posted on October 16, 2000 07:19:23 PM new
The item was less than $10 even with postage and insurance. I have an unusual last name and the buyer said she thought she was related to me. I received her payment and everything. Last week I was really busy and I asked a friend to help me (has helped before and knows what she is doing)so I got everything ready except sealing up the packages and dropped them off at her house. That day there was one other package to mail besides this one, plus a padded envelope package. I like to include a very inexpensive thank you gift in my packages and I send one thing to women and a different thing to men. That day she was the only one receiving this particular thank you gift. Yesterday I got an email from her that she didn't get her item but instead got a box with three of this particular thank you gift in it. Now here I am wracking my brain and talking to my friend and determining that there is no way that could have happened. She obviously got a package because she knew what the thank you gift was. I emailed her back asking for a little clarification and she was a little testy. I emailed back and told her that I am refunding her money and that if her items turn up I will send them to her free of charge. She has a large number of feedback with no negs and one old neutral. That is the part I can't understand. I left great feedback for her after I received her payment. I think I am learning things the hard way here! I have a feeling from now on I may discontinue the thank you gifts if that is just going to be another way for people to try to scam me and the other thing is I am going to wait to give feedback. I have a couple hundred feedback with no negs or neutrals and really don't want a less than $10 transaction to mess that up. That is why I sent her the money back. But I feel like I've been played the fool.
posted on October 16, 2000 07:27:32 PM new
Well, it could be a scam....but I find it interesting that there were three packages going out and this lady said she received 3 of the thank you gifts.
Also, if she was trying to scam you why wouldn't she just say she didn't receive ANYthing?
Or only ONE of the thank you gifts? I mean, how could she know that you didn't have only ONE of the thank you gifts (and therefore you would have KNOWN that you couldn't have sent three).
posted on October 16, 2000 07:31:03 PM newhammerchick ~ Why don't you e-mail the two other buyers and find out if they received their thank you gifts. You might even mention that the reason you are asking is because another buyer claims to have gotten three gifts and you can't see how that is possible. That might help you shed some light on this matter.
posted on October 16, 2000 07:31:28 PM new
I'd ask her to send back the "gifts". She can't send back 3 if she didn't get them. But she'll probably be offended, so don't know. I would try to find out if maybe her package went to the wrong buyer? Maybe your friend mixed things up? Did you have a box with just the free gifts in it? Your friend could have sent it by mistake. I guess you already searched for her item? Sorry, I'm probably not telling you anything you haven't thought of.....good luck!
posted on October 16, 2000 07:31:57 PM new
I don't know - the whole thing is crazy. Maybe it will all work out in the end. And if her item turns up, then I will feel stupid but I will have done the right thing by refunding her money for the trouble. You brought up some good points I hadn't thought of yet and now I am thinking maybe she is telling the truth.
posted on October 16, 2000 07:35:03 PM new
The weight of the package will tell you if you were scammed or not. You know the weight of the package you sent because you know what it cost to ship. Make up a package with three of those gifts and find out what it will cost to ship it to the same zipcode. If it weighs less than the original package you were most certainly scammed.
However, my guess is that you weren't. Shipping errors happen all the time, no matter how careful one is.
posted on October 16, 2000 07:35:19 PM new
I'm not sure if she scammed you or not, but the whole thing sounds VERY odd. If you included it WITH the actual item, then you know that she DID receive the item she bid on.
It sounds to me like you have done EVERYTHING in your power to please her.
If she hasn't left any neg or neutral feedback, I'd leave it alone! You don't want to stir it up and get her angry and then it will prompt her to do something brash!
posted on October 17, 2000 05:44:14 AM newhammerchick
Your original response was correct:
I emailed back and told her that I am refunding her money and that if her items turn up I will send them to her free of charge.
Don't second guess yourself! Take the high road. I've dealt with over 1000 transactions, and NO ONE has ever pulled a fast one. EVEN IF SHE DID, as they say, "one bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch," that is, don't change your freebie policy because of ONE transaction. In quality theory, that is known as an outlier, and is not representative of your normal process (did you get all that, LOL?).
Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.
[ edited by ksterni on Oct 17, 2000 05:44 AM ]
The saying is "one bad apple will spoil the whole barrel"
Your useless factoid of the day:
An apple, when it begins to rot, produces a chemical compound that causes other apples in the same area to also produce the chemical and rot.
From 'UNCLE JOHN'S BATHROOM READER'
posted on October 17, 2000 06:24:55 AM new
I believe that was the song that was the theme song of the Osmonds cartoon show? Still, the original saying was what I said it was.
posted on October 17, 2000 08:33:37 AM new
beekmanbooks is absolutly correct in this. The same thing happened to me, when I sent a widget that always costs around $9.00 to send. This woman said she received 1/4 of the set, although the package was completly sealed when she got it. I rechecked the slip from the post office and it did in fact cost $9.18 to send, so how could I have made a mistake when it cost so much for me to ship. I told her I would investigate through the post office, since she did say the package came sealed, and all of a sudden she wrote and said...opps sorry I found the rest of it. Mention the word Postal Investigation and the items just seem to appear.
posted on October 17, 2000 08:44:13 AM new
It sounds to me like this friend who "knows what she is doing" doesn't. Or she at leat isn't very organized or doesn't pay much attention to YOUR items that have to be shipped.
