Question
Here's the gist: (dates are approx, give or take a day or two)
Buyer X (from the UK) buys 10 of One charm April 25 , pays for them, they are shipped the next day.
May 14th, email from buyer saying they had not received them. We say (but much nicer) hold tight, package to the UK are taking a slow boat these days.
May 25th, same buyer, buys 15 more of the same item, pays for them. I had to wait 3 days on a few more to come from the manufacturer, so we were a couple days later than normal shipping when I got this email
Paraphrased:
I haven't gotten my first order so i went and ordered a second batch, when will my first set arrive
Red flag - right? So, I bump the shipping up to global priority and add a Certificate of Mailing w/ photo copies of the packages (for all the good that is) and ship it on Tues (normal would have been Friday).
Then about 5 days later, I start getting nastier and nastier emails wanting to know what I am going to do about this and that she doesn't want to report me. Then (silly me for not blocking her), she bids on 2 more items. It was over the weekend and I didn't even notice her email address when I batched out the sales.
So, I then get this email:
I must advise you that I will not be paying for these items, until I have received the other items I have purchased from you. I am still waiting for a batch of 10 charms which I paid for nearly 2 months ago (actually closer to 38 days), and then I bought some more to replace them that didnt come, and they have not arrived either!! I am very disappointed in your service, and feel like I am being taken for a fool.
I am reading her email and trying to figure this out when i get this 5 hours later:
Hello again, I think the best way to solve this, is for you to refund me in full, and cancel my last order which I will not be paying for now. Not being unreasonable, seeing as I have paid you over a month ago. I know you are a good seller and I was not suggesting that you were not, I just want my items that I have paid for. I am a power seller myself(Okay so, now I know that I need to look closer at this situation) I will be reporting this matter and await my refund.
.
Here's what I found:
Her feedback shows about 11 negatives and over 1/2 reference nasty emails w/ threats.
She is selling charms (just a few) but using other sellers pictures (not directly linked)
She is using at least 4 different sellers pictures in her auctions (2 charm people). It is VERY obvious.
She has bid on 92 items in the last few weeks, including one other smaller charm seller that she bought quit a few things from ( I know this sounds counter productive to my business, but I hate when newer sellers run into situations like this. I figure they are more likely to cave to feedback threats (which are more damaging to low numbers) and threats of "contacting eBay").
Most of feedback as a buyer is from sellers that leave fb when you pay not at the end of the transaction.
My thoughts:
Why would you order and pay for a 2nd batch (let alone 2 more) if you haven't received the first?
This is a very popular charm, we are actually a distributor for them and ship lots of this one item every month, so is she selling them? She did not ask for a discount and frankly even if I sent here 25 more, she would be paying just a little less than our qty discount rate for 50 of them. But, short of sending them Global Express, how could I make sure that they got there (even if I wanted to go that route)?
Should I:
Email the sellers about the pics? (not my nature to intrude)
Send her another set? I prefer not to send a refund in a situation like this. I figure that if you do that, then they could have the items and their money, but very few peope really want to end up w/ twice as many of an item as they ordered.
File an NPB on the last two items?
Sit tight?
Answer
how did they pay ?
how much money involved? (ballpark)
Answer
I hope she didn't pay with paypal.
BBL for her.
Answer
How does e-mailing other sellers about the pictures help your situation with this buyer?
I would carefully look at the buyer's negatives though to see if you can tell if she may have pulled a similar stunt with them. If you find such a possibility, you might want to consider contacting that seller to compare notes to help you decide how to proceed..
Answer
Dumb Question Number One: Have you confirmed that the postal address that you have for her is correct? (and how long ago is it now since you sent the Global Priority parcel?)
Two different shipping methods and neither have arrived (assuming that her emails are truthful). The first one may have gone surface and may turn up in another month (if you paid for airmail, you have to be very unlucky but it does occassionally happen) - but the second is not likely to do the same. So far I have found Global Priority reliable (but the Express service which has a floppy outer bag, has twice taken more than a month to get from North America to me here in Australia). Thus if both have really gone astray, it begs the question of whether (a) her mail is being tampered with, or (b) there is an error in the address that you are sending to.
I have a buyer in the Berkshire region who was losing mail last year and early this year (international only), believed to have been targetted/tampered with in his local region, and just never getting to his address. I have lost one other international item in the last four years (also UK - both were letter sized), and would have to have sent at least 2000 international items in that time. Except for occassional speed issues, I have been finding the international post very reliable (but I am on the opposite side of the world to you).
Kind Regards, Kevin
Answer
A little over $130
she did pay w/ paypal.
BBL - not sure what that means
Irene,
It doesn't help my situation at all, but I thought that since she had also purchased things from them, that maybe she was doing the same thing. Also, I think it adds to her "character". If they were unhappy w/ that, then reporting her to eBay would at least give a history of issues w/ other eBayers. I really have no interest in this, I agree that it wouldn't help things at all.
The fb's just reference nasty emails, not what the actual issues were.
Kevin,
The first was sent airmail, it's been 43 days, the global priority is now 8 days since it was shipped (I checked this time for exacts).
If you had asked me about international orders three months ago, I would total agree w/ you. But the last few months, have been terrible. It has not been unusual for Airmail to take 2-4 weeks, where a year ago, it was 5-14 days. I would venture to guess that 80% of our packages w/ shipping issues have been going to the UK. I have a few to Australia that are taking a bit longer than the buyer thought they would, but I think they have all shown up.
I am really thinking about either backing off of international sales or upping our shipping to make this kind of thing worth it.
Answer
Oh, it's not a dumb question about the shipping address. But, we did that when she emailed the middle of May.
I know things like tampering happen, but why would she order again before she received the first set? That is the thing that made this an issue for me.
Answer
All an international buyer has to do is file a complaint with paypal and they win the complaint. No protection whatsoever.
BBL = blocked bidder list
Answer
I know, that is rediculous about the thing w/ paypal and the refunds for filing. I have to say though that up until lately, it was worth it. And i hate that one of the things that I am thinking is that it isn't the post office that is having problems but our buyers that are educating themselves on how to buy something and then get a refund.
Is there a time limit for filing w/ paypal?
Ahhh, bbl - done! should have done it way earlier though.
Answer
Condolences for your trouble. I have no ideas to offer.