(no subject)

[slemslempike]

I bought a dress on ebay, and the postage was £5.65, which was pretty steep, but it was at least first class. However, when it arrived (a few days late), it had been posted 2nd class for £2.60. So I emailed the seller, I thought pretty politely, and said that this wasn't what I'd paid for, and would she consider refunding the £3 to me. She wrote back crossly, saying the actual difference in postage was only 40p, she'd spent at least £2 on petrol *and time* to get to the post office, and she couldn't believe I was quibbling about postage costs when I'd bought a dress for 99p, and she'd only refund me 40p by cheque if I sent an SAE (I paid by paypal). So. I am, in turn, cross about that. My options are 1) leave it and just walk away (the grown-up option) 2) go back to her and insist on a refund via paypal 3) refer it to ebay. (I might have done the last bit by accident - I wanted some advice, but they made me enter the item number and then didn't give me a chance to write a message before saying they were dealing with it.) Anyway. Any advice? It has become a Principle Of The Thing matter, but I mostly disliked her manner. It's possible I am being unreasonable, if so do say. When I sell I only charge about £3.20 for postage, and refund anything over £1 to the seller if it costs less.

Comments

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

Have you left feedback yet? I'd probably wait until the very end of the feedback-leaving window and then take my feelings out by leaving some kind of retaliatory strike in the feedback along the lines of 'seller unhelpful in resolving mistake over postage'. I'm not suggesting this is Best Practice in any way or likely to get your your £3 back, just that it's probably what I'd actually do.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

I haven't, no. I have written back a polite note ignoring her manner and saying that I understand it was a mistake, but would still like a refund even if she is only prepared to offer 40p, and that that should be through paypal. We shall see...

I think I will probably leave the feedback you suggest as well, her response to this will determine whether it's neutral or negative...

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

Much sympathy, she sounds like a pain in the arse. Being polite is definitely the way forward because it will probably drive her batshit with frustration.

I wouldn't rely on eBay being a lot of help. They've been very variable in similar situations with me - sometimes I've got a refund with no questions asked, and sometimes I've had form letters that appeared to have been badly translated out of Martian.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

That's a tricky one. Recently, I've been charging £2.60 to post books, only to find that they squeeze through as large letters. In each case, I mailed the buyers offering a partial postage refund. One said, yes please. The other said, thank you for your honesty, please don't bother as I'm happy with what I paid.

You sell yourself, don't you? So I think you know what's right and this seller certainly shouldn't have replied rudely. Are there rules about Paypal refunds? i.e., if you pay by Paypal that's how you must get the refund? I'm sure she's in the wrong.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

This strikes me as a slightly different issue, though - even aside from your honesty with your sellers, the book / large letter thing is effectively an issue of good faith, in that you charge the higher amount in the understanding that you may need it to cover your own costs. The seller in slemslempike's case, however, is (IMO) acting in bad faith, in that they're dishonestly charging a higher amount on the understanding that the buyer is paying for a service they're not receiving. In conclusion, the seller is a wang and I would have thought feedback was the way to go, though I gather from ankaret's comment above that this may not be idea, and I haven't used ebay since 2007 so what do I know?

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

She did say that the 1st/2nd class thing was a mistake, that she'd usually specify 2nd class. In which case I'd have been even less happy about paying the £5.65! I haven't even tried the dress on yet, I bet it doesn't even fit after all that. I've emailed back politely asking for a paypal refund even if only 40p (princples!), but I'll feedback her as well.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

That was nice of your buyer to be happy about it!

I do sell, and have had a slightly barbed comment about the cost of my postage when it was 90p above the cost! So £3 seemed excessive. I've written back to her asking for a refund (even if only 40p...) through paypal. We'll see what she says.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

+1 on the feedback, and I wouldn't wait until the end of the window. There are two problems here that other buyers should know about: (i) dishonesty and (ii) poor communication, which is offensive and impolite.

It's quite possibly also worth trying to refer to eBay because they might be able to help, but I don't know what they do in these situations at all.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Thanks, it's helpful to see you lay out the problems. I was worried that I was just being vindictive, but it is something I'd want to know about as a buyer. I've emailed back ignoring her tone and comments and asking for a refund, even if only 40p, to my paypal account. I think I can let the rest of the cost go, but I'll leave feedback as you and ankaret suggest.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

My friend D, who has an eBay business, feels quite strongly that the feedback process is critical and that buyers who've had a bad experience have some obligation to warn other buyers, but that's a very strong view and others' mileage might vary.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I can understand charging more than for just the Royal Mail postage (because there is petrol and packaging to take into account, unless the buyer is collecting) but they shouldn't say it's going First Class if it isn't.