Problem with an eBay seller

[Tak]

Thought the problem was sorted. The package was damaged, the items not as described, and still none of the refund agreed upon before purchase. Three more negative feedback have shown up. I had to open a case through PayPal after EBay failed to get results. Sadly I'd advise avoiding seller cherish787 on eBay until they resolve their personal issues.

[Ringlets]

  how disappointing -still, you did the right thing opening a case now especially as not only was there a problem with your parcel but there are even more negative feedbacks for her from other buyers so this is not a one off problem at the moment with this seller. Thank you for letting us know the ID

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Sorry to hear of your troubles!  I've updated the List....

[CoonhoundBetty]

Oh Tak, you've just been through the wringer lately! I hope that means you've got some good karma brewing 

[Taffeta]

I purchased two lots from the same seller on eBay on January 23rd. She agreed via pm to a discount as it is a large purchase and to combine shipping. Last Friday the items still hadn't shipped and the discount not processed so I sent a pm via eBay. Today at 5pm still no response and not shipped. EBay support gave me a number to call the seller that rang once then went to voicemail. I left a message. EBay says to open a dispute for a refund. I decided to give her until Wednesday to respond since emergencies do happen and there was a nasty storm.
Should I give the seller more chance than that? It's quite a bit of money for me. I don't know if they're on the arena. I've never sold on eBay and don't know how difficult it is, but also can't take that much of a loss. Any advice from eBay sellers?

I would just open the dispute.  If she mails them you can close the case.

I've been blocked by two regular MLP sellers on eBay for doing this, beware they may take offence!

I actually hate how formalised Ebay have made this procedure. I mean, you can contact the seller, but sometimes you want a middle ground between opening a case and a simple email to just check, hey, is everything ok and my items are still going to be shipped?

I had this a while ago with a non pony auction, and I wanted to settle it without opening a case and making it formal, but in the end Ebay uk didn't give me an option to discuss it with the seller in a mediated place without the case being opened (ie, implied accusation/refund demand) which I find unfriendly and yeah, could cause offence.

I know you can get phone numbers, but I have autism. Aside from hating phones, and calling people on them, I have trouble sequencing numbers and I also have trouble hearing voices sometimes over loud background noise. So basically, phone is an absolute last resort for me and not an option.

Ebay really need to have a mid-point level which isn't a 'case opened' but a 'mediated enquiry' into progress of your items. I am really flexible to people's personal circumstances and such, but I think opening a case  can immediately put someone on the defensive :/

[Tak]

I actually hate how formalised Ebay have made this procedure. I mean, you can contact the seller, but sometimes you want a middle ground between opening a case and a simple email to just check, hey, is everything ok and my items are still going to be shipped?

I had this a while ago with a non pony auction, and I wanted to settle it without opening a case and making it formal, but in the end Ebay uk didn't give me an option to discuss it with the seller in a mediated place without the case being opened (ie, implied accusation/refund demand) which I find unfriendly and yeah, could cause offence.

I know you can get phone numbers, but I have autism. Aside from hating phones, and calling people on them, I have trouble sequencing numbers and I also have trouble hearing voices sometimes over loud background noise. So basically, phone is an absolute last resort for me and not an option.

Ebay really need to have a mid-point level which isn't a 'case opened' but a 'mediated enquiry' into progress of your items. I am really flexible to people's personal circumstances and such, but I think opening a case  can immediately put someone on the defensive :/

My sentiments exactly. I felt forced to open the case. Then they told eBay and me that they would issue the refund. Three days and no communication on their part later I opened a PayPal dispute. EBay having said the case was resolved. Maybe two hours after getting the dispute started I got an email on eBay from the seller again promising the refund if I close the dispute first. After their history, my response was that I would close the dispute after they sent the refund. I have plenty of messages from them promising the refund, but haven't been asked for evidence.

[Ringlets]

Tak please don't close the case until you have the refund, whatever your seller says . You've been promised it before and once you close that case  you wont be able to open another if the seller doesn't do as she promised- ebay will consider it resolved.  You gave a good reply to her messages to close the case. As soon as she refunds you the case will automatically close , or you can close it then .


I also don't like how ebay has made it much more difficult to talk things through lately before it gets to the opening a case stage. On ebay UK I tried to contact a seller about a missing item and it automatically opened a case without letting me send the ordinary email I had wanted to send  (it didn't even call it opening a case , it was worded in  away that made me think I was just asking a question about my missing item - which was the screen I was messaging them from "ask the seller a question" , until it appeared as a case as soon as the message sent!  ) I've never had that happen before and I felt so bad for the seller. I understand why it would upset sellers if that happens  (although in my situation the seller probably did need a case opening because they had sent my item supposedly weeks before within the same country, but there was no tracking showing. When I questioned the seller about the tracking/proof of postage, it went to a case, but the seller then replied after weeks of no communication, that the item had been damaged by the courier and had been returned to them - they hadn't thought to contact me or refund me either until the case.. )

[Tak]

Still not resolved. The seller outright lied. Now has even more negative feedback. They may have blocked me, but I honestly wouldn't want to interact with this person ever again.   

[LadyMoondancer]

WOW, that seller has more negative feedback than positives this month.  Alarming!  Sorry you're going through this, Tak.

[Ringlets]

  that is one very dodgy seller!

[lostpony]

I poked through the seller's feedback profile and it seems he/she used to be pretty good but has run aground lately.  All the recent items have been ended by the seller now.  This seller must be experiencing some life difficulties and seems to have taken a step back from eBay at the moment.  Most unfortunate for all involved:  the seller's good track record has been ruined and a lot of buyers have been disappointed and lost their money.

I always have a look through the feedback of any seller with less than 100% before buying.  If lack of communication is complained of I will only buy a unique item I can't find anywhere else, and consider it a gamble.  I like best when all the negatives are responded to by the seller and the issue looks like it could have been resolved by better buyer communication, which is often what the negatives are about.  Lots of buyers tend to be rash, and some others are so conservative that in this seller's case, one of the positive feedback points is from someone complaining about a package that never arrived who still isn't willing to enter a negative point.  I've done that before, very rarely (leave complaints in a positive feedback point).  In now 400 transactions and 15 years on eBay I have never left a negative point, and the only two I ever received were when I bought from someone I was online friends with who was retaliating when we were arguing...and I didn't leave her any negative points either come to think of it, and she didn't send me the items which I had paid some hundreds of dollars for.  But I never talked with her again, and largely withdrew from all social media websites for more than ten years until signing up here at the Arena last month.  I am irrationally obsessive about the perfection of my eBay account's standing.

Another issue is the extortion:  "close your case and I'll send the refund" in this case or, I sometimes have a seller put a note in the box saying "leave me feedback then I'll leave you feedback".  Last time I got that last one I gave the seller a big lecture.  Withholding seller feedback after payment is received pending buyer feedback is extortion.  Never give in to extortion, and never feel bad about standing up to an extortionist.  I always approach any of these problems from the perspective that they aren't deliberately extorting me, but remain firm on being extorted nonetheless.

I recently selected "didn't receive the item" when sending a seller a message about an item I didn't receive.  I know they still had the item (or another of the item) because they had one listed for $4.  I asked for the item to be re-sent (or more likely sent in the first place) specifically in the communications, but the seller issued a refund and wouldn't communicate.  I don't think a $1.50 refund for an item they are reselling for $4 is fair.  I bought several items from that seller before with no problems.  I don't buy from them anymore.  Not good business for a pony-specific seller to burn an emotional pony buyer (who compulsively spends all available money on pony stuff).

Dispute cases are unfortunate.  I bid on an item from an overseas seller for $10 then had some confusion about the funds available in my credit account.  I made sure I had balance available before bidding, but by the auction end  the credit was not available because paypal credit didn't show something was pending when I checked (which is a breach of terms and illegal, thanks paypal credit) and left me in the position of asking the seller for a week to pay.  The seller said specifically Sure take as long as you need, then opened a case a few days later.  I had to run out and waste money buying a prepaid card to resolve the issue.  I'm not fond of that seller anymore either.  A closed dispute case is a permanent blemish on my 15 year eBay track record and I don't appreciate it.  I actually have two disputes on my record because a seller who specifically agreed to give me two weeks to pay before I bid opened a dispute after only one week, and we had to cancel the item.  EBay closed that dispute as a courtesy without asking to see the messages where the seller promised me two weeks,  but it still appears on my record.

Anyway I'm storytelling about myself in this thread to let you know you are not alone.  EBay can be great but there are sometimes problems and that's just the way it is.   I hope things go better for you online and in the real world.  Hang in there!  Good luck.

[Tak]

Oy. This all started in January. EBay gave me a refund on one lot and is giving the seller extra time on the second. I feel badly that they have obviously fallen on hard times, but they really should have tied up loose ends and stopped before it got so bad. 

[lostpony]

For sure.

Did you lose anything unique?  Or are you going to be able to replace the items you didn't get?

I edited my post because I think my original wording unintentionally implied the seller suffered more than the buyers and I hoped to get the changes in before anyone saw that.  I hope you saw the new wording not the old...

I also hope you got your roof fixed up by now, and things are looking up... 

[Tak]

Yes, things are going much better now. Thanks Your wording was fine. The trouble hurts on both sides. I didn't lose anything rare. They were more bulk lots. Several pictured weren't there and fakies that seemed to be substituted.

[LadyMoondancer]

Withholding seller feedback after payment is received pending buyer feedback is extortion.  Never give in to extortion, and never feel bad about standing up to an extortionist.  I always approach any of these problems from the perspective that they aren't deliberately extorting me, but remain firm on being extorted nonetheless.

???   That isn't feedback extortion.  Feedback extortion is "I will leave you negative feedback unless you give me a partial refund" (or send them an extra item or whatever).  Feedback extortion is rare from sellers these days (because they can't give negatives), but would be something like "I won't ship your item unless you leave me positive feedback."

Saying "I'll leave you feedback when you leave me feedback" is not extortion, because the buyer is not OWED feedback at all.  Feedback is 100% optional on the part of both the buyer and the seller.