eBay

westernstargifts · ‎10-23-2010

I sold a cell phone charm to a lady and shipped it to her Florida address back in September. Naturally it is about the cheapest thing I sell which is always where you have the most problems. She didn't pay immediately but, in the meantime, I noticed that she had purchased & paid for the charms that I use from another seller around the same time that she won my auction. I just knew she would be a problem and, sure enough, I received this message from her today.

120616456149

"HI,
I RECEIVED THIS CHARM TO FIND THAT THE LOBSTER CLAW CLASP WAS MISSING A PIECE, SO CAN NOT BE USED. I PAID AN ADDITIONAL 27% IMPORT DUTY & CUSTOMS TO RECEIVE THIS CHARM WHICH WAS SENT FROM FL TO MY ROATAN CARIBBEAN ISLAND HOME. I WOULD LIKE A FULL REFUND, INCLUDING CUSTOMS & ADDITIONAL SHIPPING. I CAN SEND A PHOTO IF NECESSARY. IT TOOK A MONTH TO RECEIVE THIS, SO I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED. IT IS ALSO ALOT SMALLER THAN PICTURED. PLEASE ADVISE, XXXXX"

My reply:

"Hi XXXXX,

Your order was shipped to the U.S. address which was the registered "ship to" address in PayPal. No U.S. customs fees are charged for orders to the U.S. which are less than $100. The exact measurements of the cell phone charm are stated in the listing description. If the item took a month to arrive it is because you had it forwarded to another country. The estimated delivery time of 2 to 3 weeks which I stated in the shipping notice I sent to you were for delivery to the U.S. My Terms of Sale were for shipping to the United States only.

I do apologize for the clasp being broken and will gladly issue a full refund for your purchase.

Best regards,

Judy
westernstargifts"

I issued a full refund and am now waiting for the red donut. Any bets?

westernstargifts · ‎10-23-2010

I forgot to mention that she purchased the charms for much less than she paid for the cell phone charm.

coxengines · ‎10-23-2010

You did the right thing and your letter was polite and factual.

Hopefully, you only refunded what she paid and not the extras she was asking for.

If I were you I would file a damage claim with Canada Post. They pay for those real quick, like in a week.

How does such a little charm cost anyhow?

Bernie

westernstargifts · ‎10-23-2010

You did the right thing and your letter was polite and factual.

Hopefully, you only refunded what she paid and not the extras she was asking for.

If I were you I would file a damage claim with Canada Post. They pay for those real quick, like in a week.

How does such a little charm cost anyhow?

Bernie

Hi Bernie,

I only refunded what she paid. No way would I pay the other costs. That is absurd for her to even ask, i.e. demand. I don't think the item was damaged during transit. It probably broke after she used it for awhile...;-)

I make a good profit on the charm but charge less than some other sellers on eBay.

dipmicro · ‎10-23-2010

Your phone charms go from $3.50 to $5 so that gives us an idea.

Folks with forwarding addresses in Florida are a tough bunch. Every second one is some problem or bunch of requests and many times they do not speak English, but send a lot of gibberish emails. I wish there was some way to block Doral, FL addresses only.

westernstargifts · ‎10-24-2010

I haven't run into any problems like this before. I don't know why she would expect me to reimburse her for shipping to another country. That is the same as me buying something, sending it to someone else and then expecting the seller to refund shipping charges for both...and customs as well.

Could it possibly be to avoid paying the international S/H in the first place? I would think it would cost just as much by the time she paid for shipping to the U.S. and more shipping to the Caribbean. I still think she is just PO'd because she found the charms cheaper from another seller after she bid on my auction.

This is my week for wackos.

dipmicro · ‎10-24-2010

You are taking this too personal, do not worry about it.

There is always people who try and come with most absurd requests. It's not like they are actually expecting to get it, but they still try.

The miserable existence can still neg you, even if you go and refund her $2 of her customs charges. Save yourself $2 and do not worry about the possible neg, it's not worth stressing about.

Recently I had one from Doral, who gave me major headache. He emailed me "Friend, I need to change the address" after the $230 item shipped. Fortunately I was smart enough to ship with tracking and signature confirmation. I tried calling PO, they said no help, it has bounce back. Ok, so I said to the guy in few days - look, it's sitting at the post office, go pick it up. He emails me 2 weeks later he went to the PO and the item was already sent back and he needs it now. He kept pestering me about this in like 10 emails, I even called eBay and they said, tough luck for him, I shipped where I was supposed to. So I told him, he is welcome to open the dispute and relayed the message from eBay staff - you are going to loose it anyway. I will refund you once the item is back.

Well guess what, item got lost on the way back. After 20 days after last tracking record I filed insurance claims. He was really restless at this point and kept sending emails one after another. I told him: when I have the item back or AFTER the insurance pays the money, I am not giving you any money back, so stop emailing. Go and file PayPal dispute if you like. He calmed down. U-PIC sent a check and I refunded about 1.5 month after the original payment.

Turned better than I hoped, eBay returned the FVF since sale was cancelled and customer walked away, but because PO lost the item, I got entire $230 back. I guess sometimes you loose, but sometimes you win too.

Anyway, the point is, do not let them get on top of you. Her request is silly and if she negs you for this, call eBay and show them this request, she may become NARU faster than you say plonk.

westernstargifts · ‎10-24-2010

You are taking this too personal, do not worry about it.

There is always people who try and come with most absurd requests. It's not like they are actually expecting to get it, but they still try.

The miserable existence can still neg you, even if you go and refund her $2 of her customs charges. Save yourself $2 and do not worry about the possible neg, it's not worth stressing about.

Recently I had one from Doral, who gave me major headache. He emailed me "Friend, I need to change the address" after the $230 item shipped. Fortunately I was smart enough to ship with tracking and signature confirmation. I tried calling PO, they said no help, it has bounce back. Ok, so I said to the guy in few days - look, it's sitting at the post office, go pick it up. He emails me 2 weeks later he went to the PO and the item was already sent back and he needs it now. He kept pestering me about this in like 10 emails, I even called eBay and they said, tough luck for him, I shipped where I was supposed to. So I told him, he is welcome to open the dispute and relayed the message from eBay staff - you are going to loose it anyway. I will refund you once the item is back.

Well guess what, item got lost on the way back. After 20 days after last tracking record I filed insurance claims. He was really restless at this point and kept sending emails one after another. I told him: when I have the item back or AFTER the insurance pays the money, I am not giving you any money back, so stop emailing. Go and file PayPal dispute if you like. He calmed down. U-PIC sent a check and I refunded about 1.5 month after the original payment.

Turned better than I hoped, eBay returned the FVF since sale was cancelled and customer walked away, but because PO lost the item, I got entire $230 back. I guess sometimes you loose, but sometimes you win too.

Anyway, the point is, do not let them get on top of you. Her request is silly and if she negs you for this, call eBay and show them this request, she may become NARU faster than you say plonk.

I'm glad it worked out for you dipmicro. That would be a considerable amount of money to lose.

That is a good point to contact eBay. They just might do something about a neg, (she hasn't left FB yet) but I wouldn't hold my breath. I am not really taking this personally. I just think the buyer's request is ridiculous and posted it for that reason. I will always give great customer service but I will never give in to someone like this to avoid a neg.

"she may become NARU faster than you say plonk."

"Plonk" is a word I have never used but I like the sound of it. I will have to practice saying it!:^O

femmefan1946 · ‎10-24-2010

Could it possibly be to avoid paying the international S/H in the first place?

Many US sellers don't ship internationally, but sell stuff that overseas customers want.

So these trans-shippers have set up to help the overseas buyers out.

The ones dealing with Japan (the name is something like GreenTea) are supposed to be pretty good. Honest, fast and relatively cheap.

Sounds like the one in Doral is more questionable. I wonder if the USPS inspectors have ever taken a look at their operation? Of course, they could be innocent bystanders being exploited by a bunch of crooks.

dipmicro · ‎10-25-2010

femmefan1946, problem with Doral is not scam, bu a language barrier and ignorance of how the US postal system works. Perhaps in their little Venezuela town postal office is one man operation, guy knows everyone in the village and mail volume is minimal and system works entirely differently. So they setup their little accounts at Doral and then they start pestering US/Canada sellers with silly requests like mine or westernstargifts.

Human effort has low value in many South America countries, but it is overrated here in North America thanks to bureaucracy, unions and malicious lawsuits (check how much lawyers charges to write a letter or the dispensing fee at the pharmacy for 1-2min effort). These customers may not even realize they are "pestering" or over-demanding.

I did not have a down-right scammer from Doral, FL, it's just a high-maintenance bunch.