Posted 9 years ago
katherines…
(247 items)
So this Spaniel figurine was produced by Royal Copley. Royal Copley (1942 - 1957) figurines are fairly rare, and collectible. They came in two varieties, high end department store figurines and dime store figurines. The one pictured above is of the second variety. He's a cutie, and there wasn't much wrong with him. I was going to add him to my hoard but a big vet bill decided the matter, and off he regretfully went to eBay listings. So then I get this message from a potential buyer asking if there were any chips or cracks on the figurine, because she said, my pics were blurry. I got the little guy out and looked him over again very closely and wrote her back saying no chips or cracks, I had listed him as in fine condition (rather than excellent) because his base was scuffed, and the glaze didn't fold under (ending right above the base edge) and there was a slight but obvious mold line at the tail end. I ended by saying that it was hard to know another person's standards so if she decided to buy it, even though I had listed as no returns accepted, if she didn't like it, I would refund her money. She wrote back and thanked me for my honesty then proceeded to ask if the figurine had any crazing and where I had acquired it. With the first email I suspected I had a picky buyer, now I knew it, and had a bad feeling. I replied there was no crazing, I would have disclosed it, and didn't recall where I got it. The third message came after she had bid on the item and asked me to close the auction. I didn't reply to that message, and hoped the next message would be "I changed my mind." Unfortunately that didn't happen, the auction ended, she paid, I gave my little guy one last shine then wrapped him tenderly in two layers of tissue paper, two layers of bubble wrap, surrounded him on every side with newspaper balls, and shipped him off in a pristine box.
Not a day went by before I got a message from eBay that she was requesting a refund. Oh, I said to myself, I knew it, I knew it. I stormed onto PayPal and found the funds were on hold, and though I was inclined to refund the female's money instantly out of pure irritation, the PayPal girl said she couldn't remove the hold, since the refund process had started through eBay and had to be completed there. She transferred me over, and the eBay girl there talked me out of an instant refund, she said she understood it was hard dealing with a difficult customer but I should wait to get the figurine first. I agreed, paid for the return shipping, and waited.
At that point is when I read the refund request: The figurine was cracked and not as described in the listing.
I was like , Wha ...? Um, wha ...?
So now I knew something was really wrong. In the meantime, the buyer asked me if I had posted the refund yet, I said I would wait until I got the figurine back, she said she was sending the figurine back right away.
I got it two or three days later, saw the box was in the same pristine shape as I sent it, opened the box, the figurine was sent back packed as I had sent it. Opened the tissue, and there was my little Spaniel, same as I had sent him -- but with a crack across his left haunch.
I would have cried if I hadn't been raging.
Has to love him because of his cute face... wish there was a "hate the story" button!
You smelt the bad deal from beginning :-/
Trust the gut Katherine.... you knew she was baaad.
The thing is you often can't tell the real story in feedback so the buyer lives another day and will do it again.
I'm sorry for you and your lovely little fella.
He's cute Katherine :)....I have several Royal Copley pieces mostly the birds and ducks. Your story is a perfect example of why I generally steer clear of selling anything. I'd rather have the clutter than the headaches....lol. Some people will never be pleased no matter what you do or say. I consider myself to be super picky and cautious and expect the same from others in regards to condition and packing. A few bad apples just look for trouble and create problems no mater what you do. I wouldn't be surprised if she cracked it on purpose and then very carefully wrapped it back up exactly as it had been sent. Some people are just that crazy !
Cute little fella!! Sounds like a horrible Ebay experience there. I've had some of those customers that play "20 Questions", but fortunately I've not had anything returned or a refund requested (so far!!). So sorry about your little fella:(
Had I known she was going to crack my little guy, I would have kept him. I thought the worst that could happen was she wouldn't like him, and send him back. But wait, you haven't heard the whole of the story. I didn't want to give her back her money. I figured, she was out what she paid plus shipping, and I was out what I would have gotten had I been able to resell the figurine plus return shipping so at that point we were even. I told eBay she cracked the figurine, not me, and they said it was her word against mine and I should come to some kind of compromise with her. I refused to give her back her money, instead I offered her a deep discount on any other item of mine that I listed for the next six months, she said that was very kind and she would consider it. In the meantime she hadn't said a word about the refund. I thought she was taking the whole thing strangely well, and when I followed up and asked if the deal was acceptable, she said, What deal? I already got my money back. I said, there must have been some mistaken, I didn't refund your money. ( It turns out PayPal mistakenly released the refund to her without my or eBay's authorization.) Meanwhile, this woman writes me again and says she doesn't like the way I do business, she reports me to eBay, and leaves negative feedback on my account, the first time that's ever happened to me. Now I was prepared for her to do that, and to take the hit, if I didn't give her back her money. But not only did she get her money back, she was ready to take my discount on top of that, and she still left negative feedback on top of that, repeating the lie that the figurine was cracked. I swear, some people really are shameless. Well, karma is sure to bite her.
This whole thing has soured me on eBay, and PayPal. And yes, I should have trusted my judgement. I'm sorry my little guy paid for my mistake. :(
Karma DOES have a way of getting people like that in the end and I'm a firm believer in karma!!
Ken, there's all kinds of ways to answer your question. Yes, you can make money selling on eBay, especially at the holidays. I got started because I had vintage things that belonged to my gran and that I didn't need and had to re-home, like the San Marcos blankets (you can see those on my page). But, as I once read on the eBay forums, it is a very awful dog-eat-dog venue and few people last and decide to stay for a variety of reasons. As anyone here will tell you, eBay is the worst marketplace. But, again as I read on another forum, there's eBay and there's everybody else. If you can deal with the lows, you can make money. And if you keep focused on the good things people say, how happy they are with the things you sell them, then it's worth it.
Thanks to all my kind friends for their love and comments. :'(
Awful experience you had, poor dear Kath...
As Jscott, I believe in Karma, specially for those who behave badly; I would practize some Voodoo agaist her in addition ;-)
Still not selling on the Net, I'm afraid though truthful foreign buyers will be banned too because of Paypal buyer's protection...
Take care!
Thanks so much for your kind words, kyratango, they mean so much to me.
And yet more to the story: After finding out that this buyer had gotten refunded the money, and after many many calls between eBay and PayPal, what we finally figured out is that in the first call I made to PayPal requesting that the funds be released and refunded to the buyer, the PayPal girl told me that because the buyer has initiated the refund process through eBay, PayPal couldn't do it and it couldn't be done unless and until I spoke to eBay about the refund. The PayPal girl transferred me over to eBay, and after speaking to the eBay woman who advised me not to issue a refund until I got the figurine back, I decided to take her advice and hold off. So the case on eBay showed as being open, and still in fact does show that I did not authorize a refund. In the meantime, for whatever reason, the PayPal girl went ahead and issued the refund. When I found out the refund had been issued, I spoke to the PayPal claims department, the fellow I spoke to said they keep convos recorded and apparently was able to retrieve the convo (or said he did), and based on that, was willing to issue me a credit in the full amount to my account. The sad part is the guy said the girl who issued the refund would be presented with a "teaching moment," which I have an awful feeling means some kind of dire punishment, perhaps even termination. You know, I really hate dealing with eBay and PayPal support, they are based in India and even though they are really nice and super smart and knowledgeable, it's almost always a struggle trying to understand what they're saying. Thinking about it later, I have to wonder if something I said or she said to me was misunderstood, or wasn't clear, and she was afraid NOT to issue the refund. For the small amount of money involved, I have to ask myself on balance was it worth it for that outcome.
Katherine, what a stressful situation to be dealing with. I'm sorry about your little guy, he is such a cutie. Perhaps, it was meant for him to stay with you for some purpose. I hope you can find peace of mind and some balance now, and not worry about what's gonna happen to the girl because it's out of your control. Thank you for posting such a detailed account of the situation, i found some good teachable moments in it for myself, too. Best wishes!
Thanks again to all my CW friends for the loves and comments on this thread.
Anna, another friend wrote me an email saying the same as you've just said, and you're right, the whole thing was a mess, but I learned some hard lessons from it, and I'm glad if others did too via my sharing of this story. And yes, I will set this little guy amongst my other doggies and let it serve as a reminder of that lesson.
By the way, my friend was swindled too on eBay. What a world.
To close this sad little tale, I did speak to someone at eBay today about what happened and she said she would close the case in my favor and remove the negative feedback. Doesn't give me my Spaniel back uncracked, but it does restore my reputation on eBay as a seller who doesn't lie, cheat, or steal.
katherine, I'm sorry you have to deal with these sh*t heads. I know the problem and always keep photos as proof that the item sold was not damaged when put in the post. I had trouble with a woman who bought my vulcanite brooch which was changed into a pendant who knows how long ago, and that Victorian gold-over-silver rose diamond ring which are posted here. When the items arrived, she sent me photos to show me that the brooch had been altered. Well, DUH! It was in my sales description and there were photos showing the change. I kept the photos after the sale, and it was a good thing I did. She sent me a mail and wanted to arrange for a refund. Uh...no. The items were sold as described. I told her if she had doubts about the items then she never should have sent me an offer. That shut her up and I have not heard anything since.
Thanks, Bonnie, the whole thing came as a real shock and eye-opener to me, I'd been selling on eBay for about two years now and yes, I've had my share of issues, but nothing like this. As Karen and Kyratango said, I should have listened to my instinct about this buyer. I'm sorry to hear you've had your issues with buyers on there as well. I remember when I read the warnings on the eBay forums and how evil it could be there, tale after tale after tale of being cheated and robbed, and I thought I was prepared to deal with it, I guess I really wasn't hardened enough.
Well, in the end, worst things in the world, for sure, than a little Spaniel and a crazy lying buyer and an outraged and confused seller. Thanks everyone, for your kind words and thoughts, it really means a lot to me.
Val, I don't know what would have happened had I refused to sell the item to her, I think eBay has a procedure for that, I know they allow you to block buyers. I did check her feedback, she has a good record with two neutrals as I recall, the one thing I found that may be relevant is that she sells creams. It occurred to me to wonder if the figurine, which is porcelain and I had polished before sending, slipped out of her hands when she unwrapped the tissue, and fell and cracked. Then she concocted the story about it being cracked when I sent it, she also said I had misrepresented the item, claimed it had chips and rough spots and was in poor condition, presumably so that not only would she get her money back in full but I also had to pay the return shipping so she really played the system to her benefit. As for PayPal and eBay, they are generally very professional and efficient, however, the language difficulty is really difficult at times, I find myself saying, excuse me?, excuse me?, to the point of feeling embarrassed that I sound like I'm being rude. I'm on the left coast as well, if you mean in the US, have not gotten to speak to anyone but Indian support so far.
There are a lot of eBay stories, especially on their forums. To their credit, they allow open discussions of problems related to the site, and do what they can to help without being heavy-handed, from what I can see. eBay is a free and open marketplace, they are only the venue, it's the sellers and buyers who make it what it is, for the better or for the worst.
I'm sorry you had that bad experience, and the drama, I hope your sister liked the bracelet.
Do you think maybe she exchanged one with a crack for yours? Sorry you had to go through this but silver lining you doggy is home. I sold a set of coins once and the buyer tried to return a less valued set of the same coins in grading.
And BTW if you are nervous about a buyer say it was broken or damaged when you were wrapping it. Might help.
Hi Caperkid, you just touched on a deep down dread of mine. I always fear selling jewelry on eBay thinking someone would exchange what I send them for some fake stones or gold, yikes. As for the figurine, it was the same little guy I got back, only cracked on the base along the left haunch. Your suggestion about going back on a sale might work for someone else, for myself I've only gone back on one deal, when I realized a platter I had listed and was getting ready to pack and send was badly scratched on the surface, I hadn't seen the damage previously so I wrote and asked her if she still wanted it at half price of what I had offered, when she didn't reply, I simply refunded all her money, but called and told eBay what happened to make sure there wouldn't be any issues.
I'm sorry you had a buyer try to scam you, I hope you were able to get your coins back without too much trouble. I don't know how you deal with coins on eBay, I'd be so scared of losing massive amounts of money in a deal!