Uuuugh! More ebay problems!!!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Jun 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kittaine	19 Jun 2004
About two or three months ago, I bought The Vampire deck on ebay. I sent money order, but the seller said she never received it. So, I sent payment again; this time through Western Union, since I didn't know how else I was gonna send the money (PayPal doesn't cover the Philippines). Now...she did get the money, but it was the US dollar equivalent. She's in Britain. And then, she told me she didn't accept payment through Western Union...@_@ She said she had told me that before, when I had just won the item. I believed her, but I couldn't quite remember her saying that. It wasn't even on the auction page. So I got the "Failure to Pay" notice. I asked her if it would be possible for me to get my money back. I sent her the following info from the WU site: ------------------------------- 8. What if I've already placed an order and the seller says he or she won't accept payment from Western Union Auction Payments? The seller has two options. The first option is to click "Contact Us" at the top of any Auction Payments page and our Service Assistant will then help the seller to notify us. The other option is for the seller to return the money order to our address and we will refund your credit card upon receipt. The address is: Western Union Auction Payments PO Box 6244 Broomfield, CO 80021-0005 United States --------------------------------------------------------- It's been about a week since I sent her that email. She hasn't replied. Is it even right for me to ask for my money back, after all the hassles I put her through? We waited for weeks for the first payment to arrive, which apparently never did; and a few more weeks for the second payment. I spent so much money. I am never using ebay again, I swear. But what should I do now? :( Oh, and there was this other case with the Goddess Tarot...I sent payment, but the seller never, ever, replied. She only communicated with me within the first week that I won the item. But after that, no. And, of course, she never sent the deck. I filed a case on SquareTrade...nothing so far. I hate this...:( I'm depressed.

Emily	19 Jun 2004
Hi Kittaine, I've never used ebay, too scared of getting faulty decks or like you no decks at all, but isn't there a way of cancelling the money you've sent or checking up on it. If she didn't get the payments, who did? Email her again and ask for your money back - Do you have an address for her, if so use snail mail - go airmail and it will only take a few days to arrive. Edited to say:- Is there a way you could report a money order missing or stolen? Hi Kittaine, Edited again I've just been on the Western Union website, I wonder why she doesn't accept payments from them, its seems so easy - I've just checked to see how many payment centers there are in my local town and there were four. If I were to start ebaying I would only accept payment through them. I know this doesn't help you out but I'm wondering if this lady has taken you for a ride and doesn't intend you having the deck you appear to have paid twice for.

Kittaine	19 Jun 2004
Emily, thank you so much. I'm so stupid and gullible...Here's what the seller said about the second payment: > I don't know. I have never used western union before so I don't know > anything about it. I can assure you I won't be cashing the money order > as it is in US dollars, so I wouldn't even be able to cash it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Report missing money order? Gawd, I should've thought about it when she claimed she never received the payment...Actually, my mom was the one who sent the first payment. She told me she used WU too. But not online; she went to one of the branches. I am soooo stupid. :( I checked the WU site. This is the only thing it said about missing money orders: 3. What happens if a money order is lost in the mail? Should a situation like this arise, Western Union Auction Payments will attempt to help the buyer track it through the issuing company. ....I'm stupid. Oh well, learned the hard way yet again.

Aun	19 Jun 2004
I am a heavy Ebay'er , and I can give you some advice. There are basically 2 types of sellers on Ebay: 1) a normal person who wants to get rid of something. 2) Serious Ebay-based virtual stores, who make their living exclusively out of it. I avoid doing transactions with the first ones. Usually they lack experience and they may screw up even when they have good intentions. * Always look for the seller's feed back rates. * Check the amount of Items they've already sold... usually the stores are above the thousands * The displaying page should have a professional look and feel... * Always check where the seller is located. If the item you're looking for is only available through an amateur seller... try and contact them first! Hope that helps...

lionette	19 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Aun If the item you're looking for is only available through an amateur seller... try and contact them first! I'll add a tidbit here -- I judge the quality of the sale by emailing them a question before beginning to bid and seeing how quickly and politely the seller responds. Some never respond, others seem annoyed that I've asked a question, and others are polite and happy to answer. This way I can anticipate how the seller will proceed with the selling process. Sometimes Ebay isn't any less expensive than shopping at an online store (like Alidastore, Amazon, etc) ... especially when considering the hassles and sometimes inflated shipping costs. Just my opinion :)

tao51	19 Jun 2004
Caveat emptor--let the buyer beware! I do not deal with E-bay rummage vendors! I have had horrible experiences with them. I once purchased a book that was musty, a bird cage that was rusty, and so my attitude is a bit crusty! The E-bay store sellers are very accomodating. I have actually gone directly to them an purchased quality items. I have never had a problem that could not be solved. --Tao

Kittaine	19 Jun 2004
Thanks all for the advice. Tao, cute poem. It's too late now, though. There are three things I can do: a) Make the cheating sellers pay b) Get my money back c) Get the item that I purchased d) a and b, or a and c I have no idea how I should do any of these... :( With the seller of the Goddess Tarot, I used SquareTrade, but if they did make her give me the item I purchased, I'd have to pay them. @_@ Ah well...I'm gonna say it again: I will never use ebay.

HudsonGray	19 Jun 2004
Call Western Union & explain the money order has not been accepted at the other end, how can you get it back? And the first one that went missing--can they track it? If someone has 'cashed' it there's a record. BOTH your payments should be returned to you, but you have to work with the Western Union guys. If it's been cashed, they'll have a signature so you'll get a name. So call the Western Union office, and talk to them. The lady, with the second WU check, what's she doing with it? Using it as a bookmark? It's money, she should have returned it in the mail to you. I'd be pissed about that, not about ebay. It's the seller's actions that are at fault, not yours. And I hope you followed through with negative feedback on the first seller AND notified non-delivery problems to eBay itself, you have to do that or they think the transaction went ok. You bought something, money was sent, no product was received. File that complaint.

Star Spirit	19 Jun 2004
That's too bad Kittaine. The Vampire Tarot is a wonderful deck! The others have given you good advice. But to impart a little advice of my own if I may--you and eBay just do not get along. If I were you I'd stay away from it ;)

Umbrae	20 Jun 2004
Dear Kittaine; It sounds like perhaps you should just stay away from E-Bay. It can be a dangerous place, and lessons can be expensive. What you save in 'price' can be lost in the lessons. You may want to explore other avenues for future acquisitions

Cerulean	21 Jun 2004
The seller had 99 percent great feedback and then on my sale, said weather problems...but no problem because of my prompt payment to ship my item quickly, within a few days...that was on May 21st for a sale paid for on the 19th of last month. It is now June 20th. I see that another buyer received their goods within a few days from their feedback. My two polite emails to the seller have not been answered... So I did file a Squaretrade without mediator, as the value of the trade was about 25.00 with shipping. At least I know they will receive four emails within a few weeks from and I have feedback options... I am thinking about the principle, as I'm a prompt payer, very polite and work hard enough to earn value for my money. Gently spoken, though, it does not feel correct even when the buyer does everything right and is left ruefully wondering.... I am sorry Kittaine that you did not receive what you wanted. I hope there are other sites such as Amazon.com or Tarotgarden.com that in the future give you good value for your money. Best wishes, Cerulean

MeeWah	21 Jun 2004
Kittaine: Regrettable the the dubious experiences with eBay sellers whose ratings may not tell a full story. I highly recommend Tarot Garden for its ease of ordering, selection & most of all, the superlative customer service (again)! Wooden Horse Books is also excellent but it does not ship outside of the U.S. Over time, have experienced some problematics with online purchases & tend to avoid them. Thus prefer to do business with the tried & true including trades/exchanges whenever possible with members; especially with those of previous such arrangements.

Asher	21 Jun 2004
Ditto everything Cerulean said...it sounds like we attempted to buy from the same seller. (99.3% positive feedback) My auction closed on May 21, no repsonse from seller until I sent a polite email, promised to ship the next day. June 21 now...no response to 3 messages (all polite). Have filed a case with Square Trade, but have little hope of recovery...just saw on eBay site that my seller is "no longer a registered user". Sigh. No more eBay for me (one bad apple is all it takes to spoil it for me, and I have had good luck in the past). Asher

tao51	21 Jun 2004
some people respond to customer satisfaction surveys without thinking.--Tao

hedgecub	22 Jun 2004
Overall, I'd still have to voice my support for eBay. You definitely need to be careful since ultimately it's hard to ensure sellers deliver the goods, but I and many of my friends have bid hundreds of times on eBay and had very few problems. Overall, any money we might have lost due to a few dishonest people has been recovered by the amount we've saved by buying through eBay instead of more expensive places. In my experience, the occasional bad apple is far outweighed by the many wonderful sellers who will go out of their way to ensure you good service.

Kittaine	23 Jun 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Asher Ditto everything Cerulean said...it sounds like we attempted to buy from the same seller. (99.3% positive feedback) My auction closed on May 21, no repsonse from seller until I sent a polite email, promised to ship the next day. June 21 now...no response to 3 messages (all polite). Have filed a case with Square Trade, but have little hope of recovery...just saw on eBay site that my seller is "no longer a registered user". Sigh. No more eBay for me (one bad apple is all it takes to spoil it for me, and I have had good luck in the past). Asher I'm sorry, Asher. :( If it makes you feel better...well, that happened to me three times. I bought items on the same day from three different sellers, and all of them turned out to be online crooks. :P

Oni	23 Jun 2004
i am very sorry that u went threw this! u and i were talking on yahoo (fickusoni) and u mentained this but i did not realize the details of what happened. Since i found this site ebay has become basically useless, but i live in the usa so it is much easier, i know how hard it must be for u with living in the PI. I am very new to using ebay, i did not realize u could use it without a credit card. I have bid and won a few things, have not had any problems other than like right after i bid on something i always get sick out of the blue for some reason. i think it might be a sign. or like i will bid on something and then someone on here will the deck i want for less money or like willing to trade for a deck i was about to throw away ! so i think something is telling me to stay away from ebay! he hee! like sellers do lie alot though, i have had a seller say she accepts money orders, i even emailed them before i bid and they said they did and then i send the money order to have them say they dont accpt money orders! then i sent her the email with her saying she did , she never replyed, sent me back my money (she cashed the money order i sent her but sent me anouther money order for the exat amount, she said she needed my money that week for baby food!) with a note. But on the other hand most of the people have been really really understanding, like i said i seem to fall upon illness or really bad luck right after i have an ebay transaction adn i end up having to delay payment so i look like the cad but everyone has been really understanding in those cases. the people i payed like right away have been the ones i had the most trouble with. again must be a sign. like i guess what really irks me the most though is false descriptions. like they make it look like it is a deck and it is just the book, or they show a pic of a deck/book set and it is just the deck with no book! or they show a pic of a new deck and the deck u get is used, looks like someone wiped thier but with it and has no bag! That luckly did not happen to me though it was a freind of mine. i have about hmm 3 decks from ebay i have to pay for, after that i will not be buying any decks from there, i have heard too much bad stuff and i dont want to be a statistic. But will say, i have brought non tarot stuff and it has been really good.

The Uuuugh! More ebay problems!!! thread was originally posted on 19 Jun 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.