Been wanting a new guitar and my wife wants to get it for Christmas - so far so good. We live in Hawaii, so our best shot at selection is via the Internet; again, not so bad, lots of choices, and shipping options. Found exactly what I was looking for on Ebay from a private seller, read the ad thoroughly, opted for buy it now - hadn't been that excited about a purchase in long while. Then it started to fall apart ...
The ad specifically stated $50 shipping to the US, no caveat for HI, UK, PR, etc. as most vendors indicate. $50 is steep in my mind; I've shipped multiple long guns in a single package for less, but the seller was using UPS so I figured ok. Then the email comes, you live in HI? I'll have to check. Day goes by, then we get a refund notice with a note saying shipping was to high, sorry.
I guess I figured ebay ads were like contracts, and actually the ebay rules validate that. So if a seller posts on there what they have and what they expect, and a buyer agrees, a contract is entered. If you're not willing to stand by your ad, don't post ... that's the way I operate anyway. So I put in negative feedback and simply state seller did not honor shipping terms as posted in ad, cancelled and refunded order. The seller writes back they want me to change my feedback, and without posting the whole thing, here's the key points:
- no apology
- don't see how the buyer could expect the seller to make good on a simple mistake of one word (continental)
- pulled the "Christian" card (as if Jesus wouldn't stand by His word I take it?)
- single parent lost a business trying to pay for Christmas
- I could put negative feedback on you but I won't because it stays with you ...
Wow, have we come so far that were not willing to stand by our word? And if the seller had made an honest mistake and was in a financial bind trying to stand by their word, a simple apology and explanation would be fine by me, I understand. But to go on to browbeat someone about negative feedback, implying that holding someone accountable to their word is unchristlike ... that's just wrong.
I did change my feedback to neutral, but let my comments stand so anyone who reads the feedback will know what happened. If what they said is true, then I want to be gracious, regardless of how they handled it.
Side note: found another guitar on ebay, this time wrote the seller before I bid, told them I'd need to talk with the wife before I bid. In the time it took me to talk to her, they had moved the min bid up $100 - 0 bids, so it was the seller and not someone else. These are not people, not businesses. I think I'll find a nice shady foreign owned warehouse in New Jersey and buy my guitar from them - at least I know what I'm dealing with.
