Another crafty seller!

Here's the brief version of the story;

I bought a buffing wheel from China, the hole size in the center of the wheel was supposed to be 5/8" (according to the seller's description) but what I received had a much smaller hole.   sent the seller a message to inform him of his "mistake" and also included 4 photos.

He offered a partial refund of $3 CAD , since I could still fix and use the item I thought it would be fair to both of us to just accept the partial refund and be done with it all.

 

What happened after is what rubbed me the wrong way and made me feel like he was trying to pull a wool over my eyes and deceive me, he sent me the refund so that was fine but then I received a message from him asking me to agree with the "cancellation of the transaction request" ,his reason for the request was to "avoid an unpaid case" which  sounds like BS .

 

I have been around eBay for a while and being 66years old I know  this was a feeble attempt by the seller  to remove my ability of leaving him a feedback , mind you I was just going to forget leaving any FBs but now I'm not sure .

 

so what do you think he deserves ? a neutral FB or no FB at all?

 

You opinion matters even though I may still choose a different option but would really like to know how you would handle this as a buyer ,I know some of you are sympathetic towards sellers in general but I need you to be impartial in this case. 

Your thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

Ken.

 

Message 1 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

By the way, I already refused to cancel the transaction.

Message 2 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

A request to the moderators, as you've noticed I have not named or shamed the seller so before you start censoring my message, please understand  that your seller has put up a listing with a wrong description and I'm here looking for advise on how to deal with it, if you suppress this ,you'll create more headache down the road for yourself  when other buyers who have fallen victim and want justice from eBay. you'll end up either kicking him out  or reimbursing unhappy  customers so please let this thread take its course.

Message 3 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

he sent me the refund so that was fine

That would be a neutral, since the item was Not As Described, but you are faced with additional work to make the item suitable , although the refund mitigates a bit.

"Not 5/8" gave partial refund"  for example.

Keep in mind that it is unlikely anyone will ever read it and that FB is not used by eBay to assess seller accounts.

 

 

but then I received a message from him asking me to agree with the "cancellation of the transaction request" ,his reason for the request was to "avoid an unpaid case" which sounds like BS .

Since you paid, there is no hope of him opening a UID.

What he is trying to avoid would be a Defect, which can mean higher selling fees, restrictions on the number and value of listings, or even a closed account.

To be fair, there may be language difficulties.

You did right in ignoring the request for a cancellation.

 

BTW- was the item you received actually a metric piece?  I wonder if that was the source of his mistake?  The USA is really the only nation that hasn't gone metric long since and other nationalities are not familiar with it.

Canadians are bilingual, bicultural, bimetric etc.

Message 4 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

The seller wouldn’t receive a defect from a partial refund.

The only reason to ask for a cancellation in my mind is so that the seller would get their eBay fees refunded which is dishonest imo since they did not refund in full.

Message 5 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

True I was thinking he would otherwise be cancelling for Out Of Stock, but your explanation makes more sense-- if the seller is clear on the rules about cancellations.

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Re: Another crafty seller!

The item I received had a 1/2" or 12mm hole and the listing indicated it is clearly a 5/8" hole which is 16mm, I don't mind to give anyone the benefit of the doubt but even a child could tell apart between a 1/2" or a 5/8" hole. I honestly think this was a case of ,"I'll send the wrong item and if the customer complained, I'll give a partial refund"
I appreciate your response as always.
Message 7 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

You see, that's another angle I never thought about, thanks for bringing that up.
Message 8 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

I need to come to a decision , my choices are:

A= do nothing , don't  give any feedback whatso ever and let him stew on what I might do.

B= leave a neutral feedback.

C= ask the seller to correct the listing and put in the correct size hole and in return , I'll give him a positive feedback, at least others won't fall for the incorrect listing . 

I would appreciate your inputs.

Message 9 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

While you can encourage the seller to remove the incorrect listing, or to put up a correct listing, you can't mention feedback as part of the deal.

 

I suspect that might come under feedback extortion which is a Bad Thing.

Message 10 of 11
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Re: Another crafty seller!

I agree ,and wouldn't dream of telling him straight up, what I'll ask is to fix his listing without making any reference to the feedback, if he actually means well, he'll do it regardless of my FB.
Message 11 of 11
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