posted on June 2, 2005 09:32:11 PM new
Ok...just give me a minute to get ready for the wet noodle whips here. Winning bid was under $25. My auction listing stated "no paypal", nor am I registered with paypal. I fully admit I could/should have been more sugary with this UK high bidder . At the time he had 42 feedbacks, all positive, but my gut instinct after receiving their actual first email to me was that everything the high-bidder said/did/didn't so was just so much doo-doo leading to a NPB (self-fulfilling?).
29 April :
Auction end
30 April :
EOA email sent
18 May : I notice payment hasn't come in. Check my emails, no contact yet from high bidder. No biggie, plenty of folks don't send emails, just the money. I send this reminder email.
'Hi Trevor,
The auction for this item ended 29 April and I have not received payment. We need to complete this transaction soon. Your feedback seems quite good so I can't help but feel that this one somehow "slipped through the cracks" for you. Would you please check your records please and get back to me on this asap?
regards, bcpostcards'
21 May :
3 weeks in at this point. No email back from the high bidder, but I DO receive a positive feedback from them recommending me for fast delivery. Uh-oh, I'm starting to hear alarm bells here as I've seen this "tactic" before. At least if things go sour, he can't neg me anymore. I send this email with the subject line starting out "FINAL NOTICE...".
'I do thank you for the positive feedback you left me - "excellent swift service!...".
Unfortunately, I am not sure what exactly it is that you did receive. I have not received payment for nor have I mailed the book yet.
As you did not respond to my earlier email asking for payment clarification, I will ask you to please make payment within 10 days; I'd suggest Bidpay as perhaps the best option at this time. I will shortly have to necessarily file an UID in order to preserve my ability to retrieve the FVF charged me by ebay (if necessary).'
I guess he read the above email as I receive this the same day.
'i thought i paid u via paypal today?!
sorry but i have been away
and thought i paid all my outstanding items together
just noticed u do not accept paypal?
i do not use bidpay, so sending u an international money order
may take a few days to sort out?
regards
trevor'
More alarm bells: Paypal'ed me? Um no...you didn't.
And thanks for deciding to read my seller's terms 3 weeks after the auction ended.
Ok so you didn't mail payment yet. An IMO? I can live with that and am willing to wait for it too.
23 May (past midnite 22 May):
I send this email.
'I thank you for your reply and appreciate your advice that you will send an US$ IMO. I will be patient and wait a little longer for your payment to get here.
In the meantime, you may receive a notice from ebay advising I filed an UPI, but have no need of being unduly alarmed since overseas letters normally arrive here about 8-10 days after posting, and you've indicated payment will be sent shortly. As part of the necessary course of business I usually file around the 3rd-4th week after sending an end-of-auction email.
I will let you know when payment arrives and when the item was mailed.'
30 May :
No further emails received or sent. One month after auction end now, I decide to file a UPI dispute as a pre-caution.
31 May : Receive this message via the UPI dispute panel.
'I HAVE RECEIVED ATHE EBAY WARNING
AND AM IN THE PROCESS OF PAYING YOU
PLEASE DO WHAT YOU CAN TO
WITHDRAW THIS'
Gosh, you mean you still haven't sent the IMO? love those all caps by the way...
01 June: I send this reply via the dispute panel.
'Thank you for your update, I am trying to be patient here. The auction ended over 4 weeks ago on 29
April & as of 01 June payment has not been received. Will gladly close the dispute (with no further
action taken) if valid payment arrives within the time period called for in my previous "final notice"
email to you. If not I may, at my sole discretion, refuse/return the payment & I may then decide to
close the dispute and file for refund of the listing's associated fees charged me by ebay.
'
02 June :
received this, again via the dispute panel.
'I HAVE USED EBAY FOR MANY YEARS
AND FIND YOUR TONE AND BEHAIVIOUR OVERLY DRAMATIC, AND SIMPLY RUDE,
I HAVE CONTACTED YOU ABOUT THIS PROBLEM
AND TRIED TO RESOLVE IT,
THIS DELAY WAS A SIMPLE MISTAKE
ON MY SIDE.
FORGET ABOUT THIS ITEM
AND DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.
AS YOU CAN SEE I HAVE NOTHING BUT
POSITIVE FEEDBACK,
AND AM A RESPONSIBLE AND TRUSTWORTHY BUYER,
I DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE
LIKE YOU'
If you tried to resolve it or were "responsible and trustworthy" I'm thinking surely you would at least have mailed payment by now?
----------------
Winning bidder registered in 2002. I guess I am the bad guy here, what with all my hard-as-nuts seller's terms, conditions and threats. Here I am wanting to get paid, asking for payment and actually daring to set a deadline. I wonder what they would've said if I had threatened them with bad feedback for not paying?
I actually do regret some of what I said in my emails/replies, and with your help (I know it's getting late for VD'ers east of the Rockies) would like to mend my evil ways. Yes, I can see I probably need to stop the constant "or else" type statements in follow-up replies. I can't be all that bad though, can I? I have 900+ positive feedbacks. I do have 4 negs, all retaliatories from npb'ers.
Thank the stars they already left me a positive, side-stepped a real flaming neg I'm sure. I'm thinking I'll file to get the fees back from ebay and I sure do feel like I want to neg (even if just for not reading my seller's terms re "no paypal". Should I?
Also please give me your comments and please suggest a better way I could have handled this. Time to grow again and maybe others can learn fom my mistakes too.
posted on June 2, 2005 09:53:45 PM new
Sounds like you handled it just fine, probably smoother than I would have. Bottom line: It's a deadbeat. Doesn't matter if he is a fine English gentleman from a prominent family with an Oxford education. He's still a deadbeat and should be dealt with the same way as you do others. Close the dispute, get your FVF and give him the strike he deserves. Then email him and advise him of the actions you regrettably had to take, and inform him that you will be leaving appropriate feedback sometime within the 90 days after the end of the auction. Think about what you want to say, and leave feedback on day 89. In the meantime, he will lose a few nights sleep wondering when the hatcet will drop.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 2, 2005 09:59:45 PM new
Hi bcpostcards,
I thought your were very patient - much more than I would have been. I agree with sparkz - it's time to move on. Sparkz - that's a good trick - wait until 89 days! My problem is - I'd probably forget by then! I'll have to remember that one next time.
posted on June 2, 2005 10:17:02 PM new
sparkz, local
thanks for your support - I appreciate it!
I try to be as positive/polite in my emails as I can stand (it gets pretty hard though sometimes with some buyers). Like local, I don't think I could remember to neg someone after 89 days...but maybe for a week or two!
posted on June 3, 2005 04:47:13 AM new
I just hate this type of bidder. No only do you not get paid but look it all the time involved. Give him what he deserves and don't worry about it after that. You did all you could or should have done.
posted on June 3, 2005 09:00:08 AM new
But didn't you say he already left +feedback for you? If that's true, you can leave a neg any time with no fear of retaliation.
I agree that you've done more than most of us would to settle this transaction. Was it for a lot of money? I work harder to get paid for what I consider a good amount, but still you've been extremely patient with this guy.
___________________________________
posted on June 3, 2005 01:23:08 PM new
And then from the peanut gallery was heard a dissenting voice:
I've had a few instances where people, in good faith, assumed that they had paid me when they used a "pay everyone at once" technique. My PayPal account is set up to reject non-US confirmed addresses, which in some cases was functionally the same as your not having an account.
Mind you, these were people similar to your customer: they had 100% positives, been around a while, etc.
So, he's a PITA, and I would be impatient also, and probably get a bit testy in my emails, but I'm not sure he's a deadbeat.
The worst that I would do, personally, is leave a neutral. If he were a true deadbeat, he wouldn't have already left you a pos. I think he's a little confused rather than nasty.
posted on June 3, 2005 09:16:19 PM new
Only mistake you made was sending more than one reminder e-mail. Rule number 1. Send only one reminder, never ever any more before filing for NPB. Then don't give in. Keep your time frame for payment. Of course a little more time for international buyer should be allowed as opposed to USA bidders, but not much.
That said, in this case, it is time to file your FVF, post a neg feedback and move on.
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Alive in 2005
posted on June 3, 2005 10:03:06 PM new
And the votes stand at 7 for, 1 against.
Everyone, thanks for all your support, thoughts and suggestions...always nice to at least one contrary view as well.
I've since closed the dispute and collected the refund. Surprised I could actually; I only filed the UPI on 30 May. Has ebay shortened the amount of time for the checkmark to change from pending to eligible?
Added the wretch to my BBL and won't waste any more time sending an email. In a varient of what sparkz suggested earlier, I'll just let them stew on the npb warning for awhile and will in fact give them a neg.
I'm getting tired of that certain small percentile of bidders who don't read/think they change a seller's stated listing terms to their liking, ignore or respond to the seller's emails as it suits them, and then if/when they eventually respond to a reminder and DO promise to send payment, a week later turns out they can't even bring themselves to do that. I think that's where I draw the line, and respond in such a way as to show the bidder where it lies.
I can't remember who it was here with the sig line that went something like "Bend backwards for your customer, not forward", but I think it applies to this situation.
[ edited by bcpostcards on Jun 3, 2005 10:07 PM ]
posted on June 4, 2005 10:18:45 PM newI've since closed the dispute and collected the refund. Surprised I could actually; I only filed the UPI on 30 May. Has ebay shortened the amount of time for the checkmark to change from pending to eligible?
No and Yes. If your deadbeat does not respond, then you still need to wait the eight days. If they do respond, then you can file the NPB right away.
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Alive in 2005
. At the time he had 42 feedbacks, all positive, but my gut instinct after receiving their actual first email to me was that everything the high-bidder said/did/didn't so was just so much doo-doo leading to a NPB (self-fulfilling?).
At least if things go sour, he can't neg me anymore. 
Surprised I could actually; I only filed the UPI on 30 May. Has ebay shortened the amount of time for the checkmark to change from pending to eligible?
