View Full Version : Ok I know I'm a moron need advice on damage control
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 10:10 AM
I sold a game on EBAY and shipped it off about a week ago via first class. The moron part comes in that I didn't get DC. The clerk at the post office was in training and she didn't know how to do it and to get it I would have had to wait for her coworker to get off his smoke break. I happened to be in a hurry and didn't do it. Anyways Yesterday I get an email from the buyer saying he didn't get the game and I'm thinking he is either scamming or maybe someone stole it out of his mail.
So I am pretty much scrwed here aren't I. Since it was paid via PAYPAL they will probably just take it back out of my account even though I have a lot better feedback. Does anybody have any advice on what to do here? If I could find a receipt that I sent out a package would that help?
dafoomie
10-28-2004, 10:17 AM
Always, always, always get DC. A reciept could maybe help but its doubtful.
Haggar
10-28-2004, 10:17 AM
A receipt doesn't matter, since you need a traceable online source for Paypal, which is what DC is.
I hate to say it but you are totally screwed. Consider this battle lost.
He will go to Papal and say he never got it.
Paypal will ask you for some form of online tracking.
You say you don't have any. . .
And Paypal takes his money out of your account and gives it back to the guy.
icemanjmw13
10-28-2004, 10:19 AM
Unfortunately it does sound like you're going to be screwed in this deal. A reciept might help but most likely will just prove you sent something, not what you sent and to where. How much was this transaction worth. The reason I ask is that sometimes you just have to eat the loss. Also it's a lot better looking if you voluntarily give them a refund then if they have to take it to Paypal with a complaint. Plus you might even manage a positive feedback out of it. I know it sucks to lose money, but here's a case where you just have to minimize your losses. Also I am seriously considering using DC for EVERY item I sell on Ebay from now on, it's just too risky if you don't. Hope that helps, just my two cents.
dafoomie
10-28-2004, 10:19 AM
You could try emptying your paypal account first, I dunno if they'll withdraw from your bank/credit card or not.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 10:20 AM
Damn looks like a $38 lesson in not trusting folks
magilacudy
10-28-2004, 10:22 AM
Ouch. How much did you sell the game for?
I would say that's ironic but it seems that scammers are taking up a greater percentage of bidders on Ebay these days. Always get DC...
dafoomie
10-28-2004, 10:23 AM
I use DC on absolutely everything... I use DC on $2 games. You have no recourse without it, they can say it never got there, get their money and keep the item. If you print your own labels you get free DC anyway, which I don't.
dafoomie
10-28-2004, 10:25 AM
I don't recommend this, but if you're positive he's scamming you, you could send him an empty box with DC.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 10:36 AM
Yea I always get DC too it was just a freak instance that I didn't do it because the woman at the Post Office was clueless. Now that I look back over the EBAY listing I see that his/her address is not even verified. If the sox hadn't just won the series I might be really upset right now. here is the listing if anyone wants to look
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8138677235&ssPage Name=STRK:MESO:IT
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 10:38 AM
I don't recommend this, but if you're positive he's scamming you, you could send him an empty box with DC.
Naw I'm sure he is scamming me but to do that would hurt the seriously good karma I have going on lately
daikaiju
10-28-2004, 10:49 AM
Naw I'm sure he is scamming me but to do that would hurt the seriously good karma I have going on lately
That's a good attitude. I once had an ebay deal go south on me concerning a game gear I had sold to a woman. She was super difficult - I was as accomodating as possible. In the end, I just let it go, and chalked it up to the cost of doing business. Sometimes it's best to walk away and take the hit
I'd ask him to give it another week or two to see if the USPS is just taking longer than normal for some reason. (First class should be just 3 days max, but I'd still want to give it 2-3 weeks+ before doing any kind of refund.)
Along the lines of dafoomie saying to send him an empty box with DC, I've often thought that a serious scam artist could call up PayPal or their CC and simply claim that what I did send them was just an empty envelope or box. (I guess the receipt does show the weight, so a really crafty scammer would make up something worthless that was put in it maybe.)
He doesn't have much feedback, but his other two are positive. Man, what a crappy situation :(
If it goes two more weeks and doesn't get to him, I would probably offer a full refund (painful!) but ask if he would be willing to take a 50% refund so you could share the cost of the loss. I mean you did give him the option of insurance (which would cover a lost package.)
Oh, and what was the tone of his e-mail? Was he kind of assy about it and demanding his money/accusing you of not actually mailing anything? Or was he good about it and kind of letting you know he hasn't received it yet?
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 11:55 AM
The tone of his email was polite more like a question. It just seemed to me something wasn't right with it. Also I get the feeling that I am talking to a guy when the mailing address is to a woman. Althought thta could be his mom or something
ryanbph
10-28-2004, 12:06 PM
for future reference
You can print your mailing labels from the post office website, and it comes with free delivery confirmation..., and if you would like, to avoid the extra fee...just bring it to the post office yourself, and pay for it their..I get the stickers to print the labels from the ups website as they offer them for free
You can print your mailing labels from the post office, and it comes with free delivery confirmation...
That's only for priority and up, though right? (i.e. not media mail or first class) Please let me know if that is not the case, as I'd be interested in checking that out!
ryanbph
10-28-2004, 12:15 PM
Yes it is only for the express and priority at the moment....but the emails I have gotten from usps, and from what the clerks at my local post office say, that will be changing in the near future
Javery
10-28-2004, 12:35 PM
Buyers can take money out of your account if they are unhappy? That sounds ... odd...
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 12:46 PM
Buyers can take money out of your account if they are unhappy? That sounds ... odd...
Yea I think it is why so many people do not verify their paypal accounts
starman9000
10-28-2004, 12:48 PM
I never get DC, I always go straight with the Insurance, that way if they want to claim they didnt recieve it they will be facing mail fraud. With DC they can say they got an empty box or something.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 12:52 PM
I never get DC, I always go straight with the Insurance, that way if they want to claim they didnt recieve it they will be facing mail fraud. With DC they can say they got an empty box or something.
Interesting I never thought of that. because you actually list the item on the insurance form don't you? I haven't done insurance in a while because I had a very negative experieince trying to collect it once on a broken item. But for this reason I may do it again.
YoshiFan1
10-28-2004, 01:10 PM
Even with insurance, if you don't use DC, Paypal can still take money out of your account because there is still no proof it was delivered.
I think they might be scamming you because the auction only ended a week ago. It seems a little early to ask where the item is. Buyers have tried to scam me with the same thing where a little over a week after the auction ends, they e-mail me ask where the game is. For example, I shipped a game out on a Wednesday, they get it on Monday and then they asked me the next Wednesday where the game was. I replied saying it was delivered and gave them the tracking #, and asked them to check the post office to see if they have it (even though I was sure they already had the game). Once I gave them the tracking #, that shut them up and they didn't even respond.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 01:13 PM
Even with insurance, if you don't use DC, Paypal can still take money out of your account because there is still no proof it was delivered.
I think they might be scamming you because the auction only ended a week ago. It seems a little early to ask where the item is. Buyers have tried to scam me with the same thing where a little over a week after the auction ends, they e-mail me ask where the game is. For example, I shipped a game out on a Wednesday, they get it on Monday and then they asked me the next Wednesday where the game was. I replied saying it was delivered and gave them the tracking #, and asked them to check the post office to see if they have it (even though I was sure they already had the game). Once I gave them the tracking #, that shut them up and they didn't even respond.
From now on my Shipping costs are going to be a buck more expensive and insurance will not be an option they are getting it if they want it or not
YoshiFan1
10-28-2004, 02:10 PM
Insurance up to $50 is $1.30 so you might want to raise your shipping more than $1 so you aren't taking a loss.
bignick
10-28-2004, 02:19 PM
Cancel your paypal account and open another one. Or just transfer the money out of there.
Even with insurance, if you don't use DC, Paypal can still take money out of your account because there is still no proof it was delivered.
I think they might be scamming you because the auction only ended a week ago. It seems a little early to ask where the item is. Buyers have tried to scam me with the same thing where a little over a week after the auction ends, they e-mail me ask where the game is. For example, I shipped a game out on a Wednesday, they get it on Monday and then they asked me the next Wednesday where the game was. I replied saying it was delivered and gave them the tracking #, and asked them to check the post office to see if they have it (even though I was sure they already had the game). Once I gave them the tracking #, that shut them up and they didn't even respond.
Eesh, crooked and stupid. If they took at look at your package they'd see the Delivery Confirmation noted on there.
cleaver
10-28-2004, 02:27 PM
One time around Mother's Day I didn't use DC and faced a similar dilemma. I stalled as long as I could and the guy eventually got the item, like 2-3 weeks after I sent it. So my advice is maintain dialog and stall, maybe it'll turn up.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 03:34 PM
Insurance up to $50 is $1.30 so you might want to raise your shipping more than $1 so you aren't taking a loss.
naw I find that the lower the shipping the better bids I get. I see some auctions that request that everyone who bids have at least 20 feedback points. Anybody here experiment with that?
I have sold hundreds of items on Ebay. Maybe the item never arrives or maybe it is just very late (delays happen far more often than I would like). Either way, unless the buyer paid for insurance, I simply cannot help them. I state this in my auction text and remind them of my policy when they send me email claiming to never receive the item. I have almost 300 feedback and "powerseller" status and this policy has worked for me.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 06:49 PM
here is the contents of the short email
hey whats up, what address did you send the game to? and what day? just let me know if anything..thanks alot
I'm thinking maybe of saying I have a friend that works USPS and that even though I didn't pay DC that he can look in the system and see what happened to the package. If he's a scammer that may scare him straight probably not though
judyjudyjudy
10-28-2004, 07:00 PM
here is the contents of the short email
hey whats up, what address did you send the game to? and what day? just let me know if anything..thanks alot
Is that the only email he's sent you?
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 07:04 PM
yea it just makes me nervous because it was a good week after I sent the item and I just sent an item to freaking Oregon that only took 2 days
vanlandw
10-28-2004, 07:05 PM
topics like this is the prime reason why I will never trade with people I don't know...sorry to hear about this though...it's always sad when good people get screwed :-(
judyjudyjudy
10-28-2004, 07:09 PM
It's possible he might have sent you the wrong shipping address. I have multiple shipping addresses on my Paypal account. Just a possibility, I don't blame you for being wary tho.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 07:10 PM
It's possible he might have sent you the wrong shipping address. I have multiple shipping addresses on my Paypal account. Just a possibility, I don't blame you for being wary tho.
yea that might be a possiblity because the shipping address was to a female and I get the feeling that the emailer is a guy
YoshiFan1
10-28-2004, 08:19 PM
naw I find that the lower the shipping the better bids I get. I see some auctions that request that everyone who bids have at least 20 feedback points. Anybody here experiment with that?
It's a good idea but 2 problems. 1. It can't be enforced, no one listens to those type of rules (as an example, I clearly state confirmed Paypal addresses only and people still send payment with an unconfirmed address, I state money orders and Paypal only, people send checks anyway) and there is no way to block anyone from bidding on your auctions if they have less than 20 feedbacks. You could cancel their bids but at the last second, someone else could still bid. Secondly, I would say that at least from my auctions, 75% or more have less than 20 feedbacks so you would be eliminating a lot of potential customers.
jlarlee
10-28-2004, 08:25 PM
Thats another light that should have gone off in my head it was an unconfirmed address. I totally chalk this up to the Red Sox distracting me. In 4 years and in about 70 deals I have never had a problem in Ebay I guess I was due
YoshiFan1
10-28-2004, 08:32 PM
If you want to prevent unconfirmed addresses, turn on the Paypal feature that won't accept an unconfirmed address payment unless you manually accept it yourself. I do that that way I can determine if I want to risk sending an item to an unconfirmed address (if they have high feedback or the item is cheap, I'll send it out)
chosen1s
10-28-2004, 08:50 PM
Well, if anybody wants to learn from my experiences...
I went to all DC on every package several months ago after being frustrated by a guy who filed a complaint with Paypal. I decided that had been enough.
I probably shipped, for a while, 30 or 40 items a week for several months. Here's the reality:
What is Delivery Confirmation? I dont' even check anymore, but I think it's 60 cents each time. Say you mail 100 items for every 1 that is "lost" (which in my experience is a little pessimistic). That's $60 you've paid for the service over this time period.
Even better - just recently I was getting emails from this guy "I haven't gotten my game". So what do I do? I dig out the Delivery Confirmation and look it up. Oh, I see. It was mailed 3 weeks ago but hasn't been delivered. He filed with Paypal, and I provided the information. However, since the Post Office never delivered it, that was all the evidence Paypal needed. Money got yanked from my account DESPITE my paying for DC.
jlarlee
10-29-2004, 12:06 AM
Damn if Paypal keeps treating its customers that way they are going to go out of business
zionoverfire
10-29-2004, 12:22 AM
Damn if Paypal keeps treating its customers that way they are going to go out of business
No the customers are happy, the sellers however get screwed and paypal has never bothered to fix this since ebay depends on the buyers to attract the sellers.
YoshiFan1
10-29-2004, 01:44 AM
And Paypal knows that as a seller, whether you like their policies or not, you are stuck with using them since almost everyone pays with Paypal. It's too bad there isn't another alternative to accept credit card payments other than set up your own credit card accounts with the companys and accept them directly, but those fees are even worse than Paypal's fees!
jlarlee
10-29-2004, 09:06 AM
Ok I sent this email although he/she hasn't respnded to my first email yet
Hi have you received the game yet? Was this the right address I noticed that it was unconfirmed?
Sonia Silva
3200 Hudson Avenue Floor 5
Union City, NJ 07087
United States
Keep me in the loop because if you don't have it yet I have a good friend who works in the post office and even though I didn't get delivery confirmation he can scan where it went to in their system using my receipt. A week is a long time for it to be taking to get there but I hear sometimes things get messed up and it takes a while to get to its location.
Kind of a weak deke I know but it was worth a try
jlarlee
10-29-2004, 08:29 PM
I've sent two emails to this person and they haven't responded back. Do you think they gave up on the fraud or just want to hit me with the paypal complaint by surprise
Did you send them two e-mails today? I'd give it at least 3 days or so in between e-mails if you don't hear back.
In this case I'd probably leave it with the first e-mail until they complain again.
The e-mail you posted above doesn't really require a reply unless the item happened to arrive today, or the address is wrong.
Oh, and you definitely shouldn't be posting their real address here. Against eBay rules.
jlarlee
10-29-2004, 09:16 PM
No it was two days apart he/she will have to definetly be the next one to communicate
I'm actually in a somewhat similar situation right now. Shipped a lady an item on the 19th and she still hasn't received it. I got DC on it and it doesn't show as being delivered yet. But this went Parcel Post so I'm still hoping it will get there eventually.
jlarlee
10-30-2004, 12:34 AM
What irks me is I have had my account for 4 years and slowly built up a 67 with 100% and now thats going all to crap