Pascal
12-13-2007, 05:00 PM
Another Ebay horror story just in time for Christmas.
On Dec. 3, I win auction for a $140 item. I paid right away, forced to use the $40 shipping option (3-5 day shipping with USPS). I included a message with my payment to let me know the tracking number when available.
On Dec. 5, I politely ask again for the tracking number.
On Dec. 6, I receive an email from the seller saying he would ship on Dec. 8. Already a bit irritated to have pay a good chunk of money for fast delivery only to wait a full week before item even gets shipped, I decided to not say anything.
On Dec. 8, no shipping notice.
On Dec. 9, I send another email to get the tracking number. No response.
On Dec. 12, still nothing in the mail. I email the seller, again asking for the tracking number. I get a reply not long after, saying he just phoned USPS and they said there were problems with customs and the parcel was to be returned to him. Yeah, right. I've heard that excuse countless times from slow shippers in the past.
So I email back, doubting he ever shipped the item and asking to get the tracking number AGAIN so I can verify myself. Would have been easy at this point for him to prove me wrong because the tracking would have at least showed me the item had been shipped. If I pay big bucks for shipping, I think I'm entitled to get the tracking number and know where my EXPENSIVE item is. Actually, that's the first ever that a seller would deliberately not tell me the tracking number.
I get a reply shortly after. Seller says "I'm not playing games, I'm sending you a full refund". I beg your pardon? He's the one playing games. I do get a full refund. Shortly after, I get another email : "You never paid, you're getting nothing." WTF? At this point, it's clear the seller is a total idiot.
After exchanging a few more emails, he still refuses to give me the tracking number. At some point, he shoots himself in the foot with a bazooka : "I shipped your item on Dec. 5 and sent you tracking info." LIE. If you remember well, he emailed me late on Dec. 6 saying he would ship on Dec. 8.
And to top it all, he emailed me one last time about an hour after the initial email, pretending he had just received the parcel back. Wow, 9 days to get to customs, and less than an hour to get it back? Yeah right.
Pretty sour experience, especially since it was a very rare figure at a relatively good price. Now I have to start the search all over again.
So a nice little recap :
Lie #1
Pretending he emailed me a shipping notice with tracking number on the 5th when he actually sent me an email late on the 6th telling me he would ship on the 8th.
Suspicious fact #1
He pretended calling USPS (you need a tracking number to do so) in the middle of the afternoon during that day after I emailed him AGAIN to enquire about the parcel and tracking number, saying there was a problem with the label and the parcel would be returned to him. And magically, he claims a few hours later that he just received the parcel. Impossible
Suspicious fact #2
Never ever gave me a tracking number so I could easily verify his claims. Cannot claim he lost it since he claimed himself calling USPS about it a few hours before. You need a tracking number to get info on a specific parcel. Why he would hide it from me is beyond me. I gave him all the opportunities in the world to prove him right and me wrong. I even gave him the chance to ship it tomorrow morning, 10 days after I made the payment, DESPITE paying $38 in the minutes following the end of the auction for 3-5 day shipping. He refused.
Suspicious fact #3
He sent me a full refund in no time. I don't think any seller would accept a $40 loss (plus Ebay listing and final fees for a $140 item) so easily. This just reinforces the fact that he never shipped the item since he's not losing any big money anyway.
Lie #2
After issuing refund, seller rushed to email me that I never paid for the item. Got news for him : Paypal and email account say otherwise.
The strangest part is that the seller (sellersonwheels) has a near perfect record. Why on Earth would he act like that? Doesn't make any sense. He never shipped the item and was too proud or stupid to admit his screw-up.
On Dec. 3, I win auction for a $140 item. I paid right away, forced to use the $40 shipping option (3-5 day shipping with USPS). I included a message with my payment to let me know the tracking number when available.
On Dec. 5, I politely ask again for the tracking number.
On Dec. 6, I receive an email from the seller saying he would ship on Dec. 8. Already a bit irritated to have pay a good chunk of money for fast delivery only to wait a full week before item even gets shipped, I decided to not say anything.
On Dec. 8, no shipping notice.
On Dec. 9, I send another email to get the tracking number. No response.
On Dec. 12, still nothing in the mail. I email the seller, again asking for the tracking number. I get a reply not long after, saying he just phoned USPS and they said there were problems with customs and the parcel was to be returned to him. Yeah, right. I've heard that excuse countless times from slow shippers in the past.
So I email back, doubting he ever shipped the item and asking to get the tracking number AGAIN so I can verify myself. Would have been easy at this point for him to prove me wrong because the tracking would have at least showed me the item had been shipped. If I pay big bucks for shipping, I think I'm entitled to get the tracking number and know where my EXPENSIVE item is. Actually, that's the first ever that a seller would deliberately not tell me the tracking number.
I get a reply shortly after. Seller says "I'm not playing games, I'm sending you a full refund". I beg your pardon? He's the one playing games. I do get a full refund. Shortly after, I get another email : "You never paid, you're getting nothing." WTF? At this point, it's clear the seller is a total idiot.
After exchanging a few more emails, he still refuses to give me the tracking number. At some point, he shoots himself in the foot with a bazooka : "I shipped your item on Dec. 5 and sent you tracking info." LIE. If you remember well, he emailed me late on Dec. 6 saying he would ship on Dec. 8.
And to top it all, he emailed me one last time about an hour after the initial email, pretending he had just received the parcel back. Wow, 9 days to get to customs, and less than an hour to get it back? Yeah right.
Pretty sour experience, especially since it was a very rare figure at a relatively good price. Now I have to start the search all over again.
So a nice little recap :
Lie #1
Pretending he emailed me a shipping notice with tracking number on the 5th when he actually sent me an email late on the 6th telling me he would ship on the 8th.
Suspicious fact #1
He pretended calling USPS (you need a tracking number to do so) in the middle of the afternoon during that day after I emailed him AGAIN to enquire about the parcel and tracking number, saying there was a problem with the label and the parcel would be returned to him. And magically, he claims a few hours later that he just received the parcel. Impossible
Suspicious fact #2
Never ever gave me a tracking number so I could easily verify his claims. Cannot claim he lost it since he claimed himself calling USPS about it a few hours before. You need a tracking number to get info on a specific parcel. Why he would hide it from me is beyond me. I gave him all the opportunities in the world to prove him right and me wrong. I even gave him the chance to ship it tomorrow morning, 10 days after I made the payment, DESPITE paying $38 in the minutes following the end of the auction for 3-5 day shipping. He refused.
Suspicious fact #3
He sent me a full refund in no time. I don't think any seller would accept a $40 loss (plus Ebay listing and final fees for a $140 item) so easily. This just reinforces the fact that he never shipped the item since he's not losing any big money anyway.
Lie #2
After issuing refund, seller rushed to email me that I never paid for the item. Got news for him : Paypal and email account say otherwise.
The strangest part is that the seller (sellersonwheels) has a near perfect record. Why on Earth would he act like that? Doesn't make any sense. He never shipped the item and was too proud or stupid to admit his screw-up.