Bad ebay experience

[ironbrewer]

I bought a razor on ebay a week or so ago. It clearly showed a gold plated ball end open comb. I asked how the plating on the head was and he replied that it was excellent. I received a fat handles tech with horrible plating loss. I got a refund, but had to pay for return shipping and packaging.

The seller was

3643louis

I left negative feedback and he lied in his rebuttle.

I would not buy anything from this guy.

Just a heads up and some venting.

Jim

 

[A_Jameson]

Thanks for the heads up Jim

 

[CCMphysician]

Thanks for the warning. I was just about to buy something from him.

-CCM

 

[drewmac]

Thanks for the warning! Sorry about your experience. He should have refunded your money but let you keep the razor.

 

[ironbrewer]

All that I asked for was an extra $4.95 back. That is what he charged me for shipping.

 

[Maul555]

I noticed that he has a 98.3% approval rating. This shows that he has had more than one problem in the past. I work hard at keeping my account at a 100% approval rating, and I never buy from anybody with less than a 99% rating... Now, I'm not saying that I shop on ebay a lot, but in 10 years of using ebay, I cant recall one instance of getting burned like that. My rule of thumb is to always double check the feedback rating, and compare that to how many transactions they have done. A few unscrupulous sellers will have dummy accounts to leave great feedback, to get their rating up before they start their scamming. That's not what happened here, but its something else to be looking for... I have bought successfully from people with a few transactions, and people with thousands in thier history, You just need to be very discerning when shopping on the bay.

 

[AdrianR]

Looks like a fair few buyers have had issues with this seller in the past!

 

[drewmac]

Looks like a fair few buyers have had issues with this seller in the past!

What I don't get is why he replies to negative feedback by saying, "blocked." Is he just blocking these buyers from buying his future items? Can't imagine they would want to!

 

[Sailorman]

I have had 2 bad buys from ebay. Both times, I promptly notified the seller that since the item was SNAD, significantly not as described, I expected to be refunded the return shipping. This is a different case than just having buyers remorse or some minor issue that could be rightfully described as a matter of opinion.

Both times, I received my return shipping amount (which I made sure appeared on the return postage label) with no argument whatsoever. In fact, one seller went so far as to send me cash in the mail because she couldn't figure out how to refund more than the selling price through paypal.

I bought again from one of those sellers. He sent me a separate message further detailing the product when he recognized my user ID and everything was fine that time around.

In the case of a SNAD sale, I don't care what the return policy of the seller is. Other than promptly notifying them, it's irrelevant. I believe ebay and paypal have the same attitude.

I won't be run over by abusive buyers or sellers. But my feedback is extremely important as a seller and I wouldn't hesitate for one second to refund shipping costs both ways if I have overlooked a legitimate defect or misidentified a product. As a buyer, I expect the same of other sellers.

The only quandry I have is, what do I leave as feedback for a seller who promptly and cheerfully refunds all costs associated with an honest case of SNAD? I hate to penalize them in the "item as described" category even if it wasn't as described. Feedback has become far too critical for sellers since ebay has instituted their policy changes, which make a 4 unacceptable, despite it's being deceptively labeled as "good" by ebay.

 

[ironbrewer]

I had one Snad before this. Myself and the seller came to an equatable resolution, and I didn't leave any feedback. I told the seller I would do this, and she was fine with it. This is the first time I have had to leave negative feedback.

 

[Sailorman]

I see where he screwed up and gave the wrong description. He knows better also than NOT to take a picture of the head. Its almost like he was hiding something just from the single picture. The price IMO was right for the razor but he should be honest in his description. He should at least made better deal with the shipping also. Shipping is $2.25 1st class. I am surprised there were no cracks in the handle! The 3 that I had were all cracked

It would take one super-outstanding deal from a seller I was convinced knew absolutely nothing about razors for me to bid on any razor with only one picture, especially the fuzzy ones that seem to be so common with ebay razors.

Having said that, if I squinted just right and recognized a rare specimen in a lot of junk selling for $10 by a seller who specialized in handbags, I might go for it to assuage my gambling instincts. Otherwise, I'm almost compelled to believe they are trying to hide something. Back in the day, one picture was almost understandable since ebay charged a fee for additional ones and not everyone had a digital camera. Now, with digital cameras commonplace and free pictures, there's no excuse.

 

[amishmotorboat]

I'm not sure what good taking a picture of the head would do, since the problem is that the seller sent the wrong razor.


Now, with digital cameras commonplace and free pictures, there's no excuse.
They are free in antiques, collectibles, and 2 other categories. The rest still have to pay 15 cent for each additional.

 

[Sailorman]

..... Shipping is $2.25 1st class. I am surprised there were no cracks in the handle! The 3 that I had were all cracked

I haven't seen this particular auction. Can you tell from one picture that there were no cracks, or did he just state it? A lot of sellers seem to have a hard time spotting them unless they're obvious and they are asked to take a good, hard second look.

I don't know how much he was asking for shipping, but in fairness, it generally costs me pretty close to $3 to ship a single razor with DC in a new box or bubble wrap envelope by the time it's all said and done. Of course, I don't buy envelopes in bundles of 250 so they cost me a bit more. Anything more than $3 I consider excessive, regardless. Sometimes if the final bid is decent, I'll just eat $1.80 and ship priority anyway as a matter of goodwill.

 

[Sailorman]

I'm not sure what good taking a picture of the head would do, since the problem is that the seller sent the wrong razor.


Now, with digital cameras commonplace and free pictures, there's no excuse.
They are free in antiques, collectibles, and 2 other categories. The rest still have to pay 15 cent for each additional.

Ah yes. This is true. Razors generally fall into the collectibles don't they? Or, maybe health and beauty. If you can afford to list in more than one category, it seems you should be able to afford to post at least one more picture. I'd rather have 3 pics in one category than 1 pic in two. Then again, I use Auctiva, so it's a non issue-with my listings.

 

[Maul555]

It would take one super-outstanding deal from a seller I was convinced knew absolutely nothing about razors for me to bid on any razor with only one picture, especially the fuzzy ones that seem to be so common with ebay razors.

Having said that, if I squinted just right and recognized a rare specimen in a lot of junk selling for $10 by a seller who specialized in handbags, I might go for it to assuage my gambling instincts. Otherwise, I'm almost compelled to believe they are trying to hide something. Back in the day, one picture was almost understandable since ebay charged a fee for additional ones and not everyone had a digital camera. Now, with digital cameras commonplace and free pictures, there's no excuse.

I got a great deal on my red tipped super speed with original case because the seller had only one fuzzy picture and an inadequate description. It was obvious that they didn't know what they where selling. I made sure there was no missing plating and then bid on it and got a good deal... Same thing with the GEM featherweight I nabbed. It had a fuzzy picture, bad description, and a really low price

I admit that I did take a bit of a gamble, but it paid off... And i was careful about their feedback so that I could feel some trust that their replies regarding plating condition where correct.

 

[cvac]

The worst sellers are the ones who post a bunch of razors for sale in 1 razor each separate listings and only take a picture of one. Then when you email and ask for additional pics, they admit that it is not an actual pic of the razor listed. Typically the photos are blurry too.

In general, I avoid ebay for razors because of these kinds of things.

 

[CCMphysician]

What I don't get is why he replies to negative feedback by saying, "blocked." Is he just blocking these buyers from buying his future items? Can't imagine they would want to!

He's trying to pass the blame onto the buyer. It's a flimsy excuse and it *might* have worked one time, but not 30+.

-CCM

 

[Sailorman]

I got a great deal on my red tipped super speed with original case because the seller had only one fuzzy picture and an inadequate description. It was obvious that they didn't know what they where selling. I made sure there was no missing plating and then bid on it and got a good deal... Same thing with the GEM featherweight I nabbed. It had a fuzzy picture, bad description, and a really low price

I admit that I did take a bit of a gamble, but it paid off... And i was careful about their feedback so that I could feel some trust that their replies regarding plating condition where correct.

Yeah, I've done that myself. I snagged a Diplomat once that way and an Aristocrat with a case that was tossed upside down into the corner of the picture like it wasn't even included. It is a gamble though, and occasionally you get burned. Especially when they have really sketchy descriptions that you can't argue about if you end up with a paperweight. It's hard to argue SNAD if there's virtually no description in the first place. I know some sellers do that deliberately. Fuzzy picture, minimal description, deliberately misspelling "Gillette" and claims of "I don't know nothin' 'bout razors" coming from a seller who has sold 100 razors is a big tip-off. One particular seller comes to mind who seems to do that all the time.

 

[Slivovitz]

I noticed that he has a 98.3% approval rating. This shows that he has had more than one problem in the past. I work hard at keeping my account at a 100% approval rating, and I never buy from anybody with less than a 99% rating . . .

That's a good policy. I have ordered a couple of times from sellers who were in the 98% range, but always with a little worry. Been lucky so far, and have even gotten a couple of deals of the "blurry photograph/seller didn't know what he had" sort. It's just as easy to get burned though. I can see even a great seller getting one negative feedback from an unreasonable buyer, but several negative ones are a red flag, even if he's got a couple of hundred positives.

I have to say, though, that most of my eBay transactions have been acceptable to great, with most items as described, and shipped out quickly. A few sellers even do a good packing job.

 

[ironbrewer]

I see where he screwed up and gave the wrong description. He knows better also than NOT to take a picture of the head. Its almost like he was hiding something just from the single picture. The price IMO was right for the razor but he should be honest in his description. He should at least made better deal with the shipping also. Shipping is $2.25 1st class. I am surprised there were no cracks in the handle! The 3 that I had were all cracked

I didn't receive an open comp razor. I got a fat handled tech.