Still Irked about this eBay mess

[phatmax]

A couple years ago I bid on a Preben Holm Ben Wade. One of the most beautiful pipes I had ever seen. My first real pipe had been a sweet Ben Wade Martinique that was a loaner from a co-worker and I wanted a Ben Wade of my own.

I bid in at the last second and got the pipe for about $55... INSANE cheap.

timing was good, I guess.

Well, I paid 5 minutes later and waited.

And waited,

and waited.

A week later I contacted the seller... Oh, they shipped it...
Should be there any time...

So I waited... another 3 days.. nothing.

Contacted the seller again... We sent it Priority... it should be there... Gosh, what is going on???

So after a few more days, they refunded my money.

Deep down... I still think they were pissed that it got so little and simply were being greedy and wanted to sell it for more. It would easily get more too...

I actually saved a picture of it, but thankfully not their information...It just irks me, because I bought many pipes and THIS one is the only one that got messed up.

[Mad Hatter]

Unfortunately that sort of thing does happen and there's not much we can do about it. I hope you left a negative for the seller.

[phatmax]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Unfortunately that sort of thing does happen and there's not much we can do about it. I hope you left a negative for the seller.

Without proof, and them returning my money.... I just chose not to rate them.

I still have yet to see a pipe that has grain and color like that... well, in my price range.

[drastic_quench]

Originally Posted by phatmax

Without proof, and them returning my money.... I just chose not to rate them.

I still have yet to see a pipe that has grain and color like that... well, in my price range.

Your proof is that you never got the pipe!

[phatmax]

They claimed "lost in the mail" and I did not see it listed again.. well, at least I never saw it. My bet is that someone emailed them after the auction ended and ponied up more money.

[dj1340]

That's a real shame, that was one beautiful pipe. I think you should have given them a bad rating. When I do purchase things from e-bay, I most times get a message from the seller reminding me that a good rating is vital to their business and asking me what would prevent me from giving them a 100%.

I think alot of people look at that rating when making a purchase, at least that comes into play when I bid on something

just my $.02

Don

[dmkerr]

I wouldn't think it fair to give them a bad rating unless you knew rather than suspected that they stiffed you on purpose in order to get more money. As far as anyone knows, they did what they are supposed to do... either get the product to you in the condition described within a reasonable time OR refund your entire purchase price plus shipping. That's all they can do. At this point, I'd have to give the seller the benefit of the doubt.

The fact that you didn't receive the pipe sucks, though - no matter how that happened. It's a pretty pipe.

[DeadFrog]

Sorry to hear about the bad ebay experience, that truly is a beautiful pipe. I've had the same thing happen to me a few times over the years as well. Snagged something at a low price and then it's either been "lost in shipping" or "stolen from the seller's home/car". Total BS excuses, but like you I received my money back. Still kind of sucks when you're eagerly awaiting your new purchase.

[Shervin]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

Your proof is that you never got the pipe!

Ditto

[Mister Moo]

Name names. Who was the seller?

[dmkerr]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Name names. Who was the seller?

I agree - good to know. We should have some forum here that lists the sellers when this happens so we can see if it's a regular occurence. I've sold about 1000 CD's on Amazon.com over the last 1.5 years and two of them have been lost (as per the buyer - I could have been scammed) but that's a pretty low percentage. If it happens more than once out of 100 shipments, I'd be suspicious.

[phatmax]

I am not going to name the person, as they are still selling large numbers of pipes and everyone seems happy. I could have read too much into it, but still wish I had the pipe..

Oh and it was $47 dollars that I ....got it for.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by phatmax

I am not going to name the person, as they are still selling large numbers of pipes and everyone seems happy. I could have read too much into it, but still wish I had the pipe..

Oh and it was $47 dollars that I ....got it for.

Well, there you are again feeling screwed. If you were screwed then cover your brothers and name names. Personally, if you have the story 100% right, I think you were screwed. Who cares if anyone else loves this guy - we're all (mostly) grownups. If he pulls a stunt like this once in every 100 auctions he should be outted. It's the same as cheating on a cigar-pass or sending out fake cigars on purpose. Selling a lot of pipes on ebay doesn't make someone revered with me; being honest on ebay does.

I name names - a WA state guy named ScottishSmoker once misshipped me an auction that was supposed to include a certain brand of vintage tobacco with three or four tins of other stuff. The PAS subbed out the vintage selection (no advance notice before shipment) and then got all pissy when I asked for a return + refund. I had to argue with this jerk about why advertising one thing and shipping something else wasn't quite in the spirit of an honest auction. I got a refund and then he banned me from his future auctions. That was a favor, actually. ScottishSmoker - a cheating liar.

That wasn't so hard.

[phatmax]

Here is the email trail, see if you still want the name:

From: XXXX
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 10:54 AM
To: Phatmax
Subject: RE: Ben Wade Straight Grain
I'll send you a refund in the meantime and trust that you will send the money back if you get it. Please send
me your ****** address.......

XXXX

Subject: RE: Ben Wade Straight Grain
Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 09:40:57 -0500
From: Phatmax
To: XXXX
I finally contacted my mail carrier and she has not delivered any package to the house in the past few
weeks so it looks like the package never made it to the Post Office here. If you can find any tracking
info maybe if is stuck in the system.


From: XXXX
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 3:51 PM
To: Phatmax
Subject: RE: Ben Wade Straight Grain

Hi Phatmax, XXXX here. Pipe mailed on or about the 17th or 18th to the following address via Priority mail.
You should have gotten it by now. Send me your ****** address and I'll refund your money. That stinks for
both of us!

XXXX

ADDRESS

Subject: Re: Ben Wade Straight Grain
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:44:08 -0500
From: Phatmax
To: XXXX
Hi,

This is Phatmax. (Phatmax) I had purchased a Ben Wade Straight Grain Golden Walnut off of
eBay on the 14th of April. I promptly sent funds via ****** and have yet to receive the pipe. I am
concerned that the pipe may have gotten lost.

The funds for the eCheck where withdrawn from my bank account on the 16th of April.

Please verify the address that the pipe was shipped to and let me know.

Thank you,

Phatmax

[Mister Moo]

It smells fishy. Truth be told, more than once I've had things I shipped via USPS not arrive at destination. A month ago I sent a friend 2-tins of vintage tobak. He received my Priority Mail box, torn and taped (marked "Damaged In Transit" or something like that) and now filled with three small water bottle samples.

When I get something from ebay that "matters" I always stipulate the item be shipped insured for the amount I specify.