do you think i should call non-paying bidder?

D & G rockstar

D & G rockstar

I'm a BAL-ler now
May 12, 2006
3,874
4
#1
I have a potential non-payer situation. She won the auction last friday 5/25. She told me she'd mail out a money order which I haven't received yet. I sent her an email last thursday to see if she sent out the payment ... no response yet. So when I file a NFB w/ ebay, one of the steps says to call the other party. Has anyone done this before? I feel a little awkward calling the person. Any advice?
 
#2
I personally never call my NPBs. Why should I pay for the phone call? Email and filing the NPB alert works just fine for me.

Right now I've got a NPB from Argentina, you can bet that I'm not going to call him! I'm going to use the eBay system and get my fees back that way. He has bid on over 30 items with zero feedback and I can't wait to get him kicked off.
 
#3
To be honest, I would wait a bit longer, especially over a holiday weekend (Mon being the holiday). Sometimes the mail takes forever and it really could be on the way.

Also, maybe she is out of town, thus the reason she hasnt returned your email yet.. This past weekend was a holiday and many people extend it thru the week.

I always say "sometimes life just gets in the way of eBay"
 
#4
^^I would wait a bit longer as well (until Monday or Tuesday). After that, file a NPB alert.
But to answer the original question, I wouldn't call them either. Chances are, they gave a fake phone number. I called a seller one time to find out where my item was and lo and behold, it was the phone number to some production company that had no idea who the woman was.

Also, with my NPB's, they were active on ebay right up until it was time to pay, then they disappeared, not even answering the NPB emails. If they're really willing to work with you on it, they'll at least answer an email.
 
#6
I usually will call when I don't hear from my winning bidders. And most of the time, it works. Those that have provided false contact information get reported to eBay and NARU'd. That's rare, though.

Sometimes people bid and then just get busy with other things besides sending thru their payment. Calling them gets their attention and lets them know that you're serious about getting paid and getting their item out to them quickly.
 
#7
I have only called once when I didn't receive an item, so as a buyer not seller and lo and behold, the details were false which merely confirmed what I had feared. I wouldn't spend a lot of time chasing NPBs and so am unlikely to call, but don't rule it out completely.
 
#8
I left negative feedback for an item once, and the woman called me to ask when I was going to accept her negative feedback withdraw. She had sent it THAT DAY. i
 
#11
I wouldn't call either-I find it very uncomfortable. I too would wait 10 working days, then file and cut your losses. I've learned the hard way that there usually is no good excuse-a lag time is usually bad news.
 
#12
mooks said:
Aren't you patient sellers! Once the seven days are up and it pops up in the eligible for unpaid item reminder it gets filed!
Click to expand...


See the problem with that is, it is sometimes impossible to get mail sent and delivered within 7 days (especially during a holiday period). So, really I dont think its a matter of patience, but a matter of reality.

It is even worse being in Alaska. Anything sent from here or sent to me from the lower 48 seems via regular snail mail to take 3 times as long.

IMO, if a seller is going to accept payment that comes via the mail....maybe they should require that the payment be sent via Priority Mail and to insure it gets there within 7 days.

Regular First Class mail via USPS is absolutely unreliable....even one of my best friends who is a postal carrier says this all the time!

Anyways, good luck! I hope you get your money SOON!!:yes:
 
#13
I am guessing this is within the US but I recently sent a money order from Europe to US - the letter itself was in US after 4 days but it took another 10 days to reach California. gotta say that is a long time..... the seller had filed and I had received a NPB. fair enough, he took it back, so no problem but the mail was slow. period.

the second money order i sent still hasn't reached its destination. that is over 2 weeks now WITHIN US. granted, there was a holiday but still....

i think you should wait a bit longer. you can always issue an unpaid item reminder, and of course file for a NPB strike, and remove it later but this might not be in her hands. good luck
 
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