Frustrated with eBay

[blondee1982]

 So would you say it is fair to assume that if a seller says items range from GUC to FAIR with a condition description key on the listing as well that it is the buyers responsibility to translate the description and be aware of flaws BEFORE purchasing ???? And she yelling at me in a language (French)I don't speak saying they are not as described , when in fact they are....  what are your thoughts?? I am beyond frustrated and considering not selling any more

[lovesbabysquirmy]

If your pictures clearly show all the flaws in the ponies, then regardless of the language barrier, the buyer has no case, really. 

Either they can decide the transaction wasn't worth their time and return it on their own dime for an original purchase price refund, or they learn to inspect potential purchases before bidding.   

Perhaps you can post the message exchange here, and the moderators can help you! 

[Icecrystalline]

Urm, yes generally a clever person would translate and check for flaws PRIOR to purchasing. In fairness, eBay always or nearly always sides with the buyer. You need to get help from a French speaking member to help to resolve this. We also need more details:
What were you selling?
A link to the auction (Priority)
What they have emailed you about (do NOT include their name at this point, it's unfair to the buyer)

I hope I can help you out some more, but without these vital facts, there is not a lot more I can do to help...! x

[Rhubarbpie]

Also, perhaps its best not to purchase from a site you don't know the language of??

[blondee1982]

Here are some of the details of the listing itself and of our conversation, really it just makes me sad and frustrated because I pride myself to be very honest and accommodating, I would never want a buyer to be unhappy..but at the same time if you buy a lot of ponies that are in GUC to Fair condition you should be expecting flaws, only 3 of the items were in fair condition the rest were really pretty good and some were excellent and just needed a bath I hate to say "bait lot" if they are not all bait ponies, I also do not point out every single flaw on a lot of ponies because it gets to be too long and makes it sound worse than it really is, so I ask in the description to please view all pictures and ask condition questions because I am not an expert. The only mistake I made in the listing was saying "she" when referring to ponies instead of "they" a few times lol, but that is pretty minimal and not a normal thing for me, I must have been tired when I listed it lol.  Anyway, here goes



Here is our conversation thus far, I will post the translated by ebay version of her messages, it is a pretty rough translation lol

Buyer: I want to make a comeback! the package does not match the description, pony break, head re stick, stain!
this is outrageous!
you made ​​a return and refund?

Me: Hi, I did describe these as good to fair condition in the auction description. I also stated that they had flaws, such as stains, dirt, marks,  paint loss, etc. Did you read the description before purchasing these because I was very upfront about the condition, here is what I wrote in the listing : They are in GUC to Fair in my opinion mostly, some are in EUC, some are better than others, all need cleaning up, some may have issues such as fade, paint loss, marks ingrained dirt, trims, and other age and playwear

Buyer: return costs are how much?
you do not tell me that the doll have the head and the arm break and pick
the return costs are not for me! you have not told me the doll objects pony was broken and pick ....

Me: I am truly very sorry that you are unhappy and were confused about the condition of these ponies due to a language barrier, if you would like to return them at your own expense I will be happy to provide a prompt refund as soon as I receive them back
My address is:
( I gave her my name and address to send it to)

Buyer: ....no response

Me: If you are not wanting to pay the cost to return them I would be willing to give you a partial return of $8 and you can just keep them , either way I want you to be happy so just let me know if that sounds good and I will refund you right away

Buyer:....still no response


.

[Mkia]

I think you've been more than fair in this situation. The auction seems clear to me, but maybe she misunderstood due to the language barrier. Either way, you are not in the wrong and it's very nice of you to offer a partial. Hopefully she gets back to you!

[blondee1982]

Normally I never rant or complain but I have had some outrageous ebay claims in the last few months and it leaves me feeling ripped off and frustrated, I actually had a lady open a case because an item she purchased did not have an original accessory it came with in the 90's...the accessory in question was NOT shown in the pictures or the description yet she demanded that it should have it!! LOL...HUH???, of course I ended up giving her the partial refund she requested just so she would revise her unfair negative feedback but it is soooo not right!! and Ebay has absolutely NOTHING in place to protect sellers from this type of abuse. They say they do but in the end they still sided with this bogus buyer

[babylofty]

I'm wondering if this is the same french buyer I dealt with a few years ago. She went absolutely ballistic on me when her pony didn't show up within two weeks. I explained that she needed to be patient, and I even scanned my post office receipt! But it wasn't enough for her. Went screaming to ebay, screamed at me that "I falsified the post office receipt", ebay froze my paypal money...and then the day a decision was supposed to be handed down, guess what showed up at her doorstep. Man, I'll bet SHE was red in the face when she got it!  I have avoided shipping internationally since then. I realize that cuts a huge chunk of the world out of my profits, but dang...people are impatient!

[blondee1982]

I think you've been more than fair in this situation. The auction seems clear to me, but maybe she misunderstood due to the language barrier. Either way, you are not in the wrong and it's very nice of you to offer a partial. Hopefully she gets back to you!

Thank you all for your advice

Ok...Whew! thank goodness, the actual owner of the ebay acct messaged me and said it was her sister who was the one who actually bought the ponies and was upset about the condition, I guess she has decided to keep the ponies now and all is ok huge relief on my poor brain lol, it has been a rough day dealing with this while being sick with a monster head cold and taking care of a sick kiddo as well! Cheers to a better night to come hopefully!

[MikeysGrrrl]

My husband and I actually just had problem with a buyer last month, my husband and I used to collect cars (hotwheels and xmods specifically), we had already parted with a good portion of our collection with no problems... so we decide to list an xmod that's been upgraded and comes with a ton of extra including motors and BNIB items... needless to say that it was worth way more than it sold for... My husband tested everything to make sure it all worked before boxing it up and going to the post office, 4 days later the buyer sends us a message saying something along the lines of it doesn't power on and it doesn't turn... I responded back asking if he could be more clear, because if it can't turn on then obviously you can't steer, however if it powers on then the steering just needs to be adjusted, his response was that he wasnt a new transmitter, and we didn't know what he was talking about because they don't come with transmitters... we offered him a full refund minus return shipping or he could tell us exactly what he needed we would ship that to him at no cost to him... 3 weeks go by, no response, during this time we send him messages through ebay and email and nothing... then one day we see our feedback has dropped down and he's left us a neg in french! OMG, I was losing my mind, I'm on the phone with ebay complaining about how we tried to resolve a problem, I want the neg removed what can we do etc... their response was did you try and call them? Um hello? They speak french, I can speak it a little but not enough to carry on a full blown conversation, they put me on hold read through all of our back and forth messages, item description etc... and came back on and said, you did everything you could, you're not in the wrong, who cares if they leave you a neagtive... I was dumbfounded to say the least...
I ended up emailing the buyer again, this time in both english and french, and offered to fix whatever the problem was if only he'd tell us, but we need the feedback revised, i said he left it unfairly as we did everything we could and he was choosing to not resolve it... needless to say he revised it but left us low stars on everything... oh and still never sent anything back to us...
Paypal and ebay will always side with the buyer, it's part of their buyer protection program, even if you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the condition etc...
There really needs to be more protection for the sellers as well...
I hope you get this resolved soon... You weren't in the wrong, some people are just impossible to please.

[minamarie]

i read they are mostly in the 2-3 worst stages, no returns or refunds but you still offered both in a kind way good girl   i myself would ask ebay to decide- i had a similar case where ebay itself refunded full price incl shipping and the buyer could keep everything