Just thought I'd pass along a little story about my newest experience with an eBay transaction I took part in. First, though, I'll go back a little bit and set things up for you...
About a month ago, one of the good knives from my steak knife set dropped on the kitchen floor, and hit just right to snap the blade right in two, just above the base of the handle. It's an older knife, so even though Cutco has a lifetime replacement guarantee, I figured it would be best to just try to buy a new one, as opposed to taking a chance on getting something different from Cutco (they send a similar item back to you if they can't replace the same, exact knife). So I figured the best place to go would be eBay. They've never let me down before on trying to find something I need, usually at a pretty decent price.
I finally find someone who is actually selling two of the knives I'm looking for. I know they're the right ones because Cutco knives come with a model number etched into the blade, and a good seller will be sure and include this information in their sale/auction.
So, he's running two auctions...one for each knife, each one at the same starting price. I bid on one of the knives, and not long after, someone bids over me. The first thing I think of, having experienced it before firsthand, is "shill bidding". Therefore, I wonder if I bid on the second knife, will the same bidder follow me to the auction and bid on that one too, to jack up the price. I mean, why couldn't the person have bid on the other knife? Why did they have to bid on the one I was bidding on? You have to admit, it looks suspicious. I took the chance and bid on the second knife, but this time, I put my maximum bid amount at a high enough price that would most likely not be beaten; not for a lousy steak knife. After awhile, another bidder (not the same as on the first auction) tried to outbid me, but was not successful, thanks to my higher proxy bid. The only thing is, if I win the auction, I'm stuck paying the higher price. That's how shill bidding works. Several people working together as a seller and "bidders", with the bidders having no intention of actually winning, just jacking up the price to force you to pay more than you intended. But, I had no way of proving that was what was going on, so I bit the bullet and paid for the item I had won.
First of all, he took his sweet time in getting it in the mail to me, even though I paid for it through PayPal immediately after the auction ended. He was sending it Priority Mail (2-3 days), but it took a full week to get here. Personally, I don't think he sent it out until after I emailed him and asked if it had been sent out, but whatever. At least I had it.
Once I got the knife, I was immediately disappointed. It turns out the knife was not as he described at all. He said it was "used but still in very good shape", and the knife he sent me was extremely worn and scratched up. I looked again at the pictures of the knife on the auction, and realized the pictures did not represent the item very well at all. They were a little fuzzy, and did not show the one side of the blade, which would have been the telling factor here, since the Cutco name, model number and everything else were almost non-existant on his knife. I instantly thought about him intentionally putting deceptive pictures on the auction to move a crappy item, but again, no proof of any actual wrongdoing. If anything, it was just poor salesmanship. That, or he just hasn't seen what a knife in good condition looks like. Bottom line, this knife would not go with my set at all, being in the condition it was in, so I emailed him the same day I got it and asked for a refund.
In asking for a refund, I tried to be the nice guy the whole time I dealt with him. I didn't accuse him of any wrongdoing or anything, but I was honest with him. I told him I didn't feel his description nor the pictures represented the item very well, and since it was actually very worn (as opposed to "still in very good shape"), and therefore would not fit in my set as I intended, I asked for a refund. Having sold things in the past myself, I didn't want him to take the total hit on it, so as an act of goodwill, I offered to send it back at my expense, and only asked for the final bid amount back...a difference of a little over $6.
He immediately tried to talk me out of it, saying it would be too much of a hassle to get his listing fees and such back, and he suggested I just resell it myself. Since I had no guarantee of the item selling at all, let alone making back what I paid him for it in the first place, I told him I would just prefer the refund. He emailed back and said he would refund the partial amount I requested if I also covered his listing fees (which, after my calculations, amounted to about $2.50). Each auction states that the seller is responsible for all fees, so I called eBay and asked if this is something I should be asked to do, and if I actually could be held to do. They said it was not, but added if it was something we mutually agreed to in writing, I could. Well, I didn't see the need for me to cover his fees, so I emailed back again and declined. He again insisted I do so, adding that the only reason I wanted the refund was because it wouldn't go with my set. I reminded him that I did tell him the item wasn't represented well, and added that I was already taking more of a hit on the costs by paying for shipping twice, plus he can easily contact eBay and PayPal to recoup his costs, plus he would have the knife back to resell! In other words, when the dust settled he would be out nothing. I also added if he did not follow through with the refund, I would file a dispute with PayPal, based on the item not being as described. He says I'm welcome to do so, but adds he is "confident it will be a waste of time" for me.
Now, filing a dispute such as this is a perfectly legitimate tool when a seller and buyer cannot come to an agreement. It doesn't necessarily force anyone to do anything, but it allows any further correspondence to be exchanged directly through the PayPal website, and keeps everything on record with a case number, should both parties find themselves unable to resolve the situation...then the person who filed the dispute has the option of upgrading the dispute to a claim, and PayPal would step in and make a decision. So, at this point, it's still just between me and him.
So, I file the dispute, and post an initial message briefly laying everything out, including my feelings about the auction pictures and his description, the actual condition of the knife, and also his attempt to get me to cover his fees. I stated I did not feel this is something I should be made to do, and I just want my money back, less the shipping I offered to pay to send it back to him. He replied within the dispute that he would refund the amount I requested upon return of the knife in the condition it was sent to me in. Well, no problem there, since I had nothing to gain by causing further damage to something that was already in crappy condition to begin with, and risk losing out on my refund. So I sent it back. At the same time, I noticed I got another email from him, but figuring it was just a repeat of the message in the dispute, or just something general I didn't feel like reading from him, I didn't even read it.
So I send the knife back in the same exact packaging, wrapped in the same bubble wrap, to assure it would get back to him in the same condition. I also got Signature Confirmation to make sure he couldn't say he didn't get it. But, even with all that, I still couldn't help but think he might try to say it wasn't returned in the same condition, so no refund.
After a few days, he emailed back and said he got it, and when I close the dispute he would refund the money. There's a saying that goes "I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night," which basically means I'm not an idiot. I fully realize (as I'm sure he did as well) that if I close the dispute before getting my money, he can back out at the last second, and the dispute cannot be opened again. So I email him back and tell him refund first, then I'll close it. He then says that's not what we agreed to. I'm thinking "What the hell is he talking about?!?"
I looked back on previous emails to see if there was something I missed (as I'm sure there wasn't), and I went ahead and opened that email I mentioned earlier that I hadn't read back when it was sent. Sure enough, at the same time he had posted his message within the dispute saying "send it back in the same condition, and I'll refund", he sent this email stating "send it back and close the dispute, and I'll refund". Well, I knew that since I never replied to this, acknowleding it to any degree, there was nothing he could do. In a situation like this, you can't send two different messages to someone and expect both to be adhered to. So, I posted another message in the dispute (to keep it on record and official) and said "You've asked me again to do something I'm not willing to do. I cannot close this dispute before I'm satisfied, and until I receive my money I'm not satisfied. You said you'd refund the money when you got the package back, so now that you have it, send the refund, or I will escalate this to a full claim."
So, he refunded my money back into my PayPal account. But, at the same time, he didn't. Instead of going back into our original transaction and clicking on the refund button (an incredibly simple thing to do), he sent me a payment, as if I were the seller and he were the buyer. This would be fine, except when you receive a payment through PayPal, they take a fee out; a small percentage for using their service, essentially. So, I didn't actually receive my full amount back that I had requested, which again was only a partial amount of my first payment to him to begin with. Personally, I think he did this last act just to be spiteful. He's sold quite a lot of items on eBay, so he knew what the hell he was doing. I contacted PayPal and asked what my recourse was. The guy told me if I was satisfied with it I could go ahead and close it, but since I didn't actually receive an official refund based on our original transaction, there would be no further recourse. He recommended I send his payment back to him as a refund, and tell him to send it again correctly this time, and once I accept it the dispute will close automatically. So that's what I did, and that's what he did, and that's what the dispute did.
All done with, you surmise? Not quite.
Remember that first auction that I was overbid on? Well, I noticed that no feedback was ever exchanged...that is, until the very next day after we had finished our dispute, and I finally had my money back. It was only after everything was done with our transaction that David and this other seller resolved their transaction. Coincidence, or the final act of the shills to cover their deceitful act? With no proof of anything, who's to say except the parties involved.
Also, he's already relisted the knife I sent back to him, and on top of the same exact HTML he used in the auction I won, he added a line at the head of the auction that states "previous buyer was a deadbeat". Aaaaaaalrighty then! So, I sent you my initial payment right away, called you out on an inaccurately described item, tried to be the nice guy and take a hit on the shipping, made a simple request for my money back, followed all proper procedures, and just because I wouldn't jump through all your ridiculous hoops, I'm the deadbeat?!?
Let's recap:
David accepts my request for a refund if I cover his listing and final value fees...
David tries to claim I only wanted the refund because it didn't match my set, even though I pointed out to him his description and pictures weren't accurate...
David sends two different messages and expects me to hold up to an agreement I never made...
David expects me to close the dispute before I get the money back, leaving me with no further recourse...
David doesn't send the proper refund, and instead sends me a payment that I had further funds removed from...
David puts a final exclamation in his relisted knife auction, labeling me as the bad guy...
Well, David Novak of Glen Rock, NJ...not only are you a shitty eBay seller, you're a major fucking asshole, and I have the satisfaction of knowing I didn't do one damn thing wrong during the entire month you caused this to unnecessarily drag out. Sleep well, dickhead.
