Just for interest, but I am interested.....
I listed a large piece of furniture for sale on ebay. It was Collect in person only.
My postal town **and village** were shown. I happen to know that ebay also locates by postcode, but it was not displayed. (their privacy policy)
Someone won the auction. She defeated 3 other bidders. She paid.
Over 2 weeks she has faffed around with coming to get it.
She now says "oh you are in TownA, I thought you were in TownA near me. I can't get to you. Its all off"
Obviously the problem is that there are 4 TownA's in the UK with the same name. although only 1 village name, no duplicates for village, and the village was displayed on screen. And ebay locates by postcode. She thought she had a 30 min drive. It is a 4 hour drive.
She wants a full refund.
Thoughts......
What would you do if it was £20?
What would you do if it was £520?
I haven't worked out what to do
Last edited by The Doc; 1st August 2021 at 13:02.
I don’t see this as an ethics problem. I see this as a practical problem. If you deny the refund, what will she do? I’d guess she will claim to ebay that the item was not as described or something similar and she’ll get her refund through ebay. Save a lot of aggro to just refund her and place it under the ”life’s too short” umbrella.
It would rankle me that she’s messed me around, don’t think it really matters ref the amount.
Can you send a 2nd chance offer to the previous bidders?
If not, annoying as it maybe you’re just better off refunding rather than spending time going back and forth, and no doubt eBay siding with the buyer.
Give her the refund, chalk it up to experience and relist it showing the village, county and postcode in the listing.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Best to just refund and move on. It happens from time to time with large objects that are collection only.
Just another reason why I won't sell on ebay, life is too short to have too deal with some of the ebay users, total plonkers.
What if you found out the cost to get a van courier to deliver it and suggested to her that you split the cost?
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A gesture of goodwill offer £470 back or nothing.
Why did it her 2 weeks to realise you were 4 hours away not 30 minutes?
Personally I'd just refund her, chalk it down to stupidity and re-list with your postcode area in the description.
Cheers,
Gary
Irrespective of the value, refund the item and get it relisted.
This.Originally Posted by Omegary
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Just to let you know you're under no legal obligation to refund, and ebay won't side with the buyer on this occasion, "item being in a different location to what I thought" is not a genuine reason, i know this as I have also had this before.
You basically have 3 choices, sit on the money and let them sort out collection, offer to go half way with delivery, or refund and offer it to the next highest bidder or relist.
As much as it’s a pain, and they have messed you around, cancel it and forget about it. Are you really going to insist someone comes to pick it up from you when they are saying they can’t? sounds like that would be a pretty uncomfortable experience
All very useful, guys and gals.
My moral compass was pointing in a direction, and you have helped me by aiming that way too.
She is a wally, and I am not running a business, and my kids will still be clothed and eat if I refund her. So I'll refund her.
And people are stupid, but I knew that already.
I'll refund her, and be the bigger man
Wife had similar experience. Sold a set of China on eBay highest bidder won at over £400. Long wait, then they said they could not afford it!! Wife did a cancel (which gets automatically lodged as non payment against the buyer) and did a second offer who bought it at a lower price. Win some lose some. She did leave some choice words on the feedback though.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Good decision, OP. A frustrating experience but the right way to go.
Definitely the right decision, not worth the aggro. Block her as a bidder while you're at it is my advice.
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I had a similar experience. Assuming she paid via eBay then I think you need to get her to request to cancel the purchase via her eBay account. This ensures you won’t be charged the selling fees - as long as you relist and sell it successfully again through eBay.
Refund a d put in your advert rough idea of where you are - ie junction 6 m6 or something
Also put “pleaseread” in the title
A little explanation in the relist description is handy
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I had this years ago with a dslr some idiot won the auction I spent a week chasing him up for the payment and then he said he didn't have the money not impressed
For a heavy item that’s strictly pickup only it makes sense to make it clear in the description where the item is located! You don’t have to publish your full address, just give sufficient detail to avoid confusion.
People can be incredibly stupid, in the age of sat- nav people don’t have a clue about geographical location and some are too daft to realise this.
If you sell on ebay you have to accept that you might get messed around by clowns, I haven’t sold anything for a few years and if I sell a watch it goes on SC.
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 13th July 2021 at 13:27.
Yep
And that!
There's a way to ensure the deal goes smoothly.
Move to the village where she thinks you are.
Granted, you'll have the hassle and associated moving costs to deal with but the furniture sale will then go through ok.
A little update,
still lighthearted.
you couldn't write this
I relisted it with VERY clear geographical instructions in the description.
" I am in Cumbria, CA8 postcode, Buyer Collects"
and I edited the location to show CUMBRIA in capitals.
Someone new won the item and emailed me this:
"
danie*****_52:
Hi, I didn't realise whilst bidding this.is collection only. I am fairly new to ebay auctions. Is there any chance.i could.arramge a courier to pick up next week? Or If you could arrange and I can transfer you the money? I would really like the item for my children but it is a 7 hour round trip. Thanks"
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Its already spent a month on Gumtree.
I'm keeping it.
Why not offer to slice it and post her sections over the next few years.
It'll then be a fun game for the whole family to reassemble it.
Don't forget to charge for stamps. You'll need three or four hundred.
I've asked her to cancel her purchase, and I'll refund her.
She got really sniffy when I refused to buy wrapping materials, parcel it up and wait in all day for her courier pick-up.
Fooooeyyy Ebay.
Last edited by The Doc; 2nd August 2021 at 19:14.
Even with the asterisk that's frowned upon in the George. Just saying but I know what you mean. Anyway let us know how the feedback goes Doc.
So annoying.
Was she the only person to bid, or can you contact the others to do a cash on collection deal?
Oops, edited, soz for profanity
If she wants to arrange a courier what’s the issue
I’ve let folk do that before
Depends what it’s worth
Plus you have it as collection so the buyer has to zap to say they picked it up now I believe?
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Some years ago my friend sold a vintage dresser on eBay. Very honest description, needed repair, over 100 years old. Stated buyer collects. Winning bidder arranged their own man with a van to collect.
Within days he received negative feedback as it arrived smashed to pieces. He had a nightmare sorting it out.
Some buyers won’t listen to anything you say and want
It all their own way.
Amusingly three times I've had folk drive 400 mile round trips to buy (1) an Ikea bookcase, (2) a Flymo lawnmower, and (3) a couple of ubiquitous framed prints.
All would have paid less had they purchased new equivalents locally. I swear some people just enjoy the road trip
I had the same last year. My kids had outgrown their slide and I just wanted to give it to someone who would use it. Listed it for 99p with clear instructions - collection only and the post code. First buyer asked me to post it, the second just ignored me and the third backed out when they 'realised' I was halfway around the country from them! Fourth time lucky...
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