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gondwanalon's avatar

What do you think of my ebay problem?

Asked by gondwanalon (23232points) May 28th, 2015

On May 8, 2015 I shipped a triathlon bike that I sold on ebay for $895 with free shipping (bike is in pristine condition, no scratches, never crashed). It was a great deal as I put >$2K into the bike.

I paid a bike shop to professionally package the bike for shipping. I paid to extra to UPS for insurance and and extra fee for “large package”. (total packaging and shipping fee = $225). (Also ebay charged me $94 to sell the bike)

Yesterday morning (5–27-15, nearly 2 weeks after the bike’s delivery date) the buyer e-mailed me asking if I shipped the bike yet. I immediately checked with UPS who provided me with the delivery information which indicated that the buyer himself had signed for the bike on 5–15-15.

Yesterday (5–27-15) at 10 a.m. provided the delivery information to the buyer in an e-mail and asked “What do you think of this?”. No response. Early this morning I sent the buyer another e-mail asking him if he has located the bike yet. No response yet.

What should my next step be? Just wait because the ball is in the buyer’s court? Did I miss something?

Thank you!

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10 Answers

janbb's avatar

Were you already paid for the bike? (Not sure how ebay works.) If you were then the ball – or bike – is in his court. If he can prove it wasn’t delivered, then he should get the insurance money you paid UPS or a refund and you keep the insurance money.

snowberry's avatar

You could go back to UPS and ask them what was the name of the person who signed for it. It could have been a family member who failed to tell the person it was addressed to. We have folks like that in our family…

jca's avatar

I am assuming that when the person signs for the bike, they also have to print their name?

stanleybmanly's avatar

It sounds as though someone on the buyers’ end may have deprived him of the bike. My neighbor told me a story about a burglar robbing a house when the doorbell rang. The thief had the actual cheek to sign for the delivery, open the pkg and discard the waste on the floor.

gondwanalon's avatar

@janbb The buyer paid me through paypal.
@snowberry and @jca UPS just gave me the name of the person who signed for the bike and it is the same name as the buyer. Someone could have forged the buyer’s name and UPS likely have the signature as @stanleybmanly has suggested.

Thanks for your thoughts. I think that I’m in good shape.

jca's avatar

@gondwanalon: What do you think occurred? Do you think the buyer is lying or do you thing someone else signed for it and stole the bike? What is the next step for you?

gondwanalon's avatar

All I know for sure is the UPS delivery information in which someone (using the buyer’s name) signed for the bike on 5–15-15.

I really wish that the buyer would respond to my e-mails. I’d like to know what he thinks. I’ll just keep waiting for a response. Tomorrow I’ll send the buyer another e-mail.

Anyway I’m so done with ebay. I’ve been lied to and cheated too many times. I could tell you some stories of a few real turkeys. The aggravation isn’t worth it.

Buttonstc's avatar

In the future you might want to consider a cash only sale on Craigslist and meet in a public place. That way you’ve got cash in hand and don’t have to open your home to anyone you don’t know.

Interestingly, CL has become so popular around here that a local township police station has announced that their monitored parking lot or lobby (open 24/7) will be available for those seeking a safe place for CL transactions. What a great idea.

But I’ve met people in McDonalds or Starbucks with no problems ever. I know there have been reports of unscrupolous people using CL nefariously; but with a bit of common sense and caution, it’s worked just fine for me.

And for you, being the seller, it should be a lot simpler than the convoluted world of eBay :)

RadioFlyer's avatar

Call me a cynic, but it sounds to me like this guy was trying to keep the bike AND get his money refunded. After you provided clear evidence that the bike was in fact delivered, he suddenly can’t be bothered to respond to your concerned follow-up emails.

You did everything perfectly. Forget about this guy. Some eBay users just suck.

The End.

ibstubro's avatar

Your communication with the buyer is through eBay, correct?

If so, just drop the matter. If there is the appearance of a legitimate beef on the buyer’s end, they’ll file a complaint with eBay, you’ll provide your delivery confirmation, and eBay will close the case. Same if they give you negative feedback for non-delivery.

If the buyer has a problem, it’s with UPS at this point, not you or eBay.

Side note: when I lived in a 4 plex, the neighbor on the ground floor (who I did not know) once hollered at me. He had my package. UPS knocked on his door, said put your John Hancock here, and left the parcel with ‘Mr. John Hancock’.

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