or “Why I stopped using Ebay”
or “I can't believe these people can have stores on Ebay.”
or “A long, tedious vent about how jerks can ruin the internet”.
You get the idea.
I love websites. Always have. I’ve been playing around with more websites lately because it’s fun and I like having new projects to post different things. Within the last couple of weeks, I’ve started setting up a couple sites for me and Steve.
Before when I’d start playing around with sites and not spending a whole heck of a lot of money on web hosting or domain name servers, I’d consult Ebay. I’ve honestly had decent web service because the sellers I chose usually had a legitimate online store and customer service that would work fine. I had one web hosting for a while that I used for a couple of sites later on. A lot of them only worked for a few months but for a dollar or two here or there, it was no big deal. If I wanted to keep the site up, I’d simply switch cheap hosts or buy pricey, legit hosting from GoDaddy or some other service provider like them.
Since I started using Ebay.co.uk, I’ve not had such luck. I’ve tried to buy from three different web hosting sellers and each of them was bogus. Two out of the three gave me a refund without a fuss (as they should when things don’t work) but this third seller, he’s a piece of work.
A couple weeks ago I paid £.99 for “Unlimited 2 Years Web Hosting". Now, being a savvy lady who’s bought and sold a ton of stuff on Ebay, including digital products, I know that this web hosting will more than likely go down the tubes sooner than 2 years but at the supposed $1.62 for three month of web service to play with – no big deal.
The seller sent me some information about DNS servers. I take that back. I told him twice what domain name to use and I never received the DNS information from and he used a totally different username. A week later, I bought another of the same product for the same price (my mistake because I thought he had sent DNS and Control Panel info for the first hosting product.) I never, ever received any information about the second hosting DNS servers either. Granted, it was Bank Holiday weekend so I let it go until this weekend when I sent the seller a message saying:
Hello. Please send me information for this web hosting. I want it for my domain name. Thank you!
Immediately I got the following message back:
We have no recollection that you have purchased this item within the last month. If you had hosting with us before then, i DID email everyone apologizing that we were moving hosts. You will now have to pay for new hosting.
First of all, there was never any email from him ever because I’d been checking for DNS server info. Second I’m not paying twice. This calls for a refund.
So I opened a dispute requesting my money back for both web hosting items at £.99 each. Boy, did that guy get mad. He was really defensive and tried to blame me for the situation. Saying things like:
i wish you would have messaged me instead of taking this to a case…i had to switch providers and pay more money, therefore i emailed everyone who bought in the past to have to buy again. Everyone did so, the only reason im asking people to repay is because I am now payinbg monthly for your hosting to continue. No refund is going to be offered, its only 99p.
Let’s follow this. I didn't message him? Um, yes I did. See that message up there asking for my DNS info? But that doesn’t matter, I guess. Only £.99 so I should just give that away? So it’s any buyers fault that he has to change servers and we have to repay because he’s doing us this big favor? Plus, it’s “only” £.99 so we should be okay with this? Am I correct? Granted, again, I’ve never received any such email so I’m wondering how many people actually did fall for this b.s. I went in and gave him the negative feedback at this point because I could see I was going to get no where with this guy. I refused to “resolve the case” and wrote through the Resolution Center messages that I wanted a full refund. End of story. I don’t care how much money it is, I didn’t get the item, I want my money back.
That made him more mad:
Full refund will be given when negative feedback is removed. Instead of being pathetic over 99p. i emailed everyone and you were the only person with a problem. You cant open a case AND leave negative feedback. When i see it is removed, you can then have a refund. Next time, respect other peoples decisions. Your not the one renting the datacentre.
That message actually made me laugh. So I’m the bad guy, huh? I don’t want to give my $3.28 to some random guy on Ebay but I should because he has to make a decision to rent a datacentre for other people? How does that even make sense to a stupid person? Also, yes you can leave negative feedback when you don’t get an item and you can’t tell people to remove the negative feedback or you won’t get a refund. That’s feedback extortion. That’s “buying or selling feedback” which goes under Ebay’s list of no-nos. I reported him for various violations of Ebay rules one of which is “fraudulent item” because he still had that web hosting, the same product I should bought a week and two weeks ago, still for sale. I didn’t close the case, only kept replying with facts about the seller and the product through the Resolution Centre messages saying “seller did…” or “seller said…” (which he obviously didn’t understand) because he tried to be condescending with:
Yes Suzanne, your talking to me here, no one else. You can either have a refund OR leave the negative feedback. You cant have both as that is unfair. 2 Negative Feedback Opposed too 99p is very pathetic to be honest. I will offer you the refund once the negative feedback is removed. To do this, contact eBay through means of live chat or phone, and theyll help you. :)
I kept the case open still, continually replying to him through the Resolution Centre messages and this time copying and pasting, “All correspondence will be reviewed by the Ebay Customer Service Staff” that’s posted right about the message window. He still kept replying with his illogical argument:
Or ill offer you another option. Here are your options as they stand. A 99p refund. - Wont be refunded until neg. feedback is removed. Your hosting restored - Also wont be re-setup until the negative is removed. If you are unhappy with this, take it further. Im prepared to give you a third hosting free too. But i do not appreciate you leaving negatives so quick. Without communication, maybe we should talk like adults first?!'
Now notice that he’s saying we’re not communicating yet we’re sending messages through Ebay Resolution Centre. Um…right. And why does he think I want to have some kind of service that he didn’t give me in the first place? When I saw, “talk like adults” it made me think I’m talking to a kid here. I wrote back through the Resolution Centre that his store had only been open since Sept of last year and he had a 67 star feedback rating. My guess was that he’s purposely trying to double his money by creating a “oh something happened and it’s not my fault so give me more money and positive feedback” kind of scam. So if he did this to 30 some people, getting twice as much money each time (because I see that he sold items up to £30/$49) then he’s making a heck of a profit. Granted, his ploy is, as he keeps harping on, that’s it’s “only 99p” and it’s “petty” to not just give that money away and request it back because you didn’t get the items you wanted. Again, even a stupid person could see through this argument. Yet still, he’s the innocent one and realizes that he has to appeal to Ebay:
eBay, i think this is only fair as hes left me with 2 negative feedback without even messaging me to workthings out. This has given me a low percentage feedback rating when I cant help what happens with this web hosting. im not sure why he opened a case for 99p anyway. Ive offered his item back and another free, or a refund as long as this feedback is removed. This is a very stuck up buyer that ebay could do without. Decision is upto you eBay.
Not only does he not understand how to run an Ebay store but apparently he doesn’t realize that Suzanne is a feminine name either. He also somehow thinks that wanting a product that you pay for is being posh or something “stuck up” as he coins it. I responded via the Resolution Center, yet again, with, “buyer wants me to pay twice and is extorting feedback” blah blah. It really was quite tedious to keep repeating myself over and over with this kid not understanding that he had no legitimate claim.
Buyer is completely wrong. Feel free to check my messages eBay. I recieved one message from him, asking poliley to setup his hosting. I did not say the product didnt work. I said I SWITCHED hosts, as i was selling reseller hosting. I do not ask people to pay twice, my feedback was 100% positive before you have come along. Ive offered you your item. But you dont open a case and then leave negative feedback. Ive only been a seller since last year, yes. We all start somewhere thankyou very much. The hosting is still for sale as i have no switched hosts. To eBay: I emailed all my customers to ask for their details to resetup their product, beause i switched hosts. I made it clear that no reply within a week would mean account suspension. EVERYONe managed to email me back with details, except you. Do not judge someone by the amount of feedback i have, judge me by the percentage score. You have plenty of websites as i can see your public facebook page, so why open a case on a 99p hosting.
Oh yes, you read that garble right. He started stalking me on FB. He left me a message calling me nasty things in as much as assuming I was a male, perhaps my husband in my profile picture – who knows at this point. I wrote back with a simple “You will now have to pay for new hosting” copy and paste from his first message. He gave me a refund for one item but still gave me some “you’re petty, you act like a 3 year old” comment on my Ebay profile. He also refused to refund me for the first hosting (that I never got info from) because “it works just fine”. Yeah, well, how would I know that without any kind of DNS or Control Panel info? And because “everyone”, excuse me, “EVERYONe managed to email me…except you” is a dippy bullying tactic of “everyone else is doing it so you should too.” What a deceitful fool.
By this afternoon I closed both cases and called Ebay Customer Service who said all my reports would be handled within 48 hours. Steve responded to his Facebook message with a direct “don’t ever bother us again” statement and reported him for harassment on their server as well.
After looking at the seller’s profile, yes, he is a kid. We figured as much. His contact information is posted on his Ebay Store listed below. I’m only posting this so you can all see exactly who the seller is and avoid him at all costs. In the States even the slightly suspicious seller was shut down but since the Ebay.co.uk customer service info is listed for Switzerland, I’m guessing that Ebay has to try and police all of Europe for bogus sellers. Even if he is shut down, he’ll just start another Ebay store (which he probably already has done anyway) and nothing will really be solved. If he had just given me my £2 back and shut up he wouldn’t have had to go through such a mess and get reported ever which way on two websites. Sheesh, dude, calm down.
Ebay Store: http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/rc-model-hobby
Anyway, all I know is I’m not taking a risk of having some teenaged lunatic cyber stalk me and call me nasty names because they want to steal money from me. I just can’t subject myself to that kind of wasted time and effort – I don’t care what kind of cheap, cool thing they have.
Farewell Ebay. It was fun while it lasted but since you have crazy thieves on your site, I’m not shopping anymore.
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