eBay

maximus7001 · ‎12-06-2015

Sold a low cost item (under $10cdn) to a buyer in a far east part of Canada. The buyer has zero feedback and signed up the day of the sale. Anyways it was shipped lettermail on dec 12 and I believe they received it. Problem is they sent us a message today and google translate is having a hard time with it since it only knows France french..

Can anyone help with a proper translation of the text below?

Salut j'avais votre objet mais je ne l'est pas acheter alors

mr.elmwood · ‎12-06-2015

I found A Cdn French to English translator, but,: Hello I had your object but me is not him(her,it) to buy then

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maximus7001 · ‎12-06-2015

That is what google translate came up with but it only knows France french. We need a Canadian french translation.

mr.elmwood · ‎12-06-2015

Most Francophones speak in slang. Plus, literal translations are darn near impossible.

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maximus7001 · ‎12-06-2015

This is what google translate says:

Hi I had your item but I is not buying then

Also got a friend who's first language is southern Manitoba french to translate and this is what we got back:

Hello, I had your object (thing) but did not buy it, so...

So my guess is they are trying to tell us one of two things:

#1 that they already have a copy of it and don't want to buy it now

#2 that they do not know that they had bought and payed for it and that we sent it to them by error.

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-06-2015

Just based on what the translator said, it sounds like they are saying that they didn't order that item.

However, if this was shipped on Dec 12 then they probably don't realize that they are going to order it in the future. (today is Dec 6th)

🙂

maximus7001 · ‎12-06-2015

Oops just re checked shipping date and it shipped on dec 2 before 5pm cutoff, not dec 12 (typo). So I guess they do not have it yet. They bought it and payed for it with paypal on dec 2, 2015. It was not an echeque.

Also being a new 0 feedback buyer they probably have no idea how ebay works. Judging by their message to us they probably have no idea how the rest of the world works either.

mr.elmwood · ‎12-06-2015

I want to "think" they are saying, basically, that it has not arrived yet, where is it.

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zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎12-06-2015

They're expecting mail on a Sunday??

sorry I don't know French either...

jt-libra · ‎12-06-2015

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
They're expecting mail on a Sunday??

I received a parcel today and one last Saturday. Canada Post is delivering during the weekend until Christmas. I guess that wouldn't include lettermail packets, though.

rose-dee · ‎12-06-2015

Well, I'm fairly bilingual, but the phrase in French you quoted above is rather nonsensical and ungrammatical French, so it's difficult to decipher the meaning.

It doesn't even sound to me as if it was written by a native French/Québecois speaker. It actually sounds as if they either meant to add something at the end, or don't speak/write French well enough to know how to say what they want to say.

However, here's what I can offer:

"Salut j'avais votre objet mais je ne l'est pas acheter alors"

More or less directly translated is: "Hi, I had your item but I didn't buy it, so..."

It sounds as if this person is trying to say they received your item but didn't buy it (mistake in purchasing perhaps, and wanting a cancellation?). Try sending this message back (you can copy and paste if you like):

"Merci pour votre message. Si j'ai bien compris, vous avez acheté cet objet en erreur? Voulez-vous que j'annule cette transaction? Cordialement, ___________ [insert your first name].

English translation: "Thanks for your message. Did I correctly understand that you purchased this item in error? Would you like me to cancel this transaction? Regards ___________."

Try that and see what response you get. You can come back to this thread with any message you get and I'll help you with it if need be.

Best of luck!

rose-dee · ‎12-06-2015

@maximus7001 wrote:
So my guess is they are trying to tell us one of two things:

#1 that they already have a copy of it and don't want to buy it now
#2 that they do not know that they had bought and payed for it and that we sent it to them by error.

It occurred to me after posting the above, that there might be a 3rd possibility -- or more.

Maybe this guy was trying to say he received your item, but he wasn't the one who bought it -- is that possible, i.e. could you have sent someone else's item to his address? Are you certain he's the person who was intended to get that particular item? Was the address perhaps incorrect, and someone got the item who wasn't intended to get it? Or is it possible you were sending two items at the same time and accidentally switched them?

You see what I mean. His message could mean any of these things. You need more specific information from this person. His message isn't clear enough to explain what the problem really is.

So I'm going to revise the note I suggested before, to ask your buyer to clarify:

"Merci pour votre message, mais je ne comprends pas exactement ce que vous voulez dire. Si vous avez acheté cet objet en erreur, voulez-vous que j'annule cette transaction?

Ou bien, voulez-vous dire que vous avez reçu un object qui était destiné à quelqu'un d'autre, ou encore que le colis était mal adressé?

Je vous remercie à l'avance pour une explication plus détaillée.

Cordialement, ___________ [insert your first name]."

English translation: "Thanks for your message, but I don't quite understand what you mean. If you purchased this item in error, would you like me to cancel this transaction? Or else do you mean that you received an item that was meant for another person, or that the parcel was incorrectly addressed?

Thanks in advance for a more detailed explanation.

Regards ___________."

dgour98 · ‎12-06-2015

i'm billingual and speak the "joual" french as they call it... Problem here is he is spelling it the way he would say it, bad grammar and all. That's why translators can't translate properly.. he is saying:

"hello i had (have) your object but i did not buy it so".

Basically he says he has it but never bought it. "j'avais" is past tense, so meaning he HAD it, but i think he means it as having it received but did not buy.

Hope this helps.

cheers

PS if you need help with any messages you guys exchange i can try and help

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎12-07-2015

Just curious, would it be rude to message back and ask if the buyer speaks English at all? Maybe the buyer does and just assumed the seller speaks French?