Has anyone experienced a seller bribing a buyer with a refund in order to get a positive review?

[malefix-ammoao]

I recently purchased an item on ebay last month (December 2020). The seller was listed as located in Miami, FL. The item was supposedly available and there were more than one of them. I purchased ONE. The product details stated that the item could arrive anywhere from December 28 - January 6. I made my purchase on December 20, a shipping label was created on December 21. I did receive a confirmation email stating the order was accepted. When I got the tracking #, it did not look like any tracking # that I had ever seen before. I found the USPS tracking # inside the unusually long tracking # that was provided.

And then I waited........and waited.

Finally on January 1, 2021 I contacted the seller to see when my package would actually ship. 2 days later a reply came and the only thing said was that they would "check on it". Nothing more. No further communication. Then on January 5th I sent another message to the seller. This time a reply came back the next day and the litany of excuses that the seller listed was incredible. The heat, the cold, the virus, the holidays, blah, blah, blah. Then at the end of the message, "will check on it". No further communication.

December 28th came and went, January 6th came and went. Then on January 8th the item arrived at the shipping partner site in Los Angeles, CA. Nowhere near Miami, FL. LA sends the package info to El Paso, TX, then the package departs LA on January 10th, it leaves LA and goes to Grapevine, TX. (near Dallas). It takes 4 days to get from LA to Grapevine. Then on the 15th it makes it to USPS in El Paso and delivers on January 16, 2021.

Guess where the return address is from? Jamaica, NY!

When I did a Google search of this address, I found it. It's a warehouse and it had all kinds of trucks backed up to the bays, but the street address was there on the wall.

My experience in buying on places like ebay over the years has taught me that when it takes 3 weeks or more for an item to SHIP you can pretty well bet that the seller DOES NOT HAVE PHYSICAL POSSESSION of the item. In this case it was most likely coming from CHINA. And coming into LOS ANGELES would make sense.

The shipping partner ended up being PITNEY BOWES. That explained the unusually long tracking number involved. I had never had dealings with them before and didn't realize it was them until the LA info appeared. Then the tracking # worked and I was able to track it SORT OF.

Now, if the item came into LA and shipped from LA, why is there a Jamica, NY as a return address on the envelope?

So, we have Miami, FL/Los Angeles, CA/ Jamaica, NY AND most likely CHINA. The seller isn't going to answer questions, that wouldn't be beneficial to them. This buying experience was nothing short of a NIGHTMARE.

What added to the issue is that ebay has gone so far downhill that there is no way to contact them to discuss this problem. You can't call customer service, you can't chat, you can't call tech support, you can't even call corporate. NO WAY TO MAKE CONTACT. Except through places such as this.

On the date of delivery I went in and left feedback. 85 characters makes one very creative in shorthand. But, the issue was addressed. Later that same day I received an email from the seller offering to give me a full refund if I would only give POSITIVE FEEDBACK. Where I come from that's called bribery. The seller is using bribery to get positive feedback.

Then on the 19th of January I receive an email from ebay asking that I modify my feedback because the seller resolved the issue. NO THEY DIDN'T. There is no way for the seller to resolve anything, the shipping issue is over and done with. The part that I had ordered was what I wanted, it worked and I answered the feedback questions honestly. I described my experience honestly.

It was never about getting the money back. I got what I paid for, but it was the lack of communication, lack of honesty on the seller's part and the inordinate length of time in shipping. How dare ebay endorse BRIBERY! I realize the company is sinking into the gutter, but that was very audacious of them to do that.

Will I retract my feedback - HELL NO! It stands because that is what happened. If ebay or the seller doesn't like it - so! I had to wait almost one month to get a part that the seller supposedly had in their possession. What's up with that? You can't resolve that. It's already done!

Has anyone else experienced this type of behavior from sellers? Or ebay for that matter?

Keep up the fine upstanding work ebay, you're going downhill fast.

[pooh333piglet]

You made your purchase on Dec 30th and received on Jan 16th.  Not bad really. USPS didnt start recovering until after Jan 2nd or so. It did take awhile and that was normal. I had quite a few packages out there for almost a month and a few close to 6 weeks. You got your item, liked it, seller communicated. Your making all these assumptions about this seller. Idk. May or may not be true. I can tell you tho your a great candidate for sellers block list. It's been a horrific Dec for sellers and businesses with USPS delivery and you give another kick and additional stomp to knock him down further. He can try to get it removed and I hope he does. My opinion...

[tims_warehouse]

Hi there, I'm a seller on Ebay. Bribing someone for positive feedback is against the rules as stated in the ebay handbook.

I tried reading most of your gigantic letter.

Couple of thoughts:

Not sure how the seller shipped your item, but it was during the busiest shipping season on record and millions of packages were greatly delayed nationwide.

Also, PITNEY BOWES is partners with all USPS at home printed labels so far as i know. You drop them off at the post office just like any other packages, and they take the same amount of time to deliver, because they are the same thing.

But yeah, sounds like not the best experience.

[greatmidwestcoin]

Wow. You should write books and get paid by the word count.

[greatmidwestcoin]

Amen to that.

[greatmidwestcoin]

You have bought only 14 items in the past 12 months.  You really do not qualify to pass judgement on eBay or anything here.  Just saying.

[fiddeluns]

As you bought your item in the busiest period of the year, you should show more patience...

I've also been "bribed" as you say many times. I get my refund, I'm happy with the service, I write my story in the review and give 5 stars. I see it as a good service if I get my money back. Many times it's out of the sellers hands what happens to packages in the mail, so I see a refund as a good service (Even after I write a bad review).

[netwizz760]

No.  This seller is at fault because the item was NOT even shipped until January 8th, yet it was ordered December 20th.  It really should have had an acceptance scan before Christmas.  After that it would be out of the seller's hands.

As for offering you a refund for a feedback revision, that is relatively common.  I mean feedback revision's are a thing on eBay and typically something happens to appease the buyer to change his or her feedback.  Usually that is money.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with working something out with the seller that is not extortion or bribery.  This seller currently has 66% and tons of negatives anyway, so it is not like it will make any difference to the seller.  If you are very angry and do not like it, what you could do is promise to revise the feedback to not be negative, but do NOT take a full refund.  Tell the seller, that you are willing to revise, but since you got the item at a great delay you feel only the shipping should be refunded.  Then when you get the feedback form, change it from a negative to a neutral and craft a clever but accurate revision that is indeed "not negative" (as promised).

As for the tracking number, it was probably from a barcode scanner.

For example... I doubt this can be looked up anymore

9400111202555794100835

when scanned

420291699400111202555794100835

420 means something

29169 is the destination barcode

Is that what you saw?

It will send a strong message 

[lightlily_arts]

You didn't read it correctly.  The buyer purchased on Dec 20th not the 30th.  Also this buyer wasn't the only unhappy customer as their sellers feedback  will demonstrate.

[lightlily_arts]

OP stated it was never about money.  It was the lengthy delay in shipping and the seller making excuses why they hadn't  actually shipped until January 8th  which was 19  days after payment.  

The ones that make me laugh are the Chinese sellers who won't respond to claims and you have to ask eBay to step in.  Then they still try to avoid refunding  by offering pennies on the dollar and you again have to ask eBay help you get a refund because they won't  help get it returned.  After being forced to refund they want positive feedback because you got your money.  If you make me fight to get a return or my money back you won't get a positive review.

[ra_201044]

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@netwizz760 wrote:

As for the tracking number, it was probably from a barcode scanner.

For example... I doubt this can be looked up anymore

9400111202555794100835

when scanned

420291699400111202555794100835

420 means something

29169 is the destination barcode

Is that what you saw?

It will send a strong message 

---

The USPS tracking barcode is a code128 barcode. The 420 is preceded by a code that starts a 'data block'. The 420 means that the data block is a zip code, and the next 5 digits are the destination zip code. Then another code, and in the 2nd data block is the actual tracking #.

[malefix-ammoao]

Actually no, the tracking # was in fact a Pitney Bowes number. Pitney Bowes places their 5-6 digit number first before the USPS #. Took a few minutes for me to figure out the difference. But I took the USPS part and put that in their tracker and they recognized the #. When it went into Pitney Bowes system, they I knew it was Pitney Bowes that was throwing everything off.

[malefix-ammoao]

It's not about passing judgment. Just don't try to bribe me for a positive review. Accept what you did and move on. That's all the seller had to do. Was I critical of the entire system? Yes. Because the system is failing.

[malefix-ammoao]

I got the item, it was what I ordered. It was not damaged and it worked. No problem there. I got what I ordered. Where the problem was was in no communication from the seller at the time. All they had to say was that they did not have physical possession of the item and were waiting to get it. That's all they had to do. Not make excuses, not tell me they were "checking on it". Just a little honesty is all. That is where they failed. It's not about the item. There was no reason for a refund. It's not about the money. They failed in their service. They were reviewed accordingly. you don't give a company 5 stars and then complain - that's a contradiction.