I need to vent

[dsabol]

I read a thread on the ville about a pattern, so I looked for it on ebay and found one.

 

I bid on it, I won it. I paid for it immediately. That was 2 weeks ago.

I've been waiting patiently, and finally on Monday I emailed the seller to ask where it was. I'm thinking, I know I can be kind of stupid sometimes, so maybe it's at home and I just didn't realize that's what it was when it came in the mail. I don't know if it's going to be in a big envelope or a regular white letter envelope. Know what I mean?

 

So, I haven't heard back yet. That was 2 days ago. I'm thinking, that's not too bad. Maybe the seller is out of town for the holidays. Then I started reading their feedback. :eek

 

There were several bad feedbacks over the last 12 months and most of them have to do with slow shipping or NO shipping. On one, the bidder won the item and the seller didn't even SHIP it until a week later and it took 10 more days to get there. The seller got mad that the bidder posted that the shipping was slow. They're rude in their responses to people who post bad things about them, so now I don't know if I even want to give them a bad rating, but MAN, I want my stupid little pattern!!

 

Not only that, but I see they've left reviews for people since I emailed on Monday, so I KNOW they're home. They even left one today. Of course, the one they left today was mean and said the person emails them constantly and they're "BAD, BAD, BAD".

 

 

What am I going to do? I'm going out of town on Friday and I won't be back until next Wednesday. I suppose it could come in during that time...

[Krystal16]

I would use the option to get the seller's personal information, call the person and ask when she has or planned to ship it.... just be as nice as you can and hope for the best. I went through a bad BAD Ebay experience a few months ago, wound up getting ALL KINDS of nasty stuff put on my feedback, but have recovered... In fact, sellers after that have left feedback that seem to challenge what this woman said about me...

 

Good luck!

[theworm]

What Krystal said. You should be able to get their address and phone number.

Call and me nice. Then once you get the pattern leave bad feedback.

[Riohnna]

I would do either one of 2 things. 1., I would email them once more wanting to know where my pattern is, that I had contacted them previously about it, recieving no answer. 2., if they did not reply before I left, I would wait to rate them when I got back, in case the pattern did arrive during my absence,,,which,,,if it did,,,my rating would be neutral,,,"Recieved package,,,took 7 years to ship!" If it did not arrive, I would ,of course,,,give a negative feedback,,and contact ebay.

[Natasha]

Sorry this happened. Slow shipping and no communication are so frustrating. I've virtually quit buying on ebay because it is so easy to get ahold of a bad seller.

 

Did you pay with Paypal? Start looking into getting a refund. They keep changing the rules but there are time constraints on filing for a refund.

 

My rule of thumb is not to deal with anyone whose feedback score is lower than body temperature.

 

If you end up getting a negative for pursuing receipt of your book, then wear it with pride! You've done nothing wrong. You can post responses and follow-ups that will explain your position. Anyone who would be worthy to deal with will be able to read your feedback and hers and will easily figure out who is to be avoided.

 

Good luck.

[lovingmommy]

sorry that happens. i hat it. happened to me once. if you leave a bad review they'll jump on it and give you a worse one... the bad about ebay.

[Phoenix]

Ouch! I agree totally with the "call and play nice" strategy- eBay is extra cruddy about reviews. If you leave a bad review and the seller gets mad and leaves you a bad one in return, it actually affects your rating more than the seller! How, exactly, is that fair? EBay created a world where buyers can't dare warn each other for fear of getting their own rating attacked.

[crochetbycharlene]

1st you go thru ebay's filing system. you go thru the proper channels and she should NOT be able to leave retalaliated feedback. Here is a link to check out.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html

[Phoenix]

1st you go thru ebay's filing system. you go thru the proper channels and she should NOT be able to leave retalaliated feedback. Here is a link to check out.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html

 

I've looked at this, but am not sure where you found info that the seller would not be able to leave retaliatory feedback outside of the official reporting channel- is that elsewhere on the site?

[JCB]

I buy a lot on eBay, and it is really frustrating when you run across a bad seller. If you paid using paypal you can file a complaint there, and they will contact the seller to try to work out a solution. I recently did that and although I 'won' the dispute (seller simply never mailed the item, and admitted it) I could not get a refund because the seller did not have any funds in his paypal acct. I could have then done a charge-back with the credit card, but it wasn't a very high $$ amount and simply wasn't worth any more of my time.

 

Here is an awesome site that lets you check the negs that a seller has received (and left): http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs

I always check that before I bid. I am more concerned with the seller's response to a neg. Are they reasonable people to deal with? They guy I had a problem with had 100% positive feedback... go figure!

 

Good luck with it!

 

Joan

[dsabol]

All of this has me worried. She has thousands of comments, many of which look like they're from people who buy lots of stuff from her all the time. So, when people (who she doesn't deal with all the time) leave bad feedback, it doesn't affect her rating very much. I have less than 10 on mine so ONE negative would look terrible on the percentage part of things.

 

Charlene, I looked at your link and it scares me because it says at the bottom of the page that she CAN leave feedback. I think I might just sit on this until I get back from Christmas and if I don't have a response from her or the pattern in my hands, then I'll do something about it.

 

JCB, I know what you mean about being concerned with the seller's response to neg feedback. She jumped on every single person who even hinted they weren't happy. And some of them gave her a "positive" mark, but said "slow shipping" or something like that in their comments, and she STILL retaliated and jumped on them by posting a followup comment under theirs. She always says it's their fault, and on several of them people caught her in her lies, saying they have proof that things were mailed days later than she says they were. Apparently she called them names and one person said she threatened them with suspension.

 

MAYBE I could think she just got some bad buyers, if I didn't already send her an email 2 days ago that she's ignored, while I can find proof online that she's been logged into ebay several times in the past 2 days...

 

I just have a feeling this is going to get ugly, but I hope not.

[Ladykats]

I find that if you send an email that is dipping with sweetness, thanking her for offering such a beautiful pattern and how you can't wait to make the item it would help and certainly won't hurt. Casually ask for the expected deliver date, mentioning your knowledge of how crowded the mail places are due to christmas , you just may get a response from her. Also how the pattern's finished product maybe a gift for a elderly person or small child if appliciable this can only add to her need to send you the pattern quicker or hopfully at least respond to you. After all it can't hurt. It has worked for me on a number of occassions. Use your mind and sweetness when writing the email, make her think that that pattern from her is your saving grace. Hope this helps

 

Tracey

[dsabol]

That's a good idea, Ladykats. I've been sitting here fretting about all of this drama over a $3 pattern. It's almost worth it to me just to forget about it. I get too worked up about stuff like this...at least that's what my DH says.

[Pumpkinmouse]

Hi

 

Big ebayer here LOL... Ive had a few people like that too...I will send up to 3 emails to them requesting the status of my purchase and in each email I will state this is 1st email, this is 2nd email etc...within one week time frame skipping days.. In last email I advise them to please refund my money or I will contact ebay and fill out a dispute form. I usually hear from them by then. If not I fill out the dispute form and contact ebay.... I do not call these people personally...Its not my job to track them down.

 

with feedbacks you can respond to them stating your side of the story for others to read...Ebay use to suspend people if they got 3 negatives but they dont do that anymore, so dont worry about the feedbacks especially if its not your fault.

[lhasaapsolady]

I would try to contact the seller by phone before you made a decision. If you don't get any satisfaction from the seller at that point, then you can notify ebay.

[misssmaggie]

I am not a buyer or seller on e-bay or any other sites...but...right is right...you won it..you paid for it...you should get it!!!

 

It is not just the $3.00...it is the fact that this person is not being honest and that is what make me (and probably many others) leary to buy online.

 

You really have to think...how many times has she done this...and she gets away with it.

 

If I were you...I would go through the proper channels with e-bay...then go to Paypal, or if you paid with a credit card...go to your card holder and file the complaint. Then...since the sales from e-bay go through the postal system...I am told they are considered mail order and there is a very severe punishment for postal fraud.

 

If the one you are dealing with is "allowed" to get away with this...more will see this and do the same.

[dsabol]

Good morning everyone! Thank you for all the shoulders that I got to cry on, about this.

 

I'd like to report that when I got home last night, I found the pattern in the mail.

 

I still have to decide on the feedback issue, however, because the date on the shipping label is 6 DAYS after I won the bid. Isn't there something in the rules that says you're supposed to ship it quicker than THAT?!?

 

She did the same thing to me that she's apparently done to alot of other people because that's what was said in her feedback most often. That she waited a week or more to ship the stuff so it made it take a long time to arrive.

 

So, now I'm trying to decide if I mention this in feedback (which will elicit a negative comment from her and probably negative feedback in my rating) or do I just let it go? Or, let it go for now and after she leaves me positive feedback, then send her an email about it?

 

Oh look! I found an ebay smiley!!!

 

 

:lol

[karin4christ]

Maybe you could leave her a "nice" email about this issue. You could tell her that you noticed the majority of her negative feedback has to do with her mailing things out late. You could "suggest" that she communicate more with her buyers about when she plans to mail things out, that you really liked the pattern, it arrived it good condition, etc. But that you had great concern about receiving it because it took longer than anticipated to arrive and that you never got a response from your emails. I would try to keep the email as factual as possible. For instance, don't write I emailed you numerous times. Actually write out when you emailed her. I hope this helps and I'm glad you got your pattern.

[laralou]

I buy patterns all the time on ebay (call me addicted). If it were me I would leave positive feedback- I, like you, don't have a high score so I can't afford a bad one in retaliation. You don't have to worry about warning others since she already has several feedbacks that let people know this. You could give a positive that said "Item just as described -recieved it promptly 8 days after payment". Usually, I don't expect to get patterns for at least a week after I paid. Some people are faster and some are slower. I just wouldn't do business with her again if she has several negatives.

[dsabol]

It wasn't 8 days after payment, though. It was 14 days after payment.

 

I don't know. I guess it's not worth the neg feedback in my account to prove my point with this woman. I guess I could send her an email leter on, after I get my feedback from her.

 

I probably just need to be the bigger person and let this go and make sure I don't buy anything from her again. I think ebay needs to go back to letting people read negative feedback. They used to let you find all the negs by sorting. They stopped doing that because "people were only reading the negs". Gee, I'm sorry, if you don't screw up, you won't have negs, and if you do, I want to know why. If they're legit mistakes, I'll be able to tell by reading them. I think it's misleading the way it is now. She has a high percentage but after reading through the things that were said about her, and BY her, there's an obvious pattern that I wish I had known about.

 

Oops, there I go ranting again. Sorry, that wasn't directed at anyone here. Just blowing off steam.

[beth eathorne]

in then end we all want what we are promised. just concern yourself lucky she mailed it at all. i never bid on anything that the seller has negative feedback...period. i have learned one thing about buy on ebay. if you see it once you will see it again. you may have to wait and do alot more looking but you will find it. unless of course it is a one of a make work not mass produced...ebay opened up a great market making things easier to get even in the littlest of places. there are alot of great sellers out there just be careful and do your homework. even losing $3 can be upsetting if you get stung several times. I would just not leave her any feedback unless she leaves yours first...

[BarbaraJean]

I depend very strongly on feedback. I will pass up an "amazing deal" if somebody has questionable feedback.

 

So... it is very important that we as buyers or sellers leave accurate feedback. My only neg is from a seller who was blatantly dishonest who retaliated because I gave her only one of 2 negs I have ever given. I knew that leaving her a neg would ruin my 100% perfect feedback but I felt that it was my responsibility as an experienced ebay shopper.

 

If everybody is so afraid of getting a neg that we're afraid to leave a neg then the feedback system will be ineffective.

 

Politely state that the item was received as described but not shipped in a timely matter.

[smokeyp81]

I was all for the idea of just letting this issue go....don't leave any feedback...until I read BarbaraJean's thoughts. She is right....I would leave feedback. It is your duty to warn other buyers about the problems you had with this seller. I wouldn't want to buy from her! If she leaves you a negative, you can respond to that saying she left negative in response to your negative feedback. I think that by checking a sellers feedback before bidding is very important.

[misssmaggie]

 

Politely state that the item was received as described but not shipped in a timely matter.

 

 

I agree with Barbara Jean. Maybe add how the pattern is just what you wanted or something nice to counter-balance the shipping issue.

[birdlady1]

 

Big ebayer here LOL... Ive had a few people like that too...I will send up to 3 emails to them requesting the status of my purchase and in each email I will state this is 1st email, this is 2nd email etc...within one week time frame skipping days.. In last email I advise them to please refund my money or I will contact ebay and fill out a dispute form. I usually hear from them by then. If not I fill out the dispute form and contact ebay.... I do not call these people personally...Its not my job to track them down.

 

I'm a big ebayer too and have been bidding and selling for six or seven years. All of my negative feedback has been retalitory. I do exactly what Pumpkinmouse does. The seller gets 3 emails and then I file a nonreceipt complaint. I don't ask for a refund at that point.

 

Usually that's all that's needed to get a response. Unless you spend $25 or more, you will not receive a Paypal refund and no matter what, you rarely receive postage refunds.

 

Leaving negative feedback may be your only recourse and may be the only satisfaction you receive. But expect retalitory negative feedback, even if you've done everything right. These problems can happen even with 100% feedback sellers. People are reluctant to leave negative feedback unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

I don't even consider bidding on auctions where feedback is less than 99.0% and where there are 10 or fewer feedbacks. My feedback, after six or seven years, is 99.3%. Some eBayers even consider this dangerously low.