how to deal with dodgy seller?

[briggsy's girl]

i won an item last week from a seller and figured, seeing it was supposed to be couriered, i'd get more from them, and then getit all delivered together - with cheaper delivery on the subsequent items - they were smallish, and $29 should have covered the lot.

so i bid again, and won five things in total (all of $6.47) and when i contacted the seller for combined postage, got a reply saying $29 for first item, $20.30 for each subsequent item - WTF???? listing says delay for combined postage - sorry - that's not a discount.

i asked for an explanation of how they could charge that - got nothing. so i went to ebay live help (he wasn't TOO unhelpful, but not specific answers, just generic cr@p) - so i figured i'd give the seller the benefit of the doubt, contact them again asking them to justify delivery charges, and got a reply email (not through ebay) with this reply

hello

we calculate as

first one $29

second one $29 x 0.7 (30% off)

after you won all the time i will give you the best i can do

*dont forget the item is 0.99 or $2 this item is totally worth more than it should be*

now, to me, that last line is an admission that they're flogging you more postage than they should to "pay for the item" - so i again went to live chat, and asked about fee avoidance. got the right linke, forwarded to seller, and AGAIN asked for explanation of charges. nothing

so i reported them

got a reply from email - really wishy washy - but it asked me for the details of the email, so that it could be investigated. so i sent them - and got no reply.

now, i dont' want to carry the tag of a non paying bidder, so when i AGAIN got a wishy washy answer from ebay (with no cancellation of the auctions or even an OFFER of it), i forked over the money - $6.47 for the items, $110 for the delivery - i figured i'd just put negative feedback in regards to courier charging - but would check with the courier what i should have been charged - and even an extra $10 for insurance

well, i got my items - via Australia Post! the $10 of insurance should have been all of $1.50, postage, even including the biggest item, was less than $20 - so they've ripped me off over $80!!!!

and the best bit - three of the damn items are damaged!!!

i messaged the seller AGAIN on Friday - telling them items were damaged, and wanting to know what to do to have it rectified. no response. and today, i've messaged again

now, to the point of this waffle - WHAT THE HELL DO I DO TO FOLLOW THIS UP??? i really want the items replaced, and think i deserve a refund on the postage that they ripped me off - but ebay are obviously useless, paypal i believe only look at the price of the actual product...

what do i do???? help!!!


i haven't left negative feedback YET - i intend to sort this as much as possible first BEFORE that gets left - but no matter the outcome, i'll be leaving VERY negative feedback..

[Yael]

Paypal now covers postage also (i'm pretty sure it does at least)

[Madham]

Go to the section that says report item not recieved and when u go into it, it says item not recieved or significantly different to listed description.
You can file your dispute in there.
They will organize to get a refund through there or make other arrangements to settle the dispute

[briggsy's girl]

finally got a response today - only taken five days! they've asked for photo's of the damanged products - which i have now forwarded

i looked at paypal - it is near impossible to make a claim. looked at ebay - and there is a chance they will request the products be returned - at more expense to myself. on further investigation through another forum set up to help ebayers in situations like this, the seller is MEGA dodgy and is on the watch list of the ACCC for behaviour.

hmm, i think i'm too trusting (plus their feedback percentage wasn't really low or anything!) - guess i kinda expect everyone to act with the same integrity i employ every day! ahhh, the idiocy!

[briggsy's girl]

well, i eventually got a reply - apparently they're sending replacement items - wonder if these will be in better nick! DH and i have decided to repair the ones we received already, seeing we haven't been asked to return them. if they work, great, if not, no biggie. after the rip off with postage, we may as well make the most of it! i won't leave feedback until we have received the replacements - and i will continue to follow up until we have items that are of appropriate "brand new" condition...

[~Trish~]

I hate how sellers can still get away with that! eBay never want to hear about it.

I'm glad you received a reply and that the seller will replace your items. Make sure you leave some very honest feedback to warn other buyers. Fortunately for you the seller can't leave you neg feedback in retaliation any more.

[{sarah}]

How dodgy is that. Hope you get some compensation in the end BG.