Flustered with Ebay, What do I do?

[Indylady]

So I''ve been getting hell from a seller on Ebay, and I don''t know what to do. I think that she''s been using price shilling. I was excited for the pendant, advertised as a Mikimoto pendant though I knew it might not be. I won the auction, paid as soon as I won, including shipping and insurance. Then, I looked at the bid history, and felt that I might have been price shill-ed!

This is why:
My max bid was $30, j***o bid $29.99
j***o has 87% bid act. w/ a_rubadubdub
28/30 recent bids from j***o are for a_rubadubdub

Yes, j***o could just be a loyal customer. But, the items that this seller sells are all really specific, ie. Najavo silver and other sterling silver items. She only has 44 items listed (not a huge store with multiples of items), and it just doesn''t make sense how j***o could bid on 28 of her items (which seems like nearly half her inventory) in one month. Also, the pendant is definitely not Mikimoto. I wonder if it is even sterling silver!

I filed an Ebay report, and asked her for a refund, which she agreed to including the shipping back to her. I had already left her negative feedback, and said that I would retract my statement when she makes the refund. To this she sent me the following:

You can''t retract a negative and you are a fool. You are an ignorant,
impulsive, accusatory, nasty person. I am reporting you and your accusations
to ebay. You have been registered on ebay for years and still with a zero
feedback. How many times have you changed your ID name and screwed other
sellers? Your giving me a negative means nothing to me, I have almost 10,000
positives. Now blow away and do not ever look at my ebay site again.

...my registered email is linked to my school account, which is valid and only students and faculty can get. I have no feedback because I don''t buy from Ebay. Anyways..this is my question:

Should I send the pendant back for a refund?

I am afraid she will say that she did not receive it, or that I have sent her an empty box. If she says that, then I will be out both $35 and the pendant. Or, should I just consider it a lesson learned, to avoid Ebay sellers that I have not been referred to by others, and get on with life? Just let Ebay figure it out?

 

[neatfreak]

Well, I think you are overreacting about the shilling a bit. No one knows your top bid-so if someone bid just under yours it doesn't mean that there's anything fishy going on-just that their top bid might was a tad lower than yours.

You do know that every time you make a bid it's counted in that count right? So if rubadub really wanted an item-rubadub might have made allll of those bids for a single item-it doesn't mean each one of those bids was on a different item necessarily. Anyway-just saying that although it might be suspicious it might also be legit if rubadub is a new buyer and thus has only bid on a few items (and therefore rubadub's bid % with one seller is high). Sadly, even if it is shilling ebay hardly ever takes the reports seriously and there is nothing else you can do but avoid the seller.

As for the pendant being fake-if you are SURE it's fake (which I assume for $30)-then it was appropriate to leave a negative about that if you wish.

Normally if you want a refund from a seller you shouldn't leave negative feedback first. You wait until you get your refund-and if it's processed promptly I personally would leave a neutral saying something like "Not authentic Mikimoto but processed refund quickly". I reserve negatives for truly negative experiences where the seller refused to fix the problem-but that is just me.

Anyway-

Send the pendant back WITH delivery confirmation and DON'T CLOSE YOUR PAYPAL DISPUTE UNTIL YOU GET YOUR REFUND IN YOUR ACCOUNT. The last part is very important because if you close it first you can't re-open it. Some sellers know this and try to manipulate you into closing it first.

If she doesn't refund you call Paypal and send them the confirmation that it was delivered back to the seller and they should refund you. You'll be out the return shipping if the seller doesn't make good on their promise-but you'll get most of it back.

Good luck!

 

[D&T]

Ebay is now encouraging buyers to go through ebay first, before filing a dispute with Paypal, you will get results much faster with Ebay, just tell them whats going on, and send the pendant back, if you''ve checked your tracking and show that its already received by the seller, then email them asking when to expect a refund, and if they don''t respond or you get notta, then call ebay to get your refund. I haven''t had to go through paypal once, the couple of times I''ve disputed with a seller, Ebay has either refund me the money or the seller has. Good Luck, sorry for the misfortune on your first win. Sadly true bid shilling does happen, but no one knows what your highest bid is, unless this is what I think would happen, is if they have bid over you then retract their bid to put in a bid slightly lower than yours, I have retracted a bid, because I made a mistake of putting the wrong digits in then I end up seeing that I''ve outbid everyone else, but then you must put in another bid, in this case, they would know what your highest offer is does that make sense? so it could possibly happen.

 

[purrfectpear]

The seller is absolutely correct that you cannot do anything about the negative you left her based only on your "thoughts and suspicions".

No wonder she is irritated with you. It''s a lesson learned IMO, and you are the one who needs to learn it. You negged her over $30 and you don''t even have a clue if there was anything to neg over

 

[Indylady]

Thank you so much for your help NeatFreak and D&T!

I suppose I should have explained myself further: I did try to go through Ebay first, and did not get anything back except the confirmation that I had filed a complaint. It had been about 3 days after that point I left the negative feedback. Neatfreak, I totally agree that I should not have left the negative feedback so quickly. And that if she had been fair in completing the transaction that I should have left a neutral response. I was worried that since the seller seems fraudulent on a couple of counts, that she would not be easy to get a refund from. I do understand what you are saying D&T. The other highest bid was over 12 hours before the auction ended, meaning that the person who bid could have retracted their bid and figured mine out.

Purrfectpear, I do not believe I "negged her over $30". She should NOT have described the pendant as Mikimoto and sterling silver. I took it to my jeweler today, and I was correct, that it is definitely NOT SILVER. Or white gold, or platinum for that matter not that was even a question. I don''t believe Mikimoto works with metals other than the previous. So the seller definitely misrepresented the pendant.

Sadly, I think I will just go ahead and keep it

After that email, I wrote the seller back saying that I had nothing to hide, restated that I think she is price shilling and that the pendant is not Mikimoto, and asked if she would prefer I did not send the pendant back. She wrote me another angry email, which she ended with, "you can throw the subpoena behind your house in the pond if you want to, but you will be prosecuted."

...I really do have a pond behind my house. She has my address. I wonder if she Google-Earth''ed it? I know you can file complaints for threats on Ebay too, but that statement makes me really nervous. This is just not worth it.

It was $35, and I learned a lesson, which is true Purrfectpear. I certainly could have forked over a LOT more to learn the same lesson, so I will call it an experience to say the least. Thank you all so much though! I really do appreciate hearing a couple of different viewpoints.

 

[joelly]

I did have a problem like this with an EBay seller some years ago. The problem was also price shilling. He or she got another seller bid against my bid when it is closer to the end of the bidding. When I found out, I emailed the seller and asked to withdraw my bid and I told him the reason. He got upset and sending me a nasty email threaten to give me a negative feedback.

I did file a complaint with EBay and Paypal. Both didn''t do anything significant for me. They keep saying that they will investigate. The seller leave a negative feedback on me which I don''t care about since I have lots more positive, one negative is not gonna kill my good reps with Ebay. I did report a compaint to EBay of not only my direct seller but also the other bidder of whom I suspect doing the price shilling.

The item I was bidding is a special item, which means if you buy it you must be a user of this item. I did a background search on the other bidder and found that he or she has no business even bidding for this item. This emphasize my suspicious and I give this evidence along with my complainy to EBay and Paypal.

I am sorry this happen to you, szh07. I would recommend for you to have a P.O. Box address and not using your home address when you are dealing with these people on EBay.

 

[joelly]

I forgot to mention that I don''t think you overreact on your suspicious and I don''t think it is wrong of you to leave him a negative feedback. You should have done it after you get a refund but doing it is not an overreact at all.

This seller is creepy though, why is he/she even look up your address on google earth and dumb enough to admit that he knows about the pond?

 

[Indylady]

Joelly: I am so glad to hear that you understand exactly what I am going through. Neither Ebay or Paypal have helped at all! I am almost shocked; the only thing I have gotten them is a notification that I have filed a complaint. It has been about 4-5 days; both policies say that they usually respond within 72 hours.

I understand that the seller is "irritated" as Purrfectpear put it; but I just don''t see it necessary to send me nasty emails and call me names. I am just as irritated with the seller, but I have resorted to calling her names and don''t plan on doing so either. If she is perfectly innocent and already has a client base and 10,000 positives, then she should be shouting, "BRING IT ON!"

 

[D&T]

did you contact Ebay via Phone? I find that they aren''t helpful via emails, but when I talk on the phone with them, they are more than helpful...good luck, so sorry this happened...

 

[Indylady]

I meant that I have NOT* resorted to calling her names. That is what another friend suggested, to give them a call. But I am afraid that this will just escalate...I think I''m going to sleep on it.

 

[fatafelice]

I have been buying off eBay for over 10 years, and I have had a few fishy transactions. I have found that when sellers fire back with super-nasty responses, it is usually because you hit the nail on the head, IMO. True, honest sellers are usually civil at least, even if they refuse to refund your money. If your jeweler said the pendant was fake, I would keep going after this through eBay and Paypal. I have let a few things go because it didn''t seem worth it, but I always wish I hadn''t. That is how the scammers make money. If enough people give up because "it''s only $35," it adds up. Also, that last email was definitely a threat and creepy. I would report it for sure.

 

[Indylady]

Fetafelice, I kind of felt the same way when I got such a nasty response from her. I didn''t even post the next one, but she called me a few more names (significant worse than the first one). If she had nothing to hide, then there''s not much to be angry about except one negative review out of her "10,000 positives".

And yeah, that is definitely how the scammers make money. All of her items are pretty inexpensive, from about $9.99 to about $25. I can imagine a lot of others would just let it go.

I really felt that the last email crossed the line for me, though; I can take it if someone is rude to me, but if someone is describing my backyard...that''s just too much for me. Its just been such a nightmare. I reported it, and then closed the claim on Paypal, my Paypal account, and Ebay account (for Ebay it takes a while to go through). I am peeved at myself for not following through, and feel sorry for future buyers that might encounter her, but...its just entirely too creepy and it doesn''t seem Ebay is going to do anything about it. I''ve spent hours looking up Ebay policies, looking into her profile, filing complaints, attaching her emails, and waiting for responses. I feel like it was almost a waste of time to even try because it doesn''t seem to have gotten me anywhere.

I am just praying that she doesn''t contact me anymore. And that no one else meets a seller like her!

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Date: 5/25/2009 4:24:16 AM
Author: szh07
i reported it, and then closed the claim on Paypal, my Paypal account, and Ebay account (for Ebay it takes a while to go through). I am peeved at myself for not following through, and feel sorry for future buyers that might encounter her, but...its just entirely too creepy and it doesn''t seem Ebay is going to do anything about it. I''ve spent hours looking up Ebay policies, looking into her profile, filing complaints, attaching her emails, and waiting for responses. I feel like it was almost a waste of time to even try because it doesn''t seem to have gotten me anywhere.

I am just praying that she doesn''t contact me anymore. And that no one else meets a seller like her!

it''s a shame that you didn''t give ebay and paypal the chance to help you out, if you were in the right they would have fixed it for you all in good time, i had a dispute that took over a month to get my money back, i got it back but i had to be patient and let them deal with it, perhaps if you weren''t so impatient in the first place and had not left negative feedback for no good reason and without even trying to fix the problem yourself first (a big no no in ebay etiqute) this wouldn''t have escalated so far, but i guess ebay isn''t for everyone!

 

[Indylady]

If she wasn''t looking up my house and threatening me, then maybe I would have waited a month to let Ebay help me. Both Ebay and Paypal''s policies state that they will get back to you within 72 hours, and I waited much more than that to hear from them. False advertising should also be an Ebay etiquette no-no. As should be sending nasty e-mails. Negative feedback is a right.

 

[Liane]

Date: 5/24/2009 3:22:01 PM
Author: szh07
She wrote me another angry email, which she ended with, ''you can throw the subpoena behind your house in the pond if you want to, but you will be prosecuted.''

...I really do have a pond behind my house. She has my address. I wonder if she Google-Earth''ed it? I know you can file complaints for threats on Ebay too, but that statement makes me really nervous. This is just not worth it.

Oh please re: "you will be prosecuted." For what? I am a prosecutor and while there might be some breaches of eBay etiquette on your part, the only person committing anything close to a crime here is the seller. That email''s just an intimidation attempt dressed up with a little creepiness courtesy of Google Maps.

I''m sorry to hear it seems to have worked, and sorry to hear you had to go through this terrible experience. Rampant fraud is why I hardly ever shop on eBay anymore, and when I do, if it''s not from a known seller, I just assume I''m buying a fake.

Also I agree 100% with fatafelice: sellers who get nasty are pretty much always scammers resorting to their second line of defense when they think they''re at risk of getting caught. Honest ones tend to be more polite. There are polite scammers out there too, but I''ve never heard of a nasty honest seller.

Anyway, better luck next time.