Ok, I seem to have a passive aggressive curtain seller, how do I get my curtains?!

[FreeCodwitheverypacketofchips]

The story is that I enquired about some nice curtains on ebay a few months ago. The lady replied swiftly saying that she could certainly make some the right size for our enormous windows, and she sent me some samples of fabric and I said I'd get back to her when I had measured.

So we moved in, I measured, I emailed...she replied and we agreed on a colour and a price. All fine, except I kept asking things like to do with the lining and so on, to which I got increasingly delayed answers - however it all went ahead and about 2 weeks ago she said my curtains were finished, so I sent her the rest of the payment - I had already paid a £100 deposit weeks before.

I didn't even get a thankyou for the payment so I emailed a couple more times, then rang her. She was Ok and we had a chat but I found it hard to ask about the curtains and she didn't volunteer any info.
Eventually at the end of the convo I asked if there was an ETA and she said, 'well, I just have to finish them off, hmm, it could be Friday, or maybe monday - put it this way you could be hanging curtains at the weekend'.

I have had no curtains...and she had already said they were finished 2 weeks ago!!

I just emailed again and rang her but this time she isn't answering. I am very tempted to start a paypal dispute just to kick her ass into gear but I don;'t want to antagonise.

WWYDF...I paid the first amount about 35 days ago so have another 10 days before a claim has to be in iyswim. She has good feedback but I am just not sure if the more I harass her, the more she'll refuse to send them?

Bizarre but I am getting in a state.
Heyulp!

leave her some shitty feedback!!

Ok all done. I filed a friendly dispute saying I always do so as a precaution if things are delayed, just so that I can sleep at night! She can hardly be rude to me if I act jolly can she?

now to sit back and wait for the immediate response.

Kt14, good idea if it was actually through ebay! But sadly it wasn't which I think is why she's taking her time. I've filed for the deposit of £100 and I have a few weeks yet for the rest which was another £55.

It was odd because the other day I asked her again and again about some of her other things on ebay and she didn't even answer those questions. Does she not want to sell stuff?

I'm very patient with people if they just keep me informed. If they refuse to email I get annoyed.

If she's broken her foot is it the foot she uses to drive her sewing machine?

That's a good point, Nine. She didn't say anything about that. She always says how extremely busy she is and surrounded by curtain fabric etc. She looks like she has orders coming out of her ears, always listing new ones on ebay.
But that said, if mine weren't finished she shouldn't have told me they were - I still haven't heard from her this morning and am increasingly afraid I shan't have the curtains at all.
Either she has stopped reading her email and answering her phone, or she is scamming like crazy.
Hard to tell really. But I am glad I put in the dispute.

Oooohhhh!!! Guess what?

I have had a message back on the dispute page!! Yippee!

Apparently, she has been in hospital having an op on her foot, and hasn't been on the computer. The listings were scheduled apparently from weeks ago.

Hi Balloon slayer, sorry I panicked and decided I had better ask MN to delete my earlier post with the location, I hope you understand - but yes, that's where.

It's hopefully all resolved now. Just was afraid of identifying someone as it isn't a very big place.

Oh no worries.

I only started looking at this thread as I have a "friend" who makes curtains and she can be a bit funny. My ears pricked up when you mentioned Kent, as she lives there. But not at the place you mentioned, so it's not her.

Also I am familiar with the area.

BTW from my friend who made curtains I do know that very little of professional curtain making is done on the machine. Most of it is done by hand, which is why it's so farking expensive.

So IMO her poorly foot would not have stopped her finishing them off. It would only have made a big difference if she had hardly started.

! Thanks for explaining. I like a good rant but would hate to implicate the person to others and damage her business or anything.

that's interesting re the sewing...I think these are done by machine though as she said the fabric can 'pull' or something, also they're cheap for what they are (very big windows)

I'll be starting another ranty thread if they aren't any good!!

Ok. So the curtains have now arrived - well, not the curtsins, it would appear

She has sent me a much smaller pair without the blackout lining and now she has proof of delivery, I am sunk. Paypal can't help because it wasn't through ebay so they only cover non receipt and not 'misdescribed' items.

What now? I rang her to tell her they were the wrong ones and she hummed and harred and said she will have to order some more velvet

Apparently she might have sent them to the wrong people. I don't believe a word of it tbh.
So she gets to keep the money and I get a pair of curtains I can't use.
She has agreed to refund the money but I just don't think she will, it took her goodness knows how many weeks to make the bloody curtains and they aren't the right ones!

How do I get her to refund quickly? it's a lot and I need it. I've now opened another dispute for the second payment of £55 which might do the trick I suppose as she can't get another signature for that.

I am so angry I could actually drive there now and strangle the woman but I shall resist. for now...

Have started a new thread on ebay topic

Do you have any proof by email or in writing for what curtains you agreed in the first place? If so I would expect you could go for the non delivery through paypal since although she has a signature she hasn't actually delivered what you have paid for but something else. SO it is a non delivery isn't it?

I do Alice but I rang them and they said whatever she sent me, even if it was an empty packet, the signature would mean she won the case. Mad or what?

Email her and mention the small claims court?

After all you do know her address.

Might just make her cough up.

Thankyou - I have contacted consumer direct people and got a form letter just asking for a refund. I think I'll give her a chance to do it before sending that though.
She just takes soooo loooong replying to anything. Ringing her up is fine, she agrees to do stuff and then she just doesn't do it.
I should get the smaller amount of money back from paypal though, as she can't prove she sent a second parcel. So that's £55 back. It makes it a bit easier to deal with knowing she doesn't get to keep the whole lot.

that is good Marla. I will bookmark that conversation and use it by the middle of next week if she hasn't done it all by then.

I think she is the reason I was so up for a row earlier. Have been going slowly insane about her for a long time now.

Paypal cover for not describing goods correctly. File a paypal complaint for misrepresented goods, and send them back to her tracked delivery with a signature. You can then claim a full refund. Don't tell her you are going to do this as she may refuse delivery.

Stop contacting this rip-off merchant, and just go through Paypal to get your money back

Good luck! I had this once, and when I went through Paypal I got my money back pretty quick.

Thanks Sherida, but they told me they won't cover for Not as Described unless you buy through ebay, and I paid outside ebay for them

She still hasn't made the initial refund we agreed last night, although she ahs sent me the address for the parcel. I've emailed back and asked for some of the money upfront as she suggested yesterday because I simply have run out of trust for the woman.

I've said I can come and bring them back to her and collect the refund then if she prefers but that I would (obviously) prefer not to let them go with the courier until she's sent back some of the dosh. And I said 'I'm sure you understand'.

So if she has already paid for DHL to come today she had better do it quickly or he can go away empty handed.

I wouldn't be so distrustful if it were not for the fact that she's fabricated phone calls that were never made, told me they were finished and then said she needed to finish them off and then apparently sent them twice - that could have been true, due to the wrong door situation - and then sent me the wrong ones entirely and can't find the right ones.

Add to this the fact she's had most of the money for 7 weeks.

It would feel somehow safer just to go there and sort it out face to face, but she would probably say she hadn't got the cash.

It's getting ridiculous.

I've now bought some of her mothballs in a vague attempt to kick her into refunding. My (dodgy) plan is to hold out on payment and indeed feedback, until matters are resolved. Call me juvenile but it's all I've got left in terms of bargaining potential.

I shall mightily enjoy leavning negative for my £1.75 mothballs if she doesn't refund the curtains pretty sharpish. Sellers can't neg buyers any more which is nice to know...

Ooh! She has refunded the £55.

Hmm.

Now to see if she does the rest.