[Suzzeee]

I've seen that seller on eBay selling Bal Bags before, but have no idea what her tpf id is. You need to protect yourself at this point - your best recourse is with you cc company - have them charge it back while attempting to resolve this with Ebay, the Seller and Google. FYI - I've had sellers use Google recently including one reputable seller of Bals - she said they just say they have their own merchant account and then sent the Google checkout when the auction ends. Not sure if that's legit which is why I always use a cc on Ebay.

[i_love_yorkie]

i really recommend using google check out, they are really fast. i can see that they protect seller first since they charge the buyer's credit card right the way, no waiting.
however,there has to be ways to protect there buyers too but i never been through so...
im very sorry. as many others suggested, try to get the money back w ur CC company. contact eBay and GOOGLE at the same time too.
be active and show that you are INTO the matter. and also tell them that she might is trying to scam you.

[Toriatan]

Originally Posted by CitCat

I have to admit, I've done this before. Mixed up items and sent them to the wrong person. And actually, I've sent something that I didn't even have listed instead of the right item. So I don't think you should jump the gun and assume she sent the wrong item on purpose, since I know it's happened to me before as a seller. Of course, I was sending clothing, so I sent a skirt instead of a pair of capri pants accidentally. But I've got a lot of long term customers who are great repeat buyers and they understood the mix-up.
But that being said, eBay is a scary place these days, and I hope this seller didn't scam you on purpose and it was an oversight on her part. Keep us posted and good luck!!

I've sold on eBay before and bought quite a lot of stuff off it as well but this is the first time stuff has gotten switched on me. I wouldn't think too much of this if not for the fact that the story keeps changing and changing. She only has positive feedback but there are only 20 of them so I don't know what's really going on with her. She's requested a picture of the vans and I've sent them to her but it's been over three hours since the request and still no response. I don't know what's going on with her. As someone else said, she's posted that she always has her blackberry with her so I don't know what's taking her so long especially since she replied really quickly to my emails right after I bought the bag. I really hope that she gives me a refund. I can't take more of this worrying and running around trying to find out what the best recourse is.

[ladybugfreckle]

Originally Posted by Toriatan

I've sold on eBay before and bought quite a lot of stuff off it as well but this is the first time stuff has gotten switched on me. I wouldn't think too much of this if not for the fact that the story keeps changing and changing. She only has positive feedback but there are only 20 of them so I don't know what's really going on with her. She's requested a picture of the vans and I've sent them to her but it's been over three hours since the request and still no response. I don't know what's going on with her. As someone else said, she's posted that she always has her blackberry with her so I don't know what's taking her so long especially since she replied really quickly to my emails right after I bought the bag. I really hope that she gives me a refund. I can't take more of this worrying and running around trying to find out what the best recourse is.

You should be able to pull her phone number on eBay. I would call her and say "Look, I understand you were sick, etc. But I am not comfortable with this transaction, I would appreciate an immediate refund or I will file a chargeback with my credit card company."

that just sucks.

[ClareBC]

Any news Toriatan?

[gillianna]

I feel that this is a scam. She probably mailed out something that had the same weight as the item you ordered and then she can say you switched items. It just is way too strange with her excuses. It is your word against hers and she has your money. She can unregister with eBay and basically I see it that you are out the money and have no way to collect. I am sure others can help you with what to do.....
I hope it gets corrected but by the way she is not replying to you I think she is thinking of a way to cover her tracks.

[Toriatan]

Oh, yes, there was a response. She emailed me back saying that she needed to see a photo of the shoes since she doesn't know what I'm talking about. Then she found out about this thread and sent me two consecitive emails ranting at me. (God forbid she sees this new post). She said that she was in a hospital but is not currently in one and because I posted that she is in the hospital, someone wrote that maybe she is in a mental hospital and it hurt. Someone did write that and of course it would hurt. I sympathise with her for that. But look, if I had posted that she was in the hospital, maybe someone would have written that maybe she was in a mental hospital. It's all just tenses. How can you rant at me for what someone else said? I have not said anything negative about her in any area not pertaining to this sale. I have not alluded to her having mental problems in ANY WAY. How can that be my fault?!?

And maybe if she was in the hospital, I would find it easily to swallow. How can you tell me that the bag might be somewhere in the house but have not found it because the house is too big when you're AT HOME? Either you have tried to find it and have found it or you tried to find it and have not found it. Or you didn't try to find it at all. But just tell me.

She also wrote that I mocked her by saying that she "haphazardly gave me the wrong tracking number." That there was no harm done as the bag was still in transit when she gave me the right tracking number. No. 1, I DO NOT mock. It is the truth yes? And No. 2, so what if the bag was still in transit when she actually gave me the right number? That DOES NOT make her mistake right. As a seller, she has the responsibility to give me the right tracking number, not just throw one at me and vamos to her holiday/hospital or whatever.

What is even more amazing is that she's had time to read through 2/3 pages of posts on this forum but has not had time to contact whoever sent the packages on her behalf to ask what actually happened. There is still no answer as to whether she will give me a refund even though she has replied a few times. I came to the states just today (17th of Jan) and I told her when I won the bag (late Dec) that I was going to the States soon so I needed the bag preferably by the 10th of Jan because I was afraid that something like this would happen. Is this wrong? She wrote me a second email soon after the first rant saying that I had said that I was going to the States soon and maybe I had lied. Gosh, I don't know about her but I think that 3 weeks is soon for me. Besides, what business is it of hers? It doesn't affect anything, does it? What, so if I was not going to the States soon, she would have sent the right package to me? I am worried about her schedule as from the emails she sent me via email, I had inferred that she was the one who had sent out the packages and supposedly she gave me the wrong tracking number because she had left the slip at her work place. But then, no. It's because someone else mailed it for her. And now she's interrogating me about these small little things and telling me that she has bad feelings about my intention and this whole transaction when she received the money in a timely fashion and I am the one left without a bag or an explanation.

I thought at first that I still wanted the bag but I became worried that someone else has it now and is wearing it and the seller would just pass that off. It's a bbag you know? I would be tempted to try one if I just found it in the mail randomly, you know? Wouldn't you? So I told her no, I just want a refund now. And I've asked her if she'll give me refund EVERY EMAIL except the first one I sent her, which was just before I started this post. The reason why I started this post is because the details just started getting fishier and fishier. I just took a better look at the packing slip and in item description, it was a bag and it was insured dfor US$1370. So Gillianna, you might be right. Another possible case would be that the address and sender name were all scrambled up and if it was lost, she would have been able to claim insurance on the bag, return my money to me and still be with US$1370 and the bag. And it's even more suspiscious as I asked her to declare a lower value on the bag and she said ok. So why the full value now? But no matter, the box is nowhere big enough to house a work. How could I have switched items when the box is not even big enough to hold the bag? Posting the details of the story is a way of sorting out this story to check in with other people who are not involved in this matter to see if my suspiscions make sense. I was also hoping to find people who have dealt with this seller before to see how their transactions have gone. I did not start this to slander her, but hey, what she does is enough to make her sound bad. She did not have time to find out what happened but had enough time to go through the "sh*t that I posted on TPF", write two long emails to condemn me and still not reply to my question of a refund or what happened to the bag.

I really don't get this. I felt really bad at first but then I was like, why am I feeling like this? Why am I interrogated and apologising for everything when a simple "Yes, I will refund you the money" or an explanation from her will calm me down and when posted on PF will calm everyone else down too? I have given her my phone number, which is Singaporean but hey, there are calling cards, Jajah, Skype etc. that make it really cheap) and have repeatedly emailed her in fear that she did not get my emails and told her of my travelling plans. I am lucky that I have internet connection here at my motel but I told her that I might not get to email for a few days (so if you are reading this, please DO NOT jump on my back and say that what I'm saying is suspiscious as well and giving you more bad feelings about my intentions).

I have filed an eBay dispute to encourage her to respond in a timely manner and at least give her some sort of deadline to respond in. I am also going to file a credit card chargeback so if she doesn't respond to my request for a refund in 10 days, the credit card company can accept this as evidence that she has not been cooperative with me and thus approve my chargeback. I have taken enough nonsense from her. Not replying to my emails is also considered to be nonsense, I feel. It is just really rude not to find out what happened and email me in a timely fashion when the fault lies with her end. She did say that she was going to the post office to find out what happened in her early morning email to me on the 16th, but it's now early morning 18th in Oklahoma and she still has not responded. I'm the one taking a plane, not her so she should be able to email me, yes? I don't know.

Thank you all for being so helpful and encouraging and supportive. I think that I would have gone crazy with all the second-guessing and questions and anger if I didn't have you all to sound things out with, no matter how angry it makes the seller. If there is anything negative you have to say about the seller's character or mental state or anything not concerning this sale though, please do not post it here as I do not want this to turn into a character-bashing thread and get ranted at even more by her. Thanks again.

[lnguyen0827]

wow...thats all i can say!!

[lv_forever]

Such an ordeal for you Toriatan! I think the seller can simply track who bought the Vans you're talking about and contact that person?
I hope everything will straighten out for you.
Good luck!

[ClareBC]

All the seller has to do is to be reasonable. "I am terribly sorry, there seems to have been a mix up, I will refund the money to you and sort this out and if you want to re-buy the bag when I have it then I will offer it to you again"

Has she actually apologised yet?

You must not worry anymore Toriatan, this has been a terrible ordeal for you but now you must just act, as you are, with all efficiency and try to get your money back through every channel open to you.

The seller has been unreasonable full stop. She has not told you the truth. Saying that her house is too big to find the bag is unbelievably rude and offensive.

Go for it, don't worry about it and when you get your money back, neg the ass off her. I hope she gets kicked off e-bay.

[rubylola]

This sounds very bad- I think from her recent emails you can assume she is up to no good, rather than this being an honest (ha!) mistake.

[Kathleen37]

She has no place getting the hump about anything, when she has sent you a pair of old trainers, instead of the bag you paid for.

Unless she gets back to to with information pertinent to this transaction, I would consider contacting her local police, as her not addressing the issue would make me think she is deliberately trying to defraud you.

She could of course prove this isn't the case, if she contacts you to sort this out, and get you the goods you paid for!!

Good luck

K
x

[ClareBC]

Originally Posted by Kathleen37

She has no place getting the hump about anything, when she has sent you a pair of old trainers, instead of the bag you paid for.

Unless she gets back to to with information pertinent to this transaction, I would consider contacting her local police, as her not addressing the issue would make me think she is deliberately trying to defraud you.

She could of course prove this isn't the case, if she contacts you to sort this out, and get you the goods you paid for!!

Good luck

K
x

I actually think this is a very good idea, to contact the police and report her for theft. It is a lot of money and she has not been helpful, indeed she is acting like the worst kind of scammer, plus she is bullying you by trying to make you feel bad about you having asked for advice on this forum. This is an ADVICE forfum, to talk about E-bay transactions, you have every right to do so.

Don't be intimidated by her - just go to the police and report her to E-bay and every other place you can.

Good luck, you will be ok. If she does turn out to be honest, then great, but so far she has been acting far from honest.

[helium]

You've gotten brilliant advice here. I wish you the best.

She has absolutely no right to talk to you like this, honest mistake or not. She did not send you the right item, and in hospital or not she still has the duty to keep you informed and at ease which she did not do.

[i_love_yorkie]

how's everything turn out, Toriatan?