Ebay problem... please help!

[Corgi]

Dear friends,

I know my presence on RWG has been lacking as of late, but during the recession, finding the time for hobbies is never easy. For this I apologize and humbly ask for any advice you could give regarding my little fleabay dilemma...

A few hours ago I bought an item on ebay for a very low price. I bid on it like an auction, thinking there was no way I met the reserve, but won anyway. Wonderful, I thought, what a tremendous deal.

I paid for the item right away, as is my style (being honest), but the seller refunded me a while ago with the message: "sorry, my supplier says the item is out of stock, I am sorry for your troubles".

So I politely replied asking him if he could ask the "supplier" when the "item" will be "back in stock". A little birdie tells me he screwed up the auction (looks like a ebay newbie) and forgot to set a reserve... creating a NR auction by accident.

The listing says funds were refunded (they were indeed, into my PP), but ebay is still prompting me to pay for the item/leave feedback. The problem: I don't want my money, I want my thing!!

What should I do? Hassle this guy until he sends me my thing? Leave negative feedback? Call him? Call the FBI? Legal threats? Fire?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks guys

Corgi.

[KB]

The best you can do Corgi is to contact eBay and describe the circumstances, I think you will find that the legal binding contract bit applies both ways and the seller should have been aware that the...*cough*...thing...was available before he listed it.

That said I don't believe there is a lot you can do to receive your goods if he maintains it is out of stock, but eBay will take some form of action against him.

Ken

[patinga]

I had this happen a couple of times bidding on watches and having the seller close the auction even though I bid (Happened three times last week). I wrote eBay complaining and basically they said tough luck. I would email eBay bitching about this guy and give him the worst Feedback allowed.

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

Well, unfortunately I will play devils advocate here... YES, contact Ebay and let them know the details of the transaction.

Unfortunately, this happens occasionally and some times it is not a matter of the seller wanting more money... It really is not available.

The company I worked for sold really nice toy wooden piano's by a company called Schoenhut. We had them all dropshipped, and almost never had them in our warehouse. Schoenhut was HORRIBLE at informing us of their inventory and occasionally we sold something on Ebay that we found was unavailable.

We immediately refunded the persons payment and then either offered an alternative or informed them of when the item would be available.

We often were given negative feedback for this...

If the price was "too good to be true" then maybe you are right and he simply doesnt want to sell it for that price. But if the price was low but reasonable, maybe his supplier screwed him.

Remember, you are within your rights to leave negative feedback and he cannot reciprocate. But also understand that there is really nothing that Ebay can do to force him to sell you something. Ebay will not take any action against the seller unless the reports roll in very often. I have seen this happen 4-6 times per month with no consequences. (except for the negative feedback). But the way the owner of this company thinks is, when he has 20k feedback and a 98.9% positive rating he can afford a few negatives. (I DONT WORK FOR HIM ANY LONGER...)

Good luck...

T

[fakemaster]

He was selling an item that did not exist. That's against ebay rules. Open a dispute. You won't get your stuff but it will aggravate the crap out of him. Then leave him negative feedback.

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

Fakemaster, you are VERY WRONG... Drop shipping is an ACCEPTED way to sell on EBay. Ebay supports dropshipping, and even holds seminars on the topic. So to say selling an item that I do not have in my hand is against Ebay policy is blatantly false.

Here is a link to a recent E-Seminar Ebay held on the subject of drop shipping.

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Workshop-...Drop/2000527409

He was selling an item that did not exist. That's against ebay rules. Open a dispute. You won't get your stuff but it will aggravate the crap out of him. Then leave him negative feedback.

[jonthebhoy]

If the deal was toooooooo good to be true, in other words you were aware that he had screwed up......then I suppose it's a conscience thing really.

Just my halpennyworth.

JTB

[bertieng]

At least the seller gave the money back to you. You are lucky.

[_brian_]

Ebay will not take any action against the seller unless the reports roll in very often. I have seen this happen 4-6 times per month with no consequences.

...there you said everything regarding ebay. They will not do anything. You can leave a negative feedback but does it help? You still lost a good deal. The thing is: There is a binding contract between you and the seller. If you want to fight it to the end, there is only one way (if the seller refuses to deliver): a legal process. If it

[fakemaster]

Never said anything about dropshipping. Said he was selling an item that did not exist. It's his responsibility as a seller to keep in touch with his suppliers to make sure stock levels are adequate. If they're not then he is supposed to cancel the auction because 'The item is no longer available'. He didn't do that so he should get popped with bad feedback. How is that wrong? Happens here all the time. When a dealer takes money for an item on their site that is no longer made, they get flamed to a crisp.

[Demsey]

Sorry for the trouble Corgs. I have a few mates who may help out. Just ring;three-six-two-four-three-six

[Corgi]

He replied to the message, again apologizing and sticking to the story.

I think some of you guys are getting vision of golden Pateks in your minds... the "thing" was just a wrench set.... but at an unbeatable price (definitely "too good to be true" = mistake)

I am really too busy to open up a legal dispute, but have decided to leave negative feedback.

Just to clarify: if I leave him negative feedback, can he leave me the same in revenge? The ebay policy that sellers cannot leave negative feedback - applies only to stores or all sellers?

Thanks

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

It applies to all sellers... The seller in any transaction cannot leave negative feedback for a buyer. He can leave neutral feedback. But if he attempts to say anything of a negative nature (anything that seems retaliatory) you will be able to get even that removed.

Also, if he applies for a final value fee credit you will get an email from Ebay asking if you agree to cancel the transaction. Reply that you DO NOT agree to cancel the transaction. That way he wont get his fees refunded.

[billywhiz]

Corgi,

stick him hard neg feedback, complain to ebay about transaction ( the won't do diddly squat ) but sets you at ease.

or. do what i once did on a bad sale years ago,

wrote up a whole webpage of the shyster and posted the link as part of neg feedback

No he can't leave you neg feedback as the seller.

Peace.

[ken fingerlove]

All this calling for negative feedback seems harsh to me. No one lost any money, it all happened quickly, what's the real problem?

My one neg comes from a CD I bought, and after several months, and three phone calls to the seller's mother, I eventually got the item. I neg'ed the [censored], and got a very nice neg in return.

With the sheer quantity of transactions over the web, if your only cause for complaint is a great deal you didn't get and a bit of wasted time, thank your lucky stars

[TeeJay]

I've got to agree with Ken here, what exactly is your complaint? That they sold something they didn't actually have to hand, but refunded you your money? That's not exactly grounds for a complaint, rather the reverse in fact. They could've just kept your money and kept you hanging on, promising something which never arrived... That would have been cause for complaint. My .2c, is that you leave a factual feedback. State the facts, ie, they didn't have the item, but that they refunded you the money, and let it go. Look at how many people here complain that they pay for goods or services, yet never get what they wanted, and still never get their money back. Look at the Jakub incident... I can understand the frustration of not being able to get the deal you were after, but take a little consolation in the fact that you got your money back to you without hassle Maybe not the best transaction, but far from the worst... Keep it neutral and factual, and there won't be any bad blood. Even if they were to leave you negative feedback (which sellers now can't do anyway), that would be one negative comment, out of how many positive ones? Anyone reading your feedback stats would easily see what happened with a transaction, and know that there was no fault with you

[Omega_Man]

Maybe he actually could not get the item?

I would simply move on, forget about the negative feedback.

[_brian_]

Maybe he actually could not get the item?

I would simply move on, forget about the negative feedback.

Maybe... Maybe the seller is simply lying because he does not want to complete the deal... As buyer you could try to find the exact same item you bought through the auction and tell the seller that it is still available. As there is a binding contract, you can claim delivery of the item. And for the feedback: The deal was not satisfactory at all. A negative feedback is justified IMO (timewasting, unreliable seller).