buyer falsely accusing me for misrepresenting the item

baystatejem · Posts: 110

hi, fellow sellers and ecrater administrators,

a buyer claims that the DVD item he purchased is missing a comic book. the item does NOT include a comic book, my listing does NOT promise a comic book, and Amazon sells the same item with the same upc code and their sellers tell me there is no comic book included in this item.

now, the buyer has been threatening me with a negative feedback and a charge back unless i "correct the errors."

i would like to report this buyer to ecrater and stripe which he used for payment.

i can't seem to find a way to email ecrater --- i rarely email the ecrater administrators, and don't remember where to go to email them.

please help.

MaggietheCatsMeows · Posts: 2853

At the bottom of the eCRATER home page is a contact link in fine print. Click on that and you will get a drop down menu to direct your inquiry.

As for negative feedback, eCRATER will remove negs that are unfair after they look at the situation.

I've never dealt with Stripe over a dispute so can't advise you there. You might want to collect your proof from the other sellers' listings. Take screen shots of the other listings and your listing to submit.

baystatejem · Posts: 110

thanks a lot maggie. baystatejem

tigercreekgifts · Posts: 6293

Stripe has no seller protection, so if the buyer files a chargeback they will take the money from you, no questions asked and charge you a chargeback fee and you will have to dispute it with the buyer's bank or CC company which can 4-6 weeks. So good luck!

I swear, sounds like you have the same buyer I got last year. He swore the video game I listed was supposed to include a comic art book and the listing never said that at all and never showed any pics of a comic book either and he threatened me too, argued with me for 3 weeks, even after paypal ruled in my favor when I showed them proof, he wouldn't let it go and started harrassing me via email.

baystatejem · Posts: 110

tigercreekgift,

sorry about the horrific experience. i believe that there is a website where sellers have compiled a blacklist of defrauding buyers. i keep a short black list of my own, for my own protection. this "buyer" will be added to those lists, for sure. he's been bombarding me with emails with spurious arguments and outright threats. i don't even open them any more.

i can deal with the credit card company and take care of the charge back on my own. yeah, 4-6 weeks is a little long for a big ticket item to be settled, but my case is not big enough to cause a financial problem.

i hope ecrater will not let an unwarranted slanderous "feedback" affect my sale in the peak shopping season of the year. that's what this "buyer" is blackmailing me with.

thanks for your reply. good to know that i'm not alone in this.

baystatejem

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

This sounds like an easy one for eCRATER to decide in your favor as long as you can show them the emails you have received as well as the original listing.

rednsx · Posts: 8

I am the buyer in this transaction. baystatejem advertised an item that is supposed to come with a comic book, but he only sent the DVD.

When I asked him to correct the mistake, he threatened to turn me over to the "cyber crimes unit" and sue me. It was only after my initial request was ignored, and my subsequent requests for customer support were rudely denied that I posted negative feedback on his account. (I see he has since managed to have it removed)

All I wanted was to receive the item I ordered.

rednsx · Posts: 8

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

@rednsx -- You opened a store here so you could respond to this thread? Without seeing the actual listing, we can't judge, but if the listing did not say that a comic was included nor did the photo (s) show a comic was included, to claim is was supposed to come with one and ask for it is well, silly might be the word. One the hardest things that sellers have to put up with is buyers reading more into their listings and having expectations for a product than what was promised in the listing. With no comic mentioned or promised, there is no reason to have expected to get one. If this was a concern for you, you are always free to send a seller a question to be sure whatever you are looking for would be included.

I sell sewing patterns and even though I am very specific about the fact that what I am selling is a sewing patterns, several times a year a person will buy the pattern thinking they are getting a tremendous deal and then be upset because it wasn't a fully made garment in their size and color without them even trying to clarify that with me. Sewing patterns in case you don't know usually have 2 or more versions of the garment or item on the front of the envelope as well as size ranges and suggested fabrics, all of which are detailed in my listings yet still people think they will get something already made up. This is an assumption on their part, not a failure on mine.

I think perhaps you also were making an assumption as well, although I would have to see the entire listing page to be sure. But I'm not the judge, the eCRATER team is and they apparently found for the seller that no comic was mentioned or promised and thus no call for a negative feedback.

tigercreekgifts · Posts: 6293

I agree with Moon. It seems a little over the top to be following a seller around to the point of opening a store where they sell just so you can keep an eye on their comments.

Now I really am wondering if this is the same person that bought from me too, either that or the customer is not understanding and is making the same assumptions my buyer made. Buyer bought a game from me and the manufacturer makes a standard version (with game only) and also a deluxe edition that comes with a game, comic art book, and a few other goodies. The version I sold was the original version with game only, still had the unbroken plastic seal on it and the buyer insisted that since the manufacturer also makes another version that includes a comic book and poster, that my game should've included those items even though the game I listed was NOT the deluxe version that actually comes with those items and the description never said anything about a comic book because there wasn't one.

And the buyer accused me of shorting his order, even though the game he got was still factory sealed and told me my listing was misleading. I told the buyer, nothing was misleading because I never mentioned a comic book at all so how is that misleading? They said, well the listing wasn't really misleading but since the other versions come with a comic book I expected this one would too. The versions with the comic book and extra goodies were selling for $36 used at that time and around $64 new. I was selling the standard game-only edition brand new for $17.99 and he expected to get $64 worth of bonus items for only $17.99.

In that situation, ecrater removed the negative feedback too and the buyer would not let up on it. Started harassing me for 3 weeks via private email to remind me of how I really did deserve the negative he left until I finally blocked him. So my point is, just because a dvd or game manufacturer makes a version that includes a free comic book, if the seller does not say "by the way this includes a comic book too!" then it's not the seller's fault if the buyer just assumes the copy they bought included the book. This is why it helps to ask questions before buying, so the seller can explain what version they are selling if there are any doubts.

tigercreekgifts · Posts: 6293

IMO, Seems like some people are just pretending to not know the difference between the various versions and claiming they thought all copies included the extra goodies so they can either intentionally get their order for free or because they did not read the listing and made an assumption based on what other sellers were offering. Not saying this is what Bay State's buyer did because we cannot see the listing but some sellers over at ebay are complaining of the same thing happening to them when their description and photos never mentioned a thing about coming with extra items. So the more I hear accounts of this happening, the more it seems like just another elaborate scam to me.

I have seen countless sellers over the last few years whose buyers would make assumptions about a video game or dvd but would try to say the seller was misleading instead of just admitting that they made an incorrect assumption about seller A's listing because of what seller B had in their listing. I understand that we humans hate admitting our own faults, but it's completely unfair for a buyer to hurt a seller's good reputation because they did not research their purchase before paying.

So many people think they have to provide a really good excuse to get a seller to issue a refund so instead of just telling the truth and saying hey I messed up can I return this, they think they have to claim non-existant damages or say an item was missing for their return to actually be accepted. While some sellers are indeed stubborn over this, there are others who will actually allow a return just because the customer requested one.

And when the other sellers are charging $60+ for their copies while seller A was only charging $20 that should trigger a person to read into the listing a little further and find out why but It's like Moon said, instead of investigating to figure out why Seller A is offering theirs for so much cheaper and why seller A does not mention any bonus items, people just assume that seller A is offering the exact same items as the other sellers for one heck of a value.

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

@Tiger, I know you are way younger than me, but this is something huge and very sad IMHO that I keep seeing over the last decade. And the internet buying selling has made it even worse and that is the no one wants to take responsibility for their own actions and mistakes. Always is the other guys fault. If I make a mistake with a seller, I will bend over backwards to fix it, more than fix it actually so my buyer is made 'whole'. Because I hate losing money, I also try very hard to keep those incidents down to a minimum. But it also means I can be pretty stubborn when the buyer makes a mistake I refuse to pay for it. Such as wrong addresses, wrong sizes, wrong item (thinking they are getting a brand new winter coat when all they bought was a coat pattern), etc. Why should I be taking money out of my pocket to cover their mistakes? Yes, I realize that the big box stores can afford to do this, but from what I have seen, they sort of have to since they do make so many mistakes in shipping themselves. I however, can't afford to cover mistakes that people make like refunding an order that has already shipped because someone used their bosses credit card to buy something! I don't think most sellers realize that we get hit with a charge if they buy something and then immediately turn around and ask to cancel an order. Sure it may not seem like much, but 30 cents here, and other postage purchase for a wrong address there and it hits our bottom line pretty hard especially on these slow months when we have sold hardly anything at all anyhow. Many/most of us are selling because we need the money. What I sold this weekend is going to go right into my local grocery store tomorrow, so if in a week someone wants a refund because they can't make their garment before Christmas and want to send it back, we have already 'eaten' up their money.

rednsx · Posts: 8

rednsx · Posts: 8

Shaelily · Posts: 328

By looking at a screenshot of the listing, I would have to fully agree with rednsx. Even though the photo in the listing is a stock photo, it does show the disc and comic book set, an actual (and better) photo of the set is here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-IV-A-New-Hope-NEW-DVD-RARE-Comic-Book-Limited-Edition-/390732904721. The item in the photo states that the set comes with a "Bonus Graphic Novel".
baystatejem also specifically states "limited comic book edition" in the title. If I was the buyer, I would most definitely expect to receive that entire DVD and "graphic novel" combo and would rightly be upset if I was sent something different.

The seller should have used an actual photo of the item if it was not brand new and sealed. If the comic book was not included it should never have been mentioned in the title. That is purposely misleading. The listing does state "discs and packaging are all intact" thus the buyer should have also received the box that is pictured. Rednsx states that he did not even receive the box.