Possible scam?

richto

He is lying. Citylink dont have a weight limit. They just charge you extra.
I often ship 100KG+ with them.

See http://www.city-link.co.uk/services/ukservices_pricing.php

Bulky or heavy consignments-

- 30 to 99 kilos + £10.00
- 100 to 149 kilos + £15.00
- 150 to 199 kilos + £25.00
- 200 kilos and over + £45.00
- Single items over 99 kilos an additional + £60.00

going2die_rich

It's a scam or a delaying tactic to use cheaper delivery method.

City-Link have delivered 2 bases units and a CRT monitor in one order before from Ebuyer for me (and I was only charged £10 from Ebuyer for it). The City Link reason doesn't add up. How big/heavy could a laser printer be? Is he trying to sell you something used to print the Daily Mirror or something?

If you've paid for registered post or a particular postal method and it arrives using another, ensure you ask for a refund.

A lot of Ebay sellers say that it will be recorded delivery but it turns up in the normal post. If they refuse simply say you want delivery number so you can trace the item since they can't prove you received it.

Ghost

Moglex wrote:

Still, around 300 ebay transactions and this is my first real problem.

With so many transactions under your belt, I would say trust your gut instinct Moglex and protect your interests.

zappahey

Moglex wrote:

1) I paid first thing Monday morning, so why wait until Thursday to send?

I would have thought that was quite reasonable. I find it interesting that people's expectations on ebay seem to be much higher than what many people will happily accept from more conventional retailers. Was the shipping time mentioned in the listing?

Moglex

zappahey wrote:

I would have thought that was quite reasonable. I find it interesting that people's expectations on ebay seem to be much higher than what many people will happily accept from more conventional retailers. Was the shipping time mentioned in the listing?

The question was: "Why" wait until Thursday.

This is a major power seller (read businsess) and I simply find it unprofessional that when someone gets an order for something that is in stock they leave it for four days before dispatching.

This is no different to my attitude to other business sellers.

I favour sellers who dispatch quickly not because I necessarily want the item quickly but because it indicates that they take customer service seriously.

If they're prepared to sit on an order for days, how well will they handle any problems that come up. (As you can see in this case: not very well at all).

Had that been the only 'problem' with this transaction I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but taken in conjunction with the other things that have happened, well, it's just one more thing to add to the list.

culpepper

Wouldn't it be simpler to just phone him?
You can then say you are not happy to be the one doing the phoning as you are a busy person and it was his initial mistake.
Atleast you would then know wether you are to receive your printer and maybe discover why it was a mix up.
It could be he has an arrangemment with city link to pick up from him every Thursday or that they were already coming on the Thursday and so he left it until then.

Moglex

culpepper wrote:

Wouldn't it be simpler to just phone him?

What for?

I've told him that he can send the printer whenever he likes.

How can I possibly be any more flexible than that?

Quite honestly not responding for two days (so far) is just taking the p.

He's a power seller who sells a lot of expensive computer equipment and he's behaving like a rank amateur.

Wonga

Moglex wrote:

What for?

I've told him that he can send the printer whenever he likes.

How can I possibly be any more flexible than that?

Quite honestly not responding for two days (so far) is just taking the p.

He's a power seller who sells a lot of expensive computer equipment and he's behaving like a rank amateur.

Do not assume that a Power Seller is a experienced seller. ebayers have been know to fiddle their feedback, there are lots of ways to do this, check out google. I know two people who trade on ebay, both are power sellers, both have 3000+ feedbacks, both work from home and neither have any business skills as such, just a powerful will to build a business, both have good intentions and both seem to run around like chickens with no heads with paper everywhere and absolutely NO reliable system in place to ensure reliable delivery/customer service/returns etc.

Anyone can start their own business on ebay in a matter of hours. I use ebay to buy and sell but still treat EVERY seller with caution.

martindow

Citylink might not have weight limits but their drivers might well refuse to accept things that seem too heavy or bulky for one man in a van to handle. These items can be taken but the carrier needs to send a vehicle with a tail lift rather than a transit. As Hintza has said as a seller you pack things up and assume the carrier will take them. It only needs a disgruntled driver (and there are certainly a few of those!) to fail to arrive or refuse to take the parcel and you can have a situation like this. All carriers are only as good as their individual drivers.

I can understand why you find the situation so annoying and frustrating but I think you should do as Culpepper says and find out the actual situation. You may then feel less angry about it all - that can't be doing you much good. It is the uncertainty that makes it so stressful. I hope that it all works out well and your bargain arrives safely and soon!

Moglex

martindow wrote:

Citylink might not have weight limits but their drivers might well refuse to accept things that seem too heavy or bulky for one man in a van to handle. These items can be taken but the carrier needs to send a vehicle with a tail lift rather than a transit. As Hintza has said as a seller you pack things up and assume the carrier will take them. It only needs a disgruntled driver (and there are certainly a few of those!) to fail to arrive or refuse to take the parcel and you can have a situation like this. All carriers are only as good as their individual drivers.

I can understand that drivers might refuse a parcel (although citylink should have this regularised - it's absurd offering a service on the basis that "we might do it but it depends on how someone feels on the day").

Personally, although I'm quite happy to pick up the printer, I'm not sure I'd be too happy about lifting into a van in it's box which will make it very difficult to hold. And I'm a strong 6' 2" - there's nothing that says the driver has to be that big!

What none of this alters is the fact that the sent me an email saing the item "had been picked up".

Now, there must have been someone there to hand it over to the driver, and so even if they did just jump the gun in sending the email, they should have immediately sent another one saying it wasn't coming.

Even if for some reason the couldn't send it that night, it should have been sent first thing next morning, not three days later.

It's the lack of communication that's the problem.

They've now said it will come today, so I've got to spend another day stuck at the delivery location, and I'm nowhere near 100% confident that it will arrive.