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Latest eBay Annoyance (Feedback Extortion Content)


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Just blowing off steam here, really- feel free to ignore.

I've got 2000 positive feedbacks over 15 years on eBay. I do a lot of selling. Some records, some DVDs and whatnot. Last year I went through my collection and started an eBay store with everything I didn't really need anymore- gave up variant collecting and all that. Mostly positive experiences, with the occasional dickbag. But this one has me really furious.

I have a record up at $15 OBO. I had two copies of it for sale, so I was willing to let them go for $10 each. A guy writes and asks what my lowest price is. No problem- totally fair question. I reply that I'd take $10, but that I probably set the auto-decline to $10.01, which s something I do out of habit. I'd take any offer above that.

He submits an offer of $10.02 and I accept. He immediately messages me with just this: "???" I reply that I'm not sure what his question is. Apparently, he has also submitted an offer of $9 which got auto-declined so I didn't even see it. He replies, "oh just wanted to see if you'd take $9"

I'm a bit annoyed at this point, but my girlfriend suggests that maybe he's slow. So I reply very politely: "Sorry, $10 is the lowest I can go on this record. Do I need to cancel the transaction?"

"naw dont cancel will you take $9.50?"

Now I think I'm being fucked with so I just cancel the transaction. The story should end here. But eBay is a buyer's market, so he has to accept the cancellation (even though the reason I gave is that the buyer made a mistake) before it actually gets canceled. So of course he declines my cancellation request and replies, "ill do it for $10 plus shipping sorry. no offence just tryin to get as low as i can sorry again"

Okay, he's sorry. But I've already got a bad feeling about this transaction. Someone that desperate to save $.50 on a record is not someone I really want to be dealing with. So he pays and sends two separate messages. One asking to write "Do Not Bend" on the package- no problem there, totally fair and legit request. But he also asks this in that message: "and if you have a bonus extra or free bee can u send it with it and pack it well pls and thanks" Dude has the balls to ask for more shit from me after harassing me about $.50. The he asks me to send him the newest looking o of the two, with the best sticker on the sleeve (it's a pic disc). I'm annoyed that I should even bother, but I look at both stickers and one has a little more wear than the other so I send him the cleaner one.

As expected, as soon as dude gets the record, I get the dreaded "Item not as described" message from him. Here's how it goes:

did you send me the better one of the 2? because theres some damage in the center where the hole is that i didnt know about? and there is no uk sticker on my plastic sleve? sorry and thanks

"Yes I sent you the better of the two. There was wear on the sticker of the other (the one with the import sticker). The "damage" you speak of is prom the production. As far as I know, the record I sent you has never been played."

yah the record store i just took it to said it was at least played on 1side forsure and maybe both? but like i said the paper is pushed in alitte and wear in the center circle/hole? can you please give me a small partial refund and we can be done with this matter... ttys

Holy shit. Dude thinks I'll believe he took it to a record store to get checked out. To be clear, the description of the record was NM- and there's now way there was anything wrong with this fucking record. It was fine. I'd had it in my collection for 15 years. So I reply:

"You are welcome to return the item at your cost for a full refund, per my return policy."

I figure I'm fucked at this point. He'll leave negative feedback and there goes my 100%. Whatever. But then he goes on to say

no offence and no thank you i spent enough already lol? can could and or would you give a small partial refund at least please? then i can do five star5 on everythin thanx best regards and happy ebaying

Ahhh... the jig is up. Dude wants to extort some money from me to maintain my feedback. Well I'm not giving in.

"The answer is no. I'm sorry I couldn't provide a 5 star experience for you."

His response?

sorry ur sorry. and u cant even do $2 or something im not looking or asking for much my fellow ebayer?? thanks

I'm done replying at this point. The next day I get this:

sorry n no offence, i gave u a day to chill/think.. can u give a 2$ partial refund at the least please? it was played on one side for surely///.... thanx

And then, tonight, this:

there goes your 100%, ow well you dont care and didnt care!! thanks soooo much for helping me out not even a tad or a little anyway happy ebaying shot2the head kobean ha ah....

The latter bit is a gag on my Nirvana-related eBay name I guess.

So I go through all the hoops of submitting a feedback review request and mark that last message as feedback extortion with eBay. I have no idea if they'll even look at it, but I am absolutely furious that I have no real recourse other than to reply to his negative feedback with a "Dude is a lunatic. Ignore this." and wait for it to fade off my radar. I can't even smite the dude.

At any rate, just needed to get that all down while I'm still angry about it. Anyone else have experiences with douchebag feedback extorters on eBay? I guess I could've just given him the $2, but I don't want the terrorists to have won, y'know?

UPDATE

I almost don't believe it myself, but after submitting the Feedback Extortion report, eBay gave me a number to call and I just talked to an actual person about this. I gave him the rundown and he read through the messages and the other feedback he'd left concerning getting his precious partial refunds. The feedback will be removed within the hour and the buyer has been reported to eBay's Trust & Safety team.

I've gotten so used to having no recourse for this sort of thing that I'm almost in shock. Sweet, vindictive shock.

NEW UPDATE (07/24/12)

Dude called me on the telephone yesterday about a new record I listed. No joke. Skip ahead to page 3 for the full story. He is actually insane. Please block users m6m6m6m and kanebly.

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Some people will do anything to save a dollar. Hopefully ebay replies to your claim but if they don't just realize that 1 negative feedback isn't going to hurt you. I have 1300 positive feedbacks on ebay and 1 negative. The guy that left me the negative didn't even contact me that he was unhappy with record, just left me the bad feedback. I sent him multiple messages telling him he's welcomed to a refund but I never received a reply. It pissed me off for a while but now I realize that it comes with the territory of being a seller on ebay with little to no rights.

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I would have given them a $0.50 refund.

That way they get the $9.50 price and a partial refund.

Clever!

Will PM the username to anyone who wants it. Don't want him to be able to Google his own username and find it- want to make sure the eBay review shows no wrongdoing on my part (i.e. calling him a dickbag).

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Some people will do anything to save a dollar. Hopefully ebay replies to your claim but if they don't just realize that 1 negative feedback isn't going to hurt you. I have 1300 positive feedbacks on ebay and 1 negative. The guy that left me the negative didn't even contact me that he was unhappy with record, just left me the bad feedback. I sent him multiple messages telling him he's welcomed to a refund but I never received a reply. It pissed me off for a while but now I realize that it comes with the territory of being a seller on ebay with little to no rights.

Not really sweating any long term ramifications. Just currently very angry about there being so little I can do about it. THERE'S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY

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At least you weren't dealing with someone off craigslist... nobody can stab you through the internet.

People like that suck balls. If you let it get to you, then they've won. Losing 100% blows, but the fact that you've made it through 2000 people with 100% is a feat dude! With all the crazies on the internet, you've been lucky.

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PM me his username so if he ever sells anything I can false bid the shit out of it or buy it and then claim I never got it.

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Told the story to a friend of mine who just sifted through the feedbacks this guy left for others. They're a fucking treat, let me tell you. Many of them are "got damaged in shipping thx for partial refund" and "was a little bent so got partial refund." It's just his little scheme on eBay. Unreal.

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i would also like a pm.

i am dealing with a similar situation right now over a $1.50 dvd. the dude purchased it and then opened a case when he didnt get it two days later. i responded and told him to please be patient, media mail is what it is. he gets it and opens another case saying its not as described. i message him and ask him what the problem is and he says it not the right dvd which is fucking impossible. i refuse to refund this asshole. it does have a different cover but that is the only difference. it was a rental so it has a blockbuster exclusive cover which was stated in the description, same movie. he is convinced it is a different movie altogether. i am asking for a picture before i do anything else with it.

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