bad eBay experience; more Game of Thrones
Sep. 16th, 2009 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
My experience over the years with eBay, from both sides of the fence, have been generally positive. I've been using it nearly since it came out, and these days it's even safer than it was before, especially as a buyer. There are lots of protections a buyer has. But every once in awhile, I'm reminded that eBay is still a risk, that less-than-upstanding people can screw you over in small ways.
I had one such experience recently, with the Le Creuset spatulas I was so excited about getting. I used Buy It Now and paid $11 + ~$4 for shipping. The auction itself said "two large Le Creuset spatulas" and nothing more specific than that. However, it also had a photo.
This was the photo:
In your opinion, do they look like identical spatulas? They did to me; that's what I wanted, and that's why I opted to use BIN on this auction as opposed to another one. Imagine my surprise/disappointment when they arrived and they were two different spatulas. They were both LC and one spatula was as pictured in the photo, but the other was different. Unmistakably different -- shaped differently.
I thought about letting it go, but I couldn't due to the principle of thing. I mean, she had a photo in the auction of two identical spatulas! And she sent something else! That's just not right. I contacted her and we exchanged 3-4 emails. She was willing to give a full refund, but I would have to pay to ship them back. She also said she would replace the second spatula, but again I would have to ship it back at my cost before she'd send a replacement. Considering the original auction was $15, I wasn't about to spend another $4 just to get the item I thought I was buying in the first place -- according to her own listing!
Anyway, she was like, "They are both large spatulas, just different styles." And I was like, "Okay, but you didn't say that in your listing. The photo you have shows 2 identical ones, which is what I thought I was buying." At no point did she say, no, you're wrong, they're different in the listing photo (which would be ridiculous, because like I said, what I was sent was very clearly 2 different spatulas). She then was like, I have a very small profit margin, I can't send you another one until I get the other one back, and you'd have to pay for shipping on that.
Now, I understand about having a buyer pay for a return. As a seller, I know there are some really annoying buyers who change their minds for whatever reason about the item, and it has nothing to do with the item itself. For 'frivolous' returns like that, it's right that the buyer should pay to return if they want a refund. But that assumes the right item was shipped in the first place. When YOU ship the wrong item -- you send a buyer a toaster when they bought a teacup -- that's not right at all! And while the difference here wasn't so extreme, the fact is that she misrepresented what she was actually selling. If she was going to send the buyer 2 different spatulas, that should be stated in the auction, and a photo that shows something else should not be posted with it.
What was really aggravating was that at no point did she apologize or indicate in any way that what she had done was wrong. Frankly, if she'd been like, "I'm sorry, it IS two different spatulas, I should have noted that in the auction and I'll change the photo next time," I probably would have just let it go, because it takes effort/energy to go back and forth like this. But she just kept saying that if I was unhappy I could send them back for a refund -- which is b.s. because then I'd be out $4 (over 25% of what it cost me in the first place) for absolutely nothing.
This response was particularly disappointing considering she has over 1,200 fb and has a 100% positive score. I checked before buying to see if she'd sold these spatulas before (she had) and whether anyone had complained about them (no one did) -- at the time I was just looking to see that they had performed well under high heat, as that's why I was buying them. However no one mentioned that the spatulas they received were two different ones, not identical ones as shown in the auction photo (I checked the past auctions and the same photo is used). So either no one else cared as I did about getting something different from what the auction listing showed, or those people DID receive two identical spatulas.
Finally, we came to an impasse and I said that it didn't make financial sense for me to send them back to her and eat that loss myself, but that I was unhappy with the transaction and the way she had misrepresented what she was selling, and it would be reflected in my feedback. I can count on one hand the number of times I've left negative feedback. It takes something pretty wrong for me to do it, and I felt wronged in this case. I felt wronged not just because she WAS misleading in the auction listing, but because she refused to acknowledge that I had a right to be upset at all.
After I said that, she said she would be leaving negative fb for me as well. LOL. This woman really takes the cake. My response to that was, "You can't leave me negative feedback; I have a buyer's protection. It's because of retaliatory negative feedback like what you're proposing that eBay instituted that rule. I didn't do anything wrong; I paid for the item as I was supposed to. You were the one who misrepresented the item you were selling." So what she did was to leave me "positive" feedback, but in the comments section said that I was "impossible to please" and if potential sellers were smart, they wouldn't sell to me.
Umm, okay, I have over 300 feedback that says differently. Also? Not that difficult to please. If you send me what you say you're selling that I paid for, I'M PLEASED.
Also, I've read some more of A Game of Thrones. I'm nearly 3/4 of the way through right now, and would have finished last night if I didn't have to get up early this morning. Grrr. As it was I had to force myself to put it down.
- Um, Ned sent Cersei a note and she met him and basically confessed to everything. WTF? Why would she do that? Seems really random/out of the blue to me. I mean, he really doesn't have hard evidence of anything; what does it serve her to be honest about everything? It just gives him ammunition to have all his suspicions confirmed.
- Stemming from the above convo, I can't believe how calm Ned was, even warning Cersei about what he was going to do and what she should do to escape. AFTER WHAT SHE/JAIME DID TO BRAN. WTF. I know he's honorable and all that, but seriously -- she tried to murder a 7-year-old boy, his son; and even though she didn't succeed he's now a cripple; shouldn't Ned be a little more pissed off?
- Robert seriously irritates me. If he takes Cersei's side against Ned I'm going to be completely done with him.
- Okay, after the cool reveal about Varys nothing has really happened with him. What was even the point of that then? Why even show us that he's not what he seems, that he's the king's man, etc.?
- Poor, poor Jory. If I hadn't hated Jaime before I would have when he ordered Ned's men killed.
- OMG how freaking annoying is Lysa/her brat of a son? I know it's not the kid's fault, that he's what his mom made him, but still. I wanted to make them BOTH "fly." And he was still nursing. At 6 years of age. OMG.
- Identify though I might with Sansa, and realistically though she might be portrayed, I find her super annoying as well.
- What is the deal with Lyanna? I feel like there's something more there that hasn't been revealed. We keep seeing Ned think about the last promise he made to her, and I don't think it's about where she was going to be buried, as it was implied earlier on. Did she have something going with the old king's son? Or something? Kind of confused there.
- Viseyris (sp) is going to die sometime soon right? Because he is intolerable. I can't even believe that Dany gave him a second chance (though of course, old habits die hard). Put him on the list of people I want to see fly.
- Yay, I knew Tyrion had nothing to do with Bran's attempted murder. Someone who was that good to Jon just couldn't have been involved. But now he's good and pissed off at the Starks, and for good reason. And he does love his family, or at least is loyal to them; that's the one problematic thing about him. (Not necessarily negative; even Jaime has that one thing going for him, his affection for Tyrion.)
- Speaking of Jon, what's his place in all this? Since I'm nearing the end and he's basically only just graduated into the ranks of the Night Watch, I'm guessing his importance lies in future storylines. Still waiting to find out who his mother was ... I think it must be someone we already know/have heard of. Hope I get to find out before the end of this book.
- What was the reason Ned/Robert/et al wanted to overthrow the old king, anyway? Just because he was mad? Seems kind of a flimsy reason, but then I guess we don't really get to see the full effect of what that meant. And plus once the ball started rolling it couldn't be unrolled, nor could they simply pass the thrown on to the next Targaryen (Rhaegar?), as they'd then want to kill the dudes who killed his dad. But there's still obviously a lot to this story that we don't know, that possibly the characters themselves don't know (Ned specifically). And why was Robert the guy who took the throne? Ned seems like a way better choice; but then, Ned didn't want it. (It's a catch 22 isn't it, that the best choice for that kind of job is the kind of person who wouldn't want it in the first place.) And yeah, I know, Robert was a different guy back then.
- OMG that all of Cersei's kids are Jaime's. Ewww. So what does that mean exactly, that one of Robert's many bastards are the rightful heir? His first kid was a girl; in this universe can women become true Queens or are they only wives of kings? I ask because of what Ned said to Arya when Arya was aspiring to be all the things her brothers wanted to be -- he says, "Well, maybe once you're married your sons can be those things." I hope in subsequent books she becomes a NINJA!
I had one such experience recently, with the Le Creuset spatulas I was so excited about getting. I used Buy It Now and paid $11 + ~$4 for shipping. The auction itself said "two large Le Creuset spatulas" and nothing more specific than that. However, it also had a photo.
This was the photo:
In your opinion, do they look like identical spatulas? They did to me; that's what I wanted, and that's why I opted to use BIN on this auction as opposed to another one. Imagine my surprise/disappointment when they arrived and they were two different spatulas. They were both LC and one spatula was as pictured in the photo, but the other was different. Unmistakably different -- shaped differently.
I thought about letting it go, but I couldn't due to the principle of thing. I mean, she had a photo in the auction of two identical spatulas! And she sent something else! That's just not right. I contacted her and we exchanged 3-4 emails. She was willing to give a full refund, but I would have to pay to ship them back. She also said she would replace the second spatula, but again I would have to ship it back at my cost before she'd send a replacement. Considering the original auction was $15, I wasn't about to spend another $4 just to get the item I thought I was buying in the first place -- according to her own listing!
Anyway, she was like, "They are both large spatulas, just different styles." And I was like, "Okay, but you didn't say that in your listing. The photo you have shows 2 identical ones, which is what I thought I was buying." At no point did she say, no, you're wrong, they're different in the listing photo (which would be ridiculous, because like I said, what I was sent was very clearly 2 different spatulas). She then was like, I have a very small profit margin, I can't send you another one until I get the other one back, and you'd have to pay for shipping on that.
Now, I understand about having a buyer pay for a return. As a seller, I know there are some really annoying buyers who change their minds for whatever reason about the item, and it has nothing to do with the item itself. For 'frivolous' returns like that, it's right that the buyer should pay to return if they want a refund. But that assumes the right item was shipped in the first place. When YOU ship the wrong item -- you send a buyer a toaster when they bought a teacup -- that's not right at all! And while the difference here wasn't so extreme, the fact is that she misrepresented what she was actually selling. If she was going to send the buyer 2 different spatulas, that should be stated in the auction, and a photo that shows something else should not be posted with it.
What was really aggravating was that at no point did she apologize or indicate in any way that what she had done was wrong. Frankly, if she'd been like, "I'm sorry, it IS two different spatulas, I should have noted that in the auction and I'll change the photo next time," I probably would have just let it go, because it takes effort/energy to go back and forth like this. But she just kept saying that if I was unhappy I could send them back for a refund -- which is b.s. because then I'd be out $4 (over 25% of what it cost me in the first place) for absolutely nothing.
This response was particularly disappointing considering she has over 1,200 fb and has a 100% positive score. I checked before buying to see if she'd sold these spatulas before (she had) and whether anyone had complained about them (no one did) -- at the time I was just looking to see that they had performed well under high heat, as that's why I was buying them. However no one mentioned that the spatulas they received were two different ones, not identical ones as shown in the auction photo (I checked the past auctions and the same photo is used). So either no one else cared as I did about getting something different from what the auction listing showed, or those people DID receive two identical spatulas.
Finally, we came to an impasse and I said that it didn't make financial sense for me to send them back to her and eat that loss myself, but that I was unhappy with the transaction and the way she had misrepresented what she was selling, and it would be reflected in my feedback. I can count on one hand the number of times I've left negative feedback. It takes something pretty wrong for me to do it, and I felt wronged in this case. I felt wronged not just because she WAS misleading in the auction listing, but because she refused to acknowledge that I had a right to be upset at all.
After I said that, she said she would be leaving negative fb for me as well. LOL. This woman really takes the cake. My response to that was, "You can't leave me negative feedback; I have a buyer's protection. It's because of retaliatory negative feedback like what you're proposing that eBay instituted that rule. I didn't do anything wrong; I paid for the item as I was supposed to. You were the one who misrepresented the item you were selling." So what she did was to leave me "positive" feedback, but in the comments section said that I was "impossible to please" and if potential sellers were smart, they wouldn't sell to me.
Umm, okay, I have over 300 feedback that says differently. Also? Not that difficult to please. If you send me what you say you're selling that I paid for, I'M PLEASED.
Also, I've read some more of A Game of Thrones. I'm nearly 3/4 of the way through right now, and would have finished last night if I didn't have to get up early this morning. Grrr. As it was I had to force myself to put it down.
- Um, Ned sent Cersei a note and she met him and basically confessed to everything. WTF? Why would she do that? Seems really random/out of the blue to me. I mean, he really doesn't have hard evidence of anything; what does it serve her to be honest about everything? It just gives him ammunition to have all his suspicions confirmed.
- Stemming from the above convo, I can't believe how calm Ned was, even warning Cersei about what he was going to do and what she should do to escape. AFTER WHAT SHE/JAIME DID TO BRAN. WTF. I know he's honorable and all that, but seriously -- she tried to murder a 7-year-old boy, his son; and even though she didn't succeed he's now a cripple; shouldn't Ned be a little more pissed off?
- Robert seriously irritates me. If he takes Cersei's side against Ned I'm going to be completely done with him.
- Okay, after the cool reveal about Varys nothing has really happened with him. What was even the point of that then? Why even show us that he's not what he seems, that he's the king's man, etc.?
- Poor, poor Jory. If I hadn't hated Jaime before I would have when he ordered Ned's men killed.
- OMG how freaking annoying is Lysa/her brat of a son? I know it's not the kid's fault, that he's what his mom made him, but still. I wanted to make them BOTH "fly." And he was still nursing. At 6 years of age. OMG.
- Identify though I might with Sansa, and realistically though she might be portrayed, I find her super annoying as well.
- What is the deal with Lyanna? I feel like there's something more there that hasn't been revealed. We keep seeing Ned think about the last promise he made to her, and I don't think it's about where she was going to be buried, as it was implied earlier on. Did she have something going with the old king's son? Or something? Kind of confused there.
- Viseyris (sp) is going to die sometime soon right? Because he is intolerable. I can't even believe that Dany gave him a second chance (though of course, old habits die hard). Put him on the list of people I want to see fly.
- Yay, I knew Tyrion had nothing to do with Bran's attempted murder. Someone who was that good to Jon just couldn't have been involved. But now he's good and pissed off at the Starks, and for good reason. And he does love his family, or at least is loyal to them; that's the one problematic thing about him. (Not necessarily negative; even Jaime has that one thing going for him, his affection for Tyrion.)
- Speaking of Jon, what's his place in all this? Since I'm nearing the end and he's basically only just graduated into the ranks of the Night Watch, I'm guessing his importance lies in future storylines. Still waiting to find out who his mother was ... I think it must be someone we already know/have heard of. Hope I get to find out before the end of this book.
- What was the reason Ned/Robert/et al wanted to overthrow the old king, anyway? Just because he was mad? Seems kind of a flimsy reason, but then I guess we don't really get to see the full effect of what that meant. And plus once the ball started rolling it couldn't be unrolled, nor could they simply pass the thrown on to the next Targaryen (Rhaegar?), as they'd then want to kill the dudes who killed his dad. But there's still obviously a lot to this story that we don't know, that possibly the characters themselves don't know (Ned specifically). And why was Robert the guy who took the throne? Ned seems like a way better choice; but then, Ned didn't want it. (It's a catch 22 isn't it, that the best choice for that kind of job is the kind of person who wouldn't want it in the first place.) And yeah, I know, Robert was a different guy back then.
- OMG that all of Cersei's kids are Jaime's. Ewww. So what does that mean exactly, that one of Robert's many bastards are the rightful heir? His first kid was a girl; in this universe can women become true Queens or are they only wives of kings? I ask because of what Ned said to Arya when Arya was aspiring to be all the things her brothers wanted to be -- he says, "Well, maybe once you're married your sons can be those things." I hope in subsequent books she becomes a NINJA!
