Ebay rant earthcandydesigns

[goose]

Grrrrrrrr - this is just a rant and a warning to anyone selling on ebay to steer well clear of earthcandydesigns (registered user in Florida). As some of you may know I have been selling some captive bred Helix pomatia on the forums and also on ebay. The advert on ebay clearly said the adults are not from the UK and were of captive bred/farmed stock from Europe (most actually bought from reputable sellers on this forum) the point being that collection of Helix pomatia from the wild in the UK is now illegal. The listing also clearly stated I would not post abroad and was registered as a UK only listing. Well this earthcandydesigns sent me a message via ebay asking me to post to Florida. I sent her a message back saying that sorry but the advert stated clearly I would not post abroad (because I am not sure of import regulations for snails in other countries, particularly the US). Anyway without waiting for my response she promptly bought all the remaining snails on the listing. I refunded her money reiterating that I could not and would not sell to her. Before I could block her from buying she again bought all the remaining snails (in the meantime sending me several (5) hassling e-mails all on the same day saying she would provide a UK forwarding address and this should be fine for me. I then had to contact ebay who were sympathetic but said all I could do was refund her money again, block her and send a cancellation of transaction request - which incidentally she was entitled to refuse. I could not then relist the remaining snails for 8 days. In the meantime the sneaky so and so has negged me saying that I had not asked her for an import permit and that therefore I am clearly selling illegally captured wild snails (despite me stating they are captive bred babies). I am soooooo angry - particulary as ebays new regulations mean that as a seller I have absolutely no recourse to respond to this slanderous allegation. Anyway I have telephoned ebay to say I have import records for all of my adult roman snails and proof of their captive bred or farmed origin and the reason why I had not asked for import permits was that the auction was clearly stated (and registered) as UK only!!!! I have registered a formal complaint with them and now have to wait the outcome of that. Anyway. Feel better after that rant ;D Flipping ebay is such a PAIN sometimes, everyone I have sold to apart from her the transactions have been a pleasure but there is ALWAYS one person that seems to put you off bothering at all!!!

[emmalou1612]

I have found that with ebay, not as a seller but as a buyer, most are brilliant and I will only use those with at least 96 -97% positive feedback. But have had 1 or 2 problems in the past and had to open disputes with paypal!! It makes you feel bad even though its not your fault.

You go girl!! Good luck with ebay

[coyote]

Sorry to hear that. You are right, all it takes is one unreasonable buyer to make the whole thing unpleasant.

I don't use eBay, so I'm not sure -- can sellers leave negative feedback/comments about buyers? If so, did this buyer have any history of complaints from other sellers? Also, did this buyer leave negative feedback for other sellers that sounded unreasonable? Sometimes "problem children" become easy to spot because of the kinds of comments they leave for others or have left for themselves.

Also, this buyer has created a "paper trail" of emails proving her intent to defraud you by circumventing the UK-only restriction on the sale. You can use that in your defense if need be.

[daniellejess]

It's true, there always has to be someone who has to cause trouble & it doesn't matter how many positives you get, the negatives always overshadow them. You have all the evidence against her though so she can't say much

Apr 6, 2010 18:37:55 GMT coyote said:

I don't use eBay, so I'm not sure -- can sellers leave negative feedback/comments about buyers?

Sellers are no longer allowed to leave neutral or negative feedback due to many of them leaving the buyers negatives when they did the same to them, in other words revenge feedback. Not sure when this was introduced, wasn't too long ago I don't think. I have seen a few bad comments against positive signs but unless you go through & read them all it's difficult to see who are bad buyers.

[goose]

Thanks guys, I have certainly kept all the e-mails and yes daniellejess is right, as a seller I no longer have the right to respond to negative feedback received from a buyer. I notice that the feedback has been removed today but her comments still remain in the case section of the ebay profile. I will await the outcome of the complaint. I think she has basically thrown her toys out of the pram because I refused to sell to her and taken her revenge with unsubstantiated comments but it is definitely hard to swallow and what is annoying is that potentially my reputation as a seller is damaged and I have no recourse to defend myself to people who don't know the whole story. Anyhoo............still hasn't put me off selling to the majority of people I know they have gone to good homes!!

[coyote]

I think that's horrible that eBay won't let sellers tell their side of the story when a buyer leaves unwarranted negative feedback. How do they expect sellers to put up with that?

[daniellejess]

I hope the outcome is in your favour, that's exactly why she's doing it because she wouldn't be sold the snails even though it was clear on the ad you wouldn't post international. I hope your reputation isn't ruined, it doesn't deserve to be, I bought two of these from you & couldn't have asked for a better seller.

Apr 7, 2010 20:57:58 GMT coyote said:

I think that's horrible that eBay won't let sellers tell their side of the story when a buyer leaves unwarranted negative feedback. How do they expect sellers to put up with that?

It's so unfair on the seller. I'm only a buyer on there but still don't think it's right. It's still ok for buyers to give bad feedback just because they don't get their own way but the other way around it's not. Sellers just don't really have any rights whatsoever, even most disputes favour the buyer.

[aerliss]

That sellers cannot give negative feedback has been in effect for a few years. I remember it hitting the news reports.

There was a lot of revenge feedback going on and some of it was linked to fraud. Ebay proposed and worked on a lot of solutions and this was the best one. It's harsh and can often be very unfair (especially when Ebay can't be bothered to deal with real disputes), but at least it's A solution. A seller can leave an explanation under negative comments and they can get them removed... takes a while though. And as I say; sometimes Ebay just don't seem to care.

I hope the dispute works out, Goose. Do you have a shop? I will probably be in the market for a few non-GALS soon so I can help get your feedback up XD

[goose]

Hi aerliss no shop and I haven't relisted on ebay due to the hassle! They have removed the feedback comment she left as since I refunded her the transaction didn't technically complete. In terms of taking it further to have her comments on the case report removed I have just received a flannelling response from ebay so have now reached the conclusion I am just banging my head against the wall and given it up as a bad job!!

I still have approx 13 baby Helix pomatia to go at £1.00 each if you are interested later in the year.

[aerliss]

Cool. I'll need to find out what my little rescued guy is before I buy any, but I'll let you know/keep an eye on classifieds.