A few weeks ago I spotted an item that I had been seeking for a long time, and it was available at a good price. The seller listed it in a lot with eight other similar items, but was selling each individually.
In response to a question I e-mailed before the auction ended, he offered to sell it to me directly, outside eBay. Since this is a violation of the rules, and because I preferred to have the protection of eBay (FWIW), I declined and put in a bid. But it made me a little suspicious.
I was the second bidder, and won the auction, along with several others. I submitted my payment within moments of the end of the auction, and since the items were not all identical, I included a message specifying which item I wanted.
A week after the auction ended, I got this message:
I was peeved because I thought I had gone to some length to make it clear which item I wanted, and I felt I deserved priority as one of the first bidders. Also, he hadn’t set up the auction to avoid the possibility that many people would want the same item, and there’s reason to suspect that he may have made a deal outside eBay.
OTOH, he may be telling the truth, and his wife may have made an honest, if careless, mistake.
He further annoyed me by making me submit for the refund, rather than simply doing it himself, and once I did, he took more than two weeks to approve it.
I think he deserves negative feedback, for his sloppiness at least. But I’ve never left negative feedback, so I’m not sure if it’s appropriate in this case. I haven’t been ripped off, just treated shabbily.
What do you think?
