posted on August 26, 2003 08:27:00 AM new
How does this letter sound to you? I sold a Brighton bag recently and yesterday I opened my door to find a UPS package there.
Upon opening the package I realized it was the bag I had sold with numerous pages copied from the auction and her explanation that it was not in the condition she was expecting and she wanted payment returned in full.
Now MOST of the time I am very very nice and I have refunded some auctions when I thought there was a reasonable explanation for it. This time I think it was just "not her style" and it's buyers remorse. I thought about loaning her the pictures for her to use on an auction to resell it, but then I said the heck with it. Anyway, here's my letter to her. I really wanted to tell her I am NOT WALMART, but I think I have restrained myself from that.
"Carol:
I was just flabbergasted when I opened my door yesterday and this package from UPS was sitting there. You did not inform me you were sending this back, in fact, I have not heard from you other than you filling out the checkout. In other words, you have made no attempt to email me or contact me in any way, at any time since, during, or before the auction ended. On checking back over everything I do see where you said you “were not aware the bag had a large flap until you won the bid” on the Vendio checkout page as a note.
On the bid history it shows you placed your bid at 8:22:46 PDT. The auction did not end until 10:09:04 PDT. That shows me that you had plenty of time to see what you were bidding on and to retract your bid if you placed it in error.
There were plenty of photographs to show in detail what you were bidding on and in what condition it is, and I also did not receive any “ask a seller a question” emails from you at any time.
It is not up to me to decide what you want to bid on, I did not force you to place this bid, however your bid and your subsequent payment was a binding contract.
Unfortunately I do not have any more Brighton bags for you to “apply your bid to a different item” as you put it. You are more than welcome to sell this bag for yourself on Ebay if it was not the style you wanted. It was not misrepresented as far as the condition and everything is advertised “as is”.
I am sorry that it is not the style that you prefer but I have no recourse but to return this to you since you bid on it, paid for it, and received shipment of it. I am forwarding Ebay all copies of communication from you and my communication to you.
Please be aware of the realities of buying on an auction site. I realize that you do not have a very high feedback number although you have been a member of Ebay for quite some time. You should always communicate with your seller, asking all questions before the auction ends and be sure that you are completely satisfied with the item condition, the shipping costs, and anything else you might need to know before placing a bid. Most sellers do not have an endless supply of any one item, and although some items are new with tags, most are not. You might do better shopping at a local retail store where you can actually see for yourself what you are buying and with a liberal return policy."
posted on August 26, 2003 08:41:29 AM new
glassgrl,
Sorry this happened to you! The nerve of some people! Okay... about your letter.... first of all, very well written. But, I do have a few questions.
1) You say that they had time for a bid retraction. I thought eBay recently revised their policies so that you could not retract a bid if it was placed 12 hours before the end of the auction. (I could be wrong... but you might want to check it out)
2) You say that you will be shipping the bag back to her. Should you be responsible for paying the s/h fees for this re-shipment? If I were you I would be tempted to tell her you will ship it to her when $x.xx is received to cover the s/h (same as your original charges. Then... tell her if you don't receive the additional funds by a certain date you will be glad to accept the bag as a gift from her to you. (legally I believe you've upheld your end of the transaction by shipping her the item... you're under no obligation to accept returns or reship items that have been returned without permission)
3) Do you have any stated return policies in your auctions? If so... stick by them and enforce them to the letter. If not... you might want to stick something in your TOS to prevent return problems in the future. (not that anything would have stopped this wacko!)
yes, I do have a tos that states "as is". I have refunded some auctions however, except for the guy that bid on something, modified it, used it and then wanted his money back. That's the 1 neg I have from that transaction.
I don't know about the bid retraction thing, I've spent the morning wading through Ebay buying and bidding polices and such to print out what she needed to see as far as bidding etc.
As far as shipping, I'm going to call UPS and see what their policy is on accepting delivery of something I didn't order that showed up on my doorstep. Otherwise it's going right back to her and if it comes back again, then it will be mine.
Since she placed her bid DURING the last 12 hours, she would have had one hour to retract her bid. Although.... technically she wouldn't have any valid reason to use the retract bid feature.... Hope that helps!
posted on August 26, 2003 09:37:42 AM new
Cool, UPS said since I didn't "order" the package that they would come pick it back up tomorrow. She sure wasn't out any $$ on shipping it to me since she shipped it through her offices UPS account.
I think I like that guy's TOS "You bid, You win, You pay, I send, You receive"
posted on August 26, 2003 10:34:46 AM new
how did she pay??
if she paid with credit card and did a chargeback,and said she tried to return it but you refuse,you could lose the chargeback and she will get to keep the bag.
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
posted on August 26, 2003 11:29:34 AM new
Maybe she was merely acting like a man?
From a recent thread
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CBlev65252
posted on August 15, 2003 08:58:17 AM
You are right, Roadsmith. The men in my family would spend like crazy (Home Depot, Guitar Center, Best Buy) if I didn't pull in the rope. They think about bill paying later when the utility company comes out to the house to shut it off. In fact, that's what I thought had happened yesterday. The bill was late and I thought our power was cut off. Boy was I relieved! I promptly nagged Ken and the bill was paid this morning.
Cheryl
Power to the people. Power to the people, right on. - John Lennon
-------------- sig file ----------- He who angers you controls you
posted on August 26, 2003 01:03:29 PM new
glassgrl, I always try to think what companies like L.L.Bean and Lands End would do about a customer like you have. In my auctions I say "all auctions 100% guaranteed to be as described or your money back less shipping cost" I get very few returns doing my auctions that way and I stand behind my auctions 100% in refunds for any reason less shipping cost. It works for me with very very little trouble from customers.
posted on August 27, 2003 06:40:17 AM new
I believe that all PayPal payments come thru as instant payments. There is no way to distinguish between CC payments, PayPal balance or Checking Account payments. I think the only way that shows differently is e-checks, and then you are notified and have to await clearance.
posted on August 27, 2003 06:43:13 AM new
Iris is right - all of my PP transactions come through as "instant payments" except the echecks and they show as "pending purchase"...I am sure the majority are credit card purchases.
