Bad Purchase

[uforgot]

I made a purchase on here from a TE member. I paid through paypal, but it wasn't by credit card. After a couple of weeks I emailed the person and asked where my purchase was. Well, she had moved, couldn't get to the post office, computer was locked in her trunk, etc. I told her I would give her another week. A week went by so I made a claim through paypal. She then told me that she couldn't ship to a PO Box, so could I please send an address and she would ship UPS. Another 10 days so I escalated my claim through Paypal. 10 more days and she did not respond so Paypal decided the claim in my favor but guess what? They could not recover the funds from her account. Big surprise. She hasn't been on here since Nov. 4th either. Never thought I would be posting this sort of thing here about another member, and I'm out of ideas. Only $35, but I'm not feeling particularly nice about it.

[songlady]

I'm so sorry to hear that! It's a shame that we can't trust fellow TE'ers!

[Trek420]

I'm really sorry about this. Other than AV jerseys and buffs I've never purchased anything from a TE'er. KnottedYet bought a bike, her Waterford and that went smoothly.

I would never respond to an offer from a TE'er on their first post but once established tend to trust the group. It's a shame this happened at any cost.

[KnottedYet]

I've bought a lot of stuff from TEers, but only ones I "know."

(I will love Limewave forever for selling me her beautiful Waterford!)

[Blueberry]

I agree - that sucks! I've purchased from TE'ers (and given away/sold a couple of things), but they were either AV buffs or folks I knew. I've also had one very nice TE'er send me some capris for free (they didn't fit and she had worn them).

Grrr.....

[sandra]

That does suck. I hate it happened to you. Careful warning to not purchase from anyone that is new or only has 14 posts! I'm just thankful it was not something big like a bike!

[Velobambina]

Claudia - I'm sorry to hear about your experience. If that person posts a "for sale" again, could you please let the moderators know who it is so no one else gets cheated?

[Skierchickie]

I wonder if there is any good solution to this issue? I mean a kind, gentle, TE kind of solution. Outing people seems so cold, and yet, how else can people know if there is a problem? Personally, I've been meaning to list a Butterfly TI saddle here one of these days, but I'm relatively new, with relatively few posts, and I wouldn't say I really "know" anybody (or, more specifically, that anybody here really "knows" me). So why trust me? And, after reading a couple of the threads, how can I feel safe as a seller? I'd be pretty upset if I bought something and got ripped off by somebody who had done the same to somebody else, and was a known problem. I suppose the seller is in the safer position.

One thing I am thinking is that a person isn't necessarily evil just because they haven't been here long, or posted many times. Personally, I lurk here far more than I log in, and don't post all that frequently. Frankly, I have a lot of other things I should be doing, too, and I'm not always checking the threads (although my DH seems to think I am ). Although, I do agree that I wouldn't buy from (or sell to) anyone I've never seen here before.

I think Ebay's feedback system is a great thing - we've never been scammed yet, but it is probably complicated to implement. The thought of a separate thread where people could post names of people who they've had a bad experience with seems way icky. And would drive people away. And isn't kind OR gentle. By the way, having a buyer/seller post their Ebay ID is a good idea, but how do you know they won't just pick somebody else's ID, with a nice, clean record? If I were a scammer (and I SWEAR I am not!) I wouldn't think twice about doing something like that.

Just my 2 cents (and, I apologize, not 2 cents that will add to the fun total).

[Tuckervill]

Yes, I think a feedback system for here is bad idea, and is a departure from what this forum is really for. Lots of forums like this one don't allow any kind of buying and selling, and TE is really giving us a gift to be able to access a market so specialized as this one. I wouldn't want further development of that function of the forum to take away from all the good stuff that goes on here.

I think caveat emptor is the best policy, and it should be up to each involved party to decide how to proceed when something goes wrong. There's nothing that says the person doing the selling can't come to this thread and defend herself. That happened on a similar thread--I'm happy that the two people involved did not let it escalate to forum destruction! Those kinds of things can be so touchy, and I have seen entire forums imploded over personal vendettas that started with simple differences of opinion.

I just want to say thanks to Susan and TE for hosting the forum in the first place. It literally has changed my life.

Karen

[TriMom217]

Something like this happened on another forum that I frequent only it was a much more expensive item, a complete bike. The seller had all the usual excuses, much like yours. Well, some local posters took matters into their own hands and paid her a visit. They retrieved the bike and shipped it to it's new and rightful owner, at their own cost.

Ahhhh....the power of the internet!

anyhow, I hope you get your item.

[VeloVT]

Something like this happened on another forum that I frequent only it was a much more expensive item, a complete bike. The seller had all the usual excuses, much like yours. Well, some local posters took matters into their own hands and paid her a visit. They retrieved the bike and shipped it to it's new and rightful owner, at their own cost.

While I certainly appreciate the poetic justice of this approach , it also strikes me as vigilante justice and as such a little beyond the pale .

All the same, it really sucks that someone would do something like this. It's always hard to accept that others are dishonest.

Sorry it happened.

[sandra]

Something like this happened on another forum that I frequent only it was a much more expensive item, a complete bike. The seller had all the usual excuses, much like yours. Well, some local posters took matters into their own hands and paid her a visit. They retrieved the bike and shipped it to it's new and rightful owner, at their own cost.

Ahhhh....the power of the internet!

anyhow, I hope you get your item.

Wait one minute, was she on top of a mountain? with gravel roads down?

[uforgot]

Wait one minute, was she on top of a mountain? with gravel roads down?

And I bet it wasn't locked in the trunk of her car either. And she probably wasn't a prisoner of the person lending her a computer. (For email ONLY)
Maybe it should be a rescue trip????

[fastdogs]

[QUOTE=TriMom217;269275]Something like this happened on another forum that I frequent only it was a much more expensive item, a complete bike. The seller had all the usual excuses, much like yours. Well, some local posters took matters into their own hands and paid her a visit. They retrieved the bike and shipped it to it's new and rightful owner, at their own cost.


I like that! Good for them- that person will maybe think twice before scamming someone again. However, knowing how those people work sometimes, it's lucky the bike even existed.

vickie

[uforgot]

Who's up for a TE vacation/knicker recovery trip to New Mexico?