Seller took my money, hasn't sent goods and won't contact me

[cierco]

I got a phone number from Gary and Mark, though haven't got through to the seller yet.

After all my persistence I finally received an email. All it said was:

"what item?"

Talk about frustration - I'd given the guy the details and item number on no less than three separate occasions!!! I'll probably not hear from him again.

[tandad135]

Try replying to the seller again with the item number payment details etc, hopefully he/she will now be in a better frame of mind to respond as something has obviously prompted them to reply this time

[cierco]

Well I did get one more reply which said "it was posted" and that was it.

Firstly, they didn't say when it was posted, and secondly I'm not sure I believe them, I think they're just going to claim it was lost in the post and it's my problem.

[cierco]

Just to end the story... my persistence paid off, or so I thought. Goods arrived today! Not only was it of poor quality, but it had been very badly packaged and is damaged, fit only for the bin.
I'm not even go to bother complaining to the seller, I'll just count my loses... Maybe 'free' services such as ebid aren't the way to go?

[naughtychef]

Hi cierco
I realise you are upset and annoyed but dont let this put you off the site
I have had several experiences like that on the other side and i can tell you that i have had no problems on here
You need to leave feedback to warn other buyers and report the seller to gary or mark
They will try to help you and they will respond very fast(not like the faceless machine)
I hope this has not put you off

[cierco]

Hi naughtychef,

I think what the problem is, is that whilst "free" sounds good in principle it will inevitable lower the standards of services in general - when fees aren't involved some people don't give a damn about quality service.

I'd love to leave negative feedback for the seller, but even though I do not deserve any myself, I think out of bitterness they would do this to me and what seller is going to want a person with a (-1) rating bidding on their auctions?

[naughtychef]

I know how you feel
But anyone with any knowledge would take a look at the dates and make up there own mind
I would consider both sides and have no problems dealing with - bidders
I think that whether or not fees are involved you will always get an elemnt of BAD EGGS trying there luck.Not only on here but on all auction sites
I think you would be missing a lot if you were to give up as this is just the beginning of an exciting period for Ebid(no i dont work for them)
I hope you do give it another try

[prowthorn]

Hi Cierco,
Sorry to hear that your first experience of eBid was a bad one but I don't think fees (or the lack of them) enter into it. I have always provided the best possible customer service to my customers (they're the ones who put food on my table after all.) Whether I'm paying for listings or not isn't relevant.
Quite often the biggest conmen are those that have splashed out a small fortune on advertising to give themselves an air of credibilty.
Please don't give up on eBid just yet, wherever you shop (here,there or on the high street) there's always going to be rip-off merchants and those who don't care about customer satisfaction- most of us here are buyers as well as sellers and we know how we like to be treated.
Try not to let one bad apple stop you sampling others from the same barrel.

glad I've got that off my chest

[_Nuts_]

I have had the same problem on both sites and now have decided that in future when sending postal orders etc i will cross them and that way they can be traced to who cashes them and as a seller we are about to introduce a policy where if a buyer buys over a set amount there will be an extra charge added on for registered delivery as not only have we had people say they have not received postal orders but with some of the bigger parcels in the past we have had some go missing according to the buyers and compensated them for it

[OMski]

I've always used recorded delivery as it allows you to check whether the parcel was received or not. I know it's not guaranteed that delivery will be made and the right person will collect it - but at least you know that it was delivered and you have some base to stand on.