posted on March 15, 2005 08:15:04 PM
Just need a chance to vent a bit. Have two PIA buyers (most aren't that's why these stand out so much).
B*tchy Buyer One
Buys an item at about 1/3 of what it's going for in other places. But, it's kinda hefty and she's in Canada... (Perfect opportunity for anyone else who has had a bad experience with a Canadian to say: Told ya.)
Quote her shipping that's $16.00 and she kindly asks me to "check again" to be sure I have it right. Afterall, Canada isn't REALLY international, she tells me. She has 12 positive feedback - so she's been around a long time (right!?)
She finally sends this e-mail tonight:
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Thanks for the information regarding shipping. I've purchased many similar things on ebay, and have never paid such a high price for shipping. I know that's all you can do when they say that Canada is "international"; however, in the past, I've often been refunded partial shipping costs because when the seller actually took the package to the post office, shipping was quite a bit cheaper than quoted on the website.
I have decided to cancel the transaction; I apologize for any inconvenience I've caused. I thank you for being so accommodating.
Sorry!
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Can't file a UID yet, but have it on my caledar to do so -- and it won't be a mutual thing either!
B*tchy Buyer Two
Bought a few things from me over about 2 weeks. Sends me an eMail complaining about one of them. I decide, better to keep the buyer than burn them and offer to refund her purchase when she returns the item to me.
Days go by. Get 2nd eMail with an increasing tone and indignant that I did not respond to her first eMail. Since I responded within an hour of that first one, this time I decide to respond both through eBay and through my ISP -- afterall, she has AO-SmeL and figured it might have gotten caught up in a junk mail/spam filter.
Didn't hear back from her today, so I pulled her info and called her and get "This Voice Mailbox is full. Try again later."
Auugghhh! So I filed "Bad Contact Info" with eBay today. She apparently still isn't getting any eMail from eBay or me, because she sent the following to me this evening:
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Please be advised that as of midnight tonight I intend to post negative feed back. This is based upon 4 emails over 4 days all without response and misrepresented item. This is your choice. I have no patience for this poor business ethic.
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Anyone have any other ideas, suggestions, empathy to spare?
Of course - the reason this is so grating is because we are used to customers who send us e-mail like this:
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Wonderful! You all are just great! I will be sending them out this afternoon (California time), priority mail. So, they should arrive by Friday the latest. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience, but you have a customer forever...
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I know you can't please everyone, but when they gang up on you at once, it can be painful!
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
(edited because I can't figure out how to get "italic" text -- my [i] ... [/] didn't work.
[ edited by TheFamilyBiz on Mar 15, 2005 08:24 PM ]
posted on March 15, 2005 08:34:10 PM
Yes...I am struggling with Canada tonight too. I haven't really had a problem till now.
First I let her talk me into sending it surface.
Then I had to answer "where is it? emails". To which I replied paraphrasing "duh, you paid for surface mail"
Then I get an email telling me she had to go and collect the package from the post office. It had been ripped open and taped back up and she had to pay $8.00 before they would let her have it. She made it sound like that was my fault.
Am I wrong in thinking Customs opened it taped it back up and charged her a custom's fee?
posted on March 15, 2005 08:38:04 PM
For number one, filing for fees is about all you can do. If you're the vindictive type, go ahead and neg her. She can use the experience. I probably wouldn't neg her, but that's me.
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I'd leave negative feedback for #2 RIGHT NOW.
[NEG] "Insane SPAM filter and full voicemail. Cannot contact. Sellers BEWARE!"
or something to that effect. Lets her know exactly what you have to deal with. And of course continue processing your eBay bad contact claim in hopes of getting your eventual neg removed.
Maybe it's just me (yeah, right) but I'm getting REALLY SICK of buyers who cannot be contacted because of spam filters. I sent six emails six different ways to a guy this morning and ended up having to call him.
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Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web! http://www.replaymedia.com
posted on March 15, 2005 08:40:26 PM
"Am I wrong in thinking Customs opened it taped it back up and charged her a custom's fee?"
I don't see how it could be anything else. Anything else and they wouldn't have taped it back up.
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Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web! http://www.replaymedia.com
posted on March 15, 2005 08:45:24 PM
File her feedback first with a negative and say bad contact information. Sent 4 emails with no response. Reported it to eBay.
That should get her attention fast.
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posted on March 15, 2005 08:50:39 PM
Canada not "international"???? What planet does this person live on?
Reminds me of something from about 10 years ago. I was on our city council, and a national planning conference was being held internationally, in Toronto. Several of us attended. A woman on our council with not much education was dumbfounded when she discovered she couldn't use American dollars there--that she had to get "foreign money." She said, and I quote, "You'd think Canada was a foreign country or something."
I wonder if the words "foreign" and "international" mean, to some people, overseas? Just a thought.
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posted on March 15, 2005 09:12:06 PM
I was going to advise the same thing Replaymedia did, but he beat me to it. Neg her and get her attention. You will be able to get yours removed because of bad contact info. Report her bad contact info to Ebay immediately before she has a chance to correct it. They have to try it themselves to verify it's bad before they will do anything.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on March 15, 2005 09:19:30 PM
As of this week I officially no longer ship to Canada. I ship to the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, and Brazil but I now absolutely refuse to ship to Canada.
You are right about not one thing then another... Half my canadian customers don't get their shipments for three weeks and the other half are flat out insane. Yesterday I recieved a "picture" of a supposedly defective item from a buyer. This photo was so out of focus and grainy that I not only could not see what was wrong with it, I could not figure out what the item was... not what style... I could not tell even tell what type of object it was. I didn't believe the bidders claim when he made them but still offered to exchange upon return. Then he wants me to pay the postage... well, ok, I have a bunch of Canadian coins which I cannot exchange here so hell, I'll send him those when i send the replacement. Oh but no... that's not what this charmer wants... he wants me to send the replacement piece and the cash for postage and THEN he will return the item. To make things more interesting, after I tell him that there is no option c in the stuation, he either returns and gets a replacement or keeps it he decides to contact eBay and PayPal and insists that he never recieved the order at all. Of course he did this right after he emailed me a lovely curse ridden email about how he was going to get what he wanted and to hell with me. I forwarded it to both services. Anyone want to take bets how long his account remains active?
Who was it that said I never have problems with customers?
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by fenix03 on Mar 15, 2005 09:21 PM ]
posted on March 15, 2005 09:34:54 PM
Fenix...Tell him you are sending a replacement. Buy 2 bottles of 2 buck chuck. Package one of them and send it to him UPS. Declare it on the customs form as rare prize winning California wine, value $750.00. For a return name and address, use that of the last person who gave you a neg, or your favorite NPB. Open the second bottle, pour a glass, and enjoy the email you will get from him
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
