Victor Ireland - Head of Working Designs and Ebay Bastard

argyle

argyle

CAGiversary!
Feedback
124 (100%)
Figured this was the best place to put this. I had to vent about my recent ebay experience w/ Vic. ;)

I recently bought an import PS2 from someone here, and was hitting ebay to look for games for it. One of the ones I've always wanted was the import Devil May Cry, because of the changes made to the US version. I found an auction for it and put in a bid, then noticed the same user had some other import games for cheap. He had his shipping fee listed as $7, so I emailed to ask if he offered combined shipping. He told me it would be $7 for the first game, $5 for the second, and $3 for each additional. Still kinda steep, but I decided to place a low bid on the import Dark Cloud just because I really like the game, and got it for $5.

After winning both auctions, I emailed him again. By this time I had noticed he signed his emails as Vic Ireland, and his address did indeed have workingdesigns.com as an extension. I figured this was fairly cool. Anyway, in my second email to him I asked if he would take $10 shipping for both games. He replied "Lol, no, my time at the post office is worth something!" OK, fair enough I figure, at least I should get the games quickly.

A week later, still nothing. I email Vic again: "Can you tell me if/when you shipped the games?" He replies saying that he's been out of town and will ship them on Monday. I received the games today, over 2 weeks after the auction ended, and he shipped the games media mail - $1.97.

Guess all those industry stories you hear about him being a jerk are true, huh? :?
 
[quote name='argyle']Figured this was the best place to put this. I had to vent about my recent ebay experience w/ Vic. ;)

I recently bought an import PS2 from someone here, and was hitting ebay to look for games for it. One of the ones I've always wanted was the import Devil May Cry, because of the changes made to the US version. I found an auction for it and put in a bid, then noticed the same user had some other import games for cheap. He had his shipping fee listed as $7, so I emailed to ask if he offered combined shipping. He told me it would be $7 for the first game, $5 for the second, and $3 for each additional. Still kinda steep, but I decided to place a low bid on the import Dark Cloud just because I really like the game, and got it for $5.

After winning both auctions, I emailed him again. By this time I had noticed he signed his emails as Vic Ireland, and his address did indeed have workingdesigns.com as an extension. I figured this was fairly cool. Anyway, in my second email to him I asked if he would take $10 shipping for both games. He replied "Lol, no, my time at the post office is worth something!" OK, fair enough I figure, at least I should get the games quickly.

A week later, still nothing. I email Vic again: "Can you tell me if/when you shipped the games?" He replies saying that he's been out of town and will ship them on Monday. I received the games today, over 2 weeks after the auction ended, and he shipped the games media mail - $1.97.

Guess all those industry stories you hear about him being a jerk are true, huh? :?[/quote]

Given the rate Working Designs does anything, are you really surprised?
 
damn, what a jerk... i mean padding the shipping cost a little (for your time, packaging materials, etc) are fine, but making a $10 profit on it is wrong!

btw argyle, who or what is that in your avatar? l think it's pretty cool.
 
Wow, he does sound like a jerk.

I buy most of my import PS2 games off of Ebay so I am going to avoid bidding on any of his auctions since he sounds like someone I would not want to deal with
 
[quote name='doraemonkerpal']damn, what a jerk... i mean padding the shipping cost a little (for your time, packaging materials, etc) are fine, but making a $10 profit on it is wrong![/quote]

Eh, it will probably include a cloth map, finger puppets, a soundtrack disc and who knows what else.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']He may be a jerk, but you agreed to pay. What's the problem?[/quote]

The problem is that obviously he expected to get the shipping he figured he was paying for (not $2 for the shipping and $10 for handling). Does that really need to be explained?
 
My icon is the main character from Gregory Horror Show, a new Capcom game that hasn't been announced for the US (yet!).

Yea, I decided against leaving him neutral feedback because he hasn't left me any yet, and my luck he'd leave a negative just to get even. All of my feedback is positive so far, so I figure it's not worth it. Definitely be wary of him tho. BTW, his Ebay handle is gamegenie.

EDIT: Yes, if he had shipped quickly I would not have complained because I did agree to the price. But the combination of charging $12, waiting over a week to ship, and then shipping the cheapest/slowest way possible is really assy.
 
[quote name='jmcc'][quote name='doraemonkerpal']damn, what a jerk... i mean padding the shipping cost a little (for your time, packaging materials, etc) are fine, but making a $10 profit on it is wrong![/quote]

Eh, it will probably include a cloth map, finger puppets, a soundtrack disc and who knows what else.[/quote]

LOL, true true... :p
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I agree it's assy, but if there's one rule of ebay it's ask every little stupid question or have something go wacky with your transaction.[/quote]

Yup, can't argue with that.
 
I wouldn't have even bid with $7 shipping. Hell, it has to be a great damn deal for me to pay $5 shipping. eBay really needs to crack down on the shipping scams.

One company on eBay charges $10 per game/DVD. I'll be browsing games and see their auctions. That's nothing less than insanity. I can't believe dumbass people will still go and pay that.
 
[quote name='PsyClerk']I wouldn't have even bid with $7 shipping. Hell, it has to be a great damn deal for me to pay $5 shipping. eBay really needs to crack down on the shipping scams.[/quote]

Well, I haven't found a single import store online that still carries Devil May Cry, and that was the only auction I saw with it. It was one of the games I always said I'd pick up if I ever got a Japanese ps2, so I really wanted it...
 
I agree, 7 bucks shipping would have knocked it right out of my ballpark in the first place, unless its next-day or I get a REALLY good price on the game. Even then, I don't usually bid, just on principle. I think 4 or 5 bucks flat would be a good standard for shipping a single game/dvd, since Priority Mail supplies are free.
A lot of people who do a lot of auctions don't combine shipping, just because it's a PITA to keep organized and timed. I don't have a problem with it, but I'm very low volume.
How did he say he was going to ship them? Part of that money is the shipping 'and handling'. Part of a selling price should take into account the overhead it takes to sell it, but a lot of people include that in their shipping charges.
I can understand him saying No to 10 bucks combined shipping, but 10 from 12 really isn't that big a drop, and isn't likely to send him to the poorhouse.
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree with you on whether he's a jerk--nothing in your anecdote, to me, is that bad [apart from charging 7 bucks shipping in the first place, but if it was stated and someone's okay with that, more power to them.] Now, I do have a problem with waiting a week and *then*, only after you email him, saying 'I'll ship Monday'--depending on the wording of the auction, and how you paid him, that doesn't seem right. Or at least, when he gets back, he should have said 'Hey, I'm sorry, I had to go out of town immediately after the auction for *insert crisis here*, but I'm shipping your game tomorrow.' That would still suck, but things do happen.

I would like to counter with a positive Vic anecdote. Way back when I used to use the newsgroups a lot more, I was playing through Vay on the Sega CD. I posted a question/general rant about being stuck on the newsgroup, not really expecting answer. One other gamer responded in the group, but within 12 hours, Vic sent me a hint to my email [which was posted with the message]. Not a spoiler hint, just enough to get me going without ruining the game. I thought that was the coolest thing, the producer/publisher/whatever of the game I was playing, reading my post and personally responding with a useful tip.
Anyway, that doesn't mean he can't be a lousy Ebayer. And given how long I waited for Arc the Lad collection, you're lucky you got the game before the PS3 came out ;)

Correction, I swear I asked for help on Vay, but Google only showed me where I asked for help on Popful Mail.
http://www.google.com/groups?hl=en&...selm=3jvhrr%24afn%40hobbes.cc.uga.edu&rnum=54 Ah, the time capsule of Google....And some of those names definitely ring a bell. I actually sold something on Half.com not two months ago to a guy I used to chat with on r.g.v.s nine years ago....
 
I'm with Mr. Unoriginal: If you agreed to it, you've really got no room to complain about it.

Now, him taking so long to ship in the first place is an entirely different issue and is deserving of the neutral feedback.

However, if you never mutually agreed to Priority mail or other special services or specifics, then regardless if he used a courier pigeon to ship it, you still agreed to pay him $10 to do so.
 
Like Mr. Unoriginal WSB said, you should have asked first. i have found that if the seller doesnt state what method of shipping he is using, he is going ot use the cheapest one. With games and moives it will be media mail.
 
[quote name='argyle']
Yea, I decided against leaving him neutral feedback because he hasn't left me any yet, and my luck he'd leave a negative just to get even. All of my feedback is positive so far, so I figure it's not worth it. Definitely be wary of him tho.
[/quote]

If you really want to leave him neutral feedback, wait until it's 90 days since the auction.

Each party involved in an auction transaction had 90 days to leave feedback and if you leave him feedback at the last second, he won't be able to leave you neutral feedback or negative feedback in return.
 
ROFLMAO. I think this hilarious. Even his items up for bid are WD. Also his BIN prices are jokingly high. You should email him asking when the hell Growlanser Generations is coming out.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']I'm with Mr. Unoriginal: If you agreed to it, you've really got no room to complain about it.

Now, him taking so long to ship in the first place is an entirely different issue and is deserving of the neutral feedback.

However, if you never mutually agreed to Priority mail or other special services or specifics, then regardless if he used a courier pigeon to ship it, you still agreed to pay him $10 to do so.[/quote]

Again, my complaint is more about his timing than anything else. Everyone keeps saying "you should ask everything", but come on - is it that outrageous for me to assume that the seller will ship within a few days after the auction ends? Certainly less than a week after. And after I emailed and he STILL hadn't shipped, couldn't he have bumped the shipping up to something faster to make up for his slacking?

Does any of this point to where he lied? No. But it all points to him being an asshole - there may be no rules against that, but I can sure as hell spread the word.
 
[quote name='jmcc'][quote name='argyle']Figured this was the best place to put this. I had to vent about my recent ebay experience w/ Vic. ;)

I recently bought an import PS2 from someone here, and was hitting ebay to look for games for it. One of the ones I've always wanted was the import Devil May Cry, because of the changes made to the US version. I found an auction for it and put in a bid, then noticed the same user had some other import games for cheap. He had his shipping fee listed as $7, so I emailed to ask if he offered combined shipping. He told me it would be $7 for the first game, $5 for the second, and $3 for each additional. Still kinda steep, but I decided to place a low bid on the import Dark Cloud just because I really like the game, and got it for $5.

After winning both auctions, I emailed him again. By this time I had noticed he signed his emails as Vic Ireland, and his address did indeed have workingdesigns.com as an extension. I figured this was fairly cool. Anyway, in my second email to him I asked if he would take $10 shipping for both games. He replied "Lol, no, my time at the post office is worth something!" OK, fair enough I figure, at least I should get the games quickly.

A week later, still nothing. I email Vic again: "Can you tell me if/when you shipped the games?" He replies saying that he's been out of town and will ship them on Monday. I received the games today, over 2 weeks after the auction ended, and he shipped the games media mail - $1.97.

Guess all those industry stories you hear about him being a jerk are true, huh? :?[/quote]

Given the rate Working Designs does anything, are you really surprised?[/quote]

LOL

i hope you left bad feedback
 
dtcarson, I was (and still am) a big usenet lurker and it saddens me to see the sorry state that r.g.v.s. has fallen into in the past few years. Heck, I don't even think that I've seen Vic post on there in well over a year now. Ah, the memories......

Vic's eBay selling though should only reflect him as an individual and not WD. I remember back when I was working for EB during college. My manager at the time went to E3 '98 and after chatting with Vic for a while, asked him to send a Lunar2 polo shirt to the store for him. About a week later a FedEx box showed up with it (which I promptly snagged for myself). So Vic isn't always a jerk. With regards to attitude and helpfulness on the usenet as well as professionalism when it comes to WD, he's been pretty good as far as I can tell. It's just a shame that his eBay practices fall into the "questionable" category.
 
so i dont think i'm not the only one curious now on how we can see what this dude is selling?

coudnt find your transaction in completed items...
and i'm curious on his username for other items.

interesting to see what the head of a publisher seems to be selling for chump change on ebay...

any leads?
 
[quote name='argyle']

Again, my complaint is more about his timing than anything else. Everyone keeps saying "you should ask everything", but come on - is it that outrageous for me to assume that the seller will ship within a few days after the auction ends? Certainly less than a week after. And after I emailed and he STILL hadn't shipped, couldn't he have bumped the shipping up to something faster to make up for his slacking? [/quote]

This I agree with. What was your payment method? If you paid with cashiers check or MO, a week is a reasonable time to wait--if it was a Paypal instant payment, unless stated in the auction, a week is on the long side.

Nogib: you are very right. Wasn't too long ago I used the newsgroups as my main source of information and chitchat, on video games and many other topics. It seems like these message boards or whatever they're called are taking usenet's place recently. And you're right--if Vic isn't selling stuff 'for' WD, it shouldn't make a difference as to how one views WD. Then again, even if its not official, if its known what company a person works for, he does de facto represent that company. Personal life does affect business life. I have been known to avoid spending money at certain companies based on how I've seen their employees act in their 'personal life.'
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']ROFLMAO. I think this hilarious. Even his items up for bid are WD. Also his BIN prices are jokingly high. You should email him asking when the hell Growlanser Generations is coming out.[/quote]

Yes, we should all encourage software companies to always release software as early as possible, quality be damned.

It worked for the latest Tomb Raider, right?
 
Growlanser Generations has only been "in translation" for well over two years now.... May I repeat, IN TRANSLATION? The game is already done, they're just taking their sweet-ass time translating it, which only takes six months tops for most companies.
 
I don't know anything about the job of translating or game design, but if six months results in a travesty like the translation of Final Fantasy Tactics, I'm happy to give a year.
 
[quote name='dtcarson'][quote name='argyle']

Again, my complaint is more about his timing than anything else. Everyone keeps saying "you should ask everything", but come on - is it that outrageous for me to assume that the seller will ship within a few days after the auction ends? Certainly less than a week after. And after I emailed and he STILL hadn't shipped, couldn't he have bumped the shipping up to something faster to make up for his slacking? [/quote]

This I agree with. What was your payment method? If you paid with cashiers check or MO, a week is a reasonable time to wait--if it was a Paypal instant payment, unless stated in the auction, a week is on the long side.[/quote]

Yea, I forgot to mention that - I payed with Paypal, and sent payment the night the auction ended.
 
And after all his lollygagging, did he still manage to have the company foot the bill? That right there screams CheapAss, and maybe he should think about coming on down to these here forums... :lol:
 
[quote name='Redeema']And after all his lollygagging, did he still manage to have the company foot the bill? That right there screams CheapAss, and maybe he should think about coming on down to these here forums... :lol:[/quote]

Unfortunately, WD games will most likely never show up on CAG as deals. But at least the head of the company do! :D
 
[quote name='dtcarson']I don't know anything about the job of translating or game design, but if six months results in a travesty like the translation of Final Fantasy Tactics, I'm happy to give a year.[/quote]

It only took Midway like five months to translate Shadow Hearts, a text-heavy RPG, and Midway had never published a Japanese RPG before. They did a fine job, too; well, except for the voiceovers, but thankfully there are very few in SH1.....

And BTW, WD has been working on Growlanser for WELL OVER a year. Like I said, try like two years. That is simply unacceptable for a TRANSLATION since the game itself probably took that long to make.
 
Well translation is only part of it, you have to decide artwork, manual creation, not to mention the marketing schedule of whoever is releasing it here. Games can be done for months only to be released later or sooner depending on financial quarters or time of the year. But yes Working Desings kills me with their forever times. But damn if I don't keep coming back for more lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top