Angry messages and PMs from sellers/buyers

[just a normal guy kevin]

Long story short, I recently left neutral feedback for a transaction where the LP was over-graded and eventually refunded by eBay via a courtesy refund (eBay refunds you, tells you to just keep the item, etc).  

 

I was super mild with the neutral feedback too, just writing "LP condition not as described. Seller was quick & helpful with refund. Thanks."  At the time I wrote it, I felt weird about getting an over-graded record and not mentioning it for future buyers to consider.  Not to ruin the seller's business but so buyers can at least double-check the condition before they buy and not have a similar experience as I did.  Not my job at all to give that heads up to other buyers but I figured "Hey, eBay is giving me blinking notices in my dashboard about leaving feedback so I might as well..."

 

Anyway, the next day, I received a 3+ paragraph long manifesto from the seller about how I was a scammer and liar (which he knew all along) and that I somehow conned eBay into giving me a courtesy refund, so that I wouldn't have to return the LP and reveal that I was lying about the condition being not as described.

 

As dumb and obviously silly as the message was (he said I suspiciously waited weeks to ask for a refund, when he was the one who originally offered me a refund 8 days after the auction closed, and the refund was completed less than 14 days after the auction ended   ), it still spikes my anxiety a bit to have e-confrontation and wildly inaccurate dates and conspiracy theories against me fired into my consciousness.  I just want to be chill and listen to records, you know.  Not in my bathroom at midnight wondering if I should reply and politely clear my name of the top serious accusations or not reply and be the cool, unflinching man I wish I could be (or whether I should start taking Paxil again  ).

 

With that said, the main purpose of my own little manifesto here is to solicit your experiences with buyers or sellers who have accused you of being Leonardo DiCaprio from "Catch Me If You Can" (but with $20 records instead of millions of dollars).  It would help me, and perhaps others, to hear how common and silly and not a big deal being harassed over vinyl transactions is.  Share your stories and spread some good, humorous vibes.

 

Thanks.

[dork337]

Ugh everyone over grades records.

[icecream]

Wait ,so you got to keep the item plus a refund ?!

[just a normal guy kevin]

Yes.  In some cases, eBay will refund a buyer for the item out of eBay's own pocket, tell the buyer to keep the item, and the seller won't receive any effect.  I've only asked for a refund twice on eBay so I don't know if this is common.

[inlimbo]

I wouldn't lose sleep over it dude, he's just sour to lose out, although it is unfortunate for him. But being disingenuous just to sell an item has its minor consequences. Guess he'll have to rethink his listings from now on.

Although If it were me (and not speaking out against you or your character) i'd just mail his shitty item back to him so he'd shut the fuck up and everyone could be at peace.

[icecream]

Well then I can't really blame him for being irate. I understand your end on this but that is just completely fucked.

ronniethebear ( i mean ebay) will just continue to get worse for sellers.

[soundboard]

I'm not a big fan of ebay at all. I'm more than a little paranoid about sketchy sellers and/or buyers. So he got to keep the original money you paid for the record and ebay just gave you their money? No harm no foul on either party?

 

I think ebay can be kind of crappy. He may have also been scammed in that way before (I'd say it could be common with ebay). Just figured you were one of the many. I always try and remember that people don't know who you are online. It's not an attack on your character because he doesn't know you.

[orangesix]

Whatever you do with you time and money is your own business, but I think record collectors are too picky about grading. Nitpicking over minor surface marks ard superficial damage. Just buy the fucking record, or don't, and listen to the damn thing. If something comes completely warped and/or unplayable I can understand. Otherwise, do you really expect every online seller to be an expert record grader? And if they're not, that automatically makes them sketchy or malicious. 

[just a normal guy kevin]

I think it's pretty punk rock and awesome if you go through life with a two grade system- 'warped/unplayable' and 'fucking buy it'- but I can't really use that system in the shared reality that I must opt into each time I sell/buy records from actual people. 

[kamalatapes]

Brother, I don't think eBay covered the refund. "Seller was quick & helpful with refund. Thanks." Looks like it came out of the sellers pocket no? Judging from the story, the seller looks to have gotten screwed on this. You could always message the guy, in fact eBay double checks you and asks, "are you sure you want to leave negative or neutral feedback." At least give the guy a shot at making it up to you. This might sound trite but some people actually depend on those sales to put dinner on the table

[itsWetWilly]

Yeah. The only thing I can think to do would be to contact him and nicely ask if the refund came out of his pocket. If it did, he deserves the item back IMO. Either way, though, fuck it.

[MonkeysUncleByMarriage]

I have had similar experiences on ebay.  One time, I needed a gift for a birthday present.  I emailed a lady, who had listed she would ship priority.   I asked her, before bidding, if she would ship immediately once I bought.   Seeing how she had advertised priority, it would make it here, but right under the date for the birthday (about six days from the day I would have won the auction).   She wrote me a long email about how she definitely would ship it quickly, with the method advertised and she was a long time trusted ebay user. 

 

Well, I won the item.   The birthday came and went, I had no item.  I emailed her numerous times over the course of about 2 and a half weeks.  I always got an excuse how "you can't trust the postal office".   I then finally received the item, and it was shipped media mail.   Not only did she falsely advertise her shipping method, she assured me prior to winning of that shipping method.   However, the item was as advertised.   I, as you did, simply left neutral feedback stating that item was as advertised but should have been shipped with the method paid for.  She left me a nasty feedback about how "This user doesn't understand postal rates or the post office!"

 

Ebay looked into it, removed her feedback and refunded me my s&h costs.   So, all in all, I was happy.  I didn't mind paying for the item as it was as advertised.  

 

In your case, I think the refund offered was appropriate for the difference.  But did you get a full refund or just a portion to account for the grading difference?  It seems to me, to make both seller and buyer happy and if you wanted to keep the record, to just offer a portion of the refund back for said difference.   Otherwise, refund all and ship his record back to him.  I have a hard time finding sympathy for people who false advertise, but there could have been a better solution.

[sirrichardrichard]

It sounds like it was solved before you left the feedback.

[psus2h]

Bake, report it to eBay. It is completely unacceptable, they don't take these types of things lightly.

[Jamie Rarity]

I would only leave neutral or negative feedback if things weren't right in the end.  If they give me a refund with no trouble, especially if I get to keep the item and don't need to go through the hassle of shipping it back, then they deserve good feedback imo.

[derby625]

I bought a used "NM" record on discogs that arrived with mold inside the sleeve/water damage and big scratches on the record.

The seller accused me and USPS for the damage (mind you the packaging was not damaged or had any sign of getting wet) and then told me the price was fair, even if it was damaged. He was a total jerk in every pm

I was willing to either send it back or get a couple bucks refunded for the damage. The seller didn't want to do either.

Much to my surprise, PayPal refunded me and I got to keep the record.

[GradedOnACurve]

I find it best in cases like this to not leave feedback at all. If I got to keep the record and got money back (from ebay) I'd lay low and leave it alone. If it came out of the seller's pocket I'd just mail it back.

[psus2h]

I would only leave neutral or negative feedback if things weren't right in the end. If they give me a refund with no trouble, especially if I get to keep the item and don't need to go through the hassle of shipping it back, then they deserve good feedback imo.

Yeah. I agree. I once had an album go missing that the seller refused to take responsibility for. eBay says it's the sellers responsibility until the buyer gets it safely. I contacted eBay and they refunded me, I didn't leave any feedback.

Bake, it's entirely up to you, I can understand leaving it, but myself I usually look the other way if things get resolved as you have indicated. Good luck man.

[TFP]

This is BS, selling on eBay is hard enough without having to worry about record nerds and "over-grading"

I mean, you got a refund AND kept the record?

Is the record listenable?

Was it THAT expensive?

In my opinion you should have maybe received a partial refund AND left positive feedback, especially if the refund came from the sellers money. 

[circuit bored records]

Yeah, that refund came out of the sellers pocket for certain. eBay never covers the cost of a refund in any event. They automatically deduct it from the sellers PayPal account (much like a PayPal claim you file against someone) even if it takes their account into the negative. I'd be pretty pissed if I were the seller as well.

[Stravinsky]

Yeah, that refund came out of the sellers pocket for certain. eBay never covers the cost of a refund in any event. They automatically deduct it from the sellers PayPal account (much like a PayPal claim you file against someone) even if it takes their account into the negative. I'd be pretty pissed if I were the seller as well.

 

FALSE.

 

Ebay Courtesy refund = SleazeBay does not find the seller at fault and issue's a refund out of their own pocket. Used in cases where the condition of the item is highly subjective, buyer didn't receive item but tracking states otherwise, etc.

 

 

The combo of the ebay buyer protection policy (lack of seller option for negative feedback, deciding in favor of the buyer 99.999% of the time, etc.) and the entitlement generation have ruined ebay. If we could only return to the glory days 15 years ago...

[Mourning Wood]

OP you should mention your ebay user name so those who would like to avoid potential future conflicts with you can simply add you to their blocked buyers list.

[russtcb]

I try very hard to inspect and play records as soon as I can and then contact the seller with any issues. If there are any visual issues like something wildly over graded just on sight, I take the best picture I can and shoot it to the seller. Nine times out of ten, I get a reply apologizing and offering a deal, which I usually take.

 

I've taken a partially refund in the few cases where I've had an issue. I bought a Pink Floyd 7" that was graded NM but had a large chip on the outer ring. The record was packed really well so I was pretty sure it wasn't a situation where it was damaged in shipping. I sent a pic to the seller, he apologized and offered a partial refund. I could still play the record as long as I was careful, so I took it and we left positive feedback for each other.

 

The last time I can remember it happening was with a Sam Cooke 7". The seller not only over graded it, but took a long time to ship. When it arrived, it was G at best on sight alone, but it was graded NM-  when it was listed. I gave it a spin just to be sure and it sounded awful. It took me a couple of PMs to get any reply which was that the seller wanted to send another copy. I declined and said I'd rather go with someone else since I'd already waited a long time for this copy just to be disappointed. I offered to send it back if he wanted, but he never replied. He just issued a refund so I bought it from someone else and tossed the bad one.

 

I left neutral feedback seeing as he did issue a refund, but I left a comment saying that he took a long time to ship, the record was over graded by a long shot but that he did issue a refund. He never left any feedback for me and never did reply any further.

[itsgoodtobefree]

Ugh everyone over grades records.

Yeah no kidding. Every one of my 10 Discogs purchases over the last 6 months has been overgraded. Either a lot of sellers don't know what "near mint" means or I have bad luck. 

[ajhall04]

Yeah no kidding. Every one of my 10 Discogs purchases over the last 6 months has been overgraded. Either a lot of sellers don't know what "near mint" means or I have bad luck. 

I usually just play it safe and grade everything VG+, even if rarely played or sealed (undergrading?) Not sure if that is the correct thing to do, but people can be real picky. Never had an issue as far as feedback with Ebay or Discogs, so I guess it's working. I collect a bunch of early garage 45's, and finding something with any imperfections is extremely rare. However, with newer records I can understand the plight. That said, if it plays, sounds good, I am generally happy.