Tips for resolving EBay issues? - Orchid Board

smweaver · #1 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 12:51 PM

Okay, at the expense of possibly opening up a proverbial can of worms here, I'd like to know if anyone has had any success in getting an EBay issue resolved when someone who bids on your plant appears to vanish--as in, no replies, no payment, nothing. I would rather avoid escalating this to the powers that be on EBay, mainly because I'd much rather prefer to play nice, and find a one-on-one diplomatic solution. But in cases where you send a multitude of emails to a person and request payment, and you get absolutely no response, what's a person to do? This is quite frustrating since I do try very hard to deal with everyone fairly and considerately, no matter whether I'm the buyer or the seller. Any helpful advice will be greatly appreciated.

Steve

cb977 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 01:02 PM

Steve, I've never been in a position of "seller" on ebay but I see no reason why you shouldn't go to the powers that be to get it resolved. They get a portion of your money, right? Let them do the work that's needed. Other sellers need to be made aware of this buyer's negligence.

kiki-do · #3 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 01:40 PM

I agree with Suzanne. EBay needs to be aware of any type of negligence. This is why EBay is such a great site. Rules have to be followed, then everyone benefits.
Sorry you are having problems. Kiki-do

Becca · #4 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 02:58 PM

I agree with Suzanne as well! Use it! If you go through the proper steps, ebay will give you a credit or something along those lines to re-list the item. If you just give the person a negative feedback and don't go through the steps of filing a claim, the end result could just end up being a big "he said, she said " battle on your ratings!

I must admit, I was a person who backed out of a sale...the person went through the claims process after several emails of miscommunication and we were able to work something out....I paid the seller for their time and re-listing fee's on the item and we were both happy. I even know that ebay gave them a credit to re-list on top of what I paid them. I guess in your situation, you have been unable to get a response back from the person so that is different from the situation I was in. I hope you can get it resolved!

quiltergal · #5 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 03:40 PM

Steve how long has it been since your listing ended? Sometimes stuff happens and they can't get back to you promptly. I'd give them 2 weeks and if they still haven't contacted you then you need to get ebay involved. As a seller I've only had to deal with one deadbeat buyer. She claimed she never bid on my item when she clearly did. I contacted ebay and they ended up banning her, and gave me a credit for relisting my item.

Phalguy · #6 (**permalink**) 12-07-2007, 06:50 PM

Hello Steve!

Although I`ve never been a seller on Ebay, I can tell you the only problem I had with a seller got solved 12 hours later after I filled a dispute on ebay!
Let them know you`re having a problem with a buyer and they will explain to you what to do ! I`ve been very impress with the rapidity ebay solved my problem. I got my refund in my paypal account the next morning!

watsgw1155 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-08-2007, 08:35 AM

Good morning -

I would just file negative feedback labeling the buyer a deadbeat and move on.

eBay and Paypal will be of little help. Here's a little saga for all of you that happened to me a couple of months ago. I purchased 2 plants from a vendor on eBay, payed instantly with PayPal, and the jerk fooled around for over a month before he finally got 1 plant to me and a partial refund (he shorted me a buck). To make a long story short, after over 20 emails attempting to get my plants, I went to eBay and PayPal and went thru their tedious complaint processes. After filing with both, all I got was a bunch of rhetoric and SATISFACTION SURVEYS.

I would think with a rating of 250+ & 100% you would think eBay and Paypal might care a little more, but they didn't.

So you will be better off leaving negative feedback and moving on.

Sorry I couldn't be more help with this.

smweaver · #8 (**permalink**) 12-09-2007, 10:12 AM

Thanks, Gary. That's pretty much what I've decided to do. At this point it's been ten days since he won the plant I had for sale. And since the plant fetched a lot more than what I anticipated it would, I have a feeling that he might be having buyer's remorse. However, he did make several bids to ensure that he was the highest bidder. So buyer's remorse or not, I'm not terribly sympathetic. I am, however, concerned that if I did go through with the complaint process outlined on EBay, that somehow if they did succeed in getting him to submit payment, that wouldn't be the end of the ordeal. Even though I've shipped plants throughout previous winters with absolutely no problem, and I also have gotten 100% positive feedback since I first joined the site back in 2003, I have a sneaking suspicion that this buyer might claim that the plant was damaged during transport. And since it's a nice and very healthy plant, I would rather just keep it than have it deliberately damaged so that a claim could be made against me. I did notice that Carter & Holmes also left the same buyer negative feedback last month, claiming that he neither paid nor responded to any of their attempts at communication (same thing that's happened to me). So I'll just chalk this up as one of those experiences that teach you that not everyone plays by the agreed-upon rules. As I said, it's a nice plant--a specimen-sized Angraecum magdalenae--and I'm just not willing to risk it being destroyed by someone who's already developing a reputation on EBay for untrustworthiness. Thanks to everyone for your helpful comments. They were most definitely appreciated.

Steve

quiltergal · #9 (**permalink**) 12-09-2007, 01:00 PM

Steve, at the very least you need to leave negative feedback identifying him has a deadbeat buyer.

IdahoOrchid · #10 (**permalink**) 12-15-2007, 04:01 PM

Having someone 'banned' is not really a solution either. All the person has to do is reestablish as a different person with a different email address and financial accounts.

I really wish there was a more fair and empathetic organization through which to deal with people. Both ebay and paypal are self-serving and not very helpful. I HIGHLY recommend only using credit cards to do transactions on both of those sites as CC companies are much quicker to respond to customer's complaints.

There is Craig's List, but it is not very user friendly and reminds me of using the internet 10 years ago. You cannot do a universal search and must visit EACH regional site to find what you are looking for. It is FREE though.