you can take these bears and try to sell them and I can tell you as I am writing this that you will not sell them, because evidently the true Steiff Collectors are not stupid like me almost falling for it, because I never collected Steiff before, and was misrepresented. So make your day and go to town, having fun writing bad things about me, but you will get bad things back as well. What goes around comes around, and I left even after you mean ness to me a nice feedback , you couldn't even write one back for me as I paid you ASAP didn't I and didn't even get the product yet. Greedy people only see dollar signs, which mean more that people feelings."
Please believe me when I say that I was never nasty or mean to her. I was extremely nice and exceedingly patient with her. There were no bad things said at all! I have copies of all my e-mails to her and her numerous rambling e-mails to me. She even said she had received a negative from another seller because the seller said she had sent too many rambling e-mails.
Furthermore, my ads clearly state that Enesco and Steiff partnered with these bears. There is no deception whatsoever anywhere in my ads.
I have 2000 positve feedbacks and 1 negative feedback. I have sold over 100 of these bears without a complaint - just positive feedbacks about them.
Notice that she is also concerned that her package has not arrived yet since she paid on Saturday!!
How would you all handle this unfortunate situation? I see at least 5 negatives coming my way. This is really very distressing.
I just got 2 more e-mails from her saying how terrible and nasty I am. She now admits that she already received the bear sent only on Saturday but still insists it is a fake bear.
She has won another of my auctions but she said she will not pay for it. There are still 4 more that she is winning.
posted on August 4, 2003 04:04:39 PM new
She is a LOONIE !!!!! Cancel those other bids immediately and block her from bidding again. Let her out of the other auction that she refuses to pay for. NPB her if you feel vengeful or do a "mutually cancelled" if you don't. Tell her to send back the first bear and refund her only the auction price.
She is mentally unbalanced. The e-mails should have clued you. Whenever you get something like this in the future cancel, block and ignore. It will save you all the aggravation.
posted on August 4, 2003 04:22:22 PM new
Thanks very much for the advice. I will make her the offer and see what happens. I just got 2 more really bizzare e-mails from her and yes, she is unstable to say the least. I thought that after she paid for the first bear immediately that maybe she had changed her mind and really wanted them. What a fool I was! Do you think I should report any of this to E-bay?
posted on August 4, 2003 04:36:23 PM new
If you had canceled the bids there would have been no high drama saga. Now you now that there are loonies out there and it is best sometimes to cancel bids as soon as possible.
-------------- sig file -----------Growing older is mandatory. Growing up is optional. .
posted on August 4, 2003 05:58:17 PM new
What a nut! While you are canceling her other bids, make sure she is aware about the consequences of auction interference. I can picture this looney toons emailing your other bidders. It was so bad on things I was bidding on at one time that I added a line about auction interference not being tolerated in my auction terms.
I wouldn't take her comments to heart. Just cancel her, block her from bidding and put her on your blocked email list. That way, hopefully you will never have to hear from her again. Such a good Catholic!
Cheryl
Power to the people. Power to the people, right on. - John Lennon
posted on August 4, 2003 06:42:01 PM new
Ebay won't do anything. Don't encourage her by responding to her e-mails except as absolutely necessary to clean up this mess. Once that's done be sure to block her e-mails, too.
posted on August 4, 2003 07:22:15 PM new
A fire can not burn without fuel. It is wise to never write more than one or two emails over a dispute like this.
-------------- sig file -----------Growing older is mandatory. Growing up is optional. .
posted on August 4, 2003 07:37:11 PM new
What I would do is make a phone call and find out if someone else lives in that house. I know it will cost you but if there is someone else living with her they need to know what is happening. She sounds troubled and that's sad. Retract her bids for her, block her from bidding, help in anyway you can. This will save frustration on your side and probably hers.
How many bear auctions has she won by now? If only one and the rest are still going hurry quick and retract her bids.
posted on August 4, 2003 07:37:56 PM new
Thanks again for your comments. I did cancel all her remaining bids but before I could block her e-mail I got another 3 and all just as crazy or crazier as the other 12 previous e-mails from her. I sure have learned my lesson - guess I was a little slow on the uptake with this one but I really thought she had changed her mind. I am not even going to bother contacting her for the return with refund. She is now saying she used her sister's PayPal acct. because it was a gift from her sister. Before she said she buying things and putting them away for a future gradchild. I just hope this is all over with..Guess I am lucky though. This is really the first difficult buyer I have had to deal with. By the way, what is a Fluffy auction?
posted on August 4, 2003 07:43:39 PM new
We are talking about a seller who posts here as "Fluffythe wondercat". She's been blessed with a whacko magnet. But the good news is that she has the perfect professional personality to deal with them. Her posts about them are hilarious and you can always learn a new technique for dealing with problem bidders.
posted on August 4, 2003 08:23:44 PM new
Libra, though I know your intentions are good I will say that when you encounter situations with people like this it is best to move on right away and never go any further. It has a good chance of getting even worse.
I learned a lesson today and I will take my own advice.
posted on August 4, 2003 08:48:59 PM new
Check her FB, if she closed her eBay account it will say NARU, she can't leave FB.
File for FVF saying mutual agreement & you will receive your refund right away.
Crazy or not people like this are upsetting.
Good advice from Ace, don't fuel the fire by replying to her emails, there is really nothing more to be said.
Or, you could ask fluffy to help you with a response, no one could do it better.
