posted on July 19, 2004 11:36:30 AM new
I occasionally buy stuff on eBay myself, and have had no problems up to now. However, I'm dealing with a seller currently that is driving me nuts.
Last Wednesday I bought a DVD--immediately that the auction ended, I went to pay for it. It turned out that he has a check-out system through a third party. But I couldn't get it to work so, since the guy takes PayPal, I paid him directly through PayPal.
I emailed him to let him know what I'd done, and get an automated response that says: "Thank you for writing! Your email has been received and will be answered in the order in which it was received."
The next day I got an email stating that I must use his "click-out" system & instructions on how to do so.
OK...I wrote back that if he would refund my PayPal payment I'd try again to use his check-out system. I got another automated response identical to the above. But nothing else.
I wait for the PayPal reimbursement, but it never comes. Yesterday I get another automatic email: "You will receive reminder notices regularly from our system in order that we maintain communication. These reminder notices will be sent automatically and will stop once payment has been received and processed."
I got his contact information from eBay and phoned him (he lives on east coast) and left a message on his machine, letting him know that I would be happy to pay through his check-out system if he'd reimburse me, and asking him to contact me. That was yesterday morning, and I've heard zip.
Last night I went to PayPal, where I noticed (don't know why I hadn't before) that while my seller's email address was correct, that PayPal gave a different seller name. I contact that seller ID and ask if he got a payment that didn't belong to him--or if he has another eBay ID. The response I got: an automated email identical to the once I got from my seller: "Thank you for writing! Your email has been received and will be answered in the order in which it was received." But I have not gotten a live response from this person, either.
Now, it happens that my seller's ID is only a month old, though in that time he has gotten 475 feedback. I'm wondering if this is a second ID for the person PayPal sent my payment to.
In any case, neither of these sellers seems to actually read email and respond to it themselves.
So what can I do next? I'm getting very frustrated, and fear that I might also get slapped with an unwarrented neg.
posted on July 19, 2004 01:41:10 PM newLast night I went to PayPal, where I noticed (don't know why I hadn't before) that while my seller's email address was correct, that PayPal gave a different seller name.
It's the same person.
PayPal allows you to have multiple seller names and email addresses attached to your account but (rather distressingly) randomly uses them.
If I want to pay for an auction for my id honest-abe, if I'm not careful PayPal will send the payment as if it were coming from my id george-washington.
It's annoying, but it's been going on for years now.
Tell you what's REALLY annoying: I have to file a PayPal dispute for the honest-abe id for an auction item I never received, but PayPal insists on filing it as george-washington, who was NOT the auction winner.
I don't know how people cope with this. Any suggestions?
Anyway, back to your problem.
If this guy sells DVDs and has 475 feedback in only a month, he's awash in email. If it were me, I'd assume that he will get to me eventually. I would not send him any more email; I'd wait patiently.
--
[ edited by iareateacher on Jul 19, 2004 01:42 PM ]
posted on July 19, 2004 05:01:51 PM new
Gee, do you feel turned off by the eBay experience, yet? Oh, wait, you're a seller and you've learned to dance like a monkey for Meg the organ grinder. Don't worry, there are plenty of people out there that go through this type of rigamarol and just say to hell with it.
posted on July 19, 2004 05:07:06 PM new
Actually, I like eBay fine, with the exception of their messing with categories.
No, in this case it is the seller that is ticking me off. It's bad enough he uses one of those PITA third party check-out systems, on top of that he allows a machine to do his thinking for him rather than actually reading his own emails.
Edited to say: if he's so busy that he can't read his emails, then he's making enough to pay someone minimum wage to read them for him.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
[ edited by bunnicula on Jul 19, 2004 05:08 PM ]
posted on July 19, 2004 06:00:04 PM newEdited to say: if he's so busy that he can't read his emails, then he's making enough to pay someone minimum wage to read them for him.
I'm not defending this guy -- I don't know him -- but that's an awfully easy judgment for you to make from where you're sitting.
Let's review: You bought this DVD on eBay because....?
Because it was cheap. Am I right?
Competition in the DVD and CD categories being what it is I imagine the margins are very thin.
The other point I want to make is this:
He hasn't refused to answer your email; he just hasn't answered it as quickly as you would like.
I hate third-party checkouts as much as anyone (and I do not bid when it is clear I will have to submit to one), but apparently some people feel that that is the only way they can process a high volume of sales. They're probably right, for them.
posted on July 19, 2004 08:01:13 PM newEdited to say: if he's so busy that he can't read his emails, then he's making enough to pay someone minimum wage to read them for him.
I agree.
Six days have passed.
By now he should have contacted the seller or at least returned the Paypal payment. It's not the buyers problem he is so busy, it's the sellers & this guy can't even find time to return a phone call. At least he could respond to it with an email.
posted on July 19, 2004 08:48:20 PM new
This guy needs to be peddling his DVD's and CD's out of the back of a pickup at a swap meet or fleamarket. If he can't take the time to set up his business so as to minimize the need for a flood of nonsense email, and be able to answer the legitimate emails, especially one notifying him of a technical problem with his automated system, he has no problem being on Ebay. I would report him for invalid contact info.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on July 19, 2004 09:54:32 PM newBecause it was cheap. Am I right?
No, because none of the stores in my area are carrying it, actually. I came across it on eBay, it was closing that night, so....I bought it. Was it a bit cheaper than it might have been in a store? Yes, but then you figure in shipping, which negates the savings. I prefer to buy my DVDs in actual stores, though--I see 'em, buy 'em, go home & watch 'em. I buy a lot of pre-viewed DVDs from Hollywood Video, and have a bonus card at Best Buy which gets me $5 & $10 off coupons every month, too.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 19, 2004 10:00:13 PM new
I'm going to give him a couple of more days. Maybe he's going to go ahead and mail out my DVD & just isn't bothering to communicate that fact to me.
I won't be leaving a positive FB for him, though. The best I'll be able to do is Neutral. Despite this guy's high feedback, he's got to be one of the worst sellers I've ever come across. As a seller myself, I would never leave a customer dangling like this. And he's certainly lost me as a repeat customer--even if he put up something I was dying to have, I wouldn't put myself through this again. Nothing's rare, thanks to eBay, and I'd just have to wait a while to see another seller put up the item.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 19, 2004 10:09:58 PM new
I must just be hanging out in the wrong corners of eBay, though, since I never get shipping notifications.
I know when the guy has shipped because the package shows up.
Let's see, what did I buy in the last two weeks that I got no notifications for:
Certs for $100 off a 2-night hotel stay
Vouchers for free meals in Vegas
2 bras (different sellers)
A pack of men's briefs
And a whole bunch of other stuff that would identify me if I mentioned it
So, should I be pushing these sellers to email me when it ships?
I'm just wondering, since it seems an article of faith in these here parts that a seller must send such.
posted on July 19, 2004 10:21:52 PM new
Not every seller does, though many of us do. I would think, though, in an instance where there has been a problem that even a seller that normally doesn't would let a buyer know that the problem has been resolved.
eBay is an act of faith on the part of buyers. They send their money to people they don't know, who don't have the surety or reputatuion of a regular business behind them to lend countenance to them. Communication is the key to making it all work well on both sides.
I use a form email that gets sent out when I mail an item to a buyer, that tells them their item is on its way & that FB has been left for them. It's just common courtesy and, as a consequence, my buyers don't bombard me with "where's my item" and "did you ship it?" type emails.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 19, 2004 10:57:00 PM new
I ship about 95% of my items through FedEx Ground. Whenever I take a shipment to them, the first order of business when I get home is to email the customer and let them know I have received payment and shipped their item. I tell them when it is scheduled to deliver and give them the tracking number. It's a copy and paste fill-in-the-blanks-form that takes only a few minutes to send. The only thing that would interrupt this routine would be a massive power outage, a fire in the house, or a phone call from the State Lottery Commission asking for delivery directions.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on July 19, 2004 10:58:36 PM new
I always inform my buyers when I am shipping their items. It is call courtesy. If they have the time to pay for it I surely have the time to tell them I received it and when I am going to mail it.
posted on July 19, 2004 11:19:08 PM new
<<Let's see, what did I buy in the last two weeks that I got no notifications for:
Certs for $100 off a 2-night hotel stay
Vouchers for free meals in Vegas
2 bras (different sellers)
A pack of men's briefs
And a whole bunch of other stuff that would identify me if I mentioned it >>
Ummmm...If the bras were 32AA, I don't blame him for not sending you an email. OTOH, if they were 44DD, I wouldn't email you either. I'd pull your contact info and give you a phone call.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on July 19, 2004 11:19:31 PM new
A lot of sellers don't email me that an item is shipped & it doesn't bother me.
What would bother me is not getting a timely answer to a question like bunni asked.
bunni, I would re-think that neut for bad service, he may neg you in return.
I would neg him though if he didn't return my money or send the DVD.
posted on July 20, 2004 04:46:39 PM new
Well,finally! Today this seller contacted me. He says he will check his PayPal account and straighten it all out. Keeping my fingers crossed.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 20, 2004 06:32:21 PM new
What I cannot believe is the buyers here are actually accepting the fact that you allow your sellers to not contact you to let you know that an item is on the way. As a seller, I wouldn't even consider not contacting my buyer to let them know that their item was on the way. I consider it common courtesy and secondly it stops the un-needed extra e-mails from buyers wondering if their item is on the way. There is no way IMHO that this seller deserves anything better than a nuetral.
When I do buy, if I haven't heard from a seller within 48 hours of my payment (I pay with PayPal) I am e-mailing until they do respond. And if they don't, you can bet that they will not be getting a positive from me. No buyer should stand for the non-responsive seller. Again, IMHO.
posted on July 20, 2004 06:47:40 PM newI consider it common courtesy
Apparently opinions differ widely on this topic in the seller community.
There is no way IMHO that this seller deserves anything better than a nuetral.
Feedback is the last thing on most high volume sellers' minds. Feedback does not pay the mortgage. Feedback does not bring in new bidders.* Feedback does not affect your eBay registration. Feedback doesn't even deter new bidders who stumble on your listings accidentally. You've got what they want at the price they want to pay; they'll bid.
*Consider for a moment that there is NO WAY to search for the highest-feedback seller of, say, DVDs.
posted on July 20, 2004 06:58:03 PM newYou've got what they want at the price they want to pay; they'll bid.
Maybe for some buyers, but not all by any means. When I go on eBay in buyer mode the price is only one of the things I look at:
I also look at feedback--if there are too many negs in too short a space of time, I look elsewhere.
Then I look at the cost of shipping. If it is too high I will leave the auction in the dust. Too many sellers try to make their profit in the shipping cost. I am especially leery of sellers who use the shipping calculator--too often the amount given is ridiculously high.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 20, 2004 09:24:35 PM newFeedback does not bring in new bidders.* Feedback does not affect your eBay registration. Feedback doesn't even deter new bidders who stumble on your listings accidentally. You've got what they want at the price they want to pay; they'll bid.
I will disagree to an extent. If you get some newby buyers, then it is likely they will not know much about the feedback system, however for experienced buyers I totally disagree. They tend to do their homework and if your feedback isn't satisfactory, they tend to look elsewhere. And I am not talking about the retalitory negs, they are able to see that. It is the poor communication or took forever to send the items feedbacks that hurt. With statements like that, it is clear that you are not a teacher. Almost borders on auctionaceism.
posted on July 20, 2004 09:52:09 PM newAnd I am not talking about the retalitory negs, they are able to see that
Oh please. If we're talking about a seller with 18,000 individual feedbacks for example, nobody is going to see any negs beyond the first few pages. It's exhausting to look.
And yes, I know there are tools you can use to extract the negs, but Joe Bidder does not know that.
Feedback does not affect any important or significant aspect of eBay operation*. I think it's hilarious that people lay awake nights trying to figure out what feedback to leave, or what to do because they've gotten one lousy neg.
posted on July 23, 2004 09:49:18 AM newTO BUSY TO READ E-MAIL As someone else said, as a buyer that is easy to say, but the fact is, if we sellers weren’t undated with 10 zillion e-mails from potential or real buyers who don’t care to, or don’t take the time to read our full posting, and write asking questions already answered, then we might have time to answer serious e-mails.
RECENTLY, I was having surgery, and wanted to let our customers know that I could not respond to any e-mails for a few days, and what did I get – a few irate customers, who wanted to know why I hadn’t yet answered – because as soon as they realized they had gotten an automated response, they didn’t even take the time to read it!
We use “vacation auto-response” when we happen to be at a convention, and in 3 to 4 days we can expect to come home to 600-800 e-mails between eBay auction, a niche auction site we use, and our web sites. 85% of the mail, which to know we have to open each one and take the time to read, are e-mails which have the information already in the post or ad.
It is easy for a buyer to “say” pay someone to answer the e-mails, but very often such is almost impossible particularly if you are also dealing with web sites, where some buyer may want a quote on a bulk purchase, etc., and these are owner decisions. Then, where am I going to hire someone who can make such decisions, and type at any decent speed and who is mature enough, experienced enough to make decent, independent decisions, AND to word said responses in a professional manner. Great Scott, that would cost a fortune to hire someone with those qualities.
We have full time packers, that doesn’t require decision making, but e-mails, that seems to me to have to come from the owner. Both my husband and I are self employed full time with on line sales, and he answers endless e-mails also.
It seems to me, particularly by the way most e-mails are worded, that buyers seem to think that seller have one item to sell, and only one customer to deal with – and the few times I have become frustrated and said, I answered your e-mail as soon as I could, but please realize we get hundreds of e-mail a day, I get the “hire” someone response, most likely from someone who has no business experience or know how, nor realizes the cost of selling on line.
We do provide a phone number with every eBay ad, not an 800 number, we QUICKLY found that abused, and us just a regular phone number – and figure that if someone has to have an immediate answer, they can call and the phone is manned 10 hours a day.
PERSONALLY, I HATE E-MAIL…..
There was a time in the mid 90’s when we had the time to really interact with our customers, discuss where they live, etc., and actually made some good friends, who we are still in touch with, but that time is long past for active sellers.
posted on July 23, 2004 04:03:55 PM newIt seems to me, particularly by the way most e-mails are worded, that buyers seem to think that seller have one item to sell, and only one customer to deal with – and the few times I have become frustrated and said, I answered your e-mail as soon as I could, but please realize we get hundreds of e-mail a day, I get the “hire” someone response, most likely from someone who has no business experience or know how, nor realizes the cost of selling on line.
Yes, I've gotten the "hire someone" response, too. I've given up trying to explain to people that we get waaaay more emails than we can possibly answer in the course of a single day.
The only solution I can think of:
-Filtering for certain combinations of words, like "check in the mail" or "sent payment today". Those emails are saved to a file because they don't require a response.
-Taking on what remains randomly. I don't answer email in chrono order; I use a method that is equivalent to tossing dice. Some people will get an answer. The best buyers always get an answer. Some people will not get an answer, at least not today.
That's the best I can do. I can't think how else to handle it. Hiring someone is, as you say, only an option to people who don't do a lot of online sales.
Before leaving the house this afternoon, I stopped to answer a note from one of my best customers. She asked four questions: two personal, two related to something eBay had sent her. By the time I was through figuring out what she really wanted to know and typed a response, 20 minutes had passed. I can't do that for everyone who sends me email.
I buy a lot of pre-viewed DVDs from Hollywood Video, and have a bonus card at Best Buy which gets me $5 & $10 off coupons every month, too.