smithkwlh
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posted on October 17, 2000 07:20:52 AM new
I REALLY try to be a patient seller...benefit of the doubt, etc. However a recent sale has me wondering if I should not adopt a more hard-nosed approach to NPB's. 4 weeks ago I had a sale for a large Dept 56 item, buyer had good feedback. I have TOS 3 day response/10 day payment required. 12 days after auction end, I sent polite e-mail inquiring about payment and received excuse that she had changed e-mail addresses and had lost my address, please resend. 8 days later, I sent e-mail. This time money order had been laundered in hubbys work pants. I expressed e-doubt about buyers intent. She apologized for being in wheelchair and would have her mother send payment. I don't want to be nasty to a wheelchair-bound person, but I am selling on e-bay to pay for my husband's extensive and expensive physical rehab after an underinsured driver jumped the median and hit us head-on, breaking his neck. The check would have come in handy, as our budget is burdened. You can picture the buyer and me ramming e-wheelchairs together now. Oh well, just venting. Any other doozy excuses out there for non-payment?
[ edited by smithkwlh on Oct 17, 2000 10:13 AM ]
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missspider
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posted on October 17, 2000 07:31:40 AM new
My "favorite" was (after waiting 3 weeks and sending several polite reminders) the huffy reply "I'll send payment as soon as I can...we're having a HURRICANE here, you know!" Never did get payment.
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smithkwlh
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posted on October 17, 2000 07:45:12 AM new
Missspider, I have never heard of a hurricane lasting 3 weeks. We live in Key Largo, FL and do have knowledge of big "whirlygirls". Usually the Post Office is one of the first services to show their heads again after a blow. Gotta mail those wind-storm/flood insurance claims ya know.
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mballai
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posted on October 17, 2000 08:01:22 AM new
Speaking of hurricanes, I feel like I need hipwaders to deal with excuses!
Someone claimed a lightning strike just recently and another said their computer died. 99% of the time they either forgot or are just blowing you off.
Sorry to hear about your accident. I'll stop venting about the heartburn I get from my bidders' lamebrain antics.
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furkidmom
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posted on October 17, 2000 08:16:52 AM new
hee hee hee I shouldn't laugh bt it sounds like I have delt with both of your winners. I have one right now that the auction ended on Oct. 2nd and I also have a 10 day payment must be received TOS. She wrote to me and finally, and asked me if I took PayPal. I said yes. She writes back and asks "WHAT IS YOUR PAYPAL NAME" I told her it is the same as my email and gave it to her again. That it was stated I took this service in my TOS and EOA. I also stated I could not understand the delay since she had wanted to pay with PayPal from the first and nothing was forthcoming. She wrote back this....(5th mail now)"WELL PROBALY BECAUSE MY COMPUTER WENT DOWN AND I LOST ALL INFO AND I AM JUST TRYING TO GET WITH PEOPLE AND SOMETIMES I EMAIL SOMEONE AND FORGET
THERE ARE ALOT OF PEOPLE I AM DEALING WITH BESIDES YOU!!" (note...she is getting a bit snippy now and she is the one verry very late.) I also mentioned that I have asked for her mailing addy and name 5 times and she would not give it. She replied with XXXXXXX XXXXXXX <<<(address) YOU WILL GET MY FIRST NAME WHEN I PAYPAL YOU I finally received nothing and filed a NPB and she thinks she has 10 more days to pay and I am in the wrong for not knowing the rules! Her answer to me when she received the NPB alert: "YES I DO KNOW HOW IT WORKS BUT WHEN YOUR EMAIL COMES THRU IT JUST SAYS XXXXXX XXXXX
NOT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS THAT WHY I ASKED I DID SEND YOU MY ADDRESS I HAVE 10 DAYS TO PAY AND GIVE YOU MY ADDRESS PER EBAY RULES. INSTEAD OF USING THE TERMS EOA AND TOS YOU SHOULD READ THE RULES I WILL PAY YOU SOON AND IF YOU
LEAVE FEED BACK BEFORE MY 10 DAYS ARE UP I WILL DO THE SAME " Go figure! I am laughing at this one because I spent so much time on it, explaining everything I could think of just in case she didn't know what was going on. Benefit of the doubt ya know? Would you say this is a deadbeat??? Doiiiiiii BTW she has 2 negs that say Beware of this bidder! LOL
On a more serious note, I am very sorry to hear about the accident your husband suffered. Hope he is on the mend.
[ edited by furkidmom on Oct 17, 2000 08:23 AM ]
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cassiescloset
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posted on October 17, 2000 08:39:21 AM new
I had a Muffy bear auction. I always send out EOA immediately. The bidder did not respond although everyone else had, so I sent another EOA later that week.
A few days after the second EOA, bidder says she was waiting for my email but bid on another item instead. I checked her bidding history, and she did buy another Muffy item, but not the same as the one she bid on with me.
I relisted item, filed NPB and FVC, and will give negative 30 days after auction close so I cover all bases.
I'm sick of lame excuses, too, and now have a policy to give a negative 30 days after close of auction for non payment. I don't really care if they give a retalatory neg in return--it just makes them look more pathetic.
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booksbooksbooks
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posted on October 17, 2000 09:51:24 AM new
furkidmom -- It's possible that if your e-mail address wasn't in the text of your e-mail, your deadbeat really couldn't find it.
My newsreader doesn't show the sender's e-mail address in the headings, only their name. I haven't bothered figuring out how to change this, though I did figure out a workaround to find e-mail addresses if I really need one. It sounds like your deadbeat is in the same situation.
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graysi
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posted on October 17, 2000 10:45:42 AM new
furkidmom
I use an older version on Microsoft Outlook for e-mail and it doesn't automatically put the return e-mail address on it either. It shows up with the person's name and you have to click around to get a return e-mail address.
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CAgrrl
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posted on October 17, 2000 05:00:27 PM new
there were an awful lot of people who died in late Sept, or maybe all my customers were out of town at the same funeral? LOL!!
I'm pretty patient with people and in most cases they do eventually send payment. I leave pos FB for anyone who paid, even if it took awhile, but the FB will say something like "prompt pay under the circumstances, sorry about your grandfather's death". Then they look stupid because 5 comments earlier they usually already have a neg with a response that says "was out of town, death in the family, paid as soon as I could".
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AutumnGirl
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posted on October 17, 2000 06:25:59 PM new
On the flip side of this is the lame excuses SELLER'S give for not mailing out their product. My poor nephew has been waiting since September 7 for some video's he won. I finally stepped in to help him and show him what to do to try and recoup some of his money. This guy is truly a LOSER in every meaning of the word. He had the nerve to write back that we were next on his list to ship out then at the bottom of the email he says, "I hope to have the item mailed out in the near future" HE HOPE's, I hope for his sake he does. This was an $80.00 auction. But see it works both ways.
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acooze
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posted on October 17, 2000 07:11:12 PM new
Here's an email I just received in reply to my "it's been almost a month, what's up?" inquiry...
Hello. I am still ssoooooooooooo interested in the XXXXX. Unfortunately I have misplaced your mailing address so I can send you the money. I am so sorry. Please forgive. I have tried to locate you through E-Bay and stuff but have had no luck. Could you please E-mail me your mailing information once again so I can complete the transaction with you.
stupid italics 
[ edited by acooze on Oct 17, 2000 07:12 PM ]
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photogeyk
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posted on October 17, 2000 07:27:15 PM new
i tell you, i made the mistake of letting some of my staff use my ebay account while we were out on assignment, we get back and i have to fire one girl and low and behold i get messages from 7 count em 7 camera sellers, not one bill less than $225.00
luckily it is on the same type of equipment we use most of the time, and the one off piece the seller was nice enough to get the next highest bidder to bid on. so here is a tip dont trust ANYONE with your cyber stuff................................
every 20 seconds in america a woman is giving birth:SHE MUST BE FOUND AND STOPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.................................................................
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furkidmom
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posted on October 17, 2000 07:29:47 PM new
Well I guess that would be a good excuse but my email address is right in the EOA and I sent it to her 4 times after that. I am one of the most patient people but I think it was eventer that had a great timeline that he posted quite some time ago, and I printed it off. I am going to blow it up to poster size, frame it and staple it to the wall. That the way it is going to go from here on in.
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sjl1017
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posted on October 18, 2000 06:35:00 AM new
I just got this one on an auction that ended a month ago:
HI! I JUST SAW YOUR EMAIL TODAY THE BID WAS PLACED BY MY SISTER IN LAW WHO IS A MISSIONARY FROM ASIA AND WAS HERE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS VISITING SHE DID SEND OUT A FEW CHECKS FOR HER WINNING BIDS, BUT IF YOU DID NOT GET YOURS PLS SEND THE PAYMENT INFO. AND I'LL SEND OUT PAYMENT ....THANKS,
Sorry about the caps but I pasted directly from the email I just got from them. I've had more funerals and comas in the past two weeks but this one struck me as the most amusing. They should take up fiction writing.
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CleverGirl
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posted on October 18, 2000 07:26:22 AM new
I have a hard time understanding why some sellers hang on so long HOPING their NPBs will turn into real buyers. Give it up! Give them a reasonable time (your choice -- but I personally think a month is way too long), then kiss that transaction goodbye, go file the NPB alert, then go as quickly as possible (10 days later) to file for the FVFs. Relist. Cut the angst and the drain on your time and energy. Or at least that's my approach <g>. Life's too short. Plus, slow pays stand a good chance of being problematic in other areas too (not always, but often).
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danilynn71
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posted on October 18, 2000 09:45:00 AM new
must have been the full moon. Last week, I emailed a buyer when I had not received payment after 12 days. She emailed me back saying "check is in the mail". When I still hadn't gotten it 5 days later I emailed again telling her that if I didn't get payment within 24 hours I would file a NPB allert. This was her reply:
it is no way it can be there in 24 hours even thou i mailed it the mail
system is so slow i can't contol that part so i guess if u have to file the
non paying bidder thing then i guess you will need to do it now cause i can't
make sure it is there in 24 hours cause i am not the postman i don't
understand why it has not gotten there alteady i will have to file a claim to
get my money back on money order i guess and that is 60 days i will have to
wait to get that money and my stepson will not get the thomas he wanted i
mailed it from the first email i just made sure when u emailed me the second
time but it has had plenty of time to reach you.
.......................................
That's how I got it. No periods or capital letters. I also wondered how she KNEW I wouldn't get it in 24 hours if she had mailed it a week ago...
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ski2387
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posted on October 18, 2000 10:00:39 AM new
I am a seller and I generally agree that the late payers most times end up being no payers. I did have one case where after not receiving payment within 21 days I also said if payment is not received within 24 hours I will relist. Buyer paid paypal that day I shipped and then payment did arrive in the mail about a week later. The envelope was postmarked within a few days of EOA and it had been misdelivered to wrong address and then I guess the receipient held it awhile before giving back to PO. Most excuses are BS but on occasion they are legit and I think you have to give the benefit of the doubt. After receiving original payment I cashed it and send it back via paypal. It just goes to prove how much easier it would have been using paypal or billpoint?
RB
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taisha1
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posted on October 18, 2000 01:02:04 PM new
I chuckle at some of the excuses but wonder had I needed one whether mine would have been believed. I recently spent three days in the hospital and for a week after couldn't hold a pen to write. A five-pound, five-month-old kitten gave me seven puncture wounds in a pinkie finger. My hand swelled like a balloon. I'm doing fine but the finger is still in the process of shedding a layer of skin.
And the one about dogs eating homework! I can now believe that one. One of our dogs recently ate most of a land survey that we had left on a coffee table.
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brighid868
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posted on October 18, 2000 02:44:30 PM new
Maybe I am an exception but I don't find that late payers necessarily turn into deadbeats. In my auctions I have inevitably found that about 50 percent pay right on time as requested (7 days), 30 percent pay within 2 weeks without a reminder, and 20 percent need to be reminded 1 or more times. However, only about 2 percent of my people don't end up paying at all. I auction maybe 20 things a week and this has been consistent for me. I have accepted that there will always be a small number of people who bid and then have other concerns, so they will need to be reminded. I work on a 21 day timeline. Most pay in 7-10 days. I send the slowpays a polite reminder on the 14th day and repeat it a few days later from a different email (in case of loss). I always stay polite and inquiring. If it comes to a 3rd reminder by 21 days, I politely offer them the chance to get out of the auction so I can file for fees and relist. Most of the time they decide they do want the item and Paypal me the money. Those that don't answer I file for FVF and re-list without any further ado. My job is to get paid for my items not to turn slow payers into correctly behaved consumers.
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zapped101
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posted on October 18, 2000 02:56:35 PM new
On a note how to slolve this problem after the 10 days or what ever are up leave neg feedback and go to the second highest bidder and tell him/her of the final price ect. If they dont want it keep going down the line until you find somone that is willing to take it!
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surrrfurtom
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posted on October 18, 2000 06:39:01 PM new
I'll make a broad statement that is not always true but true more times than not. Buyers that have even a small % of neg FB are often deadbeats or problems. The neg FB you see is only the tip of the iceburg as only 1 out of 10 sellers unfortunately leave neg FB.
Many times I've had buyers with 50 + feedbacks and 2 or 3 negs that are often slow or non-paying.
With sellers the neg FB could be true or purely retaliatory so you must look at each.
As a buyer I never use my selling ID just so a seller can't hold me hostage to retaliatory FB. My last 2 eBay purchases really were pathetic and very slow. PayPal'd same day, received wrong item after 10 days, only receive second item after 2 1/2 weeks.
Oh, BTW I've found that a phone call does wonders for getting payment. Folks that have an easy time of avoiding emails seem more responsive with a phone call.
[ edited by surrrfurtom on Oct 18, 2000 06:41 PM ]
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CBlev65252
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posted on October 20, 2000 10:55:33 AM new
Boy, and the police think they've heard some lame excuses! I'm new to Ebay selling and after having read this thread, I have a pretty good idea of what I'm up against. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Ha!
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