eBay

leica_rolling_stone · ‎10-11-2017

In nearly twenty years on eBay, I've had something happen for the first time. It was actually a purchase by my wife, not me. But here's what happened:

She purchased a vintage wrought iron decorative bench for $150. She checked with the seller first regarding shipping costs and was quoted another $150 for shipment to which the wife agreed. The seller was to ship the bench via FedEx. She actually shipped it via FedEx SmartPost. It was just delivered today after being shipped on Thursday 9/28. For the past four days, I have gone around & around with FedEx for taking so long to get the bench to us not realizing that SmartPost is an extremely low-cost version of FedEx.

The way I see it, the seller quoted my wife a price for regular FedEx Ground which would have run around $130 for a 32 lb package from southern IL to northern FL (40"x22"x21"). Seller received her $150 then went El Cheapo on shipping with the SmartPost thinking that she'd pocket the extra money. Then came the shipping fiasco with the bench taking over a week to get to us from a FedEx center 50 miles away.

The seller opened a "case" with eBay which was promtly denied. I don't see this as an eBay issue. It is strictly between the seller and my wife. Am I missing something?

Except for negative feedback, do we have any other recourse? I told my wife to tell the seller that she can pick one of two options:

1) She can refund the hundred dollars and we will leave positive feedback for her. Or,

2) She can not refund the $100 and expect a negative (she has fewer than ten total feedback currently with one negative).

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance,

zzydny · ‎10-11-2017

What you are suggesting is against eBay rules: it's Feedback Extortion. You can request a partial refund on shipping or you can insist upon a return but you should NOT mention anything whatsoever about feedback when you do so.

leica_rolling_stone · ‎10-11-2017

Dear Lord. OK. We don't want to get eBay's panties in a wad. You know what I'm going to have her do? Just leave negative feedback for the seller and WE will write off the hundred bucks, not the seller. Thanks for the input.

zzydny · ‎10-11-2017

You can read more about Feedback Extortion policy at this link: https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-extortion.html

kensgiftshop · ‎10-11-2017

What kind of case did the seller open?

You said it should have cost around $130 to ship the item and your wife agreed to pay $150.

Why do you think you should get $100 refunded for shipping?

Have a great day.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-11-2017

Looking at it another way, you bought a cast iron bench for $300.

It was shipped on Sept 28.

You got the bench on Oct 11.

There are two weekends and possibly a national holiday in there.

I fail to see the problem.

The bench was sent by a FedEx service as promised.

Did you not have the tracking number and thus could not track the item on line?

Tracking is a Seller Protection against phoney non-delivery claims by scammy buyers.

leica_rolling_stone · ‎10-11-2017

Because the seller quoted FedEx Ground. Rates are right around $130 for an item of this size and weight shipping around 900 miles. But she used FedEx SmartPost. SmartPost rates for the same wize/weight are less than $40. Again, had it not taken two weeks to receive the thing, we would not even be having the conversation. In my opinion, the seller 5cr3wed my wife out of the hundred dollars by quoting one service then substituting an inferior service. I've alreay got negative feedback typed up and ready to send.

jellsello · ‎10-11-2017

So how much did she pay for shipping?

leica_rolling_stone · ‎10-11-2017

We had been tracking it since day one. It arrived in Ocala, FL some 50 miles away a week ago yesterday. It took FedEx over a week to get it to us. THAT is what prompted us to start looking into it. FedEx told us what SmartPost is all about. This seller scammed us and is going to pay for it with another negative.

jellsello · ‎10-11-2017

You agreed to pay the shipping price when you purchased the item. Is it possible you misunderstood Fed Ex ground from Fed Ex smartpost? If so maybe it wasn't fair for the seller to ship differently, by you got your item. Maybe instead of a negative, you could just send a calm note detailing why it is beneficial to ship items as stated in the listing or the agreed shipping class, or she may run the risk of negative feedback in the future from other not so understanding buyers. Tell her you considered it but you will chalk this up to a learning experience at this point for her.

leica_rolling_stone · ‎10-11-2017

$150. we were expecting to receive the item the middle of last week (which is when it arrived at the FedEx facility in Ocala).

FedEx SmartPost for 32 lb 40"x22"x21" from S IL to N FL is less than $40. This seller saw my wife coming and took advantage of her. The $100 is going to cost her dearly. She has fewer than ten feedback with one negative already.

phcd1 · ‎10-11-2017

Feedback extortion is against eBay rules. I see nothing wrong here. Unless the listing said FedEx ground, you get what you get. What the seller pays for shipping has no bearing on what you pay.

On another note, I doubt FedEx Smartpost could accept that item, it would have to go FedEx ground.

Did you consider dimensional weight (which this is)?

I get 133 LBS! not 32LBS which is MORE then the $150 she paid (unless really close).

leica_rolling_stone · ‎10-11-2017

You fail to see the problem because you failed to read my original post:

My wife PAID $150 for FedEx Ground service but, instead, the seller used FedEx SmartPost. Two entirely different levels of service. FedEx Ground for this size, weight, distance would have been $129 so $150 seemed reasonable. After I learned from FedEx that the seller used an inferior service, I started looking into SmartPost. She paid less than $40 to ship the thing and pocketed the $110. Had the thing gotten here in a week as expected, the issue never would have come up. Now we're p!ssed off that the seller scammed us for a hundred bucks.

Look...I've been buying on eBay since most of you were in school. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on collectibles. I've never been scammed like this in all of that time.

jellsello · ‎10-11-2017

So you wouldn't have gotten upset if it had arrived via Smartpost if it had arrived a week earlier? Do you realize how petty you sound? You got your item, you cannot exactly prove she didn't pay over 100.00, you can only go by what your estimating. Sounds to me like your mind is made up what you want to do. Scammed would have been if you didn't get your item or you didn't get the right item. Go take a walk and blow off some steam.

phcd1 · ‎10-11-2017

@jellsello wrote:
So you wouldn't have gotten upset if it had arrived via Smartpost if it had arrived a week earlier? Do you realize how petty you sound? You got your item, you cannot exactly prove she didn't pay over 100.00, you can only go by what your estimating. Sounds to me like your mind is made up what you want to do. Scammed would have been if you didn't get your item or you didn't get the right item. Go take a walk and blow off some steam.

Without seeing the item description, there is no way to accurately comment. Bottom line, if this went smartpost, it just squeaked by (max size for smartpost is the dimensions of length plus girth cannot exceed 130 inches, your at 126, using your numbers). There still is dimensional weight I think you may fail to be taking into account. Dimensional weight has nothing to do with actual weight and is typically double or more then real weight (and that is what you pay for).