Overcharged shipping costs, how would you handle it?

[MikeysGrrrl]

I'm beginning to feel awfully silly having posted this thread, as I'm kinda surprised about people's reactions. I'm starting to feel as though I'm nitpicking at the little things.

When I contact a seller to inquire about the cost of shipping, I decide whether or not it's affordable, sometimes, I have to knock a pony off the list I gave them just to afford shipping, other times it's not an issue at all. However if I ask how much shipping is and they say oh I guess around $25, and it ends up only costing them $18, why wouldn't I be confused?

I don't mind when sellers round up on the shipping costs, or include a handling fee or paypal fee.

Like I said, I just decided to not bother saying anything. It's not the end of the world or anything. I'm not upset with the sellers, I have no hard feelings and this won't detract from future dealings with them at all. I really just wanted to get an idea of how others react when they are in this situation, whether they are the buyer contemplating on contacting the seller, or if they are the seller dealing with the buyer.

[PinkRosedust]

Well personally I think $5-7 of overcharging deserves explanation.

On the one hand, yeah, you agreed to pay whatever the shipping was...but that was probably under the assumption  that you were paying exact shipping, maybe with a buck or two extra for handling. I would never argue over $2 or even $3...but if it's more like $6 or $7, then I would expect to be informed by the seller beforehand.

[nessy_86]

I personally would want to know why I was charged that much extra for shipping. Like some have said I wouldn't worry about $2-$3 over, but when it gets higher than that I would want to know. I personally have never had this issue on the Arena, but have on eBay. As a seller I have refunded an overcharge for shipping if it was over like $2. So I don't blame you for being curious.

[Ice_gypsy]

IDK i was charged like 25 euros for shipping on one baby pony from a french ebay seller and the package said like 3 euros on the label and i sent them a message and they wouldn't refund me anything or even respond very much and ebay wouldn't help either
so basically i was overcharged 20 euros

yeah i agree that $5-7 over is a bit much

[Stormy31685]

I'm beginning to feel awfully silly having posted this thread, as I'm kinda surprised about people's reactions. I'm starting to feel as though I'm nitpicking at the little things.

When I contact a seller to inquire about the cost of shipping, I decide whether or not it's affordable, sometimes, I have to knock a pony off the list I gave them just to afford shipping, other times it's not an issue at all. However if I ask how much shipping is and they say oh I guess around $25, and it ends up only costing them $18, why wouldn't I be confused?

I don't mind when sellers round up on the shipping costs, or include a handling fee or paypal fee.

Like I said, I just decided to not bother saying anything. It's not the end of the world or anything. I'm not upset with the sellers, I have no hard feelings and this won't detract from future dealings with them at all. I really just wanted to get an idea of how others react when they are in this situation, whether they are the buyer contemplating on contacting the seller, or if they are the seller dealing with the buyer.

Don't feel that way!  I think this has just happened and been brought up so many times in the past.  When you are buying a hundred or more ponies each year, you are bound to win some and lose some with shipping.  When you are overcharged though, it is frustrating.  It is hard because everyone has their own ways of justifying things.  Or maybe your sellers used calculators online.  Also, depending on what you bought, a nice box can cost up to $3 these days.  There is no telling, honestly. 

Personally, I have just stopped looking at the boxes, lol! 

[nhal039]

Well personally I think $5-7 of overcharging deserves explanation.

On the one hand, yeah, you agreed to pay whatever the shipping was...but that was probably under the assumption  that you were paying exact shipping, maybe with a buck or two extra for handling. I would never argue over $2 or even $3...but if it's more like $6 or $7, then I would expect to be informed by the seller beforehand.

This
I was over charged $7 by an arena member and I was ticked off. I thought the extra charge was for tracking but nope it wasn't tracked. I think its incredible rude not telling someone that you are over charging them by that much, had I had of known I wouldn't have agreed to the sale, I only agreed cause like i said I thought she would send it tracked. I didn't say any thing to the seller but I told all my pony friends and I will never buy from that person again nor will my friends

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I try not to look at the shipping label because usually I'm the one who is overpaying.  I ship with tracking and insurance, most ship First Class and hope for the best.    I'd rather just enjoy the thoughtfulness of the ponies inside!

[bluerose9978]

Well personally I think $5-7 of overcharging deserves explanation.

On the one hand, yeah, you agreed to pay whatever the shipping was...but that was probably under the assumption  that you were paying exact shipping, maybe with a buck or two extra for handling. I would never argue over $2 or even $3...but if it's more like $6 or $7, then I would expect to be informed by the seller beforehand.

This
I was over charged $7 by an arena member and I was ticked off. I thought the extra charge was for tracking but nope it wasn't tracked. I think its incredible rude not telling someone that you are over charging them by that much, had I had of known I wouldn't have agreed to the sale, I only agreed cause like i said I thought she would send it tracked. I didn't say any thing to the seller but I told all my pony friends and I will never buy from that person again nor will my friends

I think in this case you really should have contacted the seller. They could have overquoted you and didn't realize it until they went to the post office and then meant to reimburse you and forgot. I have done this in the past. I have overcharged by a couple dollars and meant to go back home after I got back from the post office, but when I go out, I don't just go to the post office, I do a whole host of errands, and then I completely forgot when I got home. It was weeks later and the ponies had already arrived to the destination when I even thought about it and then I had to dig up the receipt and the buyer didn't even understand what the refund was for...LOL. She was like, "The ponies were good, I was happy."

So, if overcharging shipping ever bothers someone, people need to speak up. Sometimes it's just an error because not everyone has a scale and they have to guess. And not everyone has bad intentions. I'd like to think most people on the Arena have good intentions.

[Stormness_1]

^^ yep, a guesser over here..! I really should get a scale though, hubby's always yelling out "honey, how much do you reckon this would cost to send to wherever?' and I'll guess and then go online for a quote, lol. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm waay off, lol.... and sometimes I end up weighing myself holding a package on the bathroom scales, haha!

[Ringlets]

I think in this case you really should have contacted the seller. They could have overquoted you and didn't realize it until they went to the post office and then meant to reimburse you and forgot. I have done this in the past. I have overcharged by a couple dollars and meant to go back home after I got back from the post office, but when I go out, I don't just go to the post office, I do a whole host of errands, and then I completely forgot when I got home. It was weeks later and the ponies had already arrived to the destination when I even thought about it and then I had to dig up the receipt and the buyer didn't even understand what the refund was for...LOL. She was like, "The ponies were good, I was happy."

So, if overcharging shipping ever bothers someone, people need to speak up. Sometimes it's just an error because not everyone has a scale and they have to guess. And not everyone has bad intentions. I'd like to think most people on the Arena have good intentions.

I'm going to agree with BlueRose . Overcharging is not always intentional and some sellers are happy to refund the difference - espeically if they had a guess and got it a bit wrong.  Whatever the reason, if you get overcharged and you're not happy about it (especially iof its a big difference to what you expected), then its always best to send the seller a polite message and see how they respond 

Post Merge: January 27, 2014, 04:10:40 AM

ETA - I forgot to add the usual advice I give when asking a seller something like this :  Always start your message with something positive about the transaction first - was the shipping fast, did you love the pony,... whatever. It starts things off on a good note and makes the seller more willing to work with you

[nhal039]

I see your point and in most cases I would but I had a strong gut feeling it was going to cause problems, this member is very well known in the community. Its like what a few others have echoed before they don't want to cause problems and so I just sucked up the lost and told my friends so they don't end up in the same situation. It was a crap situation to be in as the pony wasn't as described either so it wasn't just the postage I was unhappy about : / Anyhow I don't want to get off the topic but in some situations I do think some sellers do it on purpose on a whim that the buyer says nothing and in those situation I think its wrong, mistake happen I totally agree and I have kids so I can be forgetful myself but there are times but I really do sense I am not alone on this matter with this seller.

[ponylady]

Whether the member is well known or not nhal, you should have brought it to their attention, especially if it took place here. Or PMed Ringlets or I, we could have maybe been able to shed some light on the situation for you.

I know I have overcharged on shipping when I used to use eBay's calculated shipping. I caught it most of the time but sometimes things get away from you and you forget. My buyers have politely messaged me and I had no problem refunding the mistake. Also have had problems with missing perhaps a flaw or two. It's human nature, we make mistakes but if nothing is said to the seller, they then in return have no way of knowing and perhaps try to rectify the situation.

[bluerose9978]

Whether the member is well known or not nhal, you should have brought it to their attention, especially if it took place here. Or PMed Ringlets or I, we could have maybe been able to shed some light on the situation for you.

I agree. Or ask for help on this forum. That's what it's here for. You don't even have to name names, just like MikeysGrrrl chose not to. We could have helped you figure out how to approach the person or to advise you to go ahead and pm a mod about the problem. Just because someone is well-known here does not mean they should be taking advantage of anyone and it also does not mean that they don't make mistakes sometimes.

[nhal039]

bluerose ponylady has been sent the details, I would rather not bring up the past in this thread its getting a bit of topic. Yes this place is great for addressing issues but in my case I had plenty of good pony pals in my city that I talked it over with so I did seek the advice of many others (all of them are members on her too) :  )

[MikeysGrrrl]

Just in case I didn't clarify it already, I truly believe that neither member was trying to scam some extra cash or anything like that. We're all human and we all make mistakes. I have no hard feelings towards either seller, I'm not alerting anyone to not buy from them or anything like that. I am very happy with both of my purchases

I do think that if it's something that you just can't let go or maybe you feel the need to alert others, it may be best to consult a mod for assistance. I mean the last thing anyone wants to do is hurt a members reputation over something that was in all likelihood a mistake that's easily fixable when both parties communicate.