About two months ago I won an item on ebay. Nothing fancy or expensive, it was just a toy plane that looked quite fun - the transaction was worth about $44AUD including postage. Anyway, I was expecting delivery to take about two or three weeks as per the item description (I'll keep names and items out of this for now). Several weeks pass and no item shows up, so I send the guy who sold me an item an email:
Hi, I won and paid for this item nearly a month ago, and it has not yet arrived. Can you confirm that you recieved payment and had the item shipped? Any info appreciated.
When he responds, I'm a little peeved:
Hi mate,
We are in the process of shipping out these orders, as we ran out of stock a while ago.
You WILL get your item in the next few weeks.
Thanks!
What? You didn't even have the item you sold me? Weeks? I let it slide since I was tired and busy and a few more weeks pass. Still nothing arrives, so I send another email to him:
Hello again,
It's been over two weeks since your last email and I have still not recieved the plane. If you can not tell me the date it was shipped, I would like to request a refund please.
This email he ignores. He didn't even grace me with a response to this one. In the mean time, I'm watching his feedback and noting that he's giving a few people refunds for items not received. I let another two weeks pass and notice that someone in the exact same situation as me left the guy negative feedback. This inspires me to email the seller once more asking for a refund:
It's been over two months since I won this item. It has not arrived. You ignored or otherwise did not get my last email, so I am asking you for a refund. I have a hard time believing you sold me an item you did not have, yet here we are. I will provide my banking details when you respond to this email so that you can transfer my money as soon as possible.
Now I wouldn't call that particularly rude, especially given the timeframe and total lack of communications from the seller. Curt, yes. Direct, yes. Rude, not really. I feel justifiably pissed, though I try to be reasonable about it. The seller seems to disagree. I recieved his response very quickly after the third email:
Yeh ok, stop blowing the matter out of proportion, stick to mainstream civil e-commerce dealing. Iâll give you a refund if you provide me with sufficient information, otherwise calm down and stop trying to make a big deal out of literally nothing.
I was bemused to read his response. Blowing the matter out of proportion? Stick to mainstream e-commerce? I want what I paid for, didn't get it and want my money back. Still he has offered to refund. My response:
"Blowing the matter out of proportion" would be me reporting you to eBay for fraud, which I'm not going to do. It's a small amount of money, yes, but it's still my money. People purchase from eBay with a fair degree of trust - I trusted that you actually had the item you sold. Maybe you had some bad luck with suppliers, but I note that you never once apologised for my item being late, nor attempted to contact me about the situation.
Meh...no matter. Done is done. Account details are:
...
Best of luck in your future business deals.
I figured that that would settle it, but the seller decided that I was still an insolent pup in need of a lecture:
Good try, but your wrong again, Iâll correct you and still refund your money so no problems J Reporting me to eBay for fraud will get you NOWHERE as not only do they not care, I can control the outcome. People DO NOT PURCHASE FROM EBAY WITH A FAIR DEGREE OF TRUST, and if you do, then thatâs your own inherent fault for trusting people you canât see. Even the most experienced know that buying something on the internet is risky business and is a risk the consumer takes (Iâm not implying that I am an not a trustworthy seller). In the meantime, calm down and donât get so worked up over something that will fix itself if you give it time.
I've left it at that. Obviously he is far more knowledgable about such things and corrects my previous mistakes. :wanker
Now do you people think that it's reasonable to get what you paid for when you pay for it, or am I just a whinging arsehole? Anyone else with similar experiences?
Hi, I won and paid for this item nearly a month ago, and it has not yet arrived. Can you confirm that you recieved payment and had the item shipped? Any info appreciated.
When he responds, I'm a little peeved:
Hi mate,
We are in the process of shipping out these orders, as we ran out of stock a while ago.
You WILL get your item in the next few weeks.
Thanks!
What? You didn't even have the item you sold me? Weeks? I let it slide since I was tired and busy and a few more weeks pass. Still nothing arrives, so I send another email to him:
Hello again,
It's been over two weeks since your last email and I have still not recieved the plane. If you can not tell me the date it was shipped, I would like to request a refund please.
This email he ignores. He didn't even grace me with a response to this one. In the mean time, I'm watching his feedback and noting that he's giving a few people refunds for items not received. I let another two weeks pass and notice that someone in the exact same situation as me left the guy negative feedback. This inspires me to email the seller once more asking for a refund:
It's been over two months since I won this item. It has not arrived. You ignored or otherwise did not get my last email, so I am asking you for a refund. I have a hard time believing you sold me an item you did not have, yet here we are. I will provide my banking details when you respond to this email so that you can transfer my money as soon as possible.
Now I wouldn't call that particularly rude, especially given the timeframe and total lack of communications from the seller. Curt, yes. Direct, yes. Rude, not really. I feel justifiably pissed, though I try to be reasonable about it. The seller seems to disagree. I recieved his response very quickly after the third email:
Yeh ok, stop blowing the matter out of proportion, stick to mainstream civil e-commerce dealing. Iâll give you a refund if you provide me with sufficient information, otherwise calm down and stop trying to make a big deal out of literally nothing.
I was bemused to read his response. Blowing the matter out of proportion? Stick to mainstream e-commerce? I want what I paid for, didn't get it and want my money back. Still he has offered to refund. My response:
"Blowing the matter out of proportion" would be me reporting you to eBay for fraud, which I'm not going to do. It's a small amount of money, yes, but it's still my money. People purchase from eBay with a fair degree of trust - I trusted that you actually had the item you sold. Maybe you had some bad luck with suppliers, but I note that you never once apologised for my item being late, nor attempted to contact me about the situation.
Meh...no matter. Done is done. Account details are:
...
Best of luck in your future business deals.
I figured that that would settle it, but the seller decided that I was still an insolent pup in need of a lecture:
Good try, but your wrong again, Iâll correct you and still refund your money so no problems J Reporting me to eBay for fraud will get you NOWHERE as not only do they not care, I can control the outcome. People DO NOT PURCHASE FROM EBAY WITH A FAIR DEGREE OF TRUST, and if you do, then thatâs your own inherent fault for trusting people you canât see. Even the most experienced know that buying something on the internet is risky business and is a risk the consumer takes (Iâm not implying that I am an not a trustworthy seller). In the meantime, calm down and donât get so worked up over something that will fix itself if you give it time.
I've left it at that. Obviously he is far more knowledgable about such things and corrects my previous mistakes. :wanker
Now do you people think that it's reasonable to get what you paid for when you pay for it, or am I just a whinging arsehole? Anyone else with similar experiences?