eBay

amberwoodottawa · ‎03-21-2004

A couple of weeks ago someone bid on one of my auctions and won. The item had 25 bids and he bid 11/25 times to reach my reserve. He sent the same email to me twice prior to the auction ending asking the difference between an intermediate violin and a beginner violin.

Following the auction I recd over a dozen emails, somewhat childish and very repetitive. I kept telling myself that this was going to be a problem buyer. He wanted my phone number, he wanted to pay by VISA over the phone etc.

I shipped the product, emailed the client with tracking info and 5 days later he emailed me and asked where his violin was and I emailed him advising him that it would take 5-9 business days.

He receives the instrument & emails me to thank me, tells me that it looks fantastic and asks me for positive feedback. Fortunately I was away on vacation so I was not able to leave feedback. In the space of 3 of my vacation days I received 6 emails from him however no complaints, no mention of his not liking the instrument, just further requests for positive feedback.

I sent an email upon my return from vacation advising that I had been away and would review and answer his emails.

I also received a Square Trade notice that he filed a complaint demanding full refnd of shipping costs, instrument costs and money to return the instrument. In the ST notice, he called me a fraud, a cheat and a liar.

I responded to the ST notice and suggested that the buyer might be guilty of feedback extortion as I noticed his pattern with other sellers (either would not leave FB or would leave negative yet he always recd positive).

He then neg'd me and I responded in kind and neg'd him.

Then this afternoon I started receioving hundreds of spam emails from him, all the same with vulgarities and how my business would suffer necause he negged me and that if I went to report him to eBay they would kick me off.

I sent eBay notice that I was being spammed by a member who was using questionable language and using feedback as a means to extort (to get a full refund) and I requested that they deal with that member appropriately.

Now here is a mind blower for you fellow eBayer Power Sellers out there.

If eBay does nothing about that member or rules that I must refund him then I will quit eBay as a seller. Plain and simple, I will take my business elsewhere. It is time to see if eBay will support a Power Seller who has consistently abided by their rules, regardless of how ridiculous they may be (such as not allowing me to use the legal name of my business).

So, eBay either enforces its rules and takes appropriate action against the Buyer or I am out of here.

Malcolm

llee2 · ‎03-21-2004

Malcolm,

Sorry to hear about your dealings with this loser. First off, I don't think there is anything ST can do to force you to refund him. You have proof of shipment and he has the violin. What is he claiming? Is he claiming that you never sent it? Or is he claiming that the violin is something other than described?

I would forward his harrassing emails to PS support and they can forward it to the appropriate department (this usually gets done faster than going directly through the security center as we PSers are not given any priority queue there). Be sure to include the email headers. Ebay usually is pretty good about NARUing users who threaten, spam or harrass but it usually takes a few days.

Have you checked this loser's contact info? If he/she is using this account to committ fradulent activity, chances are they are using legit contact info. Should it prove to be false, you can get the neg removed.

llee2 · ‎03-21-2004

Oops, that should be "...chances are they are NOT using legit contact info..."

amberwoodottawa · ‎03-21-2004

Thanks for the encouagement
It is not the negative feedback. That doesnt bother me at all and will not have any affect on my sales. Nor is it the spamming, the language used in the emails, calling me a fraud, cheat etc. Nor is it reporting this to ST a problem.

The problem will arise should eBay not do anything about the harrasment, the language etc etc. The problem will arise should PayPal do a chargeback.

I suppose it is premature to judge but I have not recd anything positive from eBay as a silver PS including response to any of my emails sent to them so I am not overly confident in seeing anything positive from them this time around.

I hope that they enforce their policies against the Buyer and the customer is not able to put a charge back through PayPal however if that is the case, I will walk away from eBay as if I cant trust the service provider to respect its members over trying to keep Buyers 100% happy even when they are crooks or nut cases, then this is not the place for me to operate my business in.

Malcolm

your-chic-shopper · ‎03-21-2004

Ok I have gone through this before

Ebay will not do anything unless he threatens you. However if the user has a hotmail account for his Ebay account . You can get his account closed for any words . I have done it . The you email ebay and say the persons email address does not work . Then the Neg is removed for not having good contact info . Check the policy of his email provider . He mail have better luck with them then Ebay

your-chic-shopper · ‎03-21-2004

all you can add a follow up under the feedback u left his account saying

Review the fedbk bidder leaves all sellers . All NEGATIVES

gloriaguides · ‎03-22-2004

Bummer Malcolm. Forward his emails to his ISP at abuse@XXXXX (whatever the service provider is) and if they find them threatening/using bad language or otherwise questionable, they will close the account. Then you can go after him for not having an active email address, get the neg removed and get him kicked out. Ebay WON't do any of this for you, but I did it to an abusive buyer once. It was fun! However, if he's doing the spamming from a different email account than his ebay address, you can at least get that account closed. I think they can tell if the mails are coming from the same place by comparing the headers...MAYBE ebay would do that for you and shut him down, probably not though! Good luck and let us know what happens. Gloria

amberwoodottawa · ‎03-22-2004

The guy is so dumb that he is using his own email address which has the same name as his eBay ID and contains his same email message although in some messages he uses bold and large fonts and some he heads a little different. Some he sent directly from his email serice provider and some through eBays "contact the seller" link.

The funny thing is that it doesnt bother me probably as I know that the negative is totally killing him and for that I am getting satisfaction.

I am also getting satisfaction having blocked him from emailing me so even if he wants to settle this, he is unable to communicate with me with his existing address and too stupid to figure out how to using an alternative.

I figure that I have pushed the right buttons to get this guy to come to his senses or do something so stupid, it will require the authorities to get involved.

So glad that he lives in California and I am in Ontario otherwise I could see this lunatic driving to see me.

It will be too bad if eBay does nothing. I stopped posting listings as I went on vacation and I wont post any until I see some action from their part. If that takes a month, so be it. If they dont do anything then I am out of here.

Malcolm

shooger · ‎03-23-2004

"The funny thing is that it doesnt bother me probably as I know that the negative is totally killing him and for that I am getting satisfaction."

What's funny to me is that you think your negative feedback is affecting him in any way whatsoever! He's a buyer, not a seller. I don't think it will stop him from bidding on or buying anything from eBay.

"I am also getting satisfaction having blocked him from emailing me so even if he wants to settle this, he is unable to communicate with me with his existing address and too stupid to figure out how to using an alternative."

Yeah, I guess two can play at his game. You win!(?)

amberwoodottawa · ‎03-23-2004

shooger
Before he negd me, he emailed me asking for positive feedback as he wants to start selling.

In his spammed emails, he mentions the negative that I gave him 3 times and said that as he paid me in full, I should have left him positive feedback even though he left me negative feedback.

Cant tell me he's not pi$$ed about his negative.

Also, the method he obtains his feedbacks by emailing sellers upon recipt of their product telling them how happy he is with the purchase and asking for positive FB and then not leaving the sellers any or or negative FB, also tells me how important getting positive FB is for this bum.

I dont sell on eBay for positive FBs. I sell to make a profit. I dont ask customers to leave me positive FB. If they leave me positive FB or send me an email telling me how much they liked my product and my service, thats great and I am always very appreciative of them taking the time.

I have alot of problems with the FB system as I know most of us have. I recall a recent thread where you stated that you believed in leaving negatives where they were due as a service to warn other sellers.

Well so do I and if that means my keeping another negative given to me by some looser, then so be it! I have the satisfaction of ratting on him to other sellers by leaving the negative I gave him and maybe others will not be as quick to reward him with a positive FB until he gives them his FB.

Malcolm

amberwoodottawa · ‎03-24-2004

Update on this mad man who negd me:

I am now accepting his spammed emails and stopping them around 40 per day.

I have made contact with his ISP (security and abuse department) who are looking into the situation and will likely suspend his email account.

I have sent 2 emails to eBay about the spamming which is considered to be a violation (according to their printed rules) however they have not responded since I first emailed them on Sunday.

I told eBay that since the buyer filed a complaint with ST, that arm of eBay should handle the customer's complaint HOWEVER eBay should address the spamming with the customer directly and immediately in accordance with their policies and rules.

Oh yes, it is very, very clear that the negative I left him is one of the main things sending this looser over the edge as in each of his spammed emails, he keeps demanding that I remove the negative FB I left him.

That just shows you how important is the power of the FB and by rewarding someone with positive FB as soon as they pay you is not necessarily the best method to go. I held off with this guy and it has provided me with some excellent leverage.

Malcolm

amberwoodottawa · ‎03-25-2004

Well eBay has failed to respond to me since I first emailed them on Sunday however here is the nice news I received this morning from the luantic buyer's ISP:

"Hello,
Thanks for contacting Juno and taking the time to report this unsolicited e-mail.
We've investigated your case and taken action against the offending Juno account per Juno's anti-spam policies.
Juno has a zero tolerance spam policy. We investigate all reports of abuse and terminate accounts that violate the Juno Service Agreement."

I now intend to forward this on to eBay in an email this morning as evidence that the member had been spamming me as investigated by his ISP and at the same time express my disapointment with eBay's total lack of response to my problem as a silver PS.

Malcolm