slow seller, how to move on this one

soolin

I'll try and keep this short, but really looking to see if anyone has any brilliant suggestions.

Did some research on an item, found it in the States , checked out the seller, looked at posisble import implications and went ahead and purchased. Stupidly I was so pleased seller checked out I forgot to use my buying account, and instead used my main selling account.

All that happened 4 weeks ago and after a couple of weeks of no contact I emailed the seller politely and asked if my item had been shipped, after two more emails the seller finally responded last week to say she was snowed under and would try and get my item out at the weekend just gone and would email and confirm. I heard nothing so on Sunday evening I emailed again, very politely and explained I need this item for the 20th October which would be 6 weeks after purchase so could she please confirm item had been despatched.

I've heard nothing but seller has now picked up a neg saying item not shipped for 8 weeks, seller responded with a neg saying inpatient buyer still in accepted time frame (or something).

This item is a sort of craft item, she may be making to order but even if so this is a simple thing and she is still selling three a week. Normally I would wait until my 45 day time limit for a paypal claim got nearer, but I am going on holiday and the 45 days ends while I am away, so I need to either start proceedings now or leave it until the day I go which leaves me problems if she answers the dispute and I fail to respond. I think this seller is genuine, but I struggle to get any response from her to emails and i will not risk my money.

She has two more items finishing on Thusday, I had thought of giving her until then and if she does not confirm despatch then start a chargeback but realistically that means she can't then despatch the item in time fo rme to get it to call off the chargeback, so it will be a stalemate position. Whatever i do I risk a neg and am so cross at myself for using the wrong account as this will hit my perfect 100% on my selling account.

EDIT: forgot to say that item totals £70 with p and P and I obviously backed my purchase with a credit card, but would prefer to go through paypal first.

Soo

Moglex

It's this 100% obsession again, isn't it?

I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating:

Anyone who will reject a seller because they have less than 99.5% positive is very likely the sort of person you are going to have trouble with anyway.

Quite honestly I find myself rather suspicious of people with enormous 100% feedback scores.

I wonder if they are genuine, or if they coerce people into doing mutual withdrawals (on another site people were complaining about sellers selling counterfeit DVD's who had 100% +ve feedback in the thousands).

It's quite clear that a lot of sellers are getting away with murder because people are terrified of losing their 100% rating.

I'd say go ahead and neg if her dispatch timescale is seriously unreasonable. Other buyers deserve to know that they may not get something (possibly a present) in a realistic timeframe, and one neg will only damage your credibility with morons.

alanalea

I agree with Moglex. TBH i'd buy from anyone with over a 99% + feedback, but i'd even go lower depending on what the negs are for. I've only got 1 account because i'm not a bigg seller or buyer and i'm on 99.2% with 128 fb. 1 neg from a @sshole seller who went out of his way to conceal the condition of a vehical that wasn't fit to drive.

Do the chargebackand give her a neg, then follow up your inevitable neg with a good reply. It shows that you're not afraid of taking or giving a neg from unreasonable people.

soolin

I'm not that afraid of the neg, it won't touch my rating anyway as I've well over 2000+, but I just can't decide whether I am being hasty.

In the back of my mind I wonder if I am being steered towards a chargeback because I am aware that I am going away soon, maybe if I wasn't going away I would have let this run longer. I honestly don't think the seller is a scammer, I think she is just completely out of her depth and can't cope. If i chargeback now it is unlikely she can get the item to me in time to stop the chargeback, and i wouldn't be prepared to call a halt until I had the item.

This is an expensive item fo rme, oddly enough if it had been something cheaper I would have just gone for a chargeback earlier and be done with it, but I can see the point that I am not giving the seller any way out if I chargeback now.

I'll go and have a look at her sales again now, and if she still has stuff finishing Wednesday or Thursday I may start the chargeback then to grab the payments she will have received, rather than risk having to do a credit card chargeback later if she has cleared her paypal account.

I just wish she's send th eblooming thing as I still want it, but starting a chargeback will almost certainly mean she'll just refund and I'll never get this unique item again.

Soo

soolin

I've just checked her out again. She has pulled two of her items, so she now has only 1 item for sale finishing Thursday and her shop is also completely empty. That might mean she is concentrating on catching up with orders which is good news, but it is bad news in that she is unlikely to have anything in her paypal account.

Soo

grandslamgirl

Hiya,
I know that the seller is in the US but wouldn't it be worth a couple of quid to call her. I think you would get a better idea of her situation and be able to explain your position.
Good luck anyway

Moglex

Good idea. If you use 1899 it's only a penny a minute, so cheaper than so called 'low-call' costs in this country.

It seems to me this seller, if she is having problems keeping up, would be better to adopt a policy of honesty and tell her customers the situation. They might be perfectly happy to wait if the actually knew what was going on.

mishkanorman

Maybe its worth contacting someone else who purchased around the same time as you to see if they got their product ?? It may give you an idea as to how far behind she is with the orders.


mishkA

soolin

Just an update. I still had heard nothing from the seller so called up her contact details. I tried phoning but the numbers, even with international dialling seemed a digit short and I couldn't get a ring tone.

I started a paypal dispute (not chargeback) very politely explaining that I just needed confirmation that item was shipped. Within 5 minutes of openeing the dispute I had an aggravated email asking me what I was doing as she had planned to send my item this very day and using an extra fast delivery service at her own cost, and now I am basically putting her out, She said item will be sent today *if* I cancel the dispute.

I responded, again very calmly saying that I really would still like this item but would fully understand if she felt she needed to refund instead. However, I explained that paypal advise that the dispute not be closed whilst I have neither my item or my money, and that I would leave it up to her on how she wishes to proceed.

I'm really feeling guilty over this but a month is quite long enough to wait especially when the seller does not respond to emails.

Soo

mishkanorman

Thats just blackmail Soo, remain as calm as you are and leave it up to her.

It amazes me how some people have no clue about customer service and good manners !!


mishka

soolin

One silly question, is the US ahead of us or behind us time wise. I can never ever remember.

Soo