Need advice about an Ebay seller situation really quick.

[disneybride]

I purchased a Blackberry through someone who had zero feedback and just started on Ebay. It was only $125 and I was going to do it via Paypal so I wasn't all that nervous. After the auction I ended I won and emailed him regarding the invoice. He told me "I meant to send you a message last night so I aplogize for that. I did not realize that I still had the item listed so I am not going to be selling it at this time. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks."

I told him that was unacceptable, he entered into a legally binding contract and that I wanted the phone.

He wrote back "I apologize for the inconvenience. Will you please just let this one go? There are many other World Editions available for purchase. I would really appreciate if we can just go our seperate ways peacefully on this. Thank you."

I wrote to him stating I would not let it go, that he was committing fraud and he cannot break a legally binding contract, at which point he wrote "Look, I acknowledge that I messed up with this whole situation and I apologize for that. If I were in your situation then I would probably be upset too and I'm sorry. I am not going to accept payment because the phone is worth far more than $125.00 and I know that because it has already been sold for more than twice that amount. Why would I sell something at below market value? It is in immaculate condition, has hardly been used, still has all the accessories that it came with, and I paid full retail for it. So you can give me a bad review but I am sorry, I am not going to sell an item for less than market value, especially when I don't even have it in my posession anymore. I apologize for the inconvenience once again. Thank you."

I told him I was escalating it to Ebay and that I was filing a small claims on him, that my husband agreed to act as my attorney and would be sending a motion to him in the morning. I told him I wanted the $125 as a credit toward a new phone. He wrote back at that point telling me he actually did still have the phone, the one he sold was a similar one for his cousin and he would honor the transaction...I told him I didn't trust a seller as dishonest as him, was forced to purchase a new one already, and would be seeking retribution. I told him he would have to come to MA for court since I'm filing the motion against him. He gets nervous as this point telling me he wants to go through with the transaction, he was sorry, that he would honor his return policy if I didn't like the phone. I told him it was too late, it was either credit me or wait for Ebay to enforce or a motion from my 'attorney.' He agreed to send me the $125 via Paypal to end this and apologized again for the inconvenience.

Guess what? He actually sent it!! I haven't accepted it because I feel guilty. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, but part of me wants to accept it because he was such a punk at first and he needs a lesson in responsibility, not to mention it ended up costing me an additional $64 for another phone vs. what I would've had to pay to buy his.....I need your advice. What should I do? Take the money or send it back telling him let this be a lesson?

 

[luckystar112]

I would have let it go, but that''s just me.
He''s trying to make it right, so I''m assuming your lesson has already been learned.

 

[luckystar112]

P.S. The phone sounds stolen.
How could he not know what it is worth?
I wouldn''t be involved in that...too shady.

 

[disneybride]

It wasn''t me who needed a lesson. He was the one trying to scam ME, and he sent me $125 via Paypal as a credit which is what I would''ve had to pay for the phone because he broke a legally binding contract. _I_ did nothing wrong, in my opinion. I just don''t know whether I should actually accept the money or send it back to him telling him let this be a lesson.

 

[disneybride]

It''s his phone...he allegedly purchased it retail and then wanted to sell it a few months down the road to cut back on the expense of the additional monthly data charge. He didn''t realize the phone retained so much value once used...he found out he could get a lot more for it than what he posted online. The entire thing is shady which is why part of me wants to accept the money, to teach him a lesson, but in the same respect I feel guilty.

 

[luckystar112]

Well you''re probably going to get a million differing views on this, but my personal opinion is to give him back the money.
I kind of think you overreacted, sorry. I guess you really wanted that phone! And again, to me it sounds like the phone was stolen or there is something else fishy going on. But a lawsuit over a $125 phone is just.....over the top?
Anyway, hope you don''t take offense to that, it''s just how it appears to me as an outsider. I''m not saying he wasn''t in the wrong, he was, but I''d just give him back the money and move on.

 

[Maisie]

I''m not being unkind but there are so many bigger things to worry about in the world than this. I would just let it go.

 

[Lauren8211]

I would let it go.

At the end of the day, it was a very minimal inconvenience to you, and he did apologize multiple times. I would hope that if I were ever to make a mistake on Ebay, that someone would afford me the same courtesy. We''re all human.

 

[purrfectpear]

As you said, you feel guilty. Yet if any of us mention we wouldn''t have taken it nearly that far, you get defensive and say you''ve done nothing wrong.

Just exactly what is it that you want to hear?

I would never have hassled him as you did, but that''s just me. the seller reneged on a sale. So what. Like buyers never reneg? It''s eBay, not Walmart. I''d have let it go.

 

[disneybride]

All I''m asking is do I keep the money or send it back?

 

[luckystar112]

I vote send it back!

I''m surprised he actually sent it to you in the first place. It kind of dispells my whole "stolen phone" theory.

 

[Maisie]

He is a new ebayer and you have harrassed and threatened him to the point where he was so worried he sent you money!
You aren''t entitled to any of his money. Send it back!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Send it back. You took the whole thing out of proportion in my opinion - the poor guy is probably freaking out, when he apologized for his mistake. Just send it back, and let it go. And in the future, be a little more understanding.

 

[Kelli]

I''d let it go as well. Maybe I might have gone so far as to leave a negative feedback or something, but a lawsuit? Come on! I agree with maisie that there are just too many more importnant things to get worked up over.

 

[disneybride]

For the record, I was never planning on really suing him and my husband is not an attorney. I just wanted make him wake up and realize a contract is a contract and you can''t rescind afterwards because you realized you could get more money. He had the entire auction (6 days) to remove the listing and he didn''t. He also lied about not having the phone, he thought I would go away and he would sell it for more...he should''ve done that prior to the end of the auction.

 

[geckodani]

Send the money back. You were entitled to the phone, not cash. If you really feel the need to be reimbursed, keep the $64 additional you spent on the other phone.

 

[luckystar112]

Whoa, I''m surprised. Usually I have a pretty unpopular opinion!

I think that when/if the money is sent back there should be no "hope you learned your lesson" sentiment along with it. It''s been learned. I understand that it is the principle of the matter that has made you upset, but I really think he got the point.

 

[oobiecoo]

Send it back! He may have messed up but you lied. Two wrongs don''t make a right.

 

[Lauren8211]

Date: 2/26/2009 2:08:25 PM
Author: luckystar112
Whoa, I''m surprised. Usually I have a pretty unpopular opinion!

I think that when/if the money is sent back there should be no ''hope you learned your lesson'' sentiment along with it. It''s been learned. I understand that it is the principle of the matter that has made you upset, but I really think he got the point.

LOL! You made me giggle!

 

[PaulaW]

Send it back. I actually feel bad for the guy... sounds like he screwed up and is genuinely sorry.

 

[Maisie]

Thats like obtaining money with menaces. Here is a definition of this:

''Whosoever sends, delivers, or utters, or directly or indirectly causes to be received, knowing the contents thereof, any letter or writing demanding any property of any person, with menaces or any threat, and without reasonable cause, shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years''.

 

[luckystar112]

Date: 2/26/2009 2:15:35 PM
Author: Maisie
Thats like obtaining money with menaces. Here is a definition of this:

''Whosoever sends, delivers, or utters, or directly or indirectly causes to be received, knowing the contents thereof, any letter or writing demanding any property of any person, with menaces or any threat, and without reasonable cause, shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years''.

That''s where it gets fishy though. He broke a contract, so is that reasonable cause?
I can understand DB getting annoyed, even ticked off about the scenario, but I think the MORAL thing to do would be to return the money.

 

[Maisie]

I would agree that she has reasonable cause if the seller had lots of feedback and knew the way Ebay works. I think its nicer to give the seller a break. Its always a risk dealing with someone with zero feedback.

 

[Steel]

Hi DB,

I do not have any negative thoughts about this situation. But I would be very interested to know why you did what you did? Did it just pi$$ you off?

Date: 2/26/2009 1:39:13 PM
Author:disneybride

I purchased a Blackberry through someone who had zero feedback and just started on Ebay. It was only $125 and I was going to do it via Paypal so I wasn''t all that nervous. After the auction I ended I won and emailed him regarding the invoice. He told me ''I meant to send you a message last night so I aplogize for that. I did not realize that I still had the item listed so I am not going to be selling it at this time. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks.''

I told him that was unacceptable, he entered into a legally binding contract and that I wanted the phone.

He wrote back ''I apologize for the inconvenience. Will you please just let this one go? There are many other World Editions available for purchase. I would really appreciate if we can just go our seperate ways peacefully on this. Thank you.''

I wrote to him stating I would not let it go, that he was committing fraud and he cannot break a legally binding contract, at which point he wrote ''Look, I acknowledge that I messed up with this whole situation and I apologize for that. If I were in your situation then I would probably be upset too and I''m sorry. I am not going to accept payment because the phone is worth far more than $125.00 and I know that because it has already been sold for more than twice that amount. Why would I sell something at below market value? It is in immaculate condition, has hardly been used, still has all the accessories that it came with, and I paid full retail for it. So you can give me a bad review but I am sorry, I am not going to sell an item for less than market value, especially when I don''t even have it in my posession anymore. I apologize for the inconvenience once again. Thank you.''

I told him I was escalating it to Ebay and that I was filing a small claims on him, that my husband agreed to act as my attorney and would be sending a motion to him in the morning. I told him I wanted the $125 as a credit toward a new phone. He wrote back at that point telling me he actually did still have the phone, the one he sold was a similar one for his cousin and he would honor the transaction...I told him I didn''t trust a seller as dishonest as him, was forced to purchase a new one already, and would be seeking retribution. I told him he would have to come to MA for court since I''m filing the motion against him. He gets nervous as this point telling me he wants to go through with the transaction, he was sorry, that he would honor his return policy if I didn''t like the phone. I told him it was too late, it was either credit me or wait for Ebay to enforce or a motion from my ''attorney.'' He agreed to send me the $125 via Paypal to end this and apologized again for the inconvenience.

Guess what? He actually sent it!! I haven''t accepted it because I feel guilty. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, but part of me wants to accept it because he was such a punk at first and he needs a lesson in responsibility, not to mention it ended up costing me an additional $64 for another phone vs. what I would''ve had to pay to buy his.....I need your advice. What should I do? Take the money or send it back telling him let this be a lesson?

I wonder if this is Freudian and assume you mean restitution?

 

[Italiahaircolor]

In my opinion, and I am not saying this in any way to be unkind, but you totally and completely overreacted.

Yes, what he did was shady and inconsiderate and you should be upset about that...but what you did was threaten him with false legal action and bullied him into paying you $125.00 is equally shady.

I think that at this point you need to let bygones be bygones and move forward. If you feel the need to "burn" him, leave a negative comment--explaining what happened...but you cannot feel justified in taking his money. You''re not entitled to it simply because the deal went south, and in a court of law I highly doubt the outcome would be him giving you money for a subtitute phone.

I hope that you''re able to lay this matter to rest quickly...because you''re only making matters worse the longer you drag it out...

 

[crown1]

your point is taken. the situation would be frustrating. the other side of the coin is, had you decided you needed to back out of the deal, would you wish your sincere apology be taken and you be released from the deal? if so, return the money with the same grace you would wish had it been you who found "a deal is not a deal unless everyone is satisfied" or how ever that goes.

 

[bee*]

Date: 2/26/2009 2:11:40 PM
Author: PaulaW
Send it back. I actually feel bad for the guy... sounds like he screwed up and is genuinely sorry.

I agree. I actually feel quite sorry for him. As a kind of new ebayer myself, I would hate to have someone threaten me with legal action for a mistake that I made. He was bullied into giving the money so I would definitely give it back.

 

[Inanna]

When I was new to Ebay, I actually made a very similar mistake...

At the time I was working for a software company and my boss asked me to list 2 routers on Ebay: one of those routers was in the office, and the other was supposed to be at a software engineer's house... Should I have checked that the second router was actually there? Yes. Did I? Unfortunately, no. Guess what? The software engineer lost the 2nd router and only realized this after the auction had ended. I had to explain the situation and thankfully the man who won both auctions understood completely.

Mistakes happen. I think you totally overreacted, and worse, you flat-out lied. Give the money back.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

He basically paid you the $125 because you threatened him...you have not right to his money, send it back.

 

[geckodani]

Hadn''t read your post just before mine when I responded earlier. Pissed or not, you lied about legal action. Send the entire amount back.