eBay

andy7715 · ‎11-23-2018

I won a model kit auction on the 25th of September and paid for it the next day. On the 3rd of October I get this email from the seller:

"Hi I am writing to follow up on your order. We had to cancel this listing, due to a shipping error.
While we are trying to retrieve the item we can't guarantee we can.
We have refunded you. Should we be able to retrieve it we can contact you, if you are still interested."

I responded with, "If you can retrieve the item I would very much still like to have it. I was looking forward to getting this kit and working on it. If you can get it back, I am still interesting in it." I also added, "Please keep me updated on how things are going."

On the 11th of October, after not hearing anything, I sent this message: "Hello, I was just wondering how the search for the item was coming along. If you managed to track it down or if it was lost. Thanks." It's now November and I've never heard back, and I found out I could still leave feedback. Should I follow up with another email, ask for further information, or leave negative feedback for no communication?

nobody*s_perfect · ‎11-23-2018

It's always better to communicate with the seller rather than jumping into leaving feedback. But the deadline for leaving feedback is 60 days after the transaction, so today might be your last chance.

m60driver · ‎11-23-2018

Negative feedback?!? Seller admitted mistake but more imprortantly refunded immediately. Crikey, what is your gripe here?

andy7715 · ‎11-23-2018

My gripe is they said they would attempt to get the item back but never gave me a followup about how their attempt was going when it was the seller's mistake. I asked if they'd had any luck and never got a response. Bear in mind, this model kit is a rare kit you don't see sold very often. It's not something I can just go purchase from someone else.

guybemis · ‎11-23-2018

@m60driver wrote:
Negative feedback?!? Seller admitted mistake but more imprortantly refunded immediately. Crikey, what is your gripe here?

The seller entered a contract to sell an item, and failed to fulfill the terms of that contract. Then he failed to even communicate with the buyer. Inability to deliver an item and poor communication. Those are perfectly good reasons to leave negative feed back. If you are a seller and can't deliver the items you sell, you need to leave eBay. Just go. Because sellers like you are destroying the buying experience and hurting this site.

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎11-23-2018

Given the seller going dark, one assumes they didn't get what they wanted for it at auction.

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

bubbleman2010 · ‎11-23-2018

Go ahead and leave a neg. all it will accomplish is if they ever have another model kit you'd like to own you can rest assured you'll be directed to go elsewhere....

dirk12955 · ‎11-23-2018

It's easier to assume that the seller is telling the truth.

andy7715 · ‎11-23-2018

That's what came to mind. A relative suggested they cancelled and then might relist it, hoping to sell it for more.

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎11-23-2018

For some maybe.

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

andy7715 · ‎11-23-2018

I doubt they'd ever remember me. Besides, if I pay for an item, aren't they, as a seller, required to fulfill their end of the bargin? As long as they make money, what's the problem in selling? Besides, I've contacted them now three times in nearly two months. And that's not strange?

guybemis · ‎11-23-2018

@andy7715 wrote:
My gripe is they said they would attempt to get the item back but never gave me a followup about how their attempt was going when it was the seller's mistake. I asked if they'd had any luck and never got a response. Bear in mind, this model kit is a rare kit you don't see sold very often. It's not something I can just go purchase from someone else.

Go ahead and leave the negative feedback, for poor communication. If the seller wants to, they can send you a request to revise the negative feedback. Then you can demand a full update on what they have done to get the item back, before you revise the feedback. I predict they will get back to you immediately. Generally even when sellers ignore my messages, they get back to me within about 5 or 10 minutes after I leave negative feedback. They are too busy to respond to messages, but I have never seen a seller who was too busy to send a a request to revise feedback.

bubbleman2010 · ‎11-23-2018

It never was shipped or the tracking number would have showed it was really lost. You just go into hiding it will get relisted within the next couple months,but the price might be not to your liking....

a_c_green · ‎11-23-2018

Given the details you've provided about the item and how things went down, it sounds like they got a better offer. I have on occasion gotten an email from a third-party failed bidder, shortly after a big-ticket auction ended, saying something like, "My computer died just before the auction ended, and I was going to bid umpty-bazillion dollars for your item. Do you have another?" That kind of temptation can lead some sellers to bail on the rightful buyer.

If the "shipping error" was them sending it to the wrong buyer, you should at least have seen a tracking number leading off in the wrong direction. Their failure to answer you at all after that is not a good sign.

So to summarize, you won the auction fair and square, paid for the item, then got an unwanted refund, a vague note about a "shipping error," and complete silence in response to further emails asking for updates. I'd say you'd be justified in leaving whatever color of feedback you see fit.

andy7715 · ‎11-23-2018

Thanks very much for the advice and info. The item was never shipped before they sent a message telling me they'd made the error, so there was no number to track its whereabouts. And they never clarified exactly what the shipping error was; if they wrote the wrong address down or what.