Hi guys,
This is quite a long story, but I feel it's necessary to explain everything to let you know what's going on.
I had a buyer commit to buy 29 of 42 of my items at auction. I was pretty darn excited as that means savings on time spent at the post office and all the general organising involved in shipping lots of different items. Had them all boxed up ready for her to collect. She had asked me four different questions prior to bidding, and one of those was if she could pick them up. I had no qualms about this, and was happy she asked lots of questions.
What she didn't ask me prior to bidding was if it was okay to pay and collect these items two weeks after the auction had ended. She asked me this two days after the auction ended on Wednesday evening, and after I sent her a combined invoice and a congratulatory message.
I promptly messaged her back saying this was not possible, as I won't be in the state at that time. I stated that if she had messaged me prior to bidding, I may have been able to work out an arrangement with her. This was early Saturday morning. She did not reply.
That following Sunday evening is when the automatic unpaid item cases opened. I have them automatically open after 4 days of non-payment as I've had quite a few non-payers in the past, and I just want my fees back and to move on quickly.
She all of a sudden wants to be chatty after the UPIs opened (surprise surprise), and questioned why I opened them as she had "every intention of paying for them". I explained to her as stated above.
She then turns around and says her car is in the mechanic shop and she won't be able to collect them before Thursday (one week from auction end date, and also the last day I'm in the state). It is entirely plausible this happened, possibly untrue, but I decided to be a good little eBay seller and offer local delivery to her for free in exchange for her payment by Thursday. Having your car in a mechanic shop should not affect your ability to send through a payment, and she seemed on board with the idea.
The next round of excuses then started. She claimed her hard drive crashed so she couldn't send me a payment (don't know how that affects your ability to get on the internet and use eBay and PayPal in any way, or how that affects your bank accounts? There is also your phone and a public library if you don't have access to a computer, and she somehow managed to send me a message regarding the matter, didn't she)?
She then claimed she was waiting for funds to clear in her PayPal account from her bank account (I know for a fact that is not how PayPal works. It works the other way around. As a seller withdrawing funds from my PayPal account INTO a bank account, I have to wait a few days for the funds to clear. If you have the funds in your bank account already, and have sent it through PayPal, it will mark that you've paid me on eBay. I know this as I'm a buyer and a seller).
She then tried the whole: "Oh I'll pick them up when you are back in the state. When are you back in the state?" Not even entertaining that idea.
I then make one last final attempt to message her regarding the funds today (Thursday morning). She then tried to corner me by saying: "If I pay for them, will you hold them for me and deliver them at a later date?" I didn't reply to this, as that is beyond ridiculous. I only offered her delivery on the proviso that the funds were in the account by Thursday morning, for Thursday morning delivery at the latest. It was an incentive for her to pay me, and a way to help her out for her supposed car troubles.
So the unpaid item cases ended this evening. She sends through messages after this, which I didn't read. As far as I'm concered, the matter is over. She decided not to pay. I decided to open UPIs, and added her to my blocked seller's list. I've got my fees back. I can breathe again. Happy days.
I then get a message from eBay customer service. She's claiming I didn't send her a combined invoice for the items as her reason for not paying, yet she acknowledges that she needs to pay for said invoice throughout our correspondence. I have screenshots and photographic evidence to the contrary on this false claim she is making. Why would I entertain the thought of sellling to her again, espeically when she can easily leave me negative feedback to be spiteful?
The cusotmer service email also stated that "she's worried about losing her account". Good. She should be. You can't f**k around people like that and not be expected to be punished for it. Why would I want her account to be reinstated or left as is so she can f**k around other honest sellers like myself?
The woman is clearly a pathological liar who didn't have the funds to pay me or simply changed her mind, and didn't want to say so. She would rather make tonnes of accusations and false claims than actually be honest with herself and me about the situation.
I'm definitely going to offer the next bidders in line a chance to have the item through a second chance offer, as I fear she may open a new account and rebid on the relisted items just to spite me. It's quite annoying, as it makes me not want to relist anything for a long time just to be sure.
I've never been in a situation where the buyer has contacted customer service regarding unpaid item cases I have opened against them.
So finally, after all that information, my question being: Do I need to call customer service regarding the email, or can I just leave it be and let the system do its thing? I want her to punished to the full extent of eBay policy. I followed it, she didn't. It should be the end of the matter!
Thanks in advance. I appreciate any information you can give.
