Being hounded by a buyer wanting to pay via Western Union

Brooker_Dave

soolin wrote: »

Firstly why should the OP accept Western Union when he says he does not wish to? Are we saying then that buyers now dictate to us how they wish to pay and that we just say 'OK then' and let them send camels or bag loads of coins?

WU just hand over cash, in UK pounds, no chargeback risk etc.

Sometimes you have to be a bit flexible with buyers, especially the overseas ones.

StaffsSW

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

WU just hand over cash, in UK pounds, no chargeback risk etc.

Sometimes you have to be a bit flexible with buyers, especially the overseas ones.

I tend to agree with this - Western Union as a buyer is a huge no, but as a seller it is effectively cash in your pocket. My Post Office is a WU agent, as is the newsagent opposite them, and two travel agents within a 5 minute walk from them both.
I've accepted a few in the past without any problem, and I've also set up moneybookers, xoom, and pppay accounts when international customers have asked me about them (after a bit of research on costs etc). I now have more options for customers on eBay and my websites, and that has to be a good thing.

Ultimately though, it is still the OP's choice to decide, and to stand by that decision.

frivolous_fay

Seriously guys. 1. Overseas buyer. 2. Pushy and agressive. 3. WU. 4. Claims money has been claimed by OP.

Ok, 3 on its own, alright. Even 3 + 1. But all of the above? Does this not scream 'There never was any damn WU payment'?

hendrix

soolin wrote: »

Firstly why should the OP accept Western Union when he says he does not wish to? Are we saying then that buyers now dictate to us how they wish to pay and that we just say 'OK then' and let them send camels or bag loads of coins?

Forget Western Union the OP said no to it.

OP, I read it that you have opened a full NPB and that the buyer has responded. In that case close the dispute choosing the option that gives you your FVFs back and the buyer a strike, make sure you don't opt for any other option.

Then go back to ebay and insist they re look at the feedback as once you have a dispute closed on a buyer there ar enew grounds to have the negative removed, be persistent, use their own report system to work on the neg. Don't forget as well to block the buyer from bidding on anything else of yours.

Then make sure your seller preferences are set properly to exclude bidders with two or more strikes, that is remarkably effective, many of these buyers tend to be serial offendors .

When did the buyer register on ebay and how much feedback do they have and have they been buying more items for which feedback has not yet been left? There s a chance that this buyer is already borderline for suspension, if they are newish and get suspended the neg goes anyway.

Thanks :-)

Just off the phone to Ebay. Again, they said that they cant remove the feedback. They say i should continue with my claim accordingly. I think the buyer has shot himself in the foot on his 'item not received' claim by putting his method of payment as WU. Ebay should look at this and see that i dont accept this on my listings a payment method And therefore put any decision in my favour. As i said he is also claiming now that i have his money. So he puts the negative feedback in on the 28th and yesterday (2nd) claims his money is gone, bear in mind i dont know how to get his money from WU, a pin number, reference number, Ebay ID! i dont know. I've no doubt the buyer maybe genuine, he's been a member since 06, based in Hungary with 8 positive feedbacks. If he had just asked before purchasing like most Ebayers do.

As for WU, ive no doubt its fine for selling transactions along with bank transfers, BIC IBAN, sending cash securely in the post, we just dont happen to accept them which, as i had stated are perfectly entitled to do :-)

wizard5353

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Seriously guys. 1. Overseas buyer. 2. Pushy and agressive. 3. WU. 4. Claims money has been claimed by OP.

Ok, 3 on its own, alright. Even 3 + 1. But all of the above? Does this not scream 'There never was any damn WU payment'?

Glad someone here has some common sense. I was a bit shocked by some of the responses to the OP on this. It smells like a con, sounds like a con so most likely is a con.

Sorry OP but eBay suck on issues like this so your most likely stuck with the negative feedback. I'm not sure if you could threaten court action as a liable remark against your name or false information held against you under the data protection act would work. I have heard other users have had success with those in the past but I would not know where to start.

But don't disappear over it, a negative mark on eBay is meaningless. Just look at all those Scam Artist Power sellers with 200 plus negatives each month. They keep on trading their dodgy junk and breaking eBay rules and it does not affect them...

Personally I don't sell to overseas buyers and I try not to use eBay for selling these days. There are far better places to sell stuff online.

StaffsSW

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Does this not scream 'There never was any damn WU payment'?

By the very nature of how Western Union works, you never know if there is a payment until you turn up at an agents with the claim details, and from what the OP has told us, they have not been to check yet. It;s not like receoiving an email from paypal, fake or genuine! If there is money there, it is handed straight over, because the buyer has already sent it and it is non-returnable. Which is why it is so risky as a buyer to use MSE.

I've already said it is the OP's choice to refuse the payment option, and it is not the place of the buyer to send the money before the seller has confirmed they will accept it.

However - let's look at this another way.

I'm a foriegn member of MSE. I live in a country that supports eBay, but unfortunately paypal does not support the currency of my country. I see something I like for sale, and win it. I do a cash transfer (by WU, IBAN, Amex etc) and that is my money gone. I now need to get the seller to claim the money and send me the goods.

Seller does not want to take a WU payment because it is associated with scammers (admittedly the risk is 100% with the person sending the money), but I have already sent it and can't get it back.

What should I do now?

What advice would MSE'ers give me If I was a genuine buyer in the same situation?

StaffsSW

wizard5353 wrote: »

Just look at all those Scam Artist Power sellers with 200 plus negatives each month. They keep on trading their dodgy junk and breaking eBay rules and it does not affect them...

Indeed.

All of us powersellers are capitalisic, egotistical, greedy, baby-eating, daughter-deflowering nasty peices of work who will burn your house down if you don't pay us instantly.... :rolleyes:

soolin

stevew8975 wrote: »

Indeed.

All of us powersellers are capitalisic, egotistical, greedy, baby-eating, daughter-deflowering nasty peices of work who will burn your house down if you don't pay us instantly.... :rolleyes:

_pale_

Goodness gracious..I'll just go and hide for a while Steve, I knew there was a reason why I'm not a power seller anymore.

frivolous_fay

stevew8975 wrote: »

Seller does not want to take a WU payment because it is associated with scammers (admittedly the risk is 100% with the person sending the money), but I have already sent it and can't get it back.

What should I do now?

Tell you what you shouldn't do -
a. push push push a seller to try accept WU in the first place when they have made it clear they won't
b. make a payment when they haven't even agreed to accepting it
c. jump up and down like a nutter accusing seller of stealing their money

stevew8975 wrote: »

What advice would MSE'ers give me If I was a genuine buyer in the same situation?

How about 'You're an idiot, why did you pay by WU when the seller won't accept it? Why did you pay a complete stranger by WU, full stop'?

Even a WU rep will advise against the latter!

StaffsSW

FF - I agree with the things that I/we/buyer shouldn't do, and I'm not saying that the buyer is in any way justified in their actions so far, I'm just thinking that if this is someone who genuinely (albeit naively) sent the money by WU, I can understand why they may be exercising their negging finger.

What's done is done and cannot be changed - and it is now a case of trying to find a way to resolve the situation and make the best of it. Again, it is the OP's perogative and choice in the matter, but for the sake of checking at the nearest travel agents, there could well be a few quid sat waiting for them from an angry man in Europe.

The OP could spend a lot of time, effort & blood pressure trying to get the neg removed, or they could just move on and forget about, or they could give benefit of the doubt, check a WU outlet, and at least they will know if they have done the right thing or not.

Such is often the case with many threads, we only know one side of the story afterall... I may well be a baby-eating, scam-starting, junk-peddling, policy-breaking, neg-collecting Powerseller, but I still have access to a buyers way of thinking!

We've both been around here long enough to know that buyers and sellers do not always do the right thing, either intentionally or naively, but it is the purpose (or at least I believe) of this board to try to help and advise using our experience and knowledge. Some threads have to be seen to be beleived, some threads are hard to distinquish between gross stupidity and gross bad luck, or even high class trolling. Anything is possible. Minds should be kept open until facts are clear.

My experience suggests that not every buyer is a potential scammer, and my advice would be to check the WU office to at least clear the mind and know the facts. I would feel very humbled and apologetic if I went and found my £6 waiting for me, but likewise if there was nothing there, then I would giving the full-on Victor Meldrew treatment to eBay Customer Support about the neg.


I'm off home now to see my traumatised rabbit. Not only has he been attacked by a postman yesterday and had his droppings sent to a scammer, but the OH had him in for vaccinations today, and apparantly is being a bit grumpy. I wonder where he has learnt that character trait...! :rotfl: