New low for excuses for not paying

mrcol1000

So sold an item in auction. Straight away buyer said they did not want the item as it was for their child who was killed crossing the road by a drunk driver the day before.

My OH said it could be true but if my child was killed the last thing I would be worrying about would be paying for stuff I had bid on Ebay. They also managed despite their grief to leave feedback for 3 other items they had brought.

I mean the thing is that if people say they want to cancel the transaction then I will offer a mutual cancellation rather than forcing someone to pay for something they don't want.

There are some really awful people out there.

catmiaow

Why do people bid for items they don't want? Really annoys me and those awful excuses are worse!

yazzine

catmiaow wrote: »

Why do people bid for items they don't want? Really annoys me and those awful excuses are worse!

Some times they can be true, A short while ago (a few months)I bid on an item on day 2 - it was a 10 day listing ending at a time I new I would not be able to bid so thought might as well get in early.

Follwing week tiny was really ill and when I took him into to hospital he got worse and ended up on the tubes. Following day message came up on phone as I popped out to get some fresh air that I had just won the item. First thing in my head at that time was 'I have to tell the seller what's going on and I will pay when we get home' no business of the seller's but it was a distraction. Same as when I popped home to pick up clean clothes and a friend came over all I had in my head was 'I have to make tea, she likes tea and chocolate chip cookies'

I had sent message to seller who agreed to wait, I had made tea for my friend. I could picture my son in all that time in front of my eyes BUT couldn't think about him. Stupid or whatever it is how some people react. You focu on what you can do not what you can't.

Some do try it on but some may be serious.

Tiny is much better and back to his happy funny loving cuddle giving self again :):)

hollydays

You can't discount it though. There's no set rules for how to behave after a bereavement, it doesn't mean you don't continue to do normal things.

Kayalana99

hollydays wrote: »

You can't discount it though. There's no set rules for how to behave after a bereavement, it doesn't mean you don't continue to do normal things.

Tis true, being a seller in the opposite position my little 15month was ill 2 weeks back in hospital(I was staying in with him), when your in that situation as bad as it sounds you have nothing to do - so you cope by doing normal things you usually would have done. It doesn't mean you don't care about your child its just you can't sit their and do nothing...anything is better then nothing.

Its amazing how nice people are in these situations though, I had 62 orders when I came back to fill and not one of them asked for a refund - not that the money mattered, but its the good will I guess..and I've had lovely feedback saying A* postage when we both know it was over a week late...

savemoney

It possible it could be true although I am sure some drags of society would lie about such things. Not all buyers are bad I buy and not sell and also pay straight away. The other week I bought a item which was delayed, seller explained later it might be delayed due to finding a courier.I didnt get worked up over it learnt the hard way life is too short, took it on the chin and waited then gave good feedback. The seller seemed genuinely apologetic

I agree with previous poster those when times may get bad some people like some sort of normality to ease the pain. I know I did when I my mum was suffering and dieing from cancer I was still painting the house in between visits to keep my mind busy and not dwell

martindow

It could be true but in this situation I don't think people would be leaving feedback. Can you search for their surname and town to see if there is a report in a local paper? If not, our cynicism is justified.

Stoke

It's not easy to judge these kind of things and as a seller, it's all about how you react to this.

I once sold a set of Robbie Williams tickets, on eBay, last Christmas in fact, a week or two before Christmas day. They were prime seats, best in the stadium and as our friends had decided they didn't want to go (the only reason we were sitting), we decided to sell them and buy standing. One buyer bought them for quite a high amount £292 if I remember rightly. In truth, I wasn't looking to make money, however I wanted to at least make what they were worth back as to not be down on what I'd paid. Within the day, he said he was waiting for the money and he'd been having problems with redundancy concerns at work and that he was afraid of losing his job. I was compassionate and told him I would wait. I'm not a !!!!!! and I know what redundancy is like for people who are afraid of losing their jobs. My girlfriend was made redundant this year and she was well and truly screwed over in the process.

However several days later, he told me he had bought something else for his girlfriend now and couldn't afford my item. I told him this wasn't very fair after keeping me hanging with the whole redundancy story, as I was in no doubt I'd lose quite a lot of money with it now being after Christmas and most people having no money to spend. He was quite coarse with me and purposely dragged it out knowing he couldn't pay. Once the situation was over with the previous buyer, the item eventually sold and I made a loss with it being after Christmas. I was lucky enough to make back the money I lost with the other two tickets (I'd paid for all 4 on my credit card) by selling them on Gumtree.

cattie

As someone who tragically lost a child I can honestly say that computers, ebay & the internet were the furthest thing on my mind for many, many months.

If the buyer in this case has made up an excuse, then what an absolutely dreadful one to make & let's hope it never actually does happen to her.