Unpaid Items Dispute Nightmare - What Would YOU Do?

[badebay]

i though that the drop down menu in non paying bidder had a choice of buyer lives at an address you dont post too ? could be wrong. im sure i used that a few times/

[imjustme]

Yeah, but if he doesn't accept the agreement I sent him, I don't get the fees back through the UPI dispute either. And if I give him an unpaid item strike, he'll leave me negative feedback. Whatever sellers do, they lose :(

[badebay]

yea... its true .no matter what you do you cant win. wonder why ebay put all the option with the buyer. seems ludicrous. basically everyones at the mercy of the buyer. and if they are canny they can stuff you completly. ebay seems to be one sided and unfair. surely they can see that. or are they blinkered.

[imjustme]

I always thought the best way is to have eBay automatically check if the buyer paid via PayPal (for those account required to accept it, at least). If not, don't give them the option to leave feedback until they paid.

[beus]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestion for me.

I opened an unpaid item dispute 8 days ago. Buyer never responded and I still can't close the dispute. I never had this problem before. I was always able to close it after 7 days and 10 minutes. Now the only option what I have is close the dispute as everything OK and we have completed the transaction.

[daowen]

Don't do that!

Wait for the ability to log the FVF and unpaid. If they do not respond they get no ability to ding your feedback.

Doug

[imjustme]

I'm about to freak out with bidders who can't read. I clearly state in my listings that I don't ship to France because packages always get lost/stolen in Customs. About 70% don't arrive, so I really can't ship there anymore.

Still, out of about 40 buyers I have per day, I get about 3-4 per day from France who apparently can't read French OR English because I write it in 2 languages.

So after 7 days, I need to open a mutual agreement not to complete the transaction. And guess what the morons answer? Out of 5 I've opened today, all 5 of them answered that they still want to complete the transaction, even though they earlier agreed to the agreement so I opened that instead of giving the unpaid item strikes.

The result? I lose about $120 in eBay fees from those 5 buyers alone. I could get my eBay fees back but then I would need to give them unpaid item strikes. I tried that in the past and it resulted in every 3rd buyer giving me a negative feedback in retaliation.

I don't know what to do anymore, this is losing me a lot of money -or- losing my my reputation and in return risking my eBay account because people just don't read.

What would YOU do? Issue unpaid item strikes and get the fees back? Or risk losing the fees and rather not give the buyer an unpaid item strike?

[divine422]

Thats a sticky situation. I think its best to file a mutal dispute first. As far as i know and through experience, you dont have to wait 7 days to open a mutal dispute only unpaid dispute. Clearly explain in the message box that you dont ship to France because blah blah blah...if they follow through with the transaction there is a good chance they will lose money (who likes that?) and you will not be held accountable. If they still follow through and pay, give a refund and file an unpaid dispute after 7 days. It may take a couple weeks to get your ebay fees back but i think its worth it rather than paying unnecessary fees.

[imjustme]

I did exactly that. The funny thing is they also agree not to complete the transaction, but I think eBay is confusing them. Somehow eBay gives them 2 options, to state that the transaction has been "completed" (and I don't get a fee credit) or that the transaction hasn't been completed (and in which case I do get a fee credit).

Somehow the French buyers think that they need to click on the "completed" option.

[imjustme]

I think mine are all pre-school students or something...

[ebayhateluv]

IMjustme:
I understand your frustration..

But-honestly--NOt all French are problems.. Just as Im sure they think that some usa buyers are a problem..

Ive gotten some really high prices out of France--recently--theyve been using an X-Ray machine, and the products are held for an additional 2-3 days to clear this Xray process.
__ Have you tried the different--Carriage Value/ Declared Value route yet?

_I lost a pkg in France last year--but ups paid the claim..
--Heck- I even ship to some weird countries I cant even pronounce the names of --
Ive shipped to Iraq/ Africa/Denmark/Thailand/Afghanistan,Kuwait,Vietnam,and 1/2 of the high risk countries below..
Russia,
Besides the normal ones..

FYI:
Heres a List of the HIGH Risk Countries according to MasterCard/Visa regs:

Ukraine
Uganda
Nigeria
Hungary
Belarus
Benin
Estonia
Egypt
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Nigeria
Pakistan
Slovak Republic
Russia
Yugoslavia
Macedonia
Phillipines
Thailand
Malaysia (see note below)
(Eastern Europe)

Cuba
Iran
Iraq
North Korea
Libya
Sudan

According to a ClearCommerce® survey, the top 12 international sources for online fraud are Ukraine, Indonesia, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Israel. The same survey also showed that the 12 countries with the lowest fraud rates are Austria, New Zealand, Taiwan, Norway, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, South Africa, Hong Kong, the UK, France, and Australia. (Source: FraudLabs Credit Card Fraud Prevention | XML SOA WSDL UDDI SOAP)

[imjustme]

I've just about had it with French buyers. I write in big bold red letters..like this:

I DO NOT SHIP TO FRANCE. DO NOT BID.

In every auction. In both French and English. I had another one a few days ago, offered him a mutual agreement today, he declined it, meaning I don't get my fees back. On top, he left me a negative saying "Seller doesn't want to ship to France". Well duh, why even buy then?!!!!

[ebayhateluv]

What did Obama say Recently? Parlez Vous Francaise ??

[divine422]

I dont get buyers comprehension sometimes. Why the heck would someone neg a seller because they dont ship to your country when it clearly says so.

[imjustme]

Yeah, it's beyond me. Now he just insulted me over email, saying that I'm a bad seller because I let him buy but after I say that I don't ship there. Well, eBay doesn't exactly have an option for me to exclude only France. So it's not my fault if he doesn't read the listing. This guy even has 800+ buyer feedback.

[trg005]

imjustme - Are you using BIN w/best offer? If so, that's one way to get around selling to the French. By letting them give you best offer you can pick and choose the winner. You may have to ask a little higher price to get your true asking price but this way odds are nobody will buy it till you accept or counter offer.

[imjustme]

That would be an idea ...

[imjustme]

Ok seriously, French buyers are the worst. I received 3 NEGATIVES on a single account today from French buyers who got a refund of their payment the same day because I clearly wrote in the auction that I don't ship to France. Each of them wrote in their negative that it was because I don't ship to France. Seriously ..come on. Why even bid and effectively ruin my rating down to 90%? I had a 100% before these morons.