non selling seller...what to do?

ozvaldinho

I recently won an auction for a mountain bike at a very good price. I then received a phone call from the seller claiming that he couldn't sell the bike because it had been stolen from his shed the night before.

I'm a bit annoyed at this, I'm not inclined to believe the guy, but at the same time I'm a newbie and don't want to get a retaliatory neg on my feedback.

Any advice, guys?

Thanks.

Minimods

I am in a similar situation and it's very frustrating!

This link should help you http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/seller-non-performance.html

nightswimmer

That really sucks. Unfortunately, all you can do is report the seller. As much as eBay say that you have entered into a binding contract, etc. it's all hogwash because at the end of the day they can not legally force a seller to hand over an item if they do not want to sell it.

As for the negative feedback, there isn't much you can do to escape retaliatory feedback in some cases. However, you shouldn't let this put you off complaining or whatever, otherwise you can end up forever having to put up with being treated badly by unscrupilous sellers/buyers, simply because you want to keep hold of your 100% rating.

Also, bear in mind that if you are just using your account to buy things, then the odd negative really isn't a problem. And, if like you say, you are new to eBay, if you do get a negative and are *really* concerned about it, then it is simple to set up a new account and start again.

ozvaldinho

Thanks nightswimmer. I guess I can't report him unless he sends me an email with his excuse on it. I buy and sell, so I won't neg him.

nightswimmer

ozvaldinho wrote:

Thanks nightswimmer. I guess I can't report him unless he sends me an email with his excuse on it. I buy and sell, so I won't neg him.

Have you thought about having two accounts, one for selling and one for buying? Not only does it make things easier but it also means you don't have to worry about the possibility of getting negatives from situations such as this one.