PROBATION DISCUSSIONS 21 21

[Dr Chaos]

Stating you think the buyer switched books is lame in my opinion.

 

I have pictures of the book that I sent.

 

They do not match the pictures of the book that the buyer sent to me.

 

The book did not leave my possession until I packed it securely and sent it.

 

The buyer presented no evidence to substantiate the possibility of the book having been damaged during shipping.

 

When I communicated with the buyer I kept my suspicions to myself and made no accusations. Instead I apologized to him, met his demand of a partial refund, and endured his rants.

 

If he wants to come out here and point fingers after all of that I am sorry but the gloves are off.

[sufunk]

Hey, it wouldn't be the 1st time a book was switched. I'm not saying it happened but it certainly has before.

 

Post the pic from your sales thread and the pic he sent you after receiving it and let's see what it looks like.

 

On a side note, I'm not a modern guy but it seems like a VERY bad idea to even intimate that a book WILL get a 9.8 to a buyer who expressly wants a 9.8. Nobody can guarantee that. If they HAVE to have a 9.8, buy it slabbed otherwise go into it knowing there's at least a decent chance it isn't going to happen

[skypinkblu]

You realize that this is all over a $6.00 difference in a refund? On the chance that you are wrong, wouldn't it be easier to just give him the $6.00? A little bit of kindness in a transaction can go a long way.

 

What disturbs me, and I'm sure other people here as well, is your statement about the book being worth more somewhere else. That is not relevant at all, this is where you sold it. Lots of people, (including myself) sell things here on a regular basis for less than we might get on eBay. The premise for me is, there are no fees here, and the transactions are less worrisome. That's the joy of this marketplace.

 

 

 

[comicdonna]

You realize that this is all over a $6.00 difference in a refund? On the chance that you are wrong, wouldn't it be easier to just give him the $6.00? A little bit of kindness in a transaction can go a long way.

 

What disturbs me, and I'm sure other people here as well, is your statement about the book being worth more somewhere else. That is not relevant at all, this is where you sold it. Lots of people, (including myself) sell things here on a regular basis for less than we might get on eBay. The premise for me is, there are no fees here, and the transactions are less worrisome. That's the joy of this marketplace.

 

 

I would have not been happy if a seller made me "prove" my case with pics over this amount of money.

[sufunk]

$6 ?!?

 

[Speedy-D]

The amount of the transaction is as irrelevant as the amount he could sell it for elsewhere, no?

[Bio-Rupp]

Six whole dollars.... ?

[Speedy-D]

Hey man, I can feed a starving Cockatiel for 3 months on six bucks (if I keep her starving...)

[Bosco685]

Six whole dollars.... ?

 

 

[N/A]

The amount of the transaction is as irrelevant as the amount he could sell it for elsewhere, no?

 

No, it is not.

[skypinkblu]

Please pm me your paypal address, I'd like to send your poor starving Cockatiel a gift certificate for dinner for a month;) (I hope you spelled that right, Dan, cause spell check is yelling at me;)

[Dr Chaos]

Hey, it wouldn't be the 1st time a book was switched. I'm not saying it happened but it certainly has before.

 

Post the pic from your sales thread and the pic he sent you after receiving it and let's see what it looks like.

 

On a side note, I'm not a modern guy but it seems like a VERY bad idea to even intimate that a book WILL get a 9.8 to a buyer who expressly wants a 9.8. Nobody can guarantee that. If they HAVE to have a 9.8, buy it slabbed otherwise go into it knowing there's at least a decent chance it isn't going to happen

 

My first instinct when the buyer asked me if the book was a 9.8 was to tell him to jump in a lake and as the whole thing unfolded I was kicking myself.

 

Here are the pictures of the books I sent:

 

Chew 17

 

front

 

 

back

 

 

Chew 18

 

front

 

 

back

 

 

The link the buyer attached for the book (Chew 17) received is no longer available but there the flaws in his picture were not there when I sent the book (and was not due to the packaging).

 

This was never about six dollars. It was extortion. If I gave him the nine dollars he asked for I think we would be having a conversation about how he deserved the rest of his money back too.

 

When I asked this guy how I could make things up to him his initial answer is "well I don't want to return the book I guess I am just stuck then". Then he comes back the next day, throws more insults at me, goes into an unjustified tirade about the packaging and asks for a partial refund for half of the purchase price.

 

As much as I felt like telling him to jump in a lake at that point I made a good faith effort and refunded him part of his purchase price. The buyer never wanted for or asked for a refund. He wanted the books and still does, he just didn't feel like paying for them.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Dr Chaos

[N/A]

Nice books. So why do you think there could be no flaws due to shipment?

 

And I believe the entire conversation was that he'd be out half his money if he returned the books anyway. Working out a partial refund on low dollar books (or in my case high postage costs) makes sense usually.

[Speedy-D]

Please pm me your paypal address, I'd like to send your poor starving Cockatiel a gift certificate for dinner for a month;) (I hope you spelled that right, Dan, cause spell check is yelling at me;)

She's hangin' on by a thread, poor thing...

 

[thehumantorch]

Someone please summarize!!!

 

1)

- medusanyc bought some raw Chew books from seller that were described as 9.8s

- seller sends books two-to-a-bag inside a box with no protection apart from some newspaper

- books arrive in less than 9.8 condition

 

2)

- medusanyc contacts seller, explains problems with condition & lack of proper packaging

- seller busts out the "I'm not a professional grader"-spiel with a side of "other people have sent me books packed this way" and, as a parting shot, the "even though the books are not as described, you still got a good deal compared to eBay prices"-non-apology.

 

3)

- medusanyc asks for a partial refund of $9

- seller claims that he's had enough of medusanyc's abuse, counters with a $3 refund and tells him he'd prefer not to deal with him again

 

Did I miss anything?

 

Seems about right. Why not just get a full refund and send the books back?

 

More confirmation for why I don't step in the 9.8 waters without a graded book in hand. So much hassle for so little reward.

 

if a full refund for return was offered i would have been all over it...

 

That is what I would push for, using this thread as justification.

 

Was the book graded properly, or damaged in handling? Either is a reason for asking for a refund, and the seller should guarantee their grading and shipping. So for either reason, the seller should make the deal good(give you what was promised, or your money back). Regards,

 

I greatly appreciate the PM I just received regarding this transaction.

 

First of all the PM exchange provided by the buyer is incomplete (I would be happy to provide the complete exchange to an administrator).

 

I have my own summary of what happened (I will try to keep it brief):

 

1. All books listed included a clear picture of the front and back of each book along with a price (no grades were included in the advertisement).

 

2. All books were modern books less than two years old that could be described as NM or better (with a couple possible exceptions not involved in this transaction).

 

3. Buyer asks if two of my books are 9.8s. Now keep in mind that these are all new unread books. I take them out of the bags and boards, look them over, note sharp corners, no spine ticks, and bright colors (they really are nice to look at). Instead of saying there are no flaws that I can see I said there were no flaws (I apologized for this and gave the buyer a partial refund at his reqest).

 

I told the buyer that the books look as good as the pictures. I also went on to state that I did not see why they could not make a 9.8 with the proviso that CGC can be unpredictable.

 

While I did miss a slight corner crease (did not break color) on the back of one book, the flaw was clearly visible in the pictures that I provided. The buyer either missed this flaw as well or never bothered to look at the pictures before making the purchase.

 

When the buyer reported that he was not satisfied with quality of the books received I asked him to provide pictures of the flaws he reported. Aside from the slight corner crease, his pictures of that book did not reveal spine ticks or the other flaws reported.

 

The pictures he provided of the other book did not match the pictures I took of the book before it was sent (he has already informed me that he had a lesser copy). Although I firmly believed that the buyer switched books I apologized to him and asked what I could do to make it up to him.

 

It was the buyer that asked for a partial refund instead of returning the book. Although he failed to mention this detail I did provide him a partial refund as requested.

 

4. The books were packed securely (I did put both books in the same bag and board but otherwise that packaging was bulletproof. During the last month I have sent out more than a dozen packages (each to a different buyer) with no complaints aside from this character. Not only that but most buyers have also complimented me through PMs and in my kudos thread.

 

5. The buyer was insulting and dismissive in his comments. Although I went along with it at the time I feel his request for 9.8s on raw books priced below ebay was unreasonable. Despite the assurance I gave him he still pushed for lower prices than those in my ad. Given the excessiveness of his complaints and the lack of evidence I now feel that his agenda was to use the partial refund request to hammer me down further on what was already a more than fair deal to him.

 

6. After the partial refund that he had requested was issued to him he came whining here instead to bringing it to my attention first.

 

This was not a perfect transaction and I learned from my mistakes but I provided the books pictured, I did a great job of packing them safely, and when asked by the buyer how I could make him happy I provided a partial refund as he requested even though I did not trust him enough to ever do business with him again.

 

If the buyer had provided more evidence of his claims I would have reviewed that evidence but he seemed more interested in complaining and insulting me that coming to an amicable resolution.

 

Is it possible that the books were damaged in shipping? Yes, no matter how well packed.

 

Is it possible the buyer switched books? Yes.

 

Is it possible that you missed the spine ticks? Yes.

 

Is it possible that the comics look different thanks to different scanner settings? Yes.

 

If it was me I would accept that this deal went wrong and refund him the $6 or ask him to send the books back and refund him the entire amount. Getting the books back would allow you to decide if you missed the spine ticks or if he switched them.

[Dr Chaos]

You realize that this is all over a $6.00 difference in a refund? On the chance that you are wrong, wouldn't it be easier to just give him the $6.00? A little bit of kindness in a transaction can go a long way.

 

What disturbs me, and I'm sure other people here as well, is your statement about the book being worth more somewhere else. That is not relevant at all, this is where you sold it. Lots of people, (including myself) sell things here on a regular basis for less than we might get on eBay. The premise for me is, there are no fees here, and the transactions are less worrisome. That's the joy of this marketplace.

 

 

 

The buyer got the books that were advertised. His problem was that "I told him the books were 9.8s and they were not 9.8s". If he asked to return the books and I said no perhaps I would have been unreasonable. After all his complaints he still wanted the books. Since he wanted to keep the books the value of the books was relevant.

 

Chew 17 and 18 in worse condition than these were going on ebay for $11-12 each. After the partial refund I gave out I got a whopping $13 for both books. Had I given him another $6 I would have gotten $7 for both.

 

While my first instinct throughout this whole process was to please the customer it did not take me long to realize that I was either dealing with a crazy person or a dishonest one. Could I have given up more? Yes Should I have given up more? Maybe Would doing so have made anything better? In this case I really don't think so.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Dr Chaos

[skypinkblu]

You realize that this is all over a $6.00 difference in a refund? On the chance that you are wrong, wouldn't it be easier to just give him the $6.00? A little bit of kindness in a transaction can go a long way.

 

What disturbs me, and I'm sure other people here as well, is your statement about the book being worth more somewhere else. That is not relevant at all, this is where you sold it. Lots of people, (including myself) sell things here on a regular basis for less than we might get on eBay. The premise for me is, there are no fees here, and the transactions are less worrisome. That's the joy of this marketplace.

 

 

 

The buyer got the books that were advertised. His problem was that "I told him the books were 9.8s and they were not 9.8s". If he asked to return the books and I said no perhaps I would have been unreasonable. After all his complaints he still wanted the books. Since he wanted to keep the books the value of the books was relevant.

 

Chew 17 and 18 in worse condition than these were going on ebay for $11-12 each. After the partial refund I gave out I got a whopping $13 for both books. Had I given him another $6 I would have gotten $7 for both.

 

While my first instinct throughout this whole process was to please the customer it did not take me long to realize that I was either dealing with a crazy person or a dishonest one. Could I have given up more? Yes Should I have given up more? Maybe Would doing so have made anything better? In this case I really don't think so.

 

Would you be willing to compromise, take the books back and if you think you did make a mistake, refund the shipping?

[N/A]

[Dr Chaos]

deleted

Edited June 5, 2012 by Dr Chaos

[skypinkblu]

The moderators will not answer you here, it's not their job to watch over transactions, if you read the rules, it says that, clearly.