Complaining about a seller.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I won an item on Sunday night. I usually pay the next day, but sometimes if I am really busy it might be the second day. This has never been an issue (been on ebay for a decade and a half) as I always pay within the ebay guidleline time of three days. As a seller I've noticed that sometimes people take three or four days to pay. After 24 hours I had a fairly stroppy email from the seller asking if I still wanted the item, as I hadn't paid. I didn't actually see the message until yesterday morning, when I was about to visit v. ill mother, so I didn't bother replying as I knew I would be paying later. I paid last night (so two days post auction) , and afterwards I went through my emails and the seller had sent another email, obviously sent a few hours earlier, really aggressive and horrible, saying that they would report me to ebay for non payment and I would be struck off ebay etc. I was pretty stunned by this, and found it really quite stressful and upsetting, particularly as I'd had an upsetting day anyway with my Mum. I replied, saying that I'd paid, and that I found their email really unpleasant, and pointing out the ebay payment guidlelines. Can I also complain to ebay? Or should I just complain in my feedback? Will they then leave me nasty feedback?

I sell on eBay too. I don't think the seller was being unreasonable to expect payment within 24 hours or a response to their chaser. Late payment is a real hassle.

Also, as you'll know, eBay allows you to send out a payment chaser after 2 days asking if you want the item. You can also open an unpaid case after 2 days. IME it's rare to wait 3 days to make payment.

I schedule all my items to end on the same date. If someone doesn't pay promptly, then it means either a separate trip to the post office (a 40 minute round trip) or I have to wait to post the other items out (risking reduced feed back score). I have also found that if someone hasn't paid or responded within 24 hours then they are very unlikely to do so. So there's all the hassle of opening a case and relisting.

Please cut the seller some slack - they couldn't have known you had a family emergency.

I hope you're mum's ok

You should really be making payment within 24 hours.

How "aggressive" was the second email? Unless it was threatening / personally insulting to an extreme then complaining won't do any good.

Perhaps the seller had been a bit more patient but you could have been a bit better with your communication. How hard would it have been to tap out a 10 word reply to the original email to say that you would be paying shortly?

I understand you're stressed about your Mum but I think you are being slightly unreasonable, unless the second email was really bad?

I hope your Mum gets well soon

TBH I don't understand why buyers wait 2-3 days with payment. It literally takes 5 seconds with paypal. 2 clicks. I would not be too impressed if my buyer waited days with it. I've just had one now waiting 2 full days, had to send an invoice thingy. But I wouldn't send an agressive e-mail after 2 days though....

Why do ebay guidlines say pay within three days then? I do normally pay pretty promptly, but on the rare occasion I've been later I haven't had this level of aggression (or indeed any). I have over 2,000 in positive feedback with no negs, so the seller could see that I'm not flakey. I sell fairly frequently and although many people pay me within 24 hours, quite a few don't. I send a polite nudge of a reminder on day four if there is still no payment, but I've only had one non-paying bidder, and I really don't think me getting aggressive would have prompted her to pay. As ebay says to pay within 3 days, then surely only after that does it become a late payment? I once had someone who hadn't paid and after four days I sent a very polite reminder, he responded with an apology, he and his wife had just lost a baby . Tragic news, so I am very aware that people may have good reason to be late, that if they've forgotten then a gentle reminder is all they need, and that if they aren't going to pay, ever, then all the nasty emails in the world aren't going to elicit the cash from them. I always allow for this timescale when selling, I follow the guidelines set out by the site that one should pay within three days, and I think that this sort of aggression is really unnecessary.

My husband runs an ebay store. He doesn't worry about 'late' payment for 7 days then he sends a payment reminder/request thingy, if no payment after a couple more days then the sale is cancelled. A lot of people don't pay instantly, never bothered us!

You paid within the 3 day guidelines and you were not rude. You did nothing wrong and the seller is just bad tempered and rude. I probably wouldn't report them though, or at least not until I had the item and everything was sorted. I'd be worried about annoying the seller enough for them to start messing you around!

Yes the second email was really bad. The first was really rude too, which was the main reason I didn't respond, but also I was rushing out, I was getting a lift and wouldn't have had time to respond even if I'd wanted to.
I genuinely don't see how paying well within the guideline time is unreasonable? I get this sort of payment time frequently from buyers and it has never annoyed me as it's within the allotted time.
And thanks for good wishes re my Mum. It isn't really a resolvable situation though.

OP, you think the seller was in the wrong, and it looks like they thought you were in the wrong. I wouldn't waste time worrying about it.

Personally I think it's good etiquette to pay within 24 hours, but that's just my opinion.

I do usually pay within 24 hours, but that is partly because otherwise I tend to forget. Ebay states that you should pay within three days, so it never occurred to me that anyone would get annoyed if one does just that. Why is it an issue for some people, if those are the guidlines? (Genuine question, not being sarky). I paid within 2 days, which doesn't seem inconsiderate to me, and echoes my experience with buyers. I do think the seller is in the wrong. A polite reminder would have been fine, a long, aggressive and threatening email really isn't fine as far as I'm concerned.

The seller sounds very rude.
Now that you've paid, they can't do anything bad to you.
Non-paying bidders drive many sellers crazy, people lose perspective.
Would you buy from this seller again or would you prefer to avoid & think others should avoid?

Answer will guide you whether to leave neg f/back. Leaving honest f/back is the appropriate way to deal with this. Wait until item has safely arrived first, though, to make sure you've finished all other parts of the purchase, so you know you're summarising everything about dealing with them.

I reckon you're silly to be so upset about it, though, tbh. But you're entitled to your feelings, I suppose.

I wouldn't ever buy from them again , no. I agree it is silly to let it upset me, it was just horrible to open such a threatening email, and a surprise, as I've never had such a response before. I know non-paying bidders are maddening, I've only had the one and it was annoying to deal with, ebay strung it out as she kept promising to pay me in a few days time, and it ended up being over three weeks before I could re-list the item. The plus side was that it fetched more the second time round. . However, even though she did really mess me about and lie to me, I still didn't send her threatening aggressive emails because there was absolutely no point, and I also had no way of knowing her personal circs. She could have been very hard up, have debt problems, a mental health issue, anything.
The item I bought is marked as sent, but the seller didn't reply to my email. I'll wait until it arrives and then decide what to do, but I definitely won't be leaving glowing feedback .

Give them a very low score for Communication, they deserve it:

pages.ebay.co.uk/help/feedback/detailed-seller-ratings.html

There is no need for a seller to be rude in messages sent to a buyer.

Is there an option to report the seller for abusive messages when you're still within the stated time guidelines for payment? I hope so

I sure hope you don't decide to leave them negative feedback. They may have been rude but as long as the item you bought arrives when it is meant to and is as advertised I think it would be wrong to leave neg feedback.

4smalls feedback is supposed to represent the whole experience of purchasing an item. Just because you wouldn't leave negative because of this issue, doesn't mean the OP would be wrong to do so, if she feels the experience is worthy of it.

Personally I would prob leave neutral, with a factual explanation.

I did leave negative feedback, party because the item wasn't accurately described either. And also because the seller didn't bother replying when I wrote to say I'd felt their email was over aggressive. I left an honest number of stars for each section, and I explained the negative in the little written line.

I have only left one negative before, in all this time on ebay, so it isn't something I would do on a whim.